PM Modi likely to visit New York for UNGA session next month
United Nations (PTI): Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to address the annual high-level session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in September, according to a provisional list of speakers issued by the UN here.
The 80th session of the UNGA will open on September 9. The high-level General Debate will run from September 23-29, with Brazil as the traditional first speaker of the session, followed by the US.
US President Donald Trump will address world leaders from the iconic UNGA podium on September 23, his first address to the UN session in his second term in the White House.
According to the provisional list of speakers for the high-level debate of the 80th session of the General Assembly, India’s “Head of Government (HG)” will address the session on the morning of September 26.
The Heads of Government of Israel, China, Pakistan, and Bangladesh are also scheduled to address the UNGA general debate on the same day.
Modi had travelled to the US in February this year for a bilateral meeting with Trump in the White House in Washington, DC. In a joint statement issued after their meeting, Modi and Trump had announced plans to negotiate the first tranche of a mutually beneficial, multi-sector Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA) by the fall of 2025.
Even as trade negotiations were ongoing, Trump imposed tariffs totalling 50 per cent on India, including 25 per cent for New Delhi’s purchases of Russian oil that will come into effect from August 27.
Responding to the tariffs, India’s Ministry of External Affairs has said that the targeting of the country is unjustified and unreasonable.
“Like any major economy, India will take all necessary measures to safeguard its national interests and economic security,” it said.
Last week’s announcement of Trump’s executive order imposing the additional 25 per cent tariff came at a time when a team from the US is scheduled to visit India from August 25 for the sixth round of negotiations for the proposed bilateral trade agreement.
The two countries are aiming to conclude the first phase of the pact by fall (October-November) this year.
The UNGA list of speakers for the General Debate is provisional, and there is a possibility of changes in schedules and speakers over the next few weeks. The list will continue to be updated accordingly.
Considered the “busiest diplomatic season” of the year at the United Nations Headquarters, the high-level session opens in September annually.
The session this year comes amid the continued Israel-Hamas war as well as the Ukraine conflict.
Trump has said that in the six months of his second presidential term, he has solved several wars, including a peace agreement between Armenia and Azerbaijan, Cambodia and Thailand, Israel and Iran, Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Egypt and Ethiopia, and Serbia and Kosovo.
Trump has repeatedly claimed credit for stopping the May conflict between India and Pakistan.
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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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