The Department of Higher Education is responsible for the overall development of the basic infrastructure of the Higher Education sector, both in terms of policy and planning. Under a planned development process, the Department looks after expansion of access and qualitative improvement in Higher Education, through world-class Universities, Colleges, and other Institutions. A number of apex level bodies have been set up to promote and regulate the development of education. 1. University Grants Commission: The University Grants Commission (UGC) acts as the overarching regulatory body. The establishment of the University Grants Commission in India, on the pattern of the British UGC, was recommended by the University Education Commission in 1949. The major functions of the Commission are Promotion and coordination of university education; determination and maintenance of standards of teaching, examination, and research; allocation and disbursement of grants to the universities from the funds given to it by the central government; advising universities on measures for improving university education; advising central and state governments on matters relating to university education. 2. All India Council for Technical Education: The AICTE Act was constituted to provide for the establishment of an All India Council for Technical Education with a view to proper planning and co-ordinated development of a technical education system throughout the country, the promotion of qualitative improvements of such education in relation to planned quantitative growth, and regulation & proper maintenance of norms and standards in the technical education system and for the matters connected therewith. The purview of AICTE (the Council) covers programs of technical education including training and research in Engineering, Technology, Architecture, Town Planning, Management, Pharmacy, Applied Arts and Crafts, Hotel Management and Catering Technology, etc. at different levels. 3. Distance Education Council: The Distant Education Bureau (DEB) is a bureau of the University Grants Commission (UGC) based in New Delhi, India, in charge of regulating and managing distance education in India. It was established in 2012, replacing the Distance Education Council (DEC), an organization that was responsible for open learning and distance education since 1985. Thus, option 1 is the correct answer. NUEPA: The National University of Educational Planning and Administration (NUEPA), established by the Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India, is a premier organization dealing with capacity building and research in planning and management of education not only in India but also in South Asia. It is not a regulatory body. It is a Deemed To Be University. ICSSR: Indian Council of Social Science Research (ICSSR) was established in the year 1969 by the Government of India to promote research in social sciences in the country. ICSSR provide grants for projects, fellowships, international collaboration, capacity building, survey, publications, etc. to promote research in social sciences in India. It is not a regulatory body. It is the national body overseeing research in the social sciences in India. Statutory requirements derive from legislation that has been enacted into law. Regulatory requirements derive from regulations, which have been put in place by government agencies.