The Australian Consul-General, Andrew Ford, launched a special print issue of 'Batayan', the on-line bi-lingual (English-Bengali) magazine, in Kolkata on July 31, 2019. Ford dwelt on the India-Australia cultural ties and the positive role that Batayan has been playing to strengthen this relationship. The event, supported by Dr Milan Bhattacharjee of Banga Sanskriti Australia Inc, Canberra, was attended by Tridib Chattopadhyay, Secretary, Book-sellers' and Publishers' Guild, and eminent writers of Bengal and participants from Australia and the USA.