INDIA NEWS
June 1-15, 2022 - Vol 2, Issue 22
Foreign study tours, scholarship schemes become integral part of ‘Naya J&K’
SPECIAL FEATURES
India is QUAD’s crucial partner for peace and stability in Indo-Pacific region
Pakistan and is a known property broker in Rawalpindi.
Srinagar, May 11 (IANS) Just two years ago, students in Jammu and Kashmir had no idea about foreign study tours. However, in “Naya J&K” it has become a reality. Recently J&K Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha flagged off a batch of 12 undergraduate students from SKUAST-K on a study tour to Kansas State University, USA. These students are visiting the USA under the Student Overseas Fellowship Programme of National Agricultural Higher Education Project (NAHEP) funded by Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) & World Bank. This tour was one among the many initiatives that have been taken by the government to provide J&K youth with the opportunities to get quality education so that they can face the challenges and grow-up as responsible citizens. After August 5, 2019-when the Centre announced its decision to abrogate J&K’s special status and divided it into two union territories-the government announced multiple scholarships and other schemes for the students. 5000 scholarships provided under PMSSS In 2021-22, under Prime Minister’s Special Scholarship Scheme (PMSSS), J&K a total of 5,000 scholarships were awarded for students pursuing courses in general degree, professional degree, and medical streams. Students selected for the scholarship for general degree courses were eligible to receive upto Rs 30,000 per annum for the academic fee (payable to the institution) and maintenance charges of Rs 1 lakh per annum (payable to the student), a total of 2070 scholarships were offered under this category. For professional degree, students were eligible upto Rs 1.25 lakh per annum for the academic fee (payable to the institution), maintenance charges of Rs 1 lakh per annum (payable to the student). A total of 2830 scholarships were offered. For MBBS/BDS or equivalent medical streams students are eligible upto Rs 3 lakh per annum for the academic fee (payable to the institution), maintenance charges of Rs 1 lakh per annum (payable to the student). A total
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of 100 scholarships were offered under this category. The steps taken by the government in the past 2-years have facilitated the access of students to quality education so as to equip them with knowledge, skills, experience, and training for higher academic level/profession. The implementation of the National Education Policy-2020 has empowered young students to engage not only in advanced research but also in various other fields which facilitate development of new and innovative technologies and their commercial development. The international outreach initiatives are in line with the NEP-2020. Separatists used education as tool Prior to the abrogation of socalled special status of J&K the separatists used to provide recommendation letters to students for pursuing studies in various colleges in Pakistan and Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK). More than education the aim was to indoctrinate the young minds. In April, officials revealed that seventeen Kashmiri youth, who had travelled to Pakistan on valid travel documents and sneaked back into the Valley through illegal routes were killed in antiterror operations. Since 2015, a large number of youngsters have procured travel documents to visit Pakistan to pursue higher studies. Recently, the University Grants Commission and the All Indian Council for Technical Education, the higher and technical education regulators of the country, had issued a statement, advising students not to travel to Pakistan for pursuing higher education. In December last year the State Investigation Agency (SIA) of the Jammu and Kashmir Police had filed a chargesheet against nine people, including Hurriyat leader Zaffar Bhat, in a case connected to selling Pakistani MBBS seats to Kashmiri students against huge payments. The SIA in its charge sheet had stated that Bhat earned a great deal of money selling Pakistani MBBS seats to the top notch people of Kashmir. Bhat used to operate through his brother, Altaf Ahmad Bhat, who moved to Rawalpindi, Pakistan, after crossing into PoK for arms training. Altaf Bhat is at present in
Besides Zaffar Akbar Bhat and his brother Altaf Ahmed Bhat charges were also framed against Fatima Shah, Qazi Yasir, Mohammad Abdullah Shah, Sabzar Ahmad Sheikh, Manzoor Ahmad Shah and Mohammad Iqbal Mir. The investigating agencies took the lid off the scandal and brought to fore the nefarious designs of the separatists, who were turning Kashmiri youth into terrorists at the pretext of providing education. In last 2-years no student went to Pak During the past two years no student from Kashmir has gone to Pakistan or Pakistan occupied Kashmir to acquire any sort of education. The government has ensured that no need arises for Kashmiri students to even look towards the neighbouring country. Education has been made accessible to all. The implementation of New Education Policy, 2020 and various scholarship schemes for young minds have provided them with multiple opportunities across the country. The renewed thrust on providing quality education to the youth has been one of the integral elements of “Naya Jammu and Kashmir”. The mainstream Kashmiri leaders, who ruled J&K till 2018, were aware about the conspiracies that were hatched by the separatists and Pakistani agents present in the Valley. Unfortunately these rulers just turned a blind eye towards how the adversary was using education as a tool to misguide a common man in the Himalayan region. Had they acted and made an attempt to implement the centrally sponsored schemes aimed at making education accessible to all, no Kashmiri student would have run after the separatists to seek recommendation letters for pursuing higher studies in Pakistan. Now, the scenario has changed. J&K students are going on study tours to foreign countries. Colleges across the country have opened the doors for them. The government besides sponsoring the annual fee of the meritorious and deserving students is also providing them with the sustenance allowance yearly to help them complete their courses. The new dawn has broken out in J&K and everyone from bottom to top is getting benefitted. People of the Himalayan region had to wait for 70 long years for getting the benefits and privileges they deserved. The dispensation led by Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, has made it possible by changing J&K status-quo and by merging it into the Union of India completely.
