Karnataka govt constitutes committee to prepare the draft of State Education Policy
Bengaluru(PTI): The Karnataka government on Wednesday constituted a committee of experts to frame the Karnataka State Education Policy to replace the National Education Policy (NEP).
The state government has issued a 'Government Order' constituting a 15-member committee and there is a separate group of eight subject experts/ advisors to give expert advice.
"The Government is pleased to accord sanction to constitute the State Education Policy Commission for preparation of draft Karnataka State Education Policy under the chairmanship of Prof. Sukhdev Thorat, an eminent Educationist. Economist, Professor, Writer and Former Chairman of UGC New Delhi," the GO said.
The Commission shall submit its report by February 28, 2024.
The members of the committee include -- Prof. S Japhet, Founding Director of the UGC sponsored Centre for the Study of Social Exclusion and Inclusive Policy (CSSEEIP), Dr. Sudhir Krishnaswamy, Vice Chancellor of National Law School of India University (NLSIU), Dr. Sharat AnanthaMurthy, Professor, School of Physics, University of Hyderabad, A Narayana, Professor with the school of policy and Governance, Azim Premji University -- among others.
Dr. Bhagyavana S Mudigoudra, Special Officer, Department of Higher Education, will act as the Member Secretary to the commission, and will coordinate and maintain the proceedings of the meeting.
Members are identified as subject experts/advisors for expert advice include:
Prof. Yogendra Yadav, Senior Fellow at the Center for the Study of Developing Societies, Delhi; Prof. Rahamath Tarikere, Retd. Professor in Kannada, Kannada University, Hampi; Prof. Janaki Nair, Historian and Retd., Professor at the Centre for Historical studies, Jawaharalal Nehru University, Sonam Wangchuk, Engineer turned Education Reformer and Director of the Himalayan Institute of Alternatives, Ladakh (HIAL), among others.
"A committee has been established, under the chairmanship of Prof. Sukhdev Thorat, to prepare the draft of the Karnataka State Education Policy. I am confident that this committee will provide suitable recommendations for nurturing scientific temperament, intellectual growth, and necessary education for the holistic development of students," Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said in a post on social media platform 'X'.
"I hope the Karnataka's State Education Policy will serve as a model education policy for the country," he added.
Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar had recently said that the state government has decided to scrap the existing National Education Policy introduced by the Bharatiya Janata Party-led government and formulate a new education policy for the state in the coming year.
During the BJP rule, Karnataka was the first state to implement the National Education Policy in 2021 in the country.
The Government Order shall come into effect immediately, it said and added that all authorities concerned are hereby directed to extend their fullest cooperation and assistance to the commission during its deliberations.
Department of State Educational Research and Training (DSERT) and Karnataka State Higher Education Council (KSHEC), Bengaluru will provide all administrative / secretariat assistance and logistic support to the Commission. The members of the Commission will be paid TA/DA as per extant rules of Government of Karnataka.
The Department of School Education & Literacy and Department of Higher Education will appoint nodal officers who will make all necessary arrangements for the Commission covering its meetings, travel, boarding and lodging of the members.
Karnataka has decided to constitute a Commission to undertake careful review of the School and Higher Education in Karnataka and to suggest policies to achieve a higher enrolment in the schools and higher education; to expand the education with improved quality; to provide equal access to all individuals to quality education, the GO in its preamble said.
It also aims to meet the prime goals of education effectively i.e., imparting scientific knowledge to the students, to inculcate democratic values, give skill and professional education to enhance employability and giving moral education to build good citizenship among the students.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Netanyahu recommends his Cabinet approve Hezbollah cease-fire proposal
Beirut, Nov 26: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Tuesday that he would recommend his cabinet adopt a United States-brokered ceasefire agreement with Lebanon's Hezbollah, as Israeli warplanes struck across Lebanon, killing at least 23 people.
The Israeli military also issued a flurry of evacuation warnings — a sign it was aiming to inflict punishment on Hezbollah down to the final moments before any ceasefire takes hold. For the first time in the conflict, Israeli ground troops reached parts of Lebanon's Litani River, a focal point of the emerging deal.
In a televised statement, Netanyahu said he would present the ceasefire to Cabinet ministers later on Tuesday, setting the stage for an end to nearly 14 months of fighting.
Netanyahu said the vote was expected later Tuesday. It was not immediately clear when the ceasefire would go into effect, and the exact terms of the deal were not released. The deal does not affect Israel's war against Hamas in Gaza, which shows no signs of ending.
The evacuation warnings covered many areas, including parts of Beirut that previously have not been targeted. The warnings, coupled with fear that Israel was ratcheting up attacks before a ceasefire, sent residents fleeing. Traffic was gridlocked, and some cars had mattresses tied to them. Dozens of people, some wearing their pajamas, gathered in a central square, huddling under blankets or standing around fires as Israeli drones buzzed loudly overhead.
