The number of Indians granted student visas in Australia during the last financial year has fallen to 29,721, less than half of the number in 2008-09.Overall, the number of international student visas dropped more than 16 percent. The results follow a year of turmoil in the education sector, with legislative changes, the global financial crisis and student security issues putting pressure on student numbers, The Age newspaper reported.

In 2008-09, 65,503 Indian passport holders were granted Australian student visas across all education sectors. But in 2009-10, the number fell to just 29,721.

Overall, 50,540 fewer international students were granted visas to study in Australia in 2009-10 compared with 2008-09.

A spokeswoman for Immigration Minister Chris Evans said despite the fall, Australia was still receiving large numbers of applications for student visas, but that “the government understands it is a difficult environment for the international education sector at the moment”.

She said the government had made changes to “protect the quality of education Australia offers and ensure the skilled migration programme is more responsive to the nation’s skills needs”.

“Education is a major export market for Australia and there must be a focus on the quality of the export, not just numbers of students enrolling in courses,” the spokeswoman said.

Stephen Connelly, president of the International Education Association of Australia, said the drop was not surprising but very worrying.

“There is so much goodwill we generate from having international students in our country, and we are absolutely shooting ourselves in the foot at the moment,” he said.

Connelly said the government and opposition had sent negative messages to potential students during the federal election campaign and work had to begin on improving Australia’s reputation.

If the problems were not tackled quickly, Connelly said, there would be a further significant drop in student numbers.

“Applications being received by agents would indicate that the numbers will go down even further. There’s a lot more pain in store, I would say.”

But he played down the significance of student security issues, which flared up in Victoria last year following a series of allegedly racist attacks on Indian students.

“(Student security) would be lower down on the list of reasons than the difficulties of getting a visa and the lack of differentiation among providers,” Connelly said.

National Union of Students president Carla Drakeford said: “International student decline is dangerous for the university sector – not only because it creates a hole in university funding, but also because of the innate value international students bring to our community and higher education sector.”

Drakeford said student security, accommodation and cost of living were all contributing factors in the drop, but she welcomed the government’s recent legislative changes designed to weed out “dodgy” providers.

Matt McGowan, Victorian secretary of the National Tertiary Education Union, said the drop had “very real potential to undermine the financial viability of some of our universities and other education providers”.

The acting chief executive of the Australian Council for Private Education and Training, Claire Field, agreed that the government needed to act quickly to reverse the decline.

“The current and projected downturn in international student numbers is placing our economy, our education industry, and Australian jobs at risk.”

If you’re thinking about starting a business, technology might be the very last consideration on your mind.  With a long list of tasks ahead (like getting a logo and stationery designed, finding an office, and working out your marketing plan), you may just requisition your home computer to start running your new business.  In this article, we look at some of your very first technology decisions.

New computer or home PC? For a while, a home computer may be adequate to handle the necessities of your business.  However, if your computer time is conflicting with the children’s need to surf the internet for their homework, it may be time to consider a dedicated business computer.  It is also worthwhile to consider keeping children away from your business computer. Study any system specifications carefully and check the manufacturer’s websites.  Many ‘cheap’ retail deals are superseded models, cannot be upgraded easily or may not connect to a bigger computer network, which will all be important as your business grows.  Also, talk to your accountant about any tax benefits for which you may be eligible.

Voice over IP When considering a phone number for your business, take a look at your Voice Over IP (VOIP) options.  The quality of this technology has improved significantly and it can provide great local, national and international phone rates.  Today’s systems can plug into a standard cordless phone and your internet connection, so your computer doesn’t have to be turned on for you to make and receive calls.  It makes a fantastic ‘second line’ for businesses that run from your home.  You can have your office phone answered outside of business hours, and still receive personal calls on the standard home phone line. 

