Dubai Crown Prince inugurates first-ever overseas campus of IIM Ahmedabad
New Delhi (PTI): Dubai Crown Prince Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum on Thursday inaugurated the Dubai campus of the Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Ahmedabad, according to the Ministry of Education.
Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, who is on a two-day visit to the UAE, termed it another big leap towards globalisation of India's education.
"IIM Ahmedabad Dubai campus will take the best of India to the world. Dubai, today, has provided the perfect launchpad to the ethos of 'Indian in spirit, global in outlook' by hosting the IIM Ahmedabad international campus," Pradhan wrote on X.
Pradhan also met Abdulrahman Abdulmannan Al Awar, Acting Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research of the UAE.
"Both leaders reviewed bilateral cooperation in higher education and agreed to further deepen knowledge bridges, making knowledge, innovation, and research central pillars of the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership," the Ministry of Education (MoE) said in an official statement.
"The discussions also focused on joint research in critical and emerging areas, capacity building and promoting two-way cultural and academic exchanges. Reaffirming that India is a global hotspot of talent and the UAE a global economic hub, both sides underscored their shared commitment to strengthening people-to-people ties and advancing mutual priorities," it added.
Later, the minister also visited the Manipal University campus in Dubai, where he had a roundtable discussion with principals of Indian higher education institutions including Symbiosis, BITS Pilani, MIT, Amity and others.
"Pradhan learnt about the UAE's academic approaches and plans for the future. The minister outlined the need for moving the research value chain from the publication of research papers to productisation and marketisation.
"He also mentioned that there were productive deliberations on strengthening Brand India on the global education, innovation and entrepreneurship map," the statement said.
"The minister also interacted with the principals of 109 Indian Curriculum schools in the UAE. Principals of CBSE schools in other GCC countries and all global CBSE schools have joined virtually.
"On the occasion, Pradhan announced the setting up of the 12 Atal Tinkering Labs in CBSE schools in GCC countries to ignite scientific inquiry and entrepreneurship among students through hands-on STEM projects," it said.
At a symbolic event organised at the Indian Consulate in Dubai, Pradhan planted a sapling of the Ghaf tree, the national tree of the UAE, under the "Ek Ped Maa Ke Naam 2.0" campaign launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
On Wednesday, Pradhan visited the Abu Dhabi campus of IIT Delhi.
He also inaugurated Atal Incubation Centre (AIC) on the IIT Delhi-Abu Dhabi campus, a first-ever AIC hosted in an Indian institution overseas.
Pradhan's UAE visit is aimed at exploring collaborations in the field of education, fostering academic excellence and innovations and new avenues of partnership to meet the aspirations of the students and youths of both countries.
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.
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.”
_vb_22.jpeg)
