Kerala Governments bill to remove the Governor as Chancellor of State Universities (GS Paper 2, Polity and Constitution)
Why in news?
- Recently, the Kerala government has tabled University Laws (amendment) Bill in the State Assembly to amend laws relating to the governance of State universities and remove Governor Arif Mohammed Khan as the Chancellor of State universities.
Background:
- This rounds off several weeks of political confrontation between the state Government and the Raj Bhavan that began with the Supreme Court’s invalidation of the Kerala Technological University (KTU) Vice-Chancellor’s (VC) appointment on the grounds that it violated University Grants Commission (UGC) regulations.
- Following this, Mr. Khan had sought the resignations of 11 other VCs on the ground that the government had appointed them through the same process deemed unlawful by the apex court.
What is the University Laws (amendment) Bill?
- The proposed legislation will amend the statutes of 14 universities established by legislative Acts in Kerala and remove the Governor as the Chancellor of those universities.
- The Bill will supplant the Governor and give the government power to appoint eminent academicians as Chancellors of various universities, thus ending the Governor’s watchdog role in university administration.
- The Bill also provides provision to limit the term of the appointed chancellor to five years. However, it also says that the serving chancellor can be reappointed for another term.
What are the State government and the ruling front’s stand on amending University laws?
- Minister for Law, while tabling the bill, pointed out that the UGC guidelines, which earlier used to be considered mandatory for Central universities and “partially mandatory and partially directive” for State universities, had been made legally binding for all universities by way of recent rulings by the Supreme Court.
- “Worryingly, such precedence pointed towards a scenario in which the legislative powers of the Assembly on all subjects on the Concurrent List (of the Constitution) could be undermined through a subordinate legislation or an executive order issued by the Centre,” he said.
- Moreover, the State government has claimed the recommendation of the Punchhi Commission on Centre-State Relations to refrain from “burdening the Governor with positions and powers which are not envisaged by the Constitution and which may lead the office to controversies or public criticism” as the rationale behind the Bill.
What are the arguments against the bill?
- The bill would give the State Government more leeway in appointing its own nominees as VCs of State Universities. This would mean a transfer of power over university administration from the Governor and the UGC to the State Government.
- While both the ruling front and the Opposition UDF seem united in stripping away the Governor’s Chancellorship, the opposition fears that the State Government would try to turn State universities into its fiefdom.
- UDF leaders claim that as Chancellors would be appointed by the Government, they would be indebted to the ruling front, thus leading to the erosion of Universities’ autonomy.
How can this issue be settled while maintaining the autonomy of State universities?
- A probable solution to the tug-of-war between the Governor and the State government regarding the governance of State universities was put forward by the M. Anandakrishnan Committee set up by the Kerala State Higher Education Council in 2009 to review the Acts of Universities of Kerala.
- The committee, led by renowned academician Prof. Anandakrishnan who was then chairman of IIT Kanpur, had recommended that universities should have complete autonomy in academic and administrative matters.
- The committee suggested creating statutory structures that would distance the Governor [as Chancellor] and Minister for Higher Education [as Pro-Chancellor] from the day-to-day administration of the universities.
- It also recommended immediate incorporation of UGC Regulations, 2010 in the university Acts/Statutes/Regulations.
- Moreover, the Supreme Court decision to invalidate KTU VCs appointment and the Kerala High Court’s subsequent order to pull the plug on the appointment of the VC to the Kerala University of Fisheries and Ocean Studies suggest that Kerala needs to review the statutes governing individual universities in the State recognised under Section 12(B) of the UGC Act of 1956 and bring them in line with the UGC Regulations.
US scientists announce breakthrough in fusion energy that powers the sun and stars
(GS Paper 3, Science and Tech)
Why in news?
- Researchers at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California for the first time produced more energy in a fusion reaction than was used to ignite it, something called net energy gain.
- The achievement will pave the way for advancements in national defense and the future of clean power.
What is nuclear fusion?
- The reaction happens when two light nuclei merge to form a single heavier nucleus.
- Because the total mass of that single nucleus is less than the mass of the two original nuclei, the leftover mass is energy that is released in the process.
- In the case of the sun, its intense heat and the pressure exerted by its gravity allow atoms that would otherwise repel each other to fuse.
- Scientists have long understood how nuclear fusion has worked and have been trying to duplicate the process on Earth as far back as the 1930s.
- Current efforts focus on fusing a pair of hydrogen isotopes; deuterium and tritium, which says that particular combination releases “much more energy than most fusion reactions” and requires less heat to do so.
How are scientists trying to do this?
