Federation of indian associations of act (finact) Inc

Coordination :: Cooperation :: Collaboration

Dear Visitor ji,

The last month has been hectic and eventful for the community and FINACT in particular. I sincerely thank FINACT Executive Committee members and the member associations for their cooperation, understanding, support and involvement through this busy period.

Queanbeyan-Palerang Regional Council celebrated Queanbeyan Multicultural Festival on Sunday 5 March at Queanbeyan Park with the help and support of FINACT and its member association in addition to other multicultural communities. Troupes from our member associations Canberra Multicultural Artists Association Inc, Rajdhani Marathi Mandal, Rajasthan Sabha, Gujarati Samaj of ACT, Australian Tamil Cultural Society and Mandir School Music enthusiastically participated in the festival and presented both classical and contemporary Bollywood dances and music. The program was well received and appreciated by audience and festival organisers.

I would also like to convey my thanks to you all as members and representatives of community, associations and FINACT support groups for rallying around and participating in FINACT Community Harmony Day celebrations on Saturday 11 March 2017. According to all the feedback, that has come my way, the Celebration was regarded as a great success. We were successfully able to promote the message about inclusiveness, respect and a sense of belonging for everyone. Mr Kanti Jinna formally opened the event with his awe-inspiring message of harmony. The event was also graced with the presence of Senator Zed Seselja our chief guest, His Excellency Dr Ajay Gondane and other guests of honour including the Minister Rachel Stephen-Smith MLA, Ms Nicole Lawder MLA, Elizabeth Lee MLA, Bec Cody MLA, Elizabeth Kikkert MLA, and various faith representatives. In addition to FINACT member associations the representatives of CMCF, Federation of Chinese associations, sponsors, volunteers and our media partners, such as a representative from Radio Manpasand (the Hindi Radio program in Canberra) also attended the event.

With the intention of strengthening our collective ability to apply the benefits of that learning, and building challenge and feedback mechanisms into continuous improvements to FINACT T-20 Cricket Tournament, we held a very good and fruitful meeting of Cricket Coordination Committee on Saturday 18 March. Special thanks to Pradeep Kumar for his very good critical but crucial suggestions based on his experience in last six years of participation in the tournament. We also decided to hold meeting of captains every month to discuss updates on the preparation.

FINACT was also invited to participate & get involved in the preparation of the Commonwealth Day Multi-faith Celebration by the Royal Commonwealth Society (ACT) on Monday 13 March at the Australian Centre for Christianity and Culture.

The Federal Assistant Minister for Multicultural Affairs, Senator the Hon Zed Seselja, invited FINACT to the launch of Australia’s Multicultural Statement, which also coincided with pre-Harmony Day 2017 celebrations. The multicultural statement was launched by the Prime Minister and Senator the Hon Zed Seselja at the Parliament House on Monday 20^th March 2017. FINACT was appreciative of the statements which in his words was “inclusive and strong” and mentions the Australians are defined not by race, religion or culture, but by shared values of freedom, democracy, the rule of law and equality of opportunity — a “fair go”.

Hope to see delegates of our member associations in the next General Council meeting shortly.

Amardeep Singh

President FINACT

In this newsletter:

• Update your details
• Thank you - Queanbeyan Multicultural Festival
• Thank you - FINACT Community Harmony Day
• Thank you - IWiN Event
• Cricket Coordination Committee Meeting
• Thank you - Kids Cricket & Imran Gavaskar Trophy
• Hindi School in North Canberra
• Thank you - TAC Ugadi Cup Cricket Tournament
• Important note from our sponsor

Please Update Your Details - Stay Informed and Engaged

A kind request and reminder to update details.

For member associations

- names of your delegates
- delegates' contact details and emails
- your website url
- your social media channels, such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Google+

Queanbeyan Multicultural Festival 2017 - Thank you

Queanbeyan Multicultural Festival was held this year on Sunday, 5^th March from 10am till 4pm. The event involved more than 20 performances by various multicultural groups from ACT and Queanbeyan region. There were about 10 street food stalls and shops providing a real carnival atmosphere for the festival. Weather was excellent and the crowd came out in big numbers to enjoy the festivity.

Troupes from our member associations Canberra Multicultural Artists Association Inc, Rajdhani Marathi Mandal, Gujarat Samaj of ACT, Australian Tamil Cultural Society and Mandir School Music enthusiastically participated in the festival and presented both classical and contemporary Bollywood dances and music. The program was well received and appreciated by audience and festival organisers. Apart from the cultural performances, one of our supporting business group set up a street food stall to feed authentic Indian food to the crowd.

Member of parliament from Queanbeyan Mike Kelly personally thanked and congratulated FINACT for showcasing India in Queanbeyan. The festival organisers want FINACT to be a strong partner of the festival for the future.

FINACT is interested in cultural interactions and discussing with the festival organisers to make it bigger, better and bolder with broader community participation.

Venkatesh Bidarkal

Coordinator for Community Services

Community Harmony Day - Thank you 

Through this message I convey my thanks to you all as members and representatives of community, associations and FINACT support groups for rallying around and participating in FINACT Community Harmony Day celebrations on Saturday 11 March 2017.

According to all the feedback that has come my way the Celebration was regarded as a great success. We were successfully able promote the message about inclusiveness, respect and a sense of belonging for everyone.This event facilitated a networking opportunity for various Indian community leaders and political and religious representatives in ACT. The event was concluded with very brief but very strong and effective messages of harmony out of the scriptures of different faith groups.In this I also express the warm appreciation of Senator Zed Seselja our chief guest, His Excellency Dr Ajay Gondane and other guests of honour including Minister Rachel Stephen-Smith MLA, Ms Nicole Lawder MLA, Elizabeth Lee MLA, Bec Cody MLA, Elizabeth Kikkert MLA, various faith representatives and the representatives of CMCF, Federation of Chinese associations, sponsors, volunteers and our media partners, such as a representative from Radio Manpasand (the Hindi Radio program in Canberra).

Thanking you all,

Amardeep Singh
President FINACT

 Kids Cricket and Imran Gavaskar Trophy - Thank you

Congrats to all kids who participated in the event that was followed by Imran Gavaskar Trophy 2017. Special thanks to FINACT, Shri Sonal Bajaj ji for his graceful presence, the winners of the trophy - Indian Team and every one who supported us. 

 IWiN Event - Migrant Stories: Celebrating Women's Journeys

IWiN hosted International Women's Day (IWD) 2017 event on Saturday 25^th March at the Exhibition Park in Canberra (EPIC) was a huge success. The event based on the theme "Migrant stories: Celebrating women's journeys" was supported by a strong engaged audience, wonderful four speakers from different migrant communities, beautiful dance and song performance, a captivating multicultural traditional dress show and a good spread of refreshments.

IWiN patron, Ms Gai Brodtmann (MP for Canberra, Federal Shadow Assistant Minister) delivered the opening address where she discussed how women from migrant communities contributed to the larger Australian community. Minister Rachel Stephen-Smith represented the ACT Government and discussed the existing services and programs for migrant women in Canberra.

The IWiN Chair, Dr Iyengar provided a brief account of IWiN's activities and the organisation's policy advocacy role.  

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Hindi School in GUNGAHLIN is open

खुशखबरी व शुभ समाचार - हिंदी पाठशाला शुरू

Good news for residents of North Canberra. Hindi School is functioning in North Canberra since 16 October 2016 at the Palmerston District Primary School. It runs on Sundays from 3pm.