No threat to Indian students, says Australia

Allying fears of any possible threat to Indian students enrolling in its universities, Australia on Tuesday made it clear that it has taken elaborate steps to ensure their safety.

At a function in Delhi to mark signing of seven memoranda of understanding between educational institutes of India and the Australian state of Victoria, its premier Ted Baillieu said initiatives have been taken to enhance security of Indian students in Australia after the 2010 incidents.

"The issue has been taken very seriously. Several security and protective steps have been taken and we are ensuring greater presence of police. Additional powers have been given to the police and a significant number of CCTV cameras have been installed to keep a strict vigil," Baillieu said.

He brushed aside apprehensions that the rising value of Australian dollar against the Indian rupee will hamper the traffic of Indian students as Indians always prefer to invest on quality education.

Baillieu said Melbourne has been ranked as the fourth best livable city on the globe by the London-based QS Organisation, establishing the fact that it has world-class infrastructure that holds the potential of attracting even more and more number of students.

He also awarded seven out of 10 Indian students with the Victorian Indian Doctoral Scholarship for cutting-edge research in various fields of education.

Those who received the scholarships are Sathish Thiruanvukkarasu (Monash University), Sayali Shah (University of Melbourne), Bhuvaneshwaran Venugopal (Deakin University), Srejoyee Ghosh (Deakin University), Abhishek Suresh (RMIT University), Jyotsana Nagpal (La Trobe University) and Debabrata Sikdar (Monash University).

The other three students are Rohan Shah (Swinburne University of Technology), Vignesh Rathinbasamy (La Trobe University) and Hitu Sood (Australian Catholic University).