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Partying at Parliament

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Indian Independence Day is celebrated in Victorian Parliament

Ravi Bhatia with Members Of Parliament and Guests

A cocktail event was recently organised by Ravi Bhatia, Goldy Brar and other Indian business and community leaders, at the Victorian Parliament House to celebrate the 68th anniversary of India’s Independence Day.

Much interest was generated with the unveiling of World Cup 2015 trophy by John Harnden CEO of ICC Cricket, as the guests took turns to be photographed with the prestigious cup.

The event was attended by a large number of dignitaries and Members of Parliament including Louis Asher, Mathew Guy, Bruce Atkinson, Robert Clark, David Davis, Edward O’DonohueNick Wakeling, Inga Peulich, Ted Baillieu, Craig Ondarchie, Telmo Languiller (representing the Leader of the opposition), Luke Donellan,  Brian Tee and many other Liberal and Labor candidates.

Amongst the 150 strong guest list were  Nirmal Chowdhary, the Head of Chancery, Prof. Amitabh Mattoo, Ayesha Bux, Mushfiq Rahman, Osanda Abeywardana and Chin Tan and Chidambaram Srinivasan who represented the Victorian Multicultural Commission.

Inga Peulich, Cabinet Secretary from the Liberal Party, launched the Indian Warriors Football Club to be set up by business leader Mickey Gill with the support of Indian footy players like Dilpreet Singh who was recently awarded the ‘Rising Star 2014’ by the Victorian Amateur Football Association. She also promoted Celebrate India’s unique ‘Indian Essay Competition’ for primary school students of year 5 and 6 in Victoria. The concept was developed by Arun and Jaya Sharma to encourage students to share their experience of Indian culture, discussing similarities and differences between the Indian festival of Diwali and Christmas. The competition ends at 5pm on 15 September 2014 and there are many exciting prizes to be won.

The evening also saw the launch of a new Indian monthly magazine by Bruce Atkinson, President of the Legislative Council and MLC for Eastern Metropolitan Region.

During the course of the evening, guests heard from several speakers who commonly praised the Indian community for their contribution to Victoria and Australia. Jawaharlal Nehru’s famous ‘Tryst with Destiny’ speech was quoted with reference to India’s Independence Day and its relevance today.

The evening provided an excellent opportunity to network with businesses, leaders and representatives from the South East Asian communities.  Also present were new candidates for the upcoming Victorian elections including Amita Gill, standing as a Liberal candidate for electoral seat of Bundoor0,a and Gandhi Bevinakoppa, contesting for the seat of Clarinda against Labour’s Hong Lim.

 

Dilpreet Singh, Goldy Brar and Matthew Guy with guest

 

Craig Ondarchie Liberal member for the Northern Metropolitan Region and Parliamentary Secretary to the Premier

 

 

 

 

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