Politicians eyeing Western Ghats after looting Bellary'

New Delhi, August 13: Environmentalist Panduranga Hegde has said that the Karnataka government is opposing Unesco World Heritage tag to the Western Ghats because the politicians of the State have set their eyes on the forest wealth after looting the mines in Bellary.

At an interaction on the Unesco heritage status organised by the Delhi Karnataka Sangha here on Sunday, he said that of the six states where the Ghats are spread, only Karnataka has passed a resolution with the support of all the parties in the Assembly in opposing the status.

Stressing that Western Ghats was next only to the Amazon forests in its rich bio-diversity and was closely associated with the culture of the region, Hegde said any move to harm the Ghats would be?an attack on human values.

“Ideally, forest should cover 66 per cent of the total land mass of a state or territory but in Karnataka, the green cover has been reduced to a mere 10 per cent,” Hegde, the founder of Appiko movement said.

Noting that only 39 per cent of the hill range, which spans across six states, has been given the heritage status, he said the tag would help save 20 (heritage) sites in Kerala, 10 in Karnataka and five each in Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu.

Hegde said the widening gap between nature and the present day youth has made it difficult to organise movements to save forests. “The save Western Ghats issue was a topic in the last polls and it will become one in next year's Assembly elections,” he added.

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Karnataka to scrap separate entrance exams for private universities from 2025

News Network

September 20,2024

Starting in the 2025-26 academic year, private universities in Karnataka offering professional courses will no longer conduct separate entrance exams. This decision follows a directive from the state’s Higher Education Department, prompting private universities to form an association and agree to this significant change.

In a recent meeting with Higher Education Minister Dr. M. C. Sudhakar, representatives from 17 private universities confirmed their decision to discontinue individual entrance tests. Of the 27 private universities in the state, 17 offer professional courses, and they have collectively agreed to accept scores from existing national or state-level entrance exams.

“Some universities will consider JEE scores, others will rely on KCET, and a few are inclined towards COMEDK,” Dr. Sudhakar stated, leaving the choice of examination to the universities themselves. However, the department has also suggested that the universities consider a unified entrance test for admissions.

Looking ahead, Dr. Sudhakar hinted that the government may introduce a common entrance test for general degree courses at private universities as well. "As government colleges and universities currently don’t require entrance exams for general degree courses, we haven’t made any decisions on this yet," he explained.

The meeting also addressed concerns over the high fees charged by private universities. To regulate this, the universities were instructed to establish fee fixation committees, headed by retired judges, as required by law. These committees will be responsible for determining tuition fees. Additionally, the government will continue to regulate fees for 40% of seats in professional courses that are filled through KCET.

In an effort to bring greater uniformity among private institutions, the government is considering enacting a common law for all private universities, which would replace the individual acts currently governing each university. This would place all private universities under a single regulatory framework.

This move is expected to streamline the admissions process and create a more standardized system for both professional and general degree programs across Karnataka's private universities.

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