News in Short

• The University Grants commission which is in-charge of higher education in India has threatened action against states if they refuse to follow guidelines on conducting exams for degree courses.
• As per the UGC Act, State governments cannot take this decision. Unlike school education, which is on the State list, higher education is on the concurrent list. UGC and AICTE [All India Council for Technical Education] directives have to be implemented by the States.
• The UGC had directed that final year examinations must be conducted by September-end in online or offline mode. The Commission said it would tell States which had already cancelled examinations to comply with the fresh directions.

• India’s 2018 tiger census has entered the Guinness Book of World Records for being the world’s largest camera trap wildlife survey.
• The 2018 All India Tiger estimation had found 2967 tigers in the country, compared to 2,226 in 2014.
• A major issue, in the survey method, was the use of a survey methodology that relies extensively on models involving an ‘index of tiger abundance’ derived from field counts of tiger signs.

• Jack Charlton, a member of the England 1966 World Cup-winning side and who went on to become a cult hero in Ireland, has died aged 85.
• Charlton was an integral part of the great Don Revie managed Leeds United side that won the 1969 League title and the 1972 FA Cup.
• Charlton made a club record 773 appearances for Leeds United over a 23-year period as a player, becoming one of the all-time great central defenders in the game.

• India’s celebrated ceramic artist Jyotsna Bhatt passed away in Vadodara. She was 80 and had suffered a brain stroke.
• Hailed as queen of studio pottery, Jyotsna Bhatt had moved from Mumbai to Baroda in 1958 to learn sculpture under legendary teachers like late professor Sankho Chaudhuri.
• Her ceramic works included images of cats and dogs, distinctive clay toys, and artworks prepared from alkaline earths, amorphous moulds and matte finish glazes that earned her admirers.