Tilak Varma rises to third in ICC T20I batting rankings; Adil Rashid moves to second among bowlers
Dubai, Jun 11 (PTI): India's Tilak Varma climbed one spot to third in the ICC Men's T20I Batting Rankings, while spinners Varun Chakaravarthy and Ravi Bishnoi held on to the third and seventh positions respectively in the latest bowling chart released on Wednesday.
Tilak now has 804 rating points, behind compatriot Abhishek Sharma, who is placed second. Australia's Travis Head continues to lead the batting chart while Suryakumar Yadav, who slipped one place to sixth, is the only other Indian in the top 10.
In the bowling rankings, besides Chakaravarthy (706) and Bishnoi (674), left-arm pacer Arshdeep Singh is also in the top 10 with 653 points.
Hardik Pandya continues to lead the all-rounders' list with 252 rating points.
Among others, England’s Adil Rashid moved up a spot to second in the bowling rankings following a strong showing in the 3-0 T20I series win over West Indies. The 37-year-old picked up 1/22 in Chester-le-Street, 1/59 in Bristol, and 2/30 in Southampton to surpass Wanindu Hasaranga and Chakaravarthy. Rashid now has 710 points, just 13 behind top-ranked Jacob Duffy of New Zealand (723).
Brydon Carse, Rashid’s teammate, also made gains with two wickets across the last two games, jumping 16 spots to 52nd with 493 points.
England's Ben Duckett rose 48 places to 16th after his blazing 84 off 46 balls in the final T20I, while Harry Brook moved up six spots to joint-38th following knocks of 35 not out and 34 in the series.
For West Indies, captain Shai Hope moved up 14 places to 15th with two knocks in the 40s, while Rovman Powell entered the top 20 after an unbeaten 79 off 45 balls in the final game.
All-rounder Jason Holder also made progress, moving up 16 places to 26th in the all-rounder rankings after contributing 70 runs and a wicket in the series.
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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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