Hezbollah, meanwhile, kept up its rocket fire, triggering air raid sirens across northern Israel.
Lebanese officials have said Hezbollah also supports the deal. If approved by all sides, the deal would be a major step toward ending the Israel-Hezbollah war that has inflamed tensions across the region and raised fears of an even wider conflict between Israel and Hezbollah's patron, Iran.
The deal calls for a two-month initial halt in fighting and would require Hezbollah to end its armed presence in a broad swath of southern Lebanon, while Israeli troops would return to their side of the border. Thousands of Lebanese troops and UN peacekeepers would deploy in the south, and an international panel headed by the United States would monitor all sides' compliance.
But implementation remains a major question mark. Israel has demanded the right to act should Hezbollah violate its obligations. Lebanese officials have rejected writing that into the proposal. Israel's Defense Minister Israel Katz insisted on Tuesday that the military would strike Hezbollah if the U.N. peacekeeping force, known as UNIFIL, doesn't provide “effective enforcement” of the deal.
“If you don't act, we will act, and with great force,” Katz said, speaking with UN special envoy Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert.
The European Union's top diplomat, Josep Borrell, said Tuesday that Israel's security concerns had been addressed in the deal also brokered by France.
“There is not an excuse for not implementing a ceasefire. Otherwise, Lebanon will fall apart,” Borrell told reporters in Italy on the sidelines of a Group of Seven meeting. He said France would participate on the ceasefire implementation committee at Lebanon's request.
Bombardment of Beirut's southern suburbs continues
Even as Israeli, US, Lebanese and international officials have expressed growing optimism over a ceasefire, Israel has continued its campaign in Lebanon, which it says aims to cripple Hezbollah's military capabilities.
An Israeli strike on Tuesday levelled a residential building in the central Beirut district of Basta — the second time in recent days warplanes have hit the crowded area near the city's downtown. At least seven people were killed and 37 wounded, according to Lebanon's Health Ministry.
Three people were killed in a separate strike in Beirut and three in a strike on a Palestinian refugee camp in southern Lebanon. Lebanese state media said another 10 people were killed in the eastern Baalbek province. Israel says it targets Hezbollah fighters and their infrastructure.
Earlier, Israeli jets struck at least six buildings in Beirut's southern suburbs. One strike slammed near the country's only airport, sending plumes of smoke into the sky. The airport has continued to function despite its location on the Mediterranean coast next to the densely populated suburbs where many of Hezbollah's operations are based.
Israeli military spokesman Avichay Adraee issued evacuation warnings for 20 buildings in the suburbs, as well as a warning for the southern town of Naqoura where UNIFIL is headquartered.
UNIFIL spokesperson Andrea Tenenti told The Associated Press that peacekeepers will not evacuate.
Other strikes hit in the southern city of Tyre, where the Israeli military said it killed a local Hezbollah commander.
The Israeli military also said its ground troops clashed with Hezbollah forces and destroyed rocket launchers in the Slouqi area on the eastern end of the Litani River, a few kilometres from the Israeli border.
Previous ceasefire hopes were dashed
Under the ceasefire deal, Hezbollah would be required to move its forces north of the Litani, which in some places is about 30 kilometers (20 miles) north of the border.
A ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah, the strongest Iranian-backed force in the region, would likely significantly calm regional tensions that have led to fears of a direct, all-out war between Israel and Iran. It's not clear how the ceasefire will affect the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza. Hezbollah had long insisted that it would not agree to a ceasefire until the war in Gaza ends, but it dropped that condition.
Hezbollah began firing into northern Israel, saying it was showing support for the Palestinians, a day after Hamas carried out its Oct. 7, 2023, attack on southern Israel, triggering the Gaza war. Israel returned fire on Hezbollah, and the two sides have been exchanging barrages ever since.
Israel escalated its campaign of bombardment in mid-September and later sent troops into Lebanon, vowing to put an end to Hezbollah fire so tens of thousands of evacuated Israelis could return to their homes.
More than 3,760 people have been killed by Israeli fire in Lebanon the past 13 months, many of them civilians, according to Lebanese health officials. The bombardment has driven 1.2 million people from their homes. Israel says it has killed more than 2,000 Hezbollah members.
Hezbollah fire has forced some 50,000 Israelis to evacuate in the country's north, and its rockets have reached as far south in Israel as Tel Aviv. At least 75 people have been killed, more than half of them civilians. More than 50 Israeli soldiers have died in the ground offensive in Lebanon.
After previous hopes for a ceasefire were dashed, U.S. officials cautioned that negotiations were not yet complete and noted there could be last-minute hitches that delay or destroy an agreement.
“Nothing is done until everything is done,” White House national security spokesman John Kirby said.
While the ceasefire proposal is expected to be approved if Netanyahu brings it to a vote in his security Cabinet, one hard-line member, National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, said he would oppose it. He said on X that a deal with Lebanon would be a “big mistake” and a “missed historic opportunity to eradicate Hezbollah.”
