Anushka Sharma pens emotional note for Virat Kohli: You always stood up for the right thing
Mumbai (PTI): Actor-producer Anushka Sharma on Sunday penned a heartfelt note for her cricketer husband Virat Kohli and said she was extremely proud of the legacy he leaves behind as the Test captain of the Indian cricket team.
Kohli, who took over from MS Dhoni midway through the Australian tour back in 2014-15, on Saturday announced his sudden decision to quit Test captaincy a day after India lost the Test series in South Africa 1-2.
Sharma took to Instagram and shared candid pictures of the 33-year-old cricketer, who leaves as the most successful India captain in Test cricket with 40 wins from 68 matches with the highlight being the wins in Australia and England last year.
The actor, who tied the knot with Kohli in 2017, wrote how she saw the cricketer grow leaps and bounds ever since he took on the Test captaincy.
"I remember the day in 2014 when you told me that you have been made the captain as MS had decided to retire from test cricket. I remember MS, you and I having a chat later that day and him joking about how quickly your beard will start turning grey. We all had a good laugh about it. Since that day, I've seen more than just your beard turning grey.
"I've seen growth. Immense growth. Around you and within you. And yes, I am very proud of your growth as the captain of the Indian National Cricket team and what achievements the team had under your leadership. But I'm more proud of the growth you achieved within you," she wrote.
Sharma recalled how in 2014, the couple was "young and naive", who believed just good intentions, positive drive and motives can take one ahead in life.
The actor said while these qualities are instrumental, they come with their own challenges.
"A lot of these challenges that you faced were not always on the field. But then, this is life right? It tests you in places where you least expect it to but where you need it the most. And my love, I am so proud of you for not letting anything come in the way of your good intentions," she wrote.
The "Jab Harry Met Sejal" star lauded Kohli for "leading by example" and noted how the cricketer never fell prey to any pretence and always kept his life "unconventional and straightforward".
"You led by example and gave winning on field every ounce of your energy to the extent that after some losses I've sat next to you with tears in your eyes, while you wondered if there's still something more you could have done. This is who you are and this is what you expected from everyone.
"You've been unconventional and straightforward. Pretence is your foe and this is what makes you great in my eyes and the eyes of your admirers. Because underneath all this were your pure, unadulterated intentions always. And not everyone will be able to truly understand that," she added.
The 33-year-old actor said the couple's daughter, Vamika will be a witness to how instrumental Kohli's captaincy was in shaping him not only as a cricketer but also a father.
The couple became parents to their baby girl in January 2021.
"Truly blessed are those who tried to get to know you beneath what meets the eye. You are not perfect and have your flaws but then again when did you ever try to conceal that? What you did was to always stand up for doing the right thing, the harder thing, always!
"You held on to nothing with greed, not even this position and I know that. Because when one holds on to something so tightly they limit themselves and you, my love, are limitless. Our daughter will see the learning of these 7 years in the father that you are to her. You did good," she concluded.
Kohli led India to the top of world rankings and during his tenure, the team recorded a memorable series win in Australia.
The cricketer had recently quit as T20 captain and was later sacked as ODI captain by the BCCI.
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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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