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The United States early shot down a Chinese surveillance balloon that had floated over American airspace for several days, triggering the latest diplomatic crisis amid already worsening relations between the world’s two biggest powers.
Beijing reacted angrily to the shooting down of what the U.S. called a “surveillance balloon” but Chinese authorities maintained that it was a civilian airship used for meteorological purposes that had drifted off course.
The Chinese military said that it now “reserve[s] the right” to take the same measures if a similar situation arose.Noting that the U.S. government had said that the balloon did not present a military or physical threat, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said that “the U.S. use of force is a clear overreaction and a serious violation of international practice”.
China will resolutely safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of the company concerned, and reserves the right to make further responses if necessary.
The appearance of the balloon in the skies over the western U.S. State of Montana sparked an unexpected diplomatic row at a time both sides were looking to stabilise increasingly tense relations.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken called off a visit to China that was set to begin on Monday. Had the visit happened, it would have been the first by a top U.S. diplomat since 2018.
With the balloon making its way east across the continental U.S. and finally heading towards the waters of the Atlantic Ocean, U.S. President Joe Biden ordered for it to be shot down.
He had decided against doing so previously because of fears of damage from falling debris.
Editorial
India’s just energy transition is more than a coal story (Page no. 6)
(GS Paper 3, Environment)
Just Energy Transition Partnership (JET-P) is emerging as the key mechanism for multilateral financing by developed countries to support an energy transition in developing countries.
This has taken on particular significance following the insertion of the phrase ‘phase-down’ of coal in the Glasgow Pact. After South Africa, Indonesia, and Vietnam, India is considered the next candidate for a JET-Partnership.
India’s G-20 presidency could potentially be an opportune moment to forge a deal. However, India must develop a coherent domestic just energy transition (JET) strategy in order to negotiate a financing deal that addresses its unique set of socio-economic challenges.
Energy transitions could give rise to intra-generational, intergenerational, and spatial equity concerns. Transitions affect near-term fossil-dependent jobs, disrupt forms of future energy access, shrink State’s capacity to spend on welfare programmes, and thus exacerbate existing economic inequities between coal and other regions.
Existing JET-P deals, pay limited attention to intra-generational inequity, such as job losses resulting from a coal phase-down. However, among the three JET-P deals signed so far, only South Africa’s deal mentions a ‘just’ component — funding reskilling and alternative employment opportunities in the coal mining regions — to be financed as part of the initial $8.5 billion mobilisation.
The other two JET-Ps ( Indonesia and Vietnam) are focused on mitigation finance for sector-specific transitions.
Initial JET-P negotiations for India last year have reportedly remained stalled over whether and how India should consider coal ‘phase-down’ and how to operationalise India’s just transition.
The emphasis by developed countries’ on coal phase-down, without adequate attention to country context, disregards the crucial difference in energy transition between industrialised and emerging economies.
Energy transition in the industrialised world involves a natural tapering of energy consumption alongside fuel switching to clean energy sources; India’s transition requires significant simultaneous growth in energy demand.
The Central Electricity Authority projects a near doubling of electricity demand by 2030. A country that is likely to multiply its energy demand requires adequate supply from a diverse mix of sources. India cannot afford to put its development on hold while decarbonising.
Opinion
The discrepancies in the latest AISHE report (Page no. 7)
(GS Paper 2, Education)
The recently released All-India Survey on Higher Education (AISHE) 2020-21 report had revised the Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) in higher education retrospectively for the previous four years, by recalculating it based on population projections as per the 2011 Census. Previous reports had used projections based on the 2001 Census.
GER, expressed as a percentage, is calculated by dividing the total enrolment in higher education courses by the projected population in the 18-23 age group.
Based on these retrospective revisions, the GER of most States and India went up or down between 2016 and 2019. However, a comparison of the population projections used in the AISHE 2020-21 report with the Census of India (CoI)’s Report by a Technical Group on Population Projection, released in July 2020, shows variations.
The CoI report is used by various ministries. In fact, the Education Ministry, which released the AISHE report, has ascertained the population in the 18-23 age group using the CoI report. The same is on its website.
Tamil Nadu’s population projection used in the AISHE 2020-21 report between 2016 and 2020 and the population projection based on the CoI report. For the first four years, there are sharp deviations between the two projections.
The figures based on the CoI report show a gradual decline between 2016 and 2020, whereas the population figures in the AISHE 2020-21 show an increase for the first four years and a sharp drop in 2020.
Despite both the reports using the 2011 Census for population projections, the numbers vary widely. Given that the projected population forms the denominator in the GER calculation, that figure too changed significantly.
Tamil Nadu’s GER in higher education according to the AISHE 2020-21 report based on the 2011 Census and the State’s GER according to the AISHE 2019-20 report, based on the 2001 Census.
Across all the years, GER was revised downwards in the recent report. Specifically, according to the old report, in 2019-20, Tamil Nadu’s GER had crossed 50%, which was marked as a key achievement by a major State. This has been revised to 49% in the latest report (2020-21).
Notably, even if the population projections given in AISHE 2020-21 were used to calculate GER, the numbers do not match with the ones given in the report.
