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While four private institutions remain stranded on a thorny path to get the coveted status of Institution of Eminence (IOE) despite getting the all-clear from the Government’s empowered committee, it’s not exactly been a bed of roses for the other four that made the cut.
On paper, these private IOEs, who don’t get any funds under the scheme unlike Government institutions, are assured of autonomy and significant regulatory relief.
But in practice, they continue to be weighed down by red tape and regulatory interference, an investigation based on official records, visits to campuses across the country and interviews with several university personnel and Government officials, has revealed.
Only four of the 10 private higher education institutions selected for the IOE status have received official recognition to date: Manipal Academy of Higher Education (MAHE), BITS Pilani, OP Jindal Global University and Shiv Nadar University. Of these, Shiv Nadar is the youngest IOE, having received the status just last year.
The Centre’s track record on assuring autonomy for the private IOEs is significant given that it is planning to roll out similar freedoms to foreign universities on academic, administrative and financial matters to attract them to India.
For private IOEs, the road to achieving world-class status is riddled with multiple higher education regulators.
Although IOE regulations promise autonomy from the University Grants Commission, there are over 15 bodies regulating the higher education space in the country.
Private IOEs say this works against multidisciplinary institutions, as they continue to face red tape, delays, and compliance demands from various regulators such as the National Medical Commission, Bar Council of India, Architecture Council of India, Nursing Council, and more.
In Parliament
Protest turns black, torn papers hurled at the speaker (Page no. 8)
(GS Paper 2, Polity and Governance)
Lok Sabha approved amendments to the Finance Bill, 2023 – as recommended by Rajya Sabha – amid unruly scenes as Opposition members, many of them dressed in black as a mark of protest, continued to stall proceedings repeatedly over the Adani issue as well as the disqualification of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi as MP.
The Rajya Sabha earlier in the day returned the Finance Bill to the Lok Sabha without discussion as similar protests by the Opposition led to repeated adjournments.
The Rajya Sabha first approved the Rs 45 lakh-crore spending proposed in the Budget, then the Finance Bill, which contains tax proposals.
Finally, the upper house approved the Appropriation Bill and Demands for Grants, besides Budget for the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir.
The approval to the Finance Bill included an amendment moved by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, which sought to correct the rate of STT (Securities Transaction Tax) to be levied on trading of options and futures in the derivative market.
In the morning, as soon as the Lok Sabha met, Congress members T N Prathapan Hibi Eden, Jothimani S and Ramya Haridas rushed to the Well of the House, tore copies of the notification disqualifying Rahul and hurled them at Speaker Om Birla. Some of the MPs also waved black cloth at the Speaker.
61 deaths by suicide at IITs, IIMs, NITs since 2018: Govt (Page no. 8)
(GS Paper 1, Social Issues)
Thirty-three students have died by suicide at Indian Institutes of Technolgy (IITs) since 2018, nearly half of them from the SC, ST and OBC communities, according to data presented by the Ministry of Education in Lok Sabha on Monday.
In the same period, National Institutes of Technology (NIT) and Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) across the country registered 28 deaths by suicides of students, half of whom belonged to the SC, ST and OBC communities
The data, issued by Minister of State for Education, Subhas Sarkar, came in response to a question by Congress MPs Pradyot Bordoloi, Gaurav Gogoi, Benny Behanan, K Muraleedharan, Rajmohan Unnithan, T N Prathapan and Dean Kuriakose.
The reasons identified behind such suicides include academic stress, family reasons, personal reasons, mental health issues, etc.
The Ministry’s response comes amid a raging debate on the state of mental health and alleged caste-based discrimination at the country’s premier institutes triggered by the alleged death by suicide of Darshan Solanki, a first-year chemical engineering student at IIT Bombay.
While IIT Bombay ruled out caste-based discrimination as a possible reason behind Solanki’s death, his family have maintained that it may have driven the student to take his own life.
Express network
9k applications for upgrade of schools under PM-SHRI eligible: Govt (Page no. 12)
(GS Paper 2, Polity and Governance)
The Centre has found around 9,000 applications for upgrade of schools from several states eligible to be considered under the PM Schools for Rising India — or PM-SHRI — scheme.
We have found that 9,000 applications are eligible. After thorough examination, funds will be sanctioned for every school for upgrade under the PM-SHRI norms.
So far, no application has come from Tamil Nadu, Kerala, West Bengal, Jharkhand, Odisha, Bihar, and Delhi, all governed by non-BJP parties. However, the official said, Jharkhand has expressed interest to sign an MoU with the Centre.
Last September, the Centre had announced that under the new Centrally sponsored scheme, 14,500 schools across states and UTs will be redeveloped to reflect the key features of the National Education Policy of India (NEP), 2020, at a cost of Rs 27,360 crore over five years.
States and UTs willing to make use of the scheme, where the cost of implementation will be split in 60:40 ratio, have to sign MoUs with the Centre and agree to implement the NEP in its entirety.
Ideas page
In the name of security (Page no. 15)
(GS Paper 2, Polity and Governance)
The decision by a three-judge bench of the Supreme Court (Arup Bhuyan vs The State Of Assam Home Department) holding that mere membership of a banned association is sufficient to constitute an offence under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967, is a severe blow to principles of fundamental justice.
The verdict has done away with the distinction between active and passive membership of proscribed organisations, which has been the basis of court rulings since 2011.
The judgment is fraught with the risk of making it legal for agencies to act lawlessly while claiming to fight terrorism and preserve the State’s security.
Unless there is a specific intent to enhance the material abilities of a terrorist or unlawful organisation, permitting the conviction of a person as a member is abhorrent to the rule of law. The verdict also suffers from substantive contradictions in its reasoning.
The Court has struck down three of its previous rulings from 2011: Arup Bhuyan vs State of Assam, Sri Indra Das vs State of Assam and State of Kerala vs Raneef. While the Raneef judgment had put a narrow construction on Section 10(a)(i) of UAPA, Arup Bhuyan and Indra Das had read down Section 3(5) of the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act (TADA), 1987.
Section 10(a)(i) punishes membership of unlawful organisations with imprisonment for a term which may extend to two years.
Section 3(5) of TADA penalised membership of terrorist organisations. Section 3(5), TADA, is in pari materia with Section 20, UAPA, which provides for punishment for being a member of a terrorist gang or organisation.
Explained
Daylight Saving Time (Page no. 18)
(Miscellaneous)
Lebanon was thrown into mass confusion Sunday after its government at the last minute delayed the start of daylight-saving time by a month. Meanwhile, Greenland has chosen to stay with daylight saving time forever.
According to Norway-based Time and Date, daylight saving time (DST) is the practice of setting the clocks forward one hour from the standard time during the summer and back again in the autumn.
This is done to make better use of natural daylight. India does not follow daylight saving time as countries near the Equator do not experience high variations in daytime hours between seasons.
Lebanon usually sets its clocks forward an hour on the last Sunday in March. However, its caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati Thursday said this year, the clocks would be reset on April 21.
While no reason was given, according to AP, a leaked video shows Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri urging Mikati to postpone DST to allow Muslims to break their Ramzan fast an hour earlier.
The confusion was created as some institutions, including Christian churches, reset their clocks despite Mikati’s decision. Thus, airlines, cellphone operators, schools, workplaces, etc., are no longer following the same time.