Here's everything you need to know about studying in Australia.
Why Australia has around 3,84,000 international students from over 140 countries in disciplines at every level of education, including short-term English language courses, Bachelor and Masters Degrees right through to Doctoral Degrees.
Anxious parents of the more than 120,000 Indian students in Australia are asking for clear answers to certain questions. A clear message needs to be sent back to them, writes Sujatha Singh, India's high commissioner to Australia.
Terming the racial attacks on Indian students in Australia as 'generic', former Australian wicketkeeper Adam Gilchrist has said that the country was safe for students.
An Australian delegation on Tuesday said the attacks on Indian students were not racial but were done with a primary motive of stealing.
Amid growing concern over the spate of attacks on Indian students Down Under, India and Australia decided on Monday to form a joint working group to coordinate between the two countries in ensuring safety of the students there. The decision was taken in New Delhi at a meeting between a high-level Australian delegation and officials of the Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs.
India on Thursday warned Canada against giving space to separatists and extremists elements, saying it was not good for the bilateral ties, days after a video of a float, depicting the assassination of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, at a parade in Brampton went viral on social media.
Canada has emerged as the most preferred country for Indian students abroad.
Indian High Commissioner Sujata Singh, who met premier of Victoria John Brumby and top police and educational officials of the province, said there is a 'racist element in some of the attacks' but many of them were 'opportunistic'.
'With the current situation in the global job market, students come back with an added burden of educational loans.'
The 'Holi celebrations' event was organised by the Governor in the honour of the visiting dignitary and his delegation.
'I think some of us, like Mukesh Ambani, myself and those of us who head industrial units, ought to really focus on what we can really do to make the world a safer place, maybe 50 or 100 years from now.' 'For instance, how can we deal with climate change and global warming, right now?' 'The effects of it may not be felt now; in fact, we may pay a price for it today, but it will help the generations to follow.'
Deputy Prime Minister Julia Gillard has admitted that Indian students' concerns about the quality of education and safety measures in Australia were "legitimate."
Denying any adverse affect on business relations, Primus CEO Ravi Bhatia said, "Such crimes have been wrongly dubbed by the Indian media as 'an organised and planned racial violence.'" He described such incidents as serious law and order issues. Fortunately, it is now being recognised in India that there was an over-reaction there and Australia remains one of the best potential business partner for India, he said.
A young Indian journalist was threatened and attacked after she went underground to reveal migration and education scams in Australia that try to defraud international students, including those from India.
Under the new rule which came into effect on Saturday, all student visas to foreigners will be granted with work rights attached, removing the need for people to file an additional application. More than 30,000 Indians were granted student visa in year ending June 2007 and they had to file separate applications for taking up part-time jobs in Australia.
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Australia on Thursday assured India that 'firm action' will be taken against those responsible for the recent attacks on Indian students, as External Affairs Minister S M Krishna took up the issue with the authorities in Sydney, amid serious concerns over it back home. During his meeting with New South Wales Premier Nathan Rees, Krishna, who is on a five-day visit to Australia, was assured that firm action will be taken against the perpetrators.
A cartoon in a Delhi newspaper, which allegedly depicted a Victoria policeman as a member of hate group Ku Klux Klan in the wake of attacks on Indians, has sparked an outrage in Australia with acting Prime Minister Julia Gillard condemning it as "deeply offensive".
With Australia relaxing its visa norms to accomodate more Indian students, the country could well be a good option to study abroad, says counsellor Suchitra Surve of Growth Centre.
Without making an excuse for the recent spate of violence against Indians, Australia has said that the feedback received from the half a million-strong Indian student community has been 'positive'. Deputy Prime Minister Julia Gillard was quoted by a news report as saying that despite the recent spate of violence, the feedback received from the nearly half a million Indian students was positive towards the country, but that did not excuse the incidents.
Australia's medicines and medical devices regulator on Monday formally recognised India's Covaxin, a vaccine against the coronavirus as the country's border was reopened for the first time in nearly 20 months.
Two fresh cases of assault on Indians have been reported in Australia, with three students attacked in two separate incidents, even as the Immigration Minister prepared to leave for India to reassure that his country is a safe destination for students.
The violent attacks on Indian students have not ended despite the massive furore Down Under but Adam Gilchrist insists Australia remains open to overseas students and a majority of universities are safe for them.
In yet another incident targeting Indians in Australia, a student-cum-cabbie was threatened with knife by his two passengers, even as the Australian police insisted that these cases were not racially-motivated.
With incidents of attacks on Indians in Australia on the rise, many community members feel the root cause of such assaults is not race but the students' financial conditions that force them to be out at night for odd jobs to meet high cost of living in Australia.
The final betwene the two-time champions and the five-time winners will be staged at the Narendra Modi Stadium.
In yet another racial attack on Indian students in Australia, a 22-year-old Sikh youth was assaulted by a group of six teenagers, who tried to remove his turban and cut his hair. Resham Singh, a student who came from Punjab six months ago, became the 20th victim within a month, when he was attacked on Monday at Dandenong Station in Melbourne.Singh, who could not speak English properly, explained in Punjabi, "They tried to remove my turban and cut my hair."
The Australian government announced a new Skilled Occupation List (SOL) proposed to come into effect from July 1, 2010.
27-year-old Harjot Hundal Singh dragged the woman into his van, tied her hands and told her to stop shouting or he would kill her, according to an AAP report on Wednesday.
One of Australia's most prominent Indian-born businessmen has astonishingly said that the bashed students from his homeland provoked the assaults on themselves by being drunk and "making merry."
Listen carefully to what others say and stay open to opportunities of grasping the new learning atmosphere.
'Dharti par jo Rab hota hai, woh hai pitaah (There's a God on earth, and it's a Father).'
'We are careful not to walk the streets after dark. We are not safe because there are people here, who think Indians should not be in Australia,' The Daily Telegraph quoted Bharat Chauhan, an accounting student in Australia, as saying.
It is not clear, however, if Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, who ended his visit to India on Friday, bit the bullet and told Prime Minister Manmohan Singh that he would work on his Labour Party back home and convince them to slowly withdraw its ban on the sale of uranium to India.
The Oscar winning music composer hopes music can relieve the ongoing tension between India and Australia following racist attacks.
With assaults on Indians in Australia showing no let-up, External Affairs Minister S M Krishna is expected to take up the issue with his Australian counterpart Stephen Smith whom he will meet on the sidelines of a conference in London later this week.
The help line is featured on the Federation of Indian Associations of Victoria (FIAV) website, and was launched by Victoria Police in May 2009, as an initiative of the Indian Western Reference Group. The contact number for the FIAV was also not operational on Tuesday.
A development that may result in tightening of immigration rules for them.
Indian talent may soon be allowed to work in France without a degree from a French institute.
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