30-plus countries to participate in Bengaluru Tech Summit starting tomorrow
Bengaluru (PTI): The Karnataka government's annual global Bengaluru Tech Summit (BTS) will begin on Wednesday, bringing together tech leaders, startups, investors and research labs from 30-plus countries.
Organised by the Karnataka government's Department of Information Technology and Biotechnology along with the union government's Software Technology Parks of India, the three-day 26th BTS, with the theme 'Breaking Boundaries', will be inaugurated by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah at Palace Grounds here.
Kazakhstan's Minister of Digital Development, Innovations and Aerospace Industry Bagdat Mussin and Semiconductor company AMD's EVP & CTO Mark Papermaster will be among the VIP dignitaries present at the inauguration.
A recorded message from Finland's Minister of Science and Culture Sari Multala as well as one from Germany's Minister of Digital Affairs and Transport Volker Wissing will be relayed at the opening event.
Key figures from the Indian industry, including Rishad Premji, Executive Chairman of Wipro Limited; Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, Chairperson of Vision Group on Biotechnology, and Executive Chairperson of Biocon Ltd; S Gopalakrishnan, Chairman of Vision Group on IT and Co-founder of Infosys; and Prashanth Prakash, Chairman, Vision Group on Startups, and Founding Partner of Accel Partners India will be a part of BTS.
A fireside chat on the topic 'Legend, Legacy & Leadership,' featuring Infosys Founder N R Narayana Murthy in conversation with Zerodha Co-founder Nikhil Kamath, and another featuring Union Minister of State for Electronics & Information Technology Rajeev Chandrasekhar are a part of the event.
Some of the key speakers addressing this year's BTS include Former Director General of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) Dr R A Mashelkar and Nobel Laureate American Biologist Dr H Robert Horvitz, among others.
BTS 2023 will feature a variety of events, including a multi-track conference on IT & electronics, deep tech, start-ups & biotech, an international exhibition on 'Global Innovation Alliance', India-USA Tech conclave, R&D-Lab2Market, B2B meetings, STPI IT Export Awards, Smart Bio awards, VC awards, ATF awards, Rural IT quiz, Bio quiz and Bio posters.
One of the highlights of this year's BTS is the Chandrayaan 3 ISRO-Industry Pavilion, symbolising India's significant presence in space exploration.
The pavilion not only showcases ISRO's achievements but also emphasises the contributions of SMEs, startups, and private industries in ensuring the success of the Chandrayaan-3 mission, organisers said.
Also, in a specially erected geodesic dome, using AR/VR (Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality) technology, an immersive experience is created to learn about lunar missions, space science, and technology behind Chandrayaan, they added.
The BTS Exhibition - the tech marketplace -- will include country pavilions as well as those of IT and biotech majors, unicorns, startups, R&D labs, and educational institutions.
According to organisers, BTS has committed to achieving Net Zero in the upcoming years. This ambitious goal involves integrating eco-conscious practices in procurement to minimise waste generation and establishing a 'sustainability advisory' for various stakeholders.
The summit promises over 75 sessions, 400-plus speakers, 350-plus startups, 600-plus exhibitors, and 20,000-plus business attendees.
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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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