Dubai–Mangaluru Air India Express flight leaves passengers’ luggage behind in Dubai
Mangaluru: Passengers arriving from Dubai on an Air India Express flight to Mangaluru on Saturday evening were left angry and helpless after learning that their luggage had not arrived with them and was left behind in Dubai.
When the flight landed and travellers went to collect their baggage, they were informed by the airline staff that several bags had not been loaded due to the aircraft being “full”. The staff assured passengers that the missing luggage would arrive on the next flight from Dubai at 5 am on Sunday and would be delivered to their addresses.
The explanation, however, did little to calm the passengers. Many of them including those who had travelled just for a day or were carrying perishable items got into heated arguments with the airline staff at Mangaluru International Airport.
“Why didn’t you inform us in Dubai before taking our baggage? If there wasn’t enough space, why were we allowed to board with full tickets? You’ve given us receipts saying the luggage will reach Mangaluru but left it behind without a word. Had we known this earlier, we wouldn’t have taken this flight,” some passengers questioned.
Several travellers said they had essential items and clothes in their checked baggage. “You say the bags will come tomorrow morning, but of what use is that when some of us have to return tonight itself?” one passenger said.
Airline staff reportedly told the passengers to provide their contact details so that the luggage could be delivered to their homes once it arrived. However, many travellers said they were not satisfied with the response.
Some frequent flyers alleged that such issues were becoming common with Air India Express. “This is the third or fourth time this has happened to me,” said one passenger. Others demanded compensation for items that might get spoiled due to the delay.
The flight, which was scheduled to depart from Dubai at 12 pm and reach Mangaluru by 5:30 pm, took off only around 2:30 pm and landed at 7:20 pm. Upon arrival, the baggage issue came to light, leaving many passengers frustrated and angry with the airline’s handling of the situation.
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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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