Imran Khan to appear before LHC ahead of graft case hearing in Islamabad court
Lahore (PTI): Ousted premier Imran Khan will appear before a Pakistani court here on Friday and provide an assurance that he was ready to present himself on Saturday before the judge handling a corruption case against him.
Khan, the 70-year-old Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief, has been resisting arrest in the Toshakhana case and is holed up inside his Zaman Park residence here surrounded by hundreds of his supporters, who have fought pitched battles with the police and Rangers over the past few days.
"Imran Khan will come to the Lahore High Court himself and assure the judge that he is ready to go to the Islamabad court," PTI leader Fawad Chaudhry told media persons on Friday, adding that "an undertaking has also been given to the court".
Additional District and Sessions Judge in Islamabad Zafar Iqbal had re-issued non-bailable arrest warrants for Khan on February 28 and directed the capital city police to bring him to court by March 18.
While hearing the case, the judge remarked that Khan should surrender unconditionally before seeking any favour from the court.
Khan has skipped several hearings in the case.
Judge Iqbal on Monday re-issued non-bailable arrest warrants for Khan and directed the police to bring him to court by March 18.
However, when the police reached Khan's Zaman Park residence in Lahore to arrest him on Tuesday, they were met with resistance, leading to two-day pitched battles between PTI supporters and law enforcement agencies. The clashes ultimately subsided after the courts intervened on Wednesday.
Ahead of the hearing in LHC on Friday, Chaudhry tweeted that both parties had "agreed to resolve the issues" and the agreed solution will be presented in court.
Khan has been in the crosshairs for buying gifts, including an expensive Graff wristwatch he had received as the premier at a discounted price from the state depository called Toshakhana, and selling them for profit.
Established in 1974, the Toshakhana is a department under the administrative control of the Cabinet Division and stores precious gifts given to rulers, parliamentarians, bureaucrats, and officials by heads of other governments and states and foreign dignitaries.
According to Khan, he was facing over 80 different cases in various courts across Pakistan.
Khan was ousted from power in April last year after losing a no-confidence vote, which he alleged was part of a US-led conspiracy targeting him because of his independent foreign policy decisions on Russia, China, and Afghanistan.
Since his ouster, Khan has been asking for early elections to oust what he termed an "imported government" led by prime minister Shehbaz Sharif.
Sharif has maintained that elections will be held later this year once the parliament completes its five-year tenure.
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Govt launches 2 special categories visas for international students
New Delhi (PTI): India has launched two special category visa for international students intending to pursue higher education in academic institutions in the country.
The 'e-student visa' and 'e-student-x' visa have been introduced by the Ministry of Home Affairs and all applicants will have to use the 'Study in India' (SII) portal launched by the government, officials said.
The e-student visa facility can be availed by eligible foreign students registered on the SII portal while e-student-x visa is offered to the dependents of those holding e-student visas, they said.
The SII portal facilitates the admission process of international students who wish to pursue either long-term or short-term courses in India.
Students will need to apply for a visa separately on the portal https://indianvisaonline.gov.in/ but the authenticity of their application will be checked by SII ID.
Hence it is mandatory for students to apply to Indian higher educational institutions through SII website, the officials said.
Students may apply for the visa after receiving an admission offer letter from any of the SII partner institutes.
The e-student visa will be granted to such foreign nationals who obtain admission to studying in India and who wish to pursue such studies, regular, full-time, courses of under graduate, post graduation, PhD and such other formal programmes at educational institutes duly recognised by the statutory and regulatory body in India, the officials said.
Student visas are issued for up to five years, depending on the duration of the course. They can also be extended in India.
Further, those having valid e-student visas can enter India from any desired port of immigration check post, the officials said.
The SII is a flagship project of the Ministry of Education which hosts international students seeking higher education through its 600+ partner institutes offering more than 8000+ diverse courses in disciplines such as engineering & technology, management, agriculture, sciences, arts and humanities, language studies, commerce, law, paramedical sciences covering pharmacy, nursing, and select niche courses like Buddhist Studies, Yoga, etc.
Furthermore, they are available in different levels, from Undergraduate (Bachelors), Post-graduate (Masters), Doctoral level (PhD) and certification-based courses.
Due to the availability of an array of options (in courses), the students have the flexibility to choose the course of their interest and study in premier Indian institutes.
Furthermore, the process to get on board with SII is relatively easy and can be done through its online application submission, seeking admission to students' choice of programmes and further processing of applications for seeking admission, the officials said.
Students can get started right away by completing the first step to apply, i.e. registration, by clicking on the 'Register Now' tab.
The students are required to fill in simple details such as name, country, date of birth, mobile number and email ID.
Every student aspiring to complete their higher education in India and applying to study in India must have their unique student SII ID as this ID is what will help them to access their dashboard, track the progress of college and course applications, visa/e-visa, and other higher education in India-related processes.
No student SII ID means no chance of studying or moving to India, the officials added.