Internet connection An internet connection will be the most critical link for your business. Several providers offer various plans and packages. A broadband bundle plan can be a good option if it suits your needs. Check that the plan you choose offers enough monthly data allowance. Monitor internet usage month to month, and update your plan or change the ISP if required

Internet domain name Once you have decided on a business name, look at registering your internet domain name.  This will prevent someone else from registering it.  Having your own domain name (like yourdomain.com) will give your emails a more professional look, and enable you establish a simple webpage. You don’t have to spend a fortune on a comprehensive website before the first day of actually doing business.  As long as your contact details (phone number, email address, fax number, and location) are easy to find and you have some great information about why your business is different from competitors, you will give search engines something to find.  This is much better than an ‘under construction’ visual or no internet presence at all.  Use your domain name in your email address to offer more credibility; rather than operating from a free email account (like myname@gmail.com).  You can still use your internet provider for your email service; however using a domain name in your email address will give you flexibility to change your ISP if required.  Make certain to check what protection they have in place against email viruses and spam. It is recommended to subscribe to a good Anti Spam service.  Remember to include your website and email address on all stationery and marketing materials.    

Data Backup Your business data is vital. Protect it appropriately. Ensure a backup strategy is implemented and automated, or regularly carried out. Install and regularly update Anti Virus software. Consider an IT professional to look after your business computer. This ensures little or no worry about that part of your business operations, giving you much-needed time to focus on building your business. 

Lisa Singh with PM Julia Gillard

38-year-old Lisa Maria Singh has been elected to the Australian Senate, becoming the first person of South Asian origin to enter federal Parliament.

A former minister and member of Tasmanian parliament from the electorate of Denison, Singh bounced back after defeat in the March state elections.

“It is a fantastic opportunity to represent Tasmania at the federal level and to be back serving the people again”, she told Indian Link. “I am particularly honoured to be the first woman of South Asian background. I have always believed in embracing diversity and multiculturalism and I want to be their voice. The entire social fabric of Australia is changing and I do hope more ethnic representatives will be visible in the public arena”.

Of course, it will take much longer and more work needs to be done, she noted.

As well, Lisa is also delighted with the swing in gender perspectives. Interestingly, in the 2010 elections, 50% of the Senate members from Tasmania have been women.

Of Rajput origin, from Gwalior in Madhya Pradesh, Lisa’s great grandfather moved to Fiji in 1902 under the British government as an indentured labourer. Her grandfather Ram Jati Singh OBE rose in ranks to become a member of the Fijian Parliament in the seventies.

Her father migrated to Australia as an international student in the early sixties.

Proud of her Indian heritage, Singh has visited India several times and also as a member of parliament in 2007, meeting the president and fellow Indian parliamentarians.

“I remember being interviewed on Lok Sabha TV about my ethnic background and role in Australian politics”, she remembered.

Lisa brings to politics, a strong heritage in volunteering and social work.

“Growing up in the inner city suburbs of Hobart, and attending an all-girls Catholic school I became involved in the school’s St Vincent de Paul Society Group, organising events and volunteering in the Vinnie’s Opp Shop in North Hobart that is still there today,” she reminisced. That focused me from an early age on the disadvantaged in our society, be they the young, unemployed, homeless or the elderly. From that young age I felt that it was not right that some people missed out on basic services and things that most people took for granted”.

Community development has been her path of interest throughout her tertiary education. Lisa in fact, did her thesis on street kids and petty crime in Hobart CBD, advocating the urgent need for early intervention and prevention.

She carried the same passion forward through the union movement, striving for safety and job security in the workplace. Lisa went on to become the director of the Working Women’s Centre “giving women a voice to be heard on issues such as child care, bullying, discrimination, harassment and paid maternity leave”, eventually joining the Lennon government in 2008. She was Minister for Corrections, Consumer Protection and Workplace Relations.

As an MP, Lisa served on various parliamentary committees and has lobbied for housing, public transport, cultural diversity and reform for the Hobart waterfront.

Likewise, as minister, she introduced significant reforms in her portfolio areas, as well as assisting the Premier on Climate Change. Lisa reformed workers compensation laws in Tasmania, established a unique whole of government asbestos policy, introduced reforms in the private rental market, vendor disclosure and energy efficiency standards for residential properties, and commenced a ten year reform plan for the Tasmanian corrections system.

