Owner of car used for youth's murder in Mangaluru held
Mangaluru(PTI): One person has been arrested in connection with the murder of a youth from minority community in Surathkal here, police said on Sunday.
The person arrested is the owner of the car that is said to have been used by the culprits for the crime.
"More than 51 people have been inquired into in connection with the murder. We got the traces of a car while scanning the CCTV footage- White Hyundai Eon car- on the basis of footage and registration number we had taken eight cars into custody and inquired its owners," Mangaluru Police Commissioner N Shashi Kumar said.
Speaking to reporters here, he said, based on available information and inquiry, the owner of one specific car has been taken into custody on the outskirts of Surathkal last evening.
"During the inquiry he has disclosed certain information regarding who took the car from him... Now he will be presented before the court and taken into custody. He will be further questioned from which we may get further information on those involved," he said adding that based on the information gathered so far, police teams are at work to nab the culprits.
Mohammed Fazil (23) was hacked to death on July 28 by three to four miscreants at Surathkal near here.
The killing had come close on the heels of the killing of Bharatiya Yuva Morcha member Praveen Nettar by unidentified motor bike-borne assailants on Tuesday night at the district's Bellare in Sullia taluk, following which tension had prevailed in several parts of Dakshina Kannada. .
Kumar said one of the accused had good contact with the car owner and had taken the car from him earlier too. "We will be inquiring him (owner) further....we have not yet got the car, but have information about it, we are tracking it."
Police are investigating the case and are also taking all the necessary measures to see to it that there is no disturbance to peace and order, he said, as he appealed to social media users and media to show restraint about sharing certain information, which may hamper investigation.
Noting that the father of the deceased Fazil has requested for inquiry from a higher ranking official, the Commissioner said, following this request, he has made an order appointing ACP North Mahesh Kumar as the investigating officer.
He also warned that police are registering cases against those spreading fake, offensive and inflammatory messages on social media or the internet or making such statements. "Eight member team is watching such social media activities in Mangaluru Commissionerate limits and things are getting documented.
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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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