-The Hindu Permission required from MEA to hold them, and also for issues ‘related to India’s internal matters’ A new notification by the Ministry of Education that requires public funded institutions to seek permission from the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) before organising virtual academic seminars is “unenforceable”, leading academics have said. An official of the Ministry of Education defended the order as a “simplified permission system” but there is little clarity...

-The Indian Express Legal action against Scihub and Libgen frames problem of control and governance of knowledge in a globalised world. The recent litigations against Scihub and Libgen by Elsevier, Wiley and ACS bring us to a moment of many realisations about control and governance of knowledge in academia. In the latter half of the 20th century, globalisation led to the imperative of applying “global” standards to higher education. As global standards...

-The Indian Express This is perhaps the first time the apex court has stayed a law passed by Parliament without sparing even a single hearing to examine its constitutionality — the court’s primary function. With its interim order staying the implementation of the three new farm laws, the Supreme Court has entered into uncharted territory. This is perhaps the first time the apex court has stayed a law passed by Parliament without...

-The Indian Express The Prime Minister’s Office, which manages the fund, has declined to furnish details of contributions received, saying that PM CARES is “not a public authority under the...RTI Act”. IT’S NOT just a wide range of central Educational Institutions, at least seven public sector banks, seven other leading financial institutions and insurers, and the RBI, have together contributed Rs 204.75 crore from their staff salaries to the Prime Minister’s Citizen...

-Hindustan Times Digital divide: Students who, in theory, have access to e-teaching will have to depend on inconvenient methods such as mobile The Covid-19 pandemic has disrupted the education sector globally. Classes have been suspended to enforce social distancing and Educational Institutions, from schools to universities, have shifted to online methods of teaching and evaluation. As the number of cases continues to rise, there is no certainty about when normalcy will be...