She has also been actively involved in various community organisations, including the United Nations Association and the Australian Republican Movement.

Since her defeat in March this year, Lisa has been actively establishing a support organisation for asbestos sufferers in Tasmania. She is the current CEO of Asbestos Free Tasmania Foundation.

“I feel truly privileged and humbled that after only four and a half months of losing my seat at the state election, I now have the opportunity to represent Tasmanian interests in the federal sphere,” she said.

Join at the grassroots level, have a vision, be passionate and vocal, show your commitment to causes, understand local issues and work your way up slowly but surely – that is Lisa’s mantra for political success.

“It is at the community level that we build our social capital, where informal networks develop and community groups empower each other,” she observed.

“And throughout my community life, one common thread has been apparent through most things I have done and that is the significance of our human rights”, she stated. She firmly believes in the ideology that whether people are black, white, young, old, disabled, female, sick or injured, they all have basic rights.

As a human rights advocate, she was awarded Hobart Citizen of the Year in 2004 for her role in the Hobart peace movement, especially for highlighting the rights of women and children during wartimes, most notably the Iraq war.

Besides a strong values platform and conviction in one’s beliefs, Lisa also advocates the importance of core leadership skills.

We wish Lisa every success in her prestigious new role.

For game geeks hitherto preoccupied with puzzles and poker, the gravity defying dishum dishum, ‘namma thalapathi’ ishtyle could well be the new kid on the block as Rajni mania hits Appletown.

Rated 12+, Rajnikanth for iPhone is Sydney based FX trader Chaitanya Kolluri’s maiden offering on the hotly contested app scene. Currently supported on iPhone 3Gs, iPhone 4 and iPad hardware platforms, it is a 2D side scrolling, arcade action game, where the player dons the mantle of the adhiraddi action hero and battles through 15 challenging levels.

Each level has a different setting and new kind of enemy. Cultural references to blockbusters like Padayyappa, Muthu, Chandramukhi and the upcoming Endhiran have been built into it. 

The script (in Chandamama fairytale style, according to Kolluri) is set in the ancient empire of Vijayanagaram, where its troubled king Chandrahaas loses his powers. An old sadhu enlists the services of the megastar to salvage the nation.

“While I have always enjoyed playing on PS3 and Xbox, iPhone App development is a very recent hobby of mine”, the investment banker and self confessed game console junkie told Indian Link.

An ardent devotee of the iconic southern superstar, Kolluri decided to combine the two entertainment genres to plug the void, in what is clearly a niche market.

“The App Store had very few applications that culturally related to Indian audience and the more popular apps were games. So I hit upon the plan of creating something unique that was entertaining and sat comfortably between these parameters”, he said.

As a die-hard fan of Rajnikanth, an app to showcase his unmatched style, cool image, and screen aura, was an instant fit for my ambition, he explained. 

The app, which was released on 25 August, has been eight months in the making. From visuals to soundtrack, platforms to programming, the talented developer carefully researched, conceived and executed it all.

An app with entertaining Rajni dialogues was Kolluri’s initial plan. He therefore created a stylish caricature using PowerPoint and placed it on an app interface.

“It was then I realised that I was capable of drawing animation cells with better than average skill. I kept at it for a few weekends seeking honest feedback from friends and family. They were stunned by the detailed stylisation and facial expression,” he revealed.

Soon what started as hobby, became a controlling passion and inanimate images weren’t quite enough. Banking on Rajni’s huge repertoire, Kolluri was able to capture his inimitable style and movements through visuals.

“After watching a fight scene from Padayyappa, I became interested in making a full fledged action game.”

Executing his grand schemes proved a logistically daunting task though, he admitted.

“I didn’t know Objective C programming and lacked the resources. The goal seemed more suitable to small game production houses with several developers, each focusing on a key aspect of the game. Even the people who praised my initial art didn’t quite understand what I aimed to achieve. After all, I’m an amateur and it was very challenging on an alien platform”.

