Women's WC: India crush Pakistan by 88 runs to extend unbeaten streak
Colombo (PTI): The contrasting knocks of Harleen Deol and Richa Ghosh found ample support from the bowlers as India etched a commanding 88-run win over Pakistan in a drama-filled ICC Women's World Cup match here on Sunday.
Deol’s composed 46 off 65 balls and Richa Ghosh’s spirited 20-ball 35 lifted India to a competitive 247 on a sluggish track after the match referee erroneously ruled the toss in favour of Pakistan, who elected to bowl first.
Pacer Kranti Gaud (3/20) dismantled Pakistan's top order while the spinners cleaned up the middle-order and tail, bundling them out for 159, despite a valiant effort from Sidra Amin (81 off 106 balls).
With this win, India extended their perfect head to head record to 12-0 in ODIs.
The match moved on familiar lines and the expected hostilities were conspicuous by its absence, but the day was not entirely bereft of drama.
India continued their “no-handshake” policy at the toss or after the match, sticking to the precedent set during the men’s Asia Cup in the UAE.
The gaffe during the toss added to the list of amusements which later swelled through a bizarre run out and the 15-minute delay due to bugs invading the field.
Cutting back to cricketing matters, Pakistan's chase of 248 began in chaos when opener Muneeba Ali (2) was sensationally run out.
Facing Gaud, she survived an initial leg-before appeal which was ruled not out, but as she momentarily wandered out of the crease with the ball still in play.
An alert Deepti Sharma swooped in with a direct hit to break the stumps with Muneeba's bat still in the air, much to the disappointment of skipper Fatima Sana who argued with the umpire.
Gaud then struck twice in quick succession, first dismissing Sadaf Shamas (6), caught off her own bowling, and then removing Aliya Riaz (2), leaving Pakistan reeling at 26/3.
As the Indian bowlers tightened their grip, Sidra and Natalia Pervaiz (33) offered resistance with a 69-run stand, briefly steadying the innings before the inevitable collapse followed.
Earlier, Indian batters struggled to get going on a slow track but Deol’s knock provided some stability in the middle overs, during Richa's cameo, pushing India near the 250-run mark.
Opener Pratika Rawal (31) gave India a brisk start, smashing Diana Baig for three consecutive fours, but star batter Smriti Mandhana (23) once again fell inside the power play, putting the top-order under early pressure.
After surviving an unsuccessful leg-before appeal off Baig, Mandhana was trapped in front of the wicket by Pakistan skipper Fatima.
The disciplined Pakistan bowlers kept the batters on a leash with tight lines and clever variations in pace, denying them any rhythm and chipping away at regular intervals.
Pacers Baig (4/69) and Sana (2/38) did the maximum damage, sharing six wickets between them.
Rawal was next to go, her attempted cut shot brushing the top of the off stump.
Deol showed composure, stitching together a 39-run stand with Harmanpreet (19) and then added 45 with Jemimah Rodrigues (32).
However, Harmanpreet fell to an inside edge just when she looked set, while Deol, after doing the hard work by playing herself in, squandered the chance to push on in an attempt to hit a boundary.
Jemimah, who had an early reprieve on two after being caught off a no-ball, was the next to depart for 32 as Pakistan maintained relentless pressure.
Thereafter, the experienced pair of Deepti) and Sneh Rana (20) steadied the innings with a 42-run partnership.
But just as India looked poised for a late flourish, Sana and Baig returned in the death overs to dismiss both.
Just when Pakistan seemed to have choked India's momentum with five late wickets, Richa unleashed a blistering little innings, hitting three fours and two sixes, including an audacious sweep to push India to an adequate total.
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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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