 Hello everyone and welcome to NewsClick. I'm Anushka and here's another episode of the Daily Roundup. Student unions across universities have always been at the forefront of challenging not only the administration but also the government for its flawed policies. Over the past few years however, we've seen such protests intensify. Particular universities, particular student groups being targeted, scholarships being discontinued, seats being reduced, the fee being hiked, the list is endless. The latest on this list is the discontinuation of the only undergraduate program in social science at the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Hyderabad and the withdrawal of residential facilities for students in the campus. This decision quite obviously disadvantages those who do not have the means to afford housing outside the campus. The students of TIS have entered their second week of strike against this arbitrary decision taken by the administration. A meeting was held on December 14 after repeated appeals between the student representatives and the Internal Management Committee but there was no decision taken about the issues at hand. On receiving no response from the Mumbai TIS administration, the students decided to go on an indefinite strike that began yesterday. The students soon after received an email from the Mumbai administration asking them to call off the hunger strike stating that all their demands are unjustified and there was no scope for any action to be taken by the administration. The protest was joined by Radhika Vemula and Raja Vemula, mother and brother of Rohit Vemula. The students have said that they will continue to protest until their demands are heard, acknowledged and met. Various student organizations from all over the country have also extended their support to the movement. An appeal has been submitted by over a hundred academicians from across universities in the country to the TIS administration to reconsider their decision. While the students of TIS Hyderabad fight to retain residential facilities on campus, in Punjab a few women students have been able to, through protests, fight gender inequalities in their campus. The Punjab University Senate, that sits apex decision-making body in a historic decision allowed to end nocturnal curbs on the movement of girl students in the hostels of Punjab University, in effect accepting their demand of lifting the curfew hours. The story starts on October 29th when women hostlers in Punjab University began protesting against hostile curfew timings for girls. Their main demand was that the girls' hostel gates should remain open round the clock. They were led by students for society, the All India Students Association and the Punjab Students Union, that's Lalkar. The Senate decision came after much heated debate with committee members claiming that it was unsafe to have such kind of timings. Others claimed that a large number of parents were against this 24-7 hostel timing. Despite this, the decision was taken in favour of the women that there would be no distinction in the hostel rules for boys and girls and the practice of fine for late entry for girls was also abolished. Following the announcement, hundreds of students were seen sloganeering, cheering and chanting, Tuta, Pinjra, Azadi, Mubarak. The cage has been broken, happy independence. The violence against students by the state seems to be a growing concern not only in India but in other parts of the world as well. In Colombia, students from several public universities have been protesting since November to save higher education in the country. Many of Colombia's best public universities are currently in extreme economic crisis due to systemic budget cuts to education in general and with the available resources being funneled to private institutions. The march also had a broader message which was to denounce the persecution and systemic violence faced by social leaders and movements in Colombia and the more than 226 assassinations of social leaders just in 2018. On December 13, the students took to the streets again and held peaceful protests across Colombia which were met with extreme violence by the police and by the anti-disturbance mobile squadron, the ESMAD. In certain places, the ESMAD attacked students with tear gas, stun grenades and batten attacks while a police helicopter was flying overhead. Several students have suffered grave cranial injuries and have been hospitalized. One student even lost an eye after a stun grenade was fired at his face by the ESMAD. The students are being attacked for pulling up the government for its new budget that allocates more money towards financing the war in Colombia, education and public institutions of higher education. The recurring theme of a lot of ongoing student protests in India as well as abroad is due to the growing disinterest displayed by governments in power towards higher education. With the pace at which private institutions seem to be springing up, it seems that higher education is being viewed less as a right and more as a privilege for the elites who can afford to pay for it. For more stories of resistance, you can always log on to our website www.newsclick.com You can watch more videos on our YouTube channel and you can follow us on Facebook. That's another episode of The Daily Roundup. See you again tomorrow.