Extensive research and networking finally led him to all the right resources. And Kolluri soon launched www.avvesome.com, a micro studio group and developer brand name under which his Apps are available at the App Store.

From there on, it was a relentless task of bringing it all together. The movie enthusiast couldn’t be more delighted with the outcome.

“I have had loads of fun over the last eight months developing it and even more playing it daily. I really hope people like it”, says the game junkie.

With the superstar’s Endhiran (Robot) slated for global release in mid September, the action packed thriller Rajnikanth for iPhone is a dedication and tribute to his icon.

And quite like his thalaivar, Kolluri hopes to capture a global following.

Watch the trailer at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yWpm3lubHWg

Check out the new app at http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/rajnikanth

India’s first robot-assisted multi-level car parks that can collectively accommodate over 1,100 vehicles will come up at two private commercial building projects in Mumbai, a company official has said.

The fully automatic, multi-level underground parking system covering an area of over 1.5 lakh square feet at the new upcoming projects Ackruti Star and Ackruti Solari, being developed by Ackruti City in Andheri east, according to its chairman Hemant Shah.

While Ackruti Star with a capacity of over 350 vehicles will be completed by mid-September, the second complex Ackruti Solaris with a capacity of over 750 vehicles, will be completed in phases starting March 2011 and ending March 2012, Shah said.

“With this new system, parking or retrieval will be very quick. It would take less than a minute, compared to the existing around five minutes,” he said.

Explaining the system, Shah said that all car owners would be given security swipe cards which would ensure absolutely safety from thefts or damages.

The entire system would be fully automated, a state-of-the-art facility with no human interference and have two sub-stations for 100 percent round-the-clock power back-up.

The system would provide parking space to thousands of visitors in the recently-developed business hubs of Andheri east where space is a major issue.

The Andheri east area also leads to the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport’s international terminal, and traffic congestion is a major area of concern.

Shah said that the company plans to install such parking systems in its other forthcoming projects around the country.

Archie Panjabi

Indian origin British actress Archie Panjabi, who starred in films like “Bend it like Beckham” and “East is East”, has bagged the best supporting actress in a drama series for her role in “The Good Wife” at the 62nd Primetime Emmy Awards in Los Angeles.

Panjabi was pitted against the likes of Rose Byrne (“Damages”), Sharon Gless (“Burn Notice”), Elisabeth Moss and Christina Hendricks (both for “Mad Men”) and co-star Christine Baranski for “The Good Wife”.

She made her film debut in the British hit film “East Is East” in 1999 and went on to star in international blockbuster films like “Bend It Like Beckham” in 2002, imdb.com reported.

The actress starred in 2005 in “The Constant Gardener” and played a part in critically acclaimed films like “A Mighty Heart” in 2007 and “Yasmin” written by Simon Beaufoy, who also scripted the Oscar-winning “Slumdog Millionaire”.

Panjabi won the Best Actress for her role in “Yasmin” in 2004 at the Reims Festival in 2006 and was awarded the Shooting Star Award at the Berlin International Film Festival 2005. The award is given to actors who are seen as “the most exciting and emerging actors from across Europe” (European Film Promotion).

The award-winning actress graduated from Brunel University, England, with a degree in Management Studies (BSc). 
 

Kolkata, the city where the Albania-born nun arrived in 1929, also marked the birth centenary of the Nobel Peace Prize winner with the launch of a special train ‘Mother Express” and a film festival.

Her birth centenary celebrations began with a two-hour early morning mass at what is called Mother House in the city, which was the epicentre of the nun’s work among the poor, old, infirm and the dying.

Candles were lit at Mother Teresa’s flower-bedecked grave – a simple, rectangular three-foot high cement tomb on the ground floor of the two-storeyed building. Pigeons and balloons were also released in the air.

The mass was led by Cardinal Telesphore Placidus Toppo, the Archbishop of Ranchi, and was attended by around 60 other priests, including Archbishop of Kolkata Lucas Sarkar and Bishop of Baruipur Salvadore Lobo.

