Bengaluru Kambala: Sunday at Palace Grounds on roll as visitor numbers surge on final race day
"Cultural unity: No caste, creed, or religion in this Sport": Buffalo owner Ankita at B'luru Kambala
Bengaluru: As the first Kambala event of the city is coming to its closure on Sunday, the number of visitors thronging to witness the historic and electrifying Kambala (Buffalo race) doubled, in line with the expectations of the organising Bengaluru Kambala committee.
Sudeep Shetty, member of the organising committee speaking to the Vartha Bharathi revealed that around 170-180 buffaloes participated in the race. “As expected, the crowd increased on the final, second day. The event is a major success, the race is expected to make a comeback in the silicon city in the next season too. We are very delighted to see such a massive participation. The finals of the race will be held at the palace grounds around midnight.”
Sunday’s vibrant cultural performances featured musical evening by popular singers Arjun Janya, Indu Nagaraj, Shamitha Malnad, a comedy show by “Comedy Khiladi Team-Prashansa Mangaluru," an Oxygen dance team performance, and a live art performance by Vilas Nayak. Traditional performances including, Yakshagana, Atti Kalanja, Pilli Vesha, Kangilu Nrutya and many others caught the attention of the audience at the cultural program held alongside Kambala here at Palace Grounds.
“This sport does not have any caste, creed or religion…It's our land's culture, and people of all religions take part in the race.”
Ankitha, member of Jai Tulunadu Punkedadi and a buffalo owner expressed happiness with the organising committee and stated, “We treat our buffaloes like our kids, they are like god to us. It is a matter of pride that our own Karavali sport has come to Bengaluru. I appeal to all Tulu mothers not to stop our traditions and cultures,it should be passed on to the coming generations.”
"This sport transcends caste, creed, or religion. It is not limited to participation by people of a specific caste or community; rather, it follows traditions and rituals. It is a culture, which is embraced by people regardless of their religious, caste, and creed backgrounds. In our organization, Jai Tulunadu, we have individuals from three different religions, yet we live peacefully, fostering a sense of unity. Our Kambala culture shines as a beacon of hope, overcoming societal conflicts,"added Ankitha.
Meanwhile, a few foreigners were also spotted in the palace grounds who had come to witness the event. Two Swedish citizens, Annie and Tomas, speaking to this correspondent said, “We come from a country where we haven't got so many people, we are not used to it, it's fun and kind of an adventure and we are loving it. It’s important to have such events for the common people to just be happy, and we are also having our happy moments in life.”
Simultaneously, several native Karavalites also expressed a hope for the event to continue in the coming seasons. “We work here in Bengaluru, such events make us feel like we are at our home,” said Sharat Kumar, a native of Badiyadka in Kasaragod.
Another Karavalite, who works in the city asserts that the event has made others aware about our culture and traditions.
The two-day mega sporting event was organised through the collaborative efforts of the Kambala Committees of Dakshina Kannada, Udupi, Kasaragod districts, and the Bengaluru Kambala Committee. The event will draw to a close on Sunday midnight. Various political leaders, film stars, and other dignitaries came down to the event enhancing its grandeur.
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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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