Mohanlal, Shah Rukh, Rani Mukerji, Vikrant Massey conferred National Awards
New Delhi, Sep 23 (PTI): President Droupadi Murmu on Tuesday conferred National Awards for acting to Shah Rukh Khan, Vikrant Massey and Rani Mukerji while Malayalam superstar Mohanlal was honoured with the Dadasaheb Phalke lifetime achievement award in a ceremony that doffed its hat to mainstream popular cinema.
Filmmakers Vidhu Vinod Chopra, who took home the best film prize for "12th Fail", and Karan Johar and Apoorva Mehra, who received the award for "Rocky Aur Rani Kii Kahaani" for best popular film providing wholesome entertainment, completed the starry ensemble at the 71st National Film Awards.
The best director award went to Sudipto Sen for "The Kerala Story".
The National Awards for 2023 were announced in August. It's the first National Award for friends and frequent collaborators Shah Rukh and Rani as well as for Vikrant. While Shah Rukh got it for his role in "Jawan", sharing his win with "12th Fail" star Vikrant, Rani bagged it for "Mrs Chatterjee vs Norway".
There were whistles and loud cheers as Rani and Shah Rukh went up to receive their awards at the traditionally sober ceremony. Mohanlal, recognised for a remarkable career spanning five decades and more than 360 films, got a standing ovation from the crowd gathered at the city's Vigyan Bhawan.
"I got to know that when Mohanlal's name was announced for Dadasaheb Phalke, there was wave of happiness among people. It shows that he has made a space for himself in countless people's heart," the president said in her address after the award ceremony.
"He has presented the softest of the soft and toughest of the tough emotions quite naturally," Murmu added in a speech in which she congratulated all the winners and touched on various issues, including the plurarity of Indian cinema, Indian sensibility and women-centric films.
"Now we see women in many places in cinema like actors and producers. I have seen films about mothers, women uniting against societal wrongs, and strong women who raise their voices. I salute these filmmakers on behalf of sisters and daughters.
Please thank your crews for your success, they are behind it,' she said.
Just like Indian literature is created in various Indian languages, the president said, Indian cinema is advancing in so many languages, dialects, regions and local environments.
Information and Broadcasting Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw spoke of the Make in India initiative of the government.
"Equipment used in the film industry such as big cameras... should be made in India. We will be started a programme on this soon," he said. The minister also stressed on the need to create a live concert economy with proper policy support, uniform guidelines and easy permissions.
As the recipient of the prestigious Dadasaheb Phalke, Mohanlal was the only awardee who spoke.
He said he was deeply humbled to be the youngest recipient, and "only the second ever" from the state to be bestowed with this national recognition.
"This moment is not mine alone. It belongs to the entire Malayalam cinema fraternity. I see this award as a collective tribute to our industry, legacy, creativity and resilience," added the 65-year-old movie legend known for landmark films such as “Iruvar”, “Vanaprastham”, “Pulimurugan” and “Drishyam”.
Hindi cinema dominated the awards in the main categories.
Among those presented awards were Meghna Gulzar and Ronnie Screwvala for the biopic on Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw "Sam Bahadur", the best film promoting national, social and environmental values.
Vaibhavi Merchant won the best choreography award for "Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani" song "Dhindhora Baaje". Shilpa Rao was named best female playback singer for "Jawan" track "Chaleya".
Sanya Malhotra-starrer "Kathal: A Jackfruit Mystery" was named the best Hindi film.
Regional movies were recognised in categories such as best supporting actor and actress and in technical segments.
The best supporting actor trophy was shared by Vijayaraghavan for Malayalam film "Pookalam" and Muthupettai Somu Bhaskar for Tamil film "Parking".
The best supporting actress honour went to Urvashi for the Malayalam movie "Ullozhokku" and Janki Bodiwala for Gujarati title "Vash". Both movies won best films in their respective language segments.
Ashish Bende bagged the award for best debut film of a director for Marathi film "Aatmapamphlet".
The best film in AVGC (animation, visual effects, gaming & comic) went to Telugu film "Hanu-Man", which also won the best action direction award.
"Animal", another Hindi blockbuster of 2023, won awards for best sound design, best music director (background music) and a special mention for re-recording mixer.
The National Award for best screenplay was shared between Telugu movie "Baby" and Tamil film "Parking". "Baby" singer PVN S Rohit was recognised as the best male playback singer for the song "Premisthunna".
The best music director for songs went to G V Prakash for Tamil movie "Vaathi". Kasarla Shyam was named best lyricist for Telugu movie "Balagam" song 'Ooru Palleturu".