The nuns of MoC, a Catholic Christian order founded by Mother Teresa, took part in the prayers, draped in their traditional white saris. About 1,000 people, including many commoners, also joined in the prayers.

In his address, Toppo said Mother Teresa realised the need to protect the environment even before the church became aware of its duty to the ecology. “Her insistence on poverty in life is (also) a fine illustration of this,” he said.

MoC superior-general Sister Prema, and her predecessor, Sister Nirmala, also attended the mass held at the first-floor chapel.

In his message from the Vatican, Pope Benedict XVI described Mother Teresa as an “exemplary model of Christian virtue”.

Giving his “paternal, apostolic Blessing” to the MoC and all those the order served, he said: “I encourage you to draw constantly from the spirituality and example of Mother Teresa, and in her footsteps to take up Christ’s invitation: ‘Come, be my light’.”

Mother Teresa exemplified love, the Pope said, and added: “May this love continue to inspire you as Missionaries of Charity, to give yourselves generously to Jesus, whom you see and serve in the poor, the sick, the infirm and the abandoned.”

In a message to Sister Prema, the Pope expressed confidence that the centenary year will be for the church and the world an occasion of joyful gratitude to god for the “inestimable gift” that the Mother was in her lifetime.

The doors of Mother House were thrown open to the public and hundreds of slum dwellers from the city walked in and prayed before Mother’s tomb. A large number of people also came from abroad.

A four-day Mother Teresa International Film Festival 2010 (MTIFF 2010) on the life and message of the ‘Angel of Mercy’ was declared open by Sister Prema.

“We have organised this film festival to pay our homage to Mother Teresa. The festival will spread the message of love and peace that Mother has preached all through his life. The festival will travel to many foreign countries and across 100 cities and towns across India,” said Sunil Lucas, festival director.

A special train showcasing the nun’s life and philanthropic deeds was inaugurated by Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee at Sealdah station. Christened ‘Mother Express’, the train will travel to different stations of the country over the next six months.

Speaking on the occasion, Banerjee said the central government will soon issue a coin to pay tribute to Mother Teresa on her birth centenary.

Born Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu to Albanian parents in Skopje, which is now in Macedonia, Aug 26, 1910, Mother Teresa left her parental home at 18, and joined the Sisters of Loreto, an Irish community of nuns with missions in India.

Years later, she took Indian citizenship and left the convent with the church’s nod to serve the poor and the ailing. She set up Missionaries of Charity in 1950 at 14, Creek Lane, but shifted to the Mother House in 1953 as her order expanded.

Mother Teresa was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979 and given India’s highest civilian honour, Bharat Ratna, in 1980 for her humanitarian work. MoC now comprises over 4,500 sisters and is active in 133 countries.

It runs homes for people with HIV/AIDS, leprosy and tuberculosis. It also conducts children’s and family counselling programmes and runs orphanages and schools.

The Commonwealth Bank of Australia opened its first Indian branch Wednesday, becoming the first Australian bank to operate with a full banking licence in the country.
A company press release said the Mumbai branch will provide trade finance, remittance and foreign exchange to organisations that trade between Australia and India.

“By establishing a branch in Mumbai, the Bank is committed to facilitate economic, trade and payment flows. The full-fledged banking presence puts the Bank in a strong position to continue to explore growth opportunities in India,” Commonwealth Bank’s group executive, international financial services, Simon Blair said.

He added that the Bank’s growth plans for India over the medium term was to “build a robust domestic commercial banking franchise and to build a platform for building its retail financial services presence in the country’.

More than in any other sport, the outcome of a match of Test cricket is extremely dependent upon the toss.  This is, in turn, a result of the increasingly common one-sided pitches which offer little to no assistance to bowlers, as we (unfortunately) had to witness in the recent Test series between the now all-too-frequent opponents, India and Sri Lanka. However, alongside these subcontinent clashes, it was a breath of fresh air to see Mohammad Asif and Aamer terrorising the Australian and English batting line ups in England (albeit with Stuart Broad and James Anderson returning the favour to the Pakistani batsmen in an embarrassing fashion). As we will examine in this piece, drawing parallels between the pitches in these two countries brings up extremely revealing details.

