India, Bahrain make pharma a key area of cooperation
New Delhi, July 15 : In an important boost to the Indian healthcare industry, India and Bahrain on Sunday agreed to make pharmaceuticals a key area of cooperation following the second High Joint Commission meeting led by External Affairs Minister Susham Swaraj and Bahraini Foreign Minister Shaikh Khalid Bin Ahmed Bin Mohamed Al Khalifa in Manama.
"Bahrain and India agreed to explore opportunities healthcare industry and welcomed the signing of an MoU for cooperation in the field of healthcare, which would contribute in expanding the cooperation between the two countries making pharmaceuticals a key priority area in the bilateral relations," said a joint statement issued following the meeting.
The two sides also signed an MoU on renewable energy even as Bahrain congratulated Sushma Swaraj on launching of the International Solar Alliance (ISA) by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Launched by Modi and then French President Francois Hollande at the Paris climate summit in 2015, the ISA was conceived as a coalition of solar resource-rich countries to address their special energy needs and provide a platform to collaborate on dealing with the identified gaps through a common, agreed approach.
India and Bahrain also noted the existing potential for two-way investments and reaffirmed their desire to provide favourable environment for investments, both from public and private sectors, from the two countries, the statement said.
"Both sides agreed on the importance of regular and timely exchange of information on available investment opportunities," it said.
It said that both sides discussed in detail various aspects of bilateral relations including "ways and means to expand cooperation in the fields of education, health, housing, renewable energy, space cooperation, tourism, culture, youth and sports, women empowerment, customs, oil and gas and petrochemicals; security, defence and intelligence training and exchange of expertise, cooperation between universities in both countries and the possible exchange of researchers and faculty members in the fields of food security, cyber space and energy".
Both the countries also reiterated their condemnation of terrorism in all its forms and manifestations and called all states to reject and abandon the use of terrorism against other countries.
"The two sides agreed to work together for the early adoption of India's proposed Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism at the United Nations," the statement said.
During the meeting, Bahrain Foreign Minister Shaikh Khalifa lauded the role of the Indian expatriate community's role in his country's development.
"FM Shaikh Khalifa praised the contribution of Indian community settled in Bahrain towards the economic development of Bahrain," External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Raveesh Kumar tweeted.
Bahrain is home to around 350,000 Indian nationals, the largest expatriate community in the Gulf Kingdom, and more than 3,000 Indian-owned or joint venture companies.
Bilateral trade between India and Bahrain stood at over $875 million as of February this year, according to figures provided by the External Affairs Ministry.
India's total capital investment into Bahrain between January 2003 and March 2018 has been estimated at $1.69 billion.
On Saturday, the first day of her two-day visit to Bahrain, Sushma Swaraj, along with Shaikh Khalifa, inaugurated the new Indian Embassy complex in Manama.
"The new developments that have taken place in the economic field in the two countries, will take economic relations to greater heights," she said in her address at the ceremony.
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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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