Deepak Kingrani was named best dialogue writer for the Manoj Bajpayee-fronted Hindi film "Sirf Ek Bandaa Kaafi Hai". The best editing prize went to Malayalam title "Pookkaalam" and production design to another Malayalam movie "2018".
Sukriti Veni Bandreddi ("Gandhi Tatha Chettu"), Kabir Khandare ("Gypsy") and "Naal 2" cast members Treesha Thosar, Shrinivas Pokale, and Bhargav Jagtap were recognised in the best child artists category. "Naal 2" was also named best children's film.
In the language film categories, the winners were -- "Rongatapu 1982" (Assamese), "Deep Fridge" (Bengali), "Parking" (Tamil), "Kandeelu" (Kannada), "Shamchi Aai" (Marathi), "Puskara" (Odia), "Godday Godday Chaa" (Punjabi) and "Bhagavanth Kesari" (Telugu).
The winners for various non-feature categories were also announced with Hindi movie "Flowering Man" being named the best film, while the best documentary went to "God Vulture and Human". The best director award was bagged by Piyush Thakur for "The First Film" and the best script went to Chidananda Nayak's Kannada short film "Sunflowers were the First Ones to Know".
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Single higher education regulator bill tabled in LS; Oppn flags ‘centralisation,' JPC likely
New Delhi: A bill to set up a 13-member body to regulate institutions of higher education was introduced in the Lok Sabha on Monday.
Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan introduced the Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan Bill, which seeks to establish an overarching higher education commission along with three councils for regulation, accreditation, and ensuring academic standards for universities and higher education institutions in India.
Meanwhile, the move drew strong opposition, with members warning that it could weaken institutional autonomy and result in excessive centralisation of higher education in India.
The Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan Bill, 2025, earlier known as the Higher Education Council of India (HECI) Bill, has been introduced in line with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.
The proposed legislation seeks to merge three existing regulatory bodies, the University Grants Commission (UGC), the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), and the National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE), into a single unified body called the Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan.
At present, the UGC regulates non-technical higher education institutions, the AICTE oversees technical education, and the NCTE governs teacher education in India.
Under the proposed framework, the new commission will function through three separate councils responsible for regulation, accreditation, and the maintenance of academic standards across universities and higher education institutions in the country.
According to the Bill, the present challenges faced by higher educational institutions due to the multiplicity of regulators having non-harmonised regulatory approval protocols will be done away with.
The higher education commission, which will be headed by a chairperson appointed by the President of India, will cover all central universities and colleges under it, institutes of national importance functioning under the administrative purview of the Ministry of Education, including IITs, NITs, IISc, IISERs, IIMs, and IIITs.
At present, IITs and IIMs are not regulated by the University Grants Commission (UGC).
Government to refer bill to JPC; Oppn slams it
The government has expressed its willingness to refer it to a joint committee after several members of the Lok Sabha expressed strong opposition to the Bill, stating that they were not given time to study its provisions.
Responding to the opposition, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju said the government intends to refer the Bill to a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) for detailed examination.
Congress Lok Sabha MP Manish Tewari warned that the Bill could result in “excessive centralisation” of higher education. He argued that the proposed law violates the constitutional division of legislative powers between the Union and the states.
According to him, the Bill goes beyond setting academic standards and intrudes into areas such as administration, affiliation, and the establishment and closure of university campuses. These matters, he said, fall under Entry 25 of the Concurrent List and Entry 32 of the State List, which cover the incorporation and regulation of state universities.
Tewari further stated that the Bill suffers from “excessive delegation of legislative power” to the proposed commission. He pointed out that crucial aspects such as accreditation frameworks, degree-granting powers, penalties, institutional autonomy, and even the supersession of institutions are left to be decided through rules, regulations, and executive directions. He argued that this amounts to a violation of established constitutional principles governing delegated legislation.
Under the Bill, the regulatory council will have the power to impose heavy penalties on higher education institutions for violating provisions of the Act or related rules. Penalties range from ₹10 lakh to ₹75 lakh for repeated violations, while establishing an institution without approval from the commission or the state government could attract a fine of up to ₹2 crore.
Concerns were also raised by members from southern states over the Hindi nomenclature of the Bill. N.K. Premachandran, an MP from the Revolutionary Socialist Party representing Kollam in Kerala, said even the name of the Bill was difficult to pronounce.
He pointed out that under Article 348 of the Constitution, the text of any Bill introduced in Parliament must be in English unless Parliament decides otherwise.
DMK MP T.M. Selvaganapathy also criticised the government for naming laws and schemes only in Hindi. He said the Constitution clearly mandates that the nomenclature of a Bill should be in English so that citizens across the country can understand its intent.
Congress MP S. Jothimani from Tamil Nadu’s Karur constituency described the Bill as another attempt to impose Hindi and termed it “an attack on federalism.”
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