Let’s begin with the raw statistics. In the five matches played on the subcontinent this year, the average amount of runs scored per wicket is, unfortunately for the bowlers, an unforgiving 48.73. It is incredible that four of these matches even had results – this is attributable largely, of course, to the ability of the batsmen from Sri Lanka, South Africa and India to score runs at a brisk pace (in other words, Sehwag). Can we blame this on meagre bowling attacks? If we consider Dale Steyn, Morne Morkel, Zaheer Khan and Lasith Malinga as the pacemen, along with Murali, Harbhajan and Mendis as the spinners, then not really; in these men, we have a group of bowlers who would make any World XI on their day.

In matches in England in 2010, we see that figure drop to a more reasonable and much more competitive 26.81 in six matches, all with results. It’s true that the Duke cricket ball, which is used in matches hosted by England, swings more proficiently and later than the Kookaburra, used by the rest of the world. But of utmost importance to this disparity in averages are the pitches in England which are much greener, and thus assist fast bowlers much more than the dry dustbowls produced in the subcontinent.

It is, of course true, that traditionally the dry pitches in India and Sri Lanka, along with less frequent hosts Pakistan and Bangladesh, have assisted spin bowlers later in a Test match. Cracks in the pitch open up, and rough is created by footmarks from the faster bowlers, which aids turn enormously. It is also true that the climates in these countries make it more difficult for curators to create a fair pitch for fast bowlers. However, while the average runs per wicket in the past ten years in subcontinental Test matches is a respectable 35.40, the past two years have seen bowlers concede nearly 42 runs a wicket. This is an alarming trend, which has implications not only on the entertainment value of the cricket enthusiast, but on the very talent of the players themselves.

While the average runs per wicket in the past ten years in subcontinental Test matches is a respectable 35.40, the past two years have seen bowlers concede nearly 42 runs a wicket

Just ten or fifteen years ago, the world was blessed with quality fast bowlers such as Walsh, Donald, McGrath, Pollock, Gillespie, Vaas, Gough and Srinath, among many others, playing at the same time. Test cricket was ridiculously lucky in this period, and we are only suffering from the loss of these bowlers because new ones just don’t seem to emerge as readily. Batting strength, on the other hand, is just as strong around the world today as it was back then.

Taking a step back and looking at the bigger picture, cricket is evolving in big ways, and fast. Most of these changes are geared towards batsmen – there already seems to be a mentality to “err on the side of the batsmen” with the pitches. On top of this, boundaries are being brought in, bats are being made thicker and bigger, and the benefit of the doubt is given to the batsmen, even with vastly improved technology. If Test cricket is truly seen by the administrators to be “dying”, there can be no excuse for pitches such as the SSC in Colombo being given international importance.

Inflated batting averages are only a small example of the effects of these pitches. With all due respect, for example, Samaraweera’s test average belies his ability – with an average near 54, he sits above Lara, Steve Waugh, Allan Border and Gavaskar; put any four of these batsmen up against a genuinely fast bowler in a seaming, swinging atmosphere to save your Test match, however, and there would be little confusion over whom to leave out.

Test pitches around the world have their own characteristics, which is ideal for creating a world game where each country can play to its strengths at home. However, there is a difference between created home advantage and batsman advantage. Test cricket hinges upon a contest between bat and ball, and with no contest there can be no match. Watching a great spell of fast bowling carries with it a very special kind of magic – it lingers much longer in one’s memory than the innumerable centuries scored by whoever shows up to bat. Dead pitches continue to spell the death of fast bowling, and at this rate in fifteen years’ time we will still be searching for the next McGrath…

Arjun Atwal

Four weeks after he lost his card, Arjun Atwal stormed back into the elite PGA Tour circle with a victory that not many would have given him a chance to achieve at the start of the week of the Wyndham Championships.

In fact, the week started rather early for Atwal as he found his way into the tournament through the Monday qualifier. Players who do not get a direct entry are required to play a qualifying round Monday to try and find a berth into the event – and he created history by becoming the first such player in 24 years to win the tournament after coming through the gruelling Monday test. Fred Wadsworth was the last to do it at the 1986 Southern Open.