Explainer
Andhra Pradesh’s capital conundrum (Page no. 8)
(GS Paper 2, Governance)
Ever since the State of Andhra Pradesh was bifurcated by the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act of 2014, creating the State of Telangana and the State of Andhra Pradesh, the issue of a capital city has always been a contentious issue for A.P.
Nara Chandrababu Naidu of the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) who had come to power in June 2014 with the bifurcation of the State had gone with Amaravati for a capital city.
The government then passed the AP CRDA Act, and established the AP Capital Region Development Authority for the purpose of planning, executing, financing and securing the planned development of the capital region development area.
A land pooling scheme was offered to the farmers in the capital region and about 33,000 acres were acquired for building the capital.
The Sivaramakrishnan Committee appointed in 2014 favoured decentralisation and suggested the Vizag sub-region, as a potential capital space.
However, Mr. Naidu was of the opinion that Visakhapatnam was already a developed city and had called it, post-bifurcation, as the ‘financial capital’ of the State. He wanted a greenfield capital in a new region for development.
In 2019, YSR Congress defeated TDP to form the government and immediately appointed the G.N. Rao Committee to give a report on the earlier decentralised capital idea.
Based on the report, current Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy came up with the idea of making Visakhapatnam the executive capital, Kurnool the judicial capital and Amaravati the legislative capital.
In January 2020, the Assembly approved the repealing of the AP CRDA Act and passed the AP Decentralisation and Inclusive Development of All Regions Bill, 2020.
However, about 63 farmers approached the A.P. High Court against the new Act and after sustained agitation and court proceedings, in March 2022, the A.P. High Court gave a verdict stating that the State government should follow through with the earlier AP CRDA Act where Amaravati would be the State capital.
Following the verdict, in September 2022, the A.P. Government filed an appeal in the Supreme Court against the High Court’s verdict, citing infringement of rights to federalism by the High Court and arguing that it is the State’s prerogative to decide on its capital city.
On November 28, 2022, the Supreme Court stayed the Andhra Pradesh High Court’s order for developing Amaravati as the only capital of the State, saying courts can’t act as a town planner. But it has reserved its final judgment and the hearing process is still on.
Scientists’ take on the Union Budget 2023-24 (Page no. 8)
(GS Paper 3, Economy)
The Union Budget 2023-24 was delivered on February 1. In this article, five scientists and science administrators present key takeaways from the Budget.
The Amrit Kaal budget is favourable to India’s science and technology (S&T) ecosystem. CSIR has an active presence in all its focus areas.
It plays a pivotal role in green hydrogen research and development (R&D) under the National Hydrogen Mission. It has a Sickle Cell Anaemia Mission as the budget announced a National Mission to eliminate this disease by 2047.
The application of AI in various sectors and focus on futuristic medical devices and technologies augur well. CSIR has an ongoing AI programme to augment AI application in several areas.
A new programme to promote innovation in pharmaceuticals at centres of excellence is heartening. This is also a truly green budget with several announcements on the environment front.
India’s 2023-2024 budget allocated ₹2,000 crore more than what the Ministry of Science and Technology received in 2022-2023.
The Department of Science and Technology saw a major uptick, but not a big jump after inflation and GST. The infusion is probably for the National Science Foundation.
It’s unclear how the financial management of this new funding scheme will differentiate it from existing funding agencies stifled by bureaucracy.
Researchers often feel it’s easier to have a project approved than to receive funds periodically. So while we need more funds, it is equally important that India break the bureaucratic barriers in science departments.
The vision of a new India is clear in the budget. The “green growth” principle in the innovation ecosystem requires biotechnology to play a major role in finding sustainable solutions.
DBT is developing a policy framework for ‘high-performance biomanufacturing’ to foster world-class facilities and workforce in synthetic biology-based manufacturing practices.
News
World talks about energy transition, but nations yet to invest (Page no. 10)
(GS Paper 3, Environment)
The world has been talking about energy transition, but nations are yet to invest in it, Union Minister for Power and New and Renewable Energy R.K. Singh said.
He was delivering the keynote address at the first G-20 Energy Transition Working Group (ETWG) meeting under India’s Presidency here.
The Minister said the focus of the world should also be on access to finance for moving to clean energy and low-cost financing for the energy transition.
According to the Minister, the global energy transition discourse needs to move along with energy security as the supply chain emerges as a challenge.
He said India was working to improve energy storage, although supply chain issues of lithium, required for energy storage batteries, would have to be sorted out.
The key challenges around battery storage were high cost and limitation of lithium supply.The Minister said a complete transition to renewable energy from fossil fuel sources cannot happen until the cost of energy storage was reduced.
India ranks among the top five nations in the Global Climate Change Performance Index and reached the 2030 target of ensuring 40% installed capacity in non-fossil sources by 2021. The current capacity of non-fossil sources is 42%.
Mr. Singh said the country’s per capita emission was one-third of the global average. The country has the mandate to achieve net-zero emissions by 2070, reach 500 GW of power capacity from non-fossil fuel by 2030, and get 50% of its energy requirements from renewable energy by 2030.