PBKS restrict CSK to modest 167 for 9 in IPL
Dharamsala, May 5: Rahul Chahar's spin wizardry was complemented well by pacer Harshal Patel's superb variations at death as Punjab Kings produced a spirited bowling effort to restrict Chennai Super Kings for a par 167 for nine in the IPL here on Sunday.
At 60/1 in Power Play, CSK were going great guns with skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad (32) and Daryl Mitchell in the middle during an entertaining 57-run partnership when the wily leg-spinner (3/23) triggered a collapse taking two wickets in two balls after PBKS opted to bowl.
The partnership was halted as CSK went on to lose three wickets in 11 balls with Harshal taking the prized-scalp of Mitchell (30; 19b, 2x4, 1x6) in a controversial DRS.
Harshal returned at the death to dismiss Shardul Thakur (17) and MS Dhoni for a golden duck as CSK's hopes for a revival went up in smoke.
First, he cleaned up Thakur with a slower off-cutter as the CSK fans in Dharamsala waited for yet another piece of Dhoni magic with eight balls to go.
But the Yellow Army left in disbelief as the talismanic Dhoni departed in the very first ball, unable to counter Harshal's impeccably executed slow yorker.
With no time to bring his bat down, Dhoni's off-stump was knocked over.
Earlier, veteran Ajinkya Rahane continued his wretched form with the bat and got out for nine from seven balls with Arshdeep Singh giving the breakthrough inside the Power Play.
Rahane lost his balance trying to flick a delivery on his leg to midwicket where Kagiso Rabada took a low catch.
But from thereon, Mitchell looked in complete control, returning to the same venue seven months after the New Zealander smashed a 127-ball 130 against India in the ODI World Cup.
He stepped on the gas in Arshdeep's second over, pulling him for a midwicket boundary and then lofted him over mid-off.
From being 10 off 11 balls, Ruturaj took the attack to PBKS' most economical bowler Harpreet Brar, smashing him for one six and two fours in a row as they ended up taking 19 runs off the last over of the Power Play.
Chahar turned it around for PBKS right after the timeout, dismissing Ruturaj and Shivam Dube in successive deliveries.
Having just picked up pace, the CSK skipper swung at a wide delivery but the big edge was caught splendidly by Jitesh Sharma behind the stumps.
Dube's run of golden ducks stretched to two matches after being picked for the upcoming T20 World Cup when the big-hitting allrounder was done in by a Chahar googly.
Dube failed to read the wrong'un and pushed the ball with an angled bat, and the edge nestled in the hands of Jitesh.
But a shocker followed to end Mitchell's stay.
The Kiwi fell victim to a contentious umpire's call even as the ball was going down the leg. But the UltraEdge showed that the ball was hitting the leg-stump, resulting in his leg-before dismissal.
Thereafter, CSK could not get a partnership going as PBKS bowlers kept chipping away.
Brief Scores:
Chennai Super Kings: 167 for 9 in 20 overs (Ravindra Jadeja 43; Rahul Chahar 3/23, Harshal Patel 3/24).
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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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