Atwal sank a crunch birdie on the 72nd hole to finish the day at three-under 67 and the tournament at 20-under 260 to become the first Indian to win on the PGA Tour. Atwal took home $918,000, the highest ever in his career.

Atwal’s compatriot Jeev Milkha Singh also signed off on a positive note, carding a four-under 66 for a share of the 18th spot with a total of 14-under 266. The Chandigarh golfer’s card was studded with six birdies against a lone double bogey. It was the first time that two Indians figured in the top-20 of a PGA Tour event.

“I don’t know if it has sunk in yet, seriously. Obviously it was a long-time dream but until it happens you just keep doubting yourself. I had my doubts despite a three-shot lead. I am so glad, I was very nervous, the most nervous I have been in all my life,” said the 37-year-old Atwal, who was Asia No. 1 in 2003, and has won title on the Asian, European and the Nationwide Tours.

“I have no words to describe it,” said Atwal, who has battled a serious shoulder injury the last year. “I really grinded it today. I was so nervous over that putt.”

The victory at Sedgefield Country Club earned Atwal his status on the PGA Tour for the rest of this year and the next two years as well. He also gets into many of the invitational events next year, as also the Masters.

Atwal, who was the first Indian to qualify for the PGA Tour in 2004, was also the first Indian to win on the European Tour in 2002 Singapore Masters.

Daniel Chopra, whose mother is Swedish and holds a Swedish passport and is a good friend of Atwal, has twice won on the

PGA Tour, but Atwal is the first Indian-born player to do so.

Left stranded in the waiting room at 19-under was seasoned David Toms, who earlier charged up the leaderboard to take the clubhouse lead.

Yet despite the win, Atwal will not be in the PGA Tour Playoffs for the FedExCup beginning next week because his temporary Tour membership from a minor medical extension expired after he failed to earn enough money at the end of the Canadian Open. But now with this win he gets an exemption on the Tour for next two years. Locking up a TOUR card for the next couple of years will more than make up for it, though.

Atwal, who held at least part of the lead on each of the first three days – he held outright lead on first and third days and shared after the second – started the day with a three-shot lead.

The leaderboard itself kept changing and Atwal admitted to having a look at it more than once. At one point very briefly, though, seven guys shared the top spot on the leaderboard Sunday. Atwal, though, made just one bogey Sunday and two over his final two rounds.

A close friend of Tiger Woods, who kept texting him through the week, indicated that 21-under could be the winning score, Atwal said, “My swing wasn’t feeling great but I just grinded it out and got it done somehow.”

Atwal picked up shots on the third and fourth holes to be two-under at the turn. On his way back, he added another two birdies on the 14th and 16th but a bogey on the 12th prevented him from going 21-under.

“My goal was to get it to 21-under today. I came up one short. Actually that’s the number my friend Tiger Woods also told me to get to last night,” he said. “It’s all text, we never talk. He’s busy I guess,” Atwal quipped.

So sound was Atwal’s play through the week that he was also in the top three in the field in driving and putting for the week. He needed just 28 putts on Sunday.

Normally, very cool, Atwal admitted to nerves. “The leaderboard just kept changing. Everybody was tied for the lead at certain point. I knew the guys were going to shoot low today. My heart rate was over 150 at the last hole but my caddie told me to relax. I just calmed myself down,” he said.

“My mind is a little scrambled right now. The only thing I remember about the week is that after the Monday qualifiers,

I told my caddie that we have got nothing to lose. I don’t have a card anymore,” he recalled.

“Guys are going to be out there trying to secure their FedExCup spots or whatever. We’ve got nothing. I don’t have a card. I don’t have anything. Just go out there and free-wheel it, and that’s what I did this week,” he added.

The turnaround comes after a lost card, which followed shoulder injuries caused by lifting weights in the gym. But on Sunday, all he lifted was his game and the trophy that went with the winner’s cheque.