Mumbai City FC become first Indian club to win in Champions League
Riyadh(PTI): Mumbai City FC scripted history as they fought back from a goal down to stun Iraqi giants Air Force Club 2-1 and become the first Indian club to win a game at the top-tier AFC Asian Champions League.
After conceding in the 59th minute of the group B fixture, Mumbai City, who won the Indian Super League Shield and trophy in the 2020-21 season, drew level with a penalty by Diego Mauricio in the 70th minute after he was brought down in the box.
Defender Rahul Bheke scored his team's crucial winning goal, with a header in the 75th minute following a corner on Monday night.
Mumbai had lost their opening match to Al Shabab 0-3.
After a goalless first half, substitute Hammadi Ahmad gave three-time AFC Cup champions Air Force Club the lead before Mumbai City rallied with goals from Maur cio and Bheke to seal the historic win at the King Fahd International Stadium in Riyadh.
Air Force Club asserted themselves in the game from the early minutes, pinning Mumbai City deep into their own half but the Iraqi side couldn't convert their chances.
Air Force Club's Alaa Abbas was causing all sorts of problems for Mumbai City but the forward should have done better in the ninth minute when his tame effort was easily collected by goalkeeper Phurba Lachenpa.
Mumbai City had their first look at goal just before the half-hour mark, Ahmed Jahouh finding space before setting up for Lallianzuala Chhangte, who blasted his long-range effort wide.
At the other end, Air Force Club missed a chance after Abbas headed a Dhurgham Ismail delivery high above the bar before the latter tried to force his shot from a tight angle.
Hakeem Shakir's side were almost caught off guard in the 31st minute when Mumbai City's Ahmed Jahouh sent an inviting cross into the danger area but Diego Maur cio couldn't keep his headed effort on target.
The best chance of the half fell to Air Force Club in the 34th minute but Hussein Jabbar struggled to guide Ismail's effort into the back of net from close range while Chhangte was forced into a fingertip save three minutes later, denying Abbas' effort.
Vikram Singh had a golden opportunity to put Mumbai City in front two minutes from the break but Jabbar was at the right place to foil his effort.
Air Force Club almost punished Mumbai City in the 52nd minute when Ismail dispossessed Jahouh at the top of the box before setting up Shareef Abdulkadhim, who with only the keeper to beat, sent his effort wide.
The goal finally came for Air Force Club seven minutes later when a swift attacking move deep in Mumbai City's half saw the Iraqi side take the lead after Ahmad cooly nestled the ball into the back of the net from inside the six-yard-box.
Mumbai City, however, were not to be denied when they were awarded a penalty in the 70th minute following Ali Kadhim's foul on Maur cio, with the Brazilian making no mistake to convert from the spot.
The equaliser proved to be a turning point in the game as Bheke doubled Mumbai City's lead, heading home a textbook corner from Jahouh to seal the game and a historic first three points.
Mumbai City will aim to build on the win when they play UAE's Al Jazira on Thursday while Air Force Club will be hoping to bounce back against Saudi Arabia's Al Shabab FC.
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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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