Curbs on ‘sensitive’ webinar topics reversed after outcry
India’s Ministry of External Affairs has dropped its demand that public universities seek official permission for online international seminars that touch on matters relating to India’s ‘internal affairs’.
It claimed that the easing of restrictions on travel and assembly of people brought in during the coronavirus pandemic meant such curbs on online activities were “no longer applicable”.
However, the same requirement of prior permission still applies to physical meetings.
In January guidelines were circulated by the education ministry to publicly funded universities, requiring them to seek permission from the Ministry of External Affairs for any online seminar that touches on “security of state, border, Northeast states, the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh or any other issues which are clearly/purely related to India’s internal matter/s”.
Centre scraps order on seeking permission for online seminars related to India’s ‘internal matters’
The order was taken back reportedly after backlash from scientists. Updated Feb 24, 2021 · 11:25 pm
The Ministry of External Affairs on Wednesday withdrew a controversial order issued last month that required universities and professors to get prior approval from the government to hold online international conferences centred around “sensitive subjects”, events relating to national security, or which are “clearly related to India’s internal matters”.
The government cited the “easing of restrictions on travel and assembly of people” as the reason behind withdrawal of the previous order. However, the order was likely taken back after backlash from scientists, according to
Centre may rethink Education Ministry order on international seminars
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Modifications soon, says Principal Scientific Adviser K. VijayRaghavan.
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Modifications soon, says Principal Scientific Adviser K. VijayRaghavan. The government would relook at the controversial order issued by the Ministry of Education in January that many scientists said curbs free scientific discussion at international fora, K. VijayRaghavan, Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India, said.
“We’ve taken note of this a couple of weeks ago. There is no intent to curb academic and research interactions at all. Modifications that both clarify and make enabling changes will be coming out very soon,” he told
Prime Minister Narendra Modi's annual interaction with students ‘Pariksha Pe Charcha' will be held online this year in view of the COVID-19 pandemic. The interaction with students from classes 9 to 12 ahead of their exams will be held in March. A tweet from Exam warriors said, “Pariksha Pe Charcha is back. This time, the contest as well the event will be fully online and open to students all over the world. #PPC2021 will also include parents and teachers.”