Vijayan, Tharoor present at Vizhinjam port : Modi says it will give 'sleepless nights' to many
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Thiruvananthapuram (PTI): Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday took a swipe at the Congress, saying the presence of its MP Shashi Tharoor at the commissioning of the Vizhinjam International Seaport here will give "sleepless nights" to many.
Modi's direct mention of Tharoor's presence at the event comes at a time when the Congress MP from Thiruvananthapuram is being accused by his own party colleagues of going soft on the BJP after the Pahalgam terror attack.
Tharoor has also been criticised by some Congress leaders for praising India's deft diplomacy on the Russia-Ukraine conflict under Modi's leadership.
The Prime Minister also described Kerala Chief Minister Vijayan, who was also present at the inauguration, as a "pillar" of the opposition INDIA bloc.
"I would like to say to our chief minister, you are a big and strong pillar of the INDI Alliance. Shashi Tharoor is also sitting here, and I would like to say that today's event will take away the sleep of many," Modi said.
However, the person translating his speech did not translate it properly, and it prompted Modi to say: "The message has gone across to whom it was meant".
Tharoor, who received Modi on his arrival on Thursday, posted on X:" Despite delays at the dysfunctional Delhi airport, managed to land in Thiruvananthapuram in time to receive Prime Minister Narendra Modi on his arrival in my constituency. Looking forward to his officially commissioning Vizhinjam port, a project I have been proud to have been involved with since its inception."
Meanwhile, Leader of the Opposition in the Kerala assembly V D Satheesan did not attend the commissioning of the Vizhinjam port, protesting the late invitation extended to him for the function.
Satheesan had expressed his ire against the government for not acknowledging the pivotal role played by the previous UDF government led by Oommen Chandy in establishing the port by signing an agreement with the Adani Group and carrying out the initial works.
In March, Tharoor praised the government's handling of the Russia-Ukraine war as an endorsement of India's deft diplomacy under Modi's leadership.
Tharoor was also criticised by his party colleague Udit Raj for his reported "no country has 100-per cent foolproof intelligence" remarks after the Pahalgam terror attack. Being a Congressman, how did Tharoor become the BJP's lawyer and give the ruling party a "clean chit" on the Pahalgam terror attack, Udit Raj wondered. Tharoor hit back at Raj, saying the latter is a former Bharatiya Janata Party MP and "is better qualified to understand who speaks for the BJP".
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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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