The Victoria police has faced criticism for its advice that asked Indian students to "try to dress poor". The Police said that the comments were blown out of proportion and were meant to be a "light hearted summation" of the safety advice.

The police as well as the Government has said that the advice could have been given to any community member to make them aware of their valuables and that the remark "try to look as poor as you can" must be seen as "light-hearted summation of the advice".

Victorian police chief Simon Overland has advised Indian students in Australia to keep a low profile and try to look poor to avoid attacks. These remarks drew strong condemnation from the Federation of Indian Student Association (FISA)s with its spokesperson Gautam Gupta  calling the statement ‘ridiculous’ .He said that  Indians need not look “poor” to feel safe.

Oliver advised the Indian students to make themselves less of a target by not displaying their expensive gadgets like ipods, valuable watches or jewellery.

Port Blair (Andaman and Nicobar Islands), Feb 7 (ANI): Despite tensions rising in India over the racist attacks against Indian students Down Under, the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) has said that it is not against its Indian counterpart assuming a policing role in the Indian Ocean region.

The RAN wants to have joint operations to counter threats from terrorists, pirates and other criminals in the sea lanes.

Canberra, Feb. 7 : The Giant feral pigs have outnumbered humans in Australia, with 24 million of the beasts compared to a human population of about 21 million - a phenomenon that is ruining city drinking water and triggering an official cull.

According to the Herald Sun, parasites from pig excrement have been found in surface-water catchments, and it is likely to cost millions of dollars to treat and purify the water.

“We rely on our surface water. It''s an important part of our water supply. The feral pig issue is something we don''t want to get worse,” Water Department director John Ruprecht said.

Melbourne, Feb 7: Former Australian fast bowler Geoff Lawson has expressed his admiration of Shaun Tait’s bowling performance in the Twenty20 game against Pakistan, but has cast doubts over the accuracy of the speed gun that clocked his 160.7km/h delivery.

Lawson felt the delivery, reportedly the fastest ever recorded in Australia, was not that fast, and some of Tait’s other deliveries on the night looked quicker.

“That 160.7 ball didn’t look that quick. It got through to [Brad] Haddin at about knee height and it was dying off the pitch,” The Sydney Morning Herald quoted Lawson, as saying.

Melbourne, Feb : Retired Australian fast bowler Jason Gillespie will captain a group of Australian cricketing legends to play against some of the country’s best indigenous players in Alice Springs this week.

Gillespie, with the help of fellow all-stars Matthew Elliot, Greg Matthews and Len Pascoe, will open the 17th Lord’s Taverners Imparja Cup on Sunday night, before conducting a clinic for local schools at Traeger Park on Monday.

A spotlight will be shone on Australia’s annual indigenous cricket carnival, when Gillespie and his fellow all-stars take on members of the indigenous development squad, with retired opening batsman Matthew Hayden making a special appearance.

Melbourne, Feb 7 : The divorce capital of Australia is Brisbane.

And it is so because more than 190 marriages are dissolved every week in the city''s Federal Magistrates Court, reports The Courier Mail.

According to figures, the busiest divorce court Down Under processed almost 10,000 divorce applications last financial year.

The Family Magistrates Court 2008-09 annual report showed Queenslanders filed 11,311 divorce applications with 11,065 divorces finalised.

Queensland had 25 applications per 10,000 residents, ahead of Victoria (22) and New South Wales (20).

Social demographer Bernard Salt said: "The Queensland divorce numbers I think is reflective of a more transient community.”

Melbourne, Feb 7: Australian skipper Ricky Ponting has backed his fast bowlers to contain West Indies captain Chris Gayle and his team in the one-day series starting at the MCG from Sunday.

Ponting also claimed to have assembled the best fast-bowling group in the world after the West Indies captain coolly tipped his team to thump Australia in the series.

Gayle has predicted said that the West Indies would win the series 4-1 despite Australia taking a stranglehold on the 50-over format in recent months and the Calypso outfit being weakened by injuries to experienced players.

Australian middle order batman Michael Hussey has dethroned Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni from the top spot in the latest International Cricket Council (ICC) rankings for batsmen in one day international released on Monday.

Hussey had scored 220 runs at the average of 73.33 in the recently concluded ODI series against Pakistan. Hussey gained 24 points and jumped to number one position with a lead of three points over second placed Dhoni, while South Africa’s AB de Villiers is placed at the third spot.

Australian team has clean sweep Pakistan 5-0 after defeating Pakistan by 2 wickets in the last one day international match of the five ODI matches series at the Western Australia Cricket Association Ground in Perth on Sunday.

