Mangaluru: Hamd foods inaugurates its third outlet in Thokkottu, launches three new products
Mangaluru: Hamd Foods, a rapidly growing name in the natural food products sector, inaugurated its third outlet, the Hamd Home Store, in Thokkottu on Monday.
A key highlight of the event was the launch of three new products: Sautéed Tomato-Onion Paste, Chicken Stew Masala, and Marwai Sukka Masala Mix. All three offerings are made with natural ingredients, ensuring hygiene and authenticity.
The new Thokkottu outlet offers over 150 natural and organic food and personal care products. Ranging from spice blends to frozen goods, Hamd Foods is known for avoiding artificial colors and harmful preservatives, winning the trust of customers across India.
Marking the occasion, the co-founder of Hamd Foods Mariyam Shahira said, “We bring convenience & save your time, not to encourage laziness, but to boost productivity by helping you focus your energy on what truly matters..”
Following the success of its previous stores in Falnir and Krishnapura, the Thokkottu outlet has been launched, with more planned in the near future.
"In today’s fast-paced world, many people don’t have the time to cook healthy meals at home and end up depending on unhealthy outside food. That’s why Hamd is committed to offering natural, ready-to-use products that make everyday and special meal prep easier, with growing demand from our customers, we’ve opened our new outlet in Thokottu to serve areas like Ullal, Ucchila, Talapady, K C Road, Babbukatte, Deralakatte, and beyond", said founder of Hamd Foods, Shahida A.
The event was graced by a distinguished panel of women guests, led by Dr. Sara Noushad, Consultant Gynecologist & Obstetrician. Chief guests included educators, entrepreneurs, social workers, and civic leaders, who included Suhasini Babbukatte, Abida Shafi, Fathima Mahroon, Zareena Begum, Ramlath, Jacintha, Sapna Harish, Dr. Umme Amarah, Shahbaz, Anisha, and Mumtaz.
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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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