Sydney breaks bread with Sangrur – the wheat link

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By Neena Bhandari

Sydney, 21.01.2013 (Business Standard): Wheat collaboration between Australia and India is likely to be extended, after experiments combining strengths in each other’s varieties show rising promise.

India and Australia are collaborating on research to enhance the volume and quality of grown wheat. The five-year bilateral programme on marker-assisted wheat breeding concludes in May 2012 but is set to be extended.

It has been exploring molecular technologies, management practices and more heat-tolerant cultivars, to face the challenges of climate change. India and Australia are particularly vulnerable to increasing temperatures, warns a leading Australian wheat scientist.

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We hope Indian Railways would be interested in our product line: Trevor Rowe

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By Neena Bhandari

Sydney, 20.01.2013 (Business Standard): Leading Australian train manufacturer and engineering firm, UGL, has a joint venture with India’s rail freight car manufacturer and diversified engineering services company, Texmaco Rail & Engineering of the K K Birla Group, to establish a manufacturing plant in Belgharia, Kolkata. UGL’s Chairman, Trevor Rowe, speaks to Neena Bhandari about the plant, set to start production by July 2012, initially for the Australian market. Edited excerpts:

When did you start thinking about establishing a manufacturing facility in India and why? 

The idea crept in about two years ago when UGL was thinking of its long-term procurement strategy. While the other Australian manufacturer of rolling stock and locomotives have been making bogies and wagons sourced from China, we, too, needed an alternative venue to source them. Consequently, we entered into a joint venture with Texmaco. Ours is an equal partnership signed last December, and since then we have had people involved in management, design and engineering of the plant visit India several times.

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Virtual worlds have real effect

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By Neena Bhandari

Sydney, 25.10.2012 (Sydney Morning Herald): Computer games are finding their way into the classroom, where their ability to engage children is paying off.

Exploring virtual worlds has become a favourite pastime of students. Now some schools are bringing gaming into the classroom and teachers are tapping into the passion for playing as a catalyst for learning.

At Knox Grammar School, year 8 students have been introduced to the virtual game Minecraft for an integrated learning assessment task. Each student builds a model of a sustainable city within Minecraft from concepts they have learnt and researched in subjects such as English, mathematics, geography and science.

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