Indian-American presidential aspirant Vivek Ramaswamy attacked by rivals over Ukraine
Washington (PTI): Indian-American Republican presidential aspirant Vivek Ramaswamy has infuriated his Republican primary rivals when he said that he will not back Ukraine in its war against Russia, aligning himself with former president Donald Trump who wants to abandon critical support of Kyiv.
"We have to level with the American people on this issue," the 38-year-old multimillionaire biotech entrepreneur said.
"Just because (Russian President Vladimir) Putin is an evil dictator does not mean that Ukraine is good. This is a country that has banned 11 opposition parties, that has actually...," Ramaswamy said during the second Republican presidential primary at the Reagan Library in Simi Valley, California, on Wednesday.
Ramaswamy's isolationist tilt drew major blowback from former vice president Mike Pence, former governor of New Jersey Chris Christie and former South Carolina governor Nikki Haley.
Haley, who is also of Indian origin, was the first to jump in and oppose such a move by Ramaswamy.
"A win for Russia is a win for China," she said.
Ramaswamy disagreed.
"China is the real enemy. We are driving Russia further into China's arms. We need a reasonable peace plan to end this, this is a country whose president just last week was hailing a Nazi in his own ranks," he said.
Pence joined Haley in slamming Ramaswamy for his comments.
"Vivek, if you let Putin have Ukraine, that's a green light to China to take Taiwan. Peace comes through strength," he said. "We need a reasonable plan to peace. We need a reasonable plan to peace," Ramaswamy responded.
Christie too slammed Ramaswamy.
"The Chinese are paying for the Russian war in Ukraine. The Iranians are supplying more sophisticated weapons, and so are the North Koreans now as well, with the encouragement of the Chinese," he said.
"The naivete on this stage from some of these folks is extraordinary," Christie said.
"Look, I understand people want to go and talk to Putin. Guess what? So did George W. Bush. So did Barack Obama. So did Donald Trump. And so did Joe Biden, when he said a small invasion wouldn't be so bad. Every one of them has been wrong," he said.
"The fact of the matter is, we need to say right now that the Chinese-Russian alliance is something we have to fight against. And we are not going to solve it by going over and cuddling up to Vladimir Putin. Look, Donald Trump said Vladimir Putin was brilliant and a great leader. This is the person who is murdering people in his own country. And now, not having enough blood, he's now going to Ukraine to murder innocent civilians and kidnap 20,000 children," he said.
"And let me tell you, if you think that's where it's going to stop, if we give him any of Ukraine, next will be Poland," Christie said.
In an email to his supporters after the debate, Ramaswamy said that he was once again the number one target of his fellow Republican candidates.
"Nikki Haley said she felt "dumber" when I spoke. Tim Scott came after my business record. Ron DeSantis' Super PAC wouldn't stop tweeting about me. While they launched their attacks on my platform last night, I focused on the Truth," he said.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
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.
