[AUSTRALIA]

Indian woman named one of Australia's 2011 young executives

A35-year-old Indian, Preeti Bajaj, has been named one of the Australian Financial Review's Young Executives of the year 2011.

The annual BOSS Young Executives of the Year Awards are run by the prestigious AFR magazine in association with global talent management consultancy Development Dimensions International.

The awards, now in their seventh year, recognize the achievements of aspiring future leaders and is said to identify six young Australians with the skills, talent and drive needed to make a successful future leader.

Bajaj, a Delhi University student, was among the six winners this year who were tracked down on the basis of an analysis of how they perform compared to more senior executives.

She currently works as regional manager of an Australian property firm, Brookfield Multiplex Services. She leads a team providing facility management, predominantly for government departments.

She said building a business was her most satisfying experience, as prior to her current role, she worked as a managing director of a software company, Vision Software.

Currently she is undertaking a master’s in applied finance from Macquarie University after an MBA from Swinburne University of Technology and Bachelor of Arts (economics and political science), University of Delhi and Diploma of hotel management, Institute of Hotel Management, Delhi.

As a six-year-old, Preeti Bajaj was getting some of the best business experience you can get. Accompanying her father to the factory floor of the family’s overhead component manufacturing business in New Delhi, Bajaj delivered bonuses for Diwali to about 400 employees. “I remember my father saying ‘Never miss giving a Diwali bonus to your team.’ It was about being engaged with employees. In India, in those days, lot of bosses didn’t take time out for that. I saw my father as approachable yet he was the boss when he needed to be. Even in my formative years I looked up to his management style.”

Bajaj says building a business has been her most satisfying experiences. She was managing director and majority share holder of a startup, property management software group Vision Software, for two and half years. Her plans for Vision came unstuck due to a “mismatch” between the risk appetites of the board and herself when it came to raising capital for international expansion.

“I was a bit heartbroken,” she recalls. “The biggest lesson for me was that in terms of crafting the vision that you have, which might be big and bold, you alone having it is not good enough.”

Bajaj left Vision Software and went to property company Brookfield Multiplex Services (one of Vision’s clients) in late 2007 to work on setting up a new business unit, before moving into business development. In 2010, she was promoted to regional manager services for Victoria. She leads a team providing facilities management, predominantly for government departments.

Known in her team for breaking into a nervous song when under pressure, Bajaj boxes at her local gym to help manage stress. “It tires you so much you couldn’t possibly think about anything else.”

Preeti Bajaj: among Australian Financial Review's Young Executives of the Year 2011

103 Indians died in Australian attacks: Vayalar Ravi

As many as 103 Indians were killed or injured in attacks in Australia last year and steps have been taken to prevent such assaults, Overseas Indian Affairs Minister Vayalar Ravi told the Lok Sabha in early August.

“It has been conveyed to the Australian government that it was the responsibility of the Australian authorities to ensure the well being and security of all Indians in Australia,” Ravi told the Lok Sabha.

In 2009, 52 Indians either lost their lives or were injured in Australia in attacks on them, while 11 such incidents were reported in 2008, the minister said.

The attacks resulted in a diplomatic row, as India blamed racism for the targeting of Indians, especially students. The Australian authorities said they were also taking steps to curb the attacks.

On many occasions, Indian students have taken out protests marches, saying attacks on them were motivated by racism and were not being sufficiently addressed by the Australian government.

There are over 600,000 international students from over 100 countries pursuing university or vocational studies in Australia.

In 2009, there were over 150,000 Indian students enrolled to undertake an Australian qualification and India was the second topsource country for Australia’s international education industry. After the series of attacks on Indians, many students returned home.

Assaults not racial: Report

Indian students in Australia were more likely to be victims of robbery but these crimes were opportunistic not racially motivated, says a report.

The Australian Institute of Criminology analyzed the assaults, robbery and theft committed against international students from 2005 to 2009 after media attention suggested that Indian students were being targeted.

The institute looked at 15,000 reports of crimes against students from India, China, South Korea, the US and Malaysia - the five largest groups of student visa holders, the Australian Associated Press reported.

Director Adam Tomison said: “There was nothing in the overall findings that lends support to the view that Indian students have been singled out primarily for racial reasons.”

The report suggested the high rates of robbery against Indians could probably be because they were more likely to work in jobs, paticularly late at night.

A quarter of robberies against Indian students happened at retail locations and almost two in three happened at petrol stations..

- [BY YOGESH KARIKURVE]