India’s Cabinet Approves Plan for New Higher-Education Regulator

India’s cabinet has approved a bill to set up an overarching independent higher-education regulator that would replace the multiple regulators now in place, report the Hindustan Times and the Deccan Chronicle. The 70-member body, called the National Council for Higher Education and Research, will oversee all higher-education providers except for medical and agricultural institutions. “It will be a body of academics for academics,” a government official said. The legislation is expected to be introduced in Parliament soon. Approval by the cabinet is a key step in securing parliamentary approval.