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New Delhi, May 10 (IANS) QUAD Summit 2022 took place in Tokyo on May 24 where the leaders of four nations-India, Japan, the US and Australia deliberated upon various regional and global issues including Ukraine war and peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region. Interestingly, in the run up to the QUAD Summit, the US President visited the Republic of Korea and Japan from May 20 to 24 with the stated objective of further deepening the ties. There are many skeptics who are raising doubts about the QUAD members’ unity after India’s decision to abstain from the UN resolution against Russia over the Ukraine conflict. QUAD Group has steered ahead since it was first conceived in 2007 with a vision of a free and open Indo-Pacific. The group became more coalesced after a decade and graduated to a formal association from being just a tentative coalition. Malabar Naval Exercises in November 2020 in which navies of Australia, India, Japan and the US participated, projected the power of unity among QUAD members. It is likely that India’s neutral stance on the Ukraine war, unlike other QUAD members, may come up during deliberations among the QUAD members in the Summit. However, it is, almost a foregone conclusion, that despite US’s insistence on supporting Ukraine and decrying Russia for the war, India would stand firm in its stance that war should be stopped; negotiation and dialogue should be resorted to resolve disputes, humanitarian access should be provided, and civilian casualties should be avoided. It is short of US’s expectations, but India is a sovereign nation and it has long and reliable ties with Russia, therefore, while it would continue to urge ending hostilities and resolving the disputes through dialogue and negotiations, it would maintain its measured and principled stand in this regard. All the Quad members are democratic and believe in complying with international conventions while pursuing their security and strategic interests together in the Indo-Pacific region. The description of the QUAD as the “Asian Version of NATO” in some quarters springs from the frustration that the presence of a QUAD like alliance would not allow any country to jeopardize peace and stability in the region. The QUAD, being a group of democratic countries which respect the sovereignty of each other, would not make any fuss on
each other’s foreign policy. Rather they would focus on strategic collaboration in the Indo-Pacific region. The intention of QUAD is clear from the very beginning, i.e., maintaining peace and stability as well as smooth mercantile movement in the Indo-Pacific and not expansionism. India is pivotal to the US Indo-Pacific strategy. Its importance in the Indo-Pacific region has increased due to a shift in geopolitics as highlighted by the Indian Foreign Minister - “the Indian and Pacific Oceans have become much more seamless. It is increasingly untenable to see them in compartmentalized terms, which is part of a larger geopolitical shift”. India is now recognised as a great link between the Western Pacific and the Indian Ocean -- the major theatres of contemporary geopolitics. India’s geographic location, size, and military capabilities as the world’s second largest army, ranking fifth overall (ahead of France, Israel and South Korea), and a formidable presence in the Indian Ocean, make India an ideal strategic partner for the QUAD. The US State Department has always highlighted that a strong US-India partnership is vital to the Indo-Pacific vision, particularly for safe and free mercantile movement and compliance of the international conventions in and around the South China Sea in particular and the Indo-Pacific region in general. During his recent India visit, the Prime Minister of the UK also highlighted India’s importance in maintaining peace and prosperity in the IndoPacific region and his willingness to cooperate with India in this regard. India’s importance for QUAD cannot be underestimated. It has been an influential power in South Asia and SouthEast Asia. It enjoys deep economic and strategic ties with the countries of the region. Since, India shares democratic values with other QUAD partners and security concerns due to increased Chinese unlawful activities in the Indo-Pacific region, often based on military expansionism and violation of international laws, India remains strategically the most pivotal partner of QUAD and other Western countries. Anticipation about critical discussion in the QUAD summit over India’s position on the Russia - Ukraine conflict was far-fetched and unrealistic. The US has already indicated that it understands and appreciates India’s position on the Ukraine war.
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