Chasing the target of 213 runs, Australian team got a bad start as they lost their three wickets for just 73 runs on the board but Mike Hussey played a brilliant unbeaten inning of 40 runs to sail his team to victory in 49.2 overs.

India's Leander Paes and his Zimbabwean partner Cara Black have won the mixed doubles title in the Australian Open after defeating Ekaterina Makarova of Russia and  Jaroslav Levinsky of Czech Republic on Sunday.

The top seeded Indo-Zimbabwean pair registered straight set victory over the unseeded pair of Ekaterina and Jaroslav 7-5, 6-3 in one hour and eight minutes in the final to win their second Grand Slam title at the Melbourne Park.

Pakistan skipper Shahid Afridi has won the toss and elected to bat first in the last one day international match of the five ODI matches series against Australia at Western Australia Cricket Association Ground in Perth on Sunday.

Pakistan skipper Mohammad Yusuf has pulled out from this match due to knee injury and Afridi is leading Pakistan team for the first time in one day internationals. Kamran Akmal and Saeed Ajmal have been dropped from the Pakistan squad.

Australia has won the crown of the ICC U-19 World Cup as they defeated Pakistan by 25 runs in the final at the Bert Sutcliffe Oval in Lincoln on Saturday.

Pakistan skipper A Ghumman won the toss and invited Australian team to bat first in the grand finale. Australia got to a bad start as they lost their first three wickets with just
23 runs on the board.

Australia scored 207 runs for loss of nine wickets in their allotted 50 overs. K Richardson was the top scorer for Australia who scored 44 runs including two towering sixes. T Armstrong also batted brilliantly as he contributed 37 runs with the bat.

Australian skipper Ricky Ponting has won the toss and elected to bat first in the third one day international match of the five ODI matches series against Pakistan at the Adelaide Oval on Tuesday.

Mohammad Aamer has not been included in the Pakistan squad due to groin injury and Fawal Alam has replaced him for this match. Ryan Harris has been included in the Australian squad as Peter Siddle was not completely fit to play in the match.

India’s Leander Paes and his Zimbabwean partner Cara Black have made into the quarterfinal of the mixed doubles event of the first grand slam of the year, Australian open at the Melbourne Park in Melbourne on Monday.

The top seeded Indo-Zimbabwean pair thrashed Uzbek Akgul Amanmuradova and Rik De Voest of South Africa in straight sets 6-4 6-2 in the second round to move to quarterfinals for the sixth time in last eight grand slam events.

On January 27, celebrated Australian filmmaker, Baz Luhrmann, will unleash his creativity on a bare wall in suburban Khar in Mumbai.

The guru of heightened reality in cinema, best showcased in his award-winning films Romeo and Juliet and Moulin Rouge, will visit Mumbai with acclaimed Australian artist and friend, Vincent Fantauzzo.

The two are chief guests of Le Sutra, India’s first art hotel, and are expected to paint a mural on the theme of a fusion between contemporary and Indian dance on a vacant hotel wall.

Saudi Arabia may provide a safe haven to a large number of camels from Australia following the reports of Australia killing 1 million unwanted animals. Camel is an integral and celebrated part of Saudi's heritage and finds respectable place in its traditions. However, it is considered as a pest and polluter in Australia.

Camel lovers, in a response to a massive internet campaign, have urged camel owners for providing safe place for a wild herd.

Australian team has taken 1-0 lead against Pakistan in five one day international matches series after winning the first ODI by five wickets at the Brisbane Cricket Ground, Woolloongabba in Brisbane on Friday.

Pakistan skipper won the toss and elected to bat first. Pakistan team returned to pavilion with 274 runs on the board in 49.4 overs. Salman Butt was the top scorer for Pakistan while Shahid Afridi smashed 48 runs in just 26 balls including three towering sixes.

Australia witnesses a high employer confidence for the third consecutive quarter, touching its highest level since September 2008, revealed a report by Hudson.

The Hudson Report also claimed that the Employment Expectations survey suggests confidence rose by 10.6 per cent on last quarter, with 29.1% of employers indicating an intention to increase their permanent staff levels during the first quarter of 2010.

Hudson Australia/New Zealand chief executive officer Mark Steyn said, "Its well above the record low in the June 2009 quarter, when sentiment was virtually zero. Australian hiring intentions are now drawing much closer to pre-downturn levels”.

The Australian Medical Association has shared that a South Australian government proposal to employ services of private doctors across public hospitals will be too "costly".

Under the Government's plan, specialists from the Aspen medical agency are all set to be employed in order to effectively fill shortages which are currently being faced by the Queen Elizabeth and Modbury Hospitals.

The AMA is now looking to put forward its concerns at a meeting with Health Minister John Hill, which has been scheduled for Thursday.