- One way scientists have tried to recreate nuclear fusion involves what's called a tokamak; a doughnut-shaped vacuum chamber that uses powerful magnets to turn fuel into a superheated plasma (between 150 million and 300 million degrees Celsius) where fusion may occur.
- The Livermore lab uses a different technique, with researchers firing a 192-beam laser at a small capsule filled with deuterium-tritium fuel.
- The lab reported that an August 2021 test produced 1.35 megajoules of fusion energy — about 70% of the energy fired at the target.
- The lab said several subsequent experiments showed declining results, but researchers believed they had identified ways to improve the quality of the fuel capsule and the lasers' symmetry.
How valuable would this be?
- Proponents of fusion hope that it could one day produce nearly limitless, carbon-free energy, displacing fossil fuels and other traditional energy sources.
- Producing energy that powers homes and businesses from fusion is still decades away. But researchers said it was a significant step nonetheless.
- It's also a process that doesn't produce the radioactive waste of nuclear fission.
India China clash in Tawang
(GS Paper 2, International Relation)
Why in news?
- Tensions are running high between India and China once again after the recent clashes between the troops of both armies at the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Yangtse area of Tawang sector in Arunachal Pradesh.
Details:
- Defence Minister clarified the situation in Parliament saying that the “Peoples Liberation Army (PLA) troops carried out an incursion across the LAC in Yangtse area of Tawang sector in Arunachal Pradesh on 9 December, and attempted to unilaterally change the status quo.
- This turned into a hand-to-hand clash as the Indian troops retaliated to thwart the Chinese aggression, while there were injuries on both sides, there are no fatalities on the Indian side.
- Following the clash, the local commander of the Indian Army held a flag meeting with his Chinese counterpart on 11 December, where China was asked to maintain peace.
- This was the most recent clash that the Indian troops have had with the Chinese — the previous one was in eastern Ladakh’sGalwan in 2020 when India lost 20 of its troops.
Why China repeatedly targets Yangtse?
- The border is fuzzy, with both sides claiming territory that is in the other’s control.
- India claims some 45,000 square kilometres of territory in Aksai Chin in the western sector of the border, which China occupied in the 1962 war, while China claims an area of around 90,000 square kilometres, roughly coinciding with the state of Arunachal Pradesh, in the eastern sector.
- China refers to Arunachal Pradesh as Southern Tibet. Interestingly, during the 1962 war, China had taken control over vast swathes of this territory but then pulled back.
- In Arunachal Pradesh, Yangtse is one of the 25 contested areas along the 3,488-km Line of Actual Control. Tawang is situated 448 km north-west of Itanagar and is roughly 16 km away south of the LAC with China.
Importance of Tawang:
- Tawang is strategically and culturally significant to China.
- Tawang houses the Tawang monastery, which is the second largest Tibetan Buddhist monastery in the world only after the Potala Palace.
- Moreover, Tawang monastery is where the present Dalai Lama stayed for weeks after escaping China in 1959. Hence, from China’s perspective it becomes an important site in the history of Tibetan resistance to Chinese rule. If Tibet was to rise up against China, Tawang would, as a report in The Diplomat stated, emerge as an important centre of resistance.
Strategic importance:
- Besides the cultural aspect, Tawang also holds tactical importance for China. The town provides a strategic entry into India’s northeastern region.
- To the north of Tawang lies the important Bum La Pass, which is a border pass between India’s Tawang district and Chinese-occupied Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR). Incidentally, it was this pass that the Chinese troops used to invade India in 1962.
- China has always claimed Arunachal Pradesh as its own and there’s a strategy there too. If India wished to attack China, Arunachal would be the closest location for India to deploy its missiles.
- Additionally, Arunachal is the best location for India to deploy a multi-layered air defence system for possible attacks from China.
- An increased presence of China in Arunachal would help Beijing exert is influence in the area as well as negate India’s presence. Experts believe that the latest skirmish was Beijing’s attempt at pushing the Indian defences and try and gain as many heights.
- Also in Yangtse lies the crucial 17,000-feet high peak. This peak, in the firm control of India currently, provides a commandeering view on both sides of the border.
When Tawang saw clashes in the past?
- The clash on 9 December in Tawang isn’t the first instance of Indian and Chinese troops clashing. Tawang was the site for several bloody encounters during the 1962 war between India and China.
- In 1999, the Yangtse area once again saw action during the Kargil War when the PLA took up positions and stayed there for 40 days. They later withdrew from the positions.
- Later in June 2016, it was reported that around 250 PLA soldiers had intruded into the area but there were no reports of clashes at the time.
- There was another report of an intrusion in September 2021 of around 200 PLA personnel at Yangtse, east of Bum La in the Tawang sector. However, an alert and vigilant India side caught the intruders and detained them for some time.
