Gifts galore for kids who abstained from toffees to buy football
Malappuram: The 13 kids from Nilambur who held a formal meeting to discuss ways to purchase a football and jerseys have won many hearts. Moved by their act, many kindhearted persons have come forward sponsoring footballs and jerseys for the kids.
Social worker Sushanth Nilambur posted the video of the kids holding a meeting on social media on Wednesday and it went viral. So far, it has been viewed by 2.5 million people and 54,000 viewers have shared it on Facebook. In the video, the kids are seen huddled in a meeting under the auspices of president Athin and secretary Arjun to buy a football costing Rs 400 and adequate number of jerseys by saving Rs 2 everyday.
The meeting was held in the village ground and Athin and Arjun are seen seated on plastic chairs on stage. They made a makeshift microphone using the stem of a coconut leaf and a stick. In the speech, Arjun urged the kids to contribute `10 every week to purchase the football and jerseys. “From now on, stop eating chocolates. Anyway, the habit causes tooth decay. Better save that money and contribute it to the cause,” he said.
The meeting was held in a democratic way. After announcing the decision, the president asked the other members if they had any objection and gave everyone a chance to convey their opinion. All of them, including the lone girl in the team, Ananya, agreed with the decision.
“The football which we bought from the funds collected previously was damaged and that is why we need a new one. I will contribute `10 every week and we should purchase a football immediately,” she said. After the video went viral, the kids did not have to wait for months to realise their goal. First, a team from Wake Up Football Academy with their Spanish coach Prieto De Prada Celestino came there to donate two footballs.
“The effort of the kids to purchase a football really touched us. So we decided to donate footballs to encourage them. We are also ready to give them coaching,” said Nasar Kappur, managing director of the academy. Actor Unni Mukundan also made the children happy by donating jerseys. Kerala Blasters management, inspired by the kids, invited them to their camp in Kochi and offered to give them what they deserved.
Kids with coach Prieto De Prada Celestino and members of WAKE UP Football Academy | Express“An official from Kerala Blasters management contacted them after seeing the video and offered passes for the match,” said Sushanth Nilambur, who posted the video on Facebook. Though the children were really happy by the offers they received after the video went viral, this one made them really excited, said Sushanth.
“This is the first time they are watching a football match live. They had the chance to watch the match from Kerala Blasters’ box, which doubled the excitement,” he added.
Courtesy: www.newindianexpress.com
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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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