Trump accepts Republican Party's re-nomination as presidential candidate
Washington: US President Donald Trump has officially accepted the re-nomination of the Republican Party as its presidential candidate for the November elections, telling his fellow Americans that at no time before have voters faced a clearer choice between two parties, two visions, two philosophies or two agendas.
Trump, 74, in his acceptance speech from the South Lawns of the White House amidst cheers from his supporters on Thursday night, said: My fellow Americans, tonight, with a heart full of gratitude and boundless optimism, I proudly accept this nomination for President of the United States .
I stand before you tonight honoured by your support. Proud of the extraordinary progress we have made together over the last four incredible years, and brimming with confidence in the bright future, we will build for America over the next four years, Trump said.
In a new term as President, we will again build the greatest economy in history quickly returning to full employment, soaring incomes, and record prosperity! he said.
Party's delegates from across the country at Republican National Convention, which has been drastically scaled down at its original venue of Charlotte in North Carolina, on Monday re-nominated Trump and Vice President Mike Pence as its presidential and vice-presidential candidates respectively.
Pence delivered his acceptance speech from Fort McHenry in Baltimore on Wednesday. This is for the first time in recent memory that a presidential candidate has delivered his acceptance speech from the White House.
Addressing an audience of about 1,500 invited guests, Trump said that the Republican Party goes forward united, determined and ready to welcome millions of Democrats, independents and anyone who believes in the greatness of America and the righteous heart of the American people.
Trump and Pence are being challenged by Democratic presidential nominee and former vice president Joe Biden and his running mate, Indian-origin senator Kamala Harris.
Harris, 55, has scripted history by becoming the first African-American and Indian-origin person to be nominated as a vice presidential candidate by a major political party.
As per an average of major national polls tracked by Real Clear Politics, Biden leads Trump by 7.1 percentage points and in the battleground states it has come down to 3.7 percentage points, indicating that the presidential elections in less than 70 days from now is headed for an interesting finish.
Trump's acceptance speech concluded four days of star-studded convention of the Republican Party, which gathers once in four years in one of the American cities to nominate its presidential candidate.
This year it was scheduled to be held in Charlotte in North Carolina. Due to the restrictions on social gatherings as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, the convention went into a virtual mode, with only essential official business being held in Charlotte.
Popular Indian-American politician Nikki Haley was the star speaker on Monday, the first day. First Lady Melania Trump addressed the convention from Rose Garden of the White House on Tuesday, while Pence delivered his acceptance speech on Wednesday.
Trump's daughter Ivanka, who is also his presidential advisor, addressed the convention before him on Thursday night.
He's our commander-in-chief, champion of the American worker, defender of common sense and our voice for the forgotten men and women of this country. He is our president, and my father, Donald J Trump, Ivanka said.
His son Donald Trump Jr addressed the convention on Monday, while daughter Tiffney and other son Eric addressed the convention on Tuesday and daughter-in-law Lara on Wednesday. A group of protesters had gathered at Black Lives Matter Plaza near the White House in advance of Trump's speech.
Al Mason, co-chair of the Trump Victory Indian American Finance Committee, and his wife were among the special invitees on the South Lawns of the White House for Trump's acceptance speech. Al Mason said it was amazing spectacular and full of enthusiasm never seen in the Democratic convention last week.
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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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