New Delhi, April 18: The Central government on Wednesday launched a common admission portal for foreign students to promote Indian education to "200,000 international students by 2023".
The portal 'Study in India' was launched here as an initiative by the Human Resource Development Ministry, aided by the External Affairs Ministry.
Under the initiative, a total of 160 higher education institutes have been identified to provide education in over 1,500 courses to international students seeking to study in India. The institutes include all Indian Institutes of Technology, National Institutes of Technology, and Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi, Osmania University, Hyderabad, Presidency College, Kolkata, etc.
"Study in India has many dimensions. It's a project where India becomes a hub of educational activities ... Over the years we have seen a stagnation in the number of students coming to India. Singapore, Australia, and many other countries attracted more students. From India also, I have seen Australia doing a 'Study in Australia' project," HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar said in a video address.
"We are today focussing on Asia, ASEAN (Association of South East Asian Nations), Africa, Gulf (Middle East) but... I have a dream that even American families will send their children to complete undergraduate courses in India," he said.
Calling the endeavour a "major step forward" to freeing Indian education market for foreign students, Secretary, Higher Education, R. Subrahmanyam said that about 55 per cent of the total seats on offer at these 160 institutes will come with fee waivers.
The venture will include easing of visa requirements for international students.
External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, Minister of State for Human Resource Development Satyapal Singh and diplomats from over 30 countries attended the launch.
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Cong chief asks PM for special Parliament session to discuss Pahalgam attack
New Delhi (PTI): Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, asking him to convene a special session of Parliament to discuss the Pahalgam terror attack and demonstrate a collective resolve.
Several opposition MPs have made a similar demand to the government in the wake of the dastardly attack in which 26 people, mostly tourists, were killed last week, leaving the nation grief-stricken and outraged.
India has cited "cross-border linkages" to the horrific incident and promised severe punishment to those involved in the strike.
In a letter to the prime minister, Kharge said, "At this moment, when unity and solidarity is essential, the opposition believes that it is important to convene a special session of both Houses of Parliament at the earliest.
"This will be a powerful demonstration of our collective resolve and willpower to deal with the brutal terror attack in Pahalgam on innocent citizens on April 22. It is our fond hope that the session will be accordingly convened," the leader of opposition in the Rajya Sabha added.
The Congress president, however, had been unrelenting in his attack on PM Modi. At a party rally in Rajasthan on Monday, he lashed out at the prime minister for skipping the all-party meeting on the Pahalgam attack and accused the BJP of creating divisions in the country.
Kharge had said that in this hour of crisis, everyone wants to fight together, "but the BJP wants to spread venom and divide people".
Party general secretary, in-charge communications, Jairam Ramesh shared the letter on X and said, "Congress President and Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge has written to the PM last night, requesting that a special session of both Houses of Parliament be convened at the earliest to demonstrate a collective will to deal with the situation arising out of the brutal terror attacks in Pahalgam on April 22."
