Karnataka records lowest number of COVID deaths since beginning of second wave
Bengaluru, Sep 9: Karnataka on Thursday reported the lowest number of deaths due to COVID-19, since the beginning of the second wave, with 4 fatalities, taking the toll so far due to the pandemic to 37,462, the health department said.
The state logged 1,074 new cases of corona infections taking the total number of cases so far to 29,59,164.
The day also saw 1,136 discharges, taking the total recoveries in the state to 29,04,683.
"Karnataka records the lowest death tally in the 2nd wave today," Karnataka Health Minister K Sudhakar said in a tweet sharing the details of today's COVID bulletin.
COVID second wave had begun in Karnataka, during the mid of March.
Out of 4 deaths reported on Thursday, 3 are from Bengaluru Urban, and one in Hassan.
Out of 1,074 new cases reported on Thursday, 343 were from Bengaluru Urban, and the city saw 251 discharges.
Total number of active cases in the state is at 16,992.
While the positivity rate for the day stood at 0.63 per cent, case fatality rate (CFR) was at 0.37 per cent.
Among the districts where the new cases were reported, Bengaluru Urban accounted for 343, Dakshina Kannada 176, Udupi 126, Hassan 81, Chikkamagaluru 68, followed by others.
Bengaluru Urban district tops the list of positive cases, with a total of 12,40,653, followed by Mysuru 1,76,735 and Tumakuru 1,19,567.
Among discharges too, Bengaluru Urban tops the list with 12,17,401, followed by Mysuru 1,73,542 and Tumakuru 1,17,813.
Cumulatively a total of 4,49,07,570 samples have been tested in the state so far, out of which 1,69,448 were tested on Thursday alone.
Karnataka records lowest death tally in 2nd wave today:
— Dr Sudhakar K (@mla_sudhakar) September 9, 2021
◾New cases in State: 1,074
◾New cases in B'lore: 343
◾Positivity rate: 0.63%
◾Discharges: 1136 (B'lore- 251)
◾Deaths:04 (B'lore- 03)
◾Active cases in State: 16,992
◾Active cases in B'lore: 7,208
◾Tests: 1,69,448
To view today's health bulletin: CLICK HERE
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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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