Thaindian News

New Delhi, May 28 (IANS) With attacks on Indian students in Australia underlining the need for promoting mutual understanding, five Indian scholars Friday won fellowships for collaborative research on different aspects of Australian multi-cultural society and the Indian experience in the country.
Australian High Commissioner Peter Varghese Friday announced the winners of the 2010 Australia-India Council (AIC) Australian Studies Fellowships. Five fellowships were awarded, including two in the senior category for university faculty and three in the junior for research scholars.

“These awards will lift the understanding of Australia and Australian society among Indian university faculty and research scholars,” he said.

“Australia and India have much to learn from each other through collaborative research and these awards will expand the scope of that collaboration,” the envoy said.

The fellowships are part of the AIC Australian Studies program to promote academic linkages.

Professor Priyankar Upadhyaya, Malaviya Centre for Peace, Banaras Hindu University, will work on “Managing Diversities Peacefully: Learning Experiences from Multicultural Cities in India & Australia”.

Lovepreen Kaur from Max Healthcare plans to research “Perceptions of safety and the acculturation experience among Indian students in Australia”. She will conduct a pilot study of North Indian and Punjabi Students in Melbourne and Sydney.

Parmod Kumar of Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) will analyse “Writings from the Fringe: A comparative study of Australian Aboriginal and Indian Aborigines (Dalits) through their autobiographies and memoirs.”

The India-born population in Australia has risen from 110,563 in 2002 to 239,295 in 2008, to become the country’s fourth-largest migrant community.