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Countries at COP28 meeting in Dubai struck a new climate deal on Wednesday that included a mention of a transition away from fossil fuels for the first time and operationalised a loss and damage fund that is meant to provide financial help to developing countries in recovering from climate disasters.
The countries agreed to contribute towards tripling global renewable energy capacity and doubling the current annual rate of energy efficiency improvements by 2030, two measures that are considered key to keeping alive hopes of restricting temperature rise within 1.5 degree Celsius.
They also agreed to accelerate the deployment of “zero and low-emission technologies” like renewables, nuclear, and carbon capture and storage.
A tougher language on fossil fuels, calling for its “phase-out”, could not be agreed upon and had to be changed to “transition away from fossil fuels”.
The Association of Small Island States, a group of island countries that face the worst impacts of climate change, could not hide its disappointment.
The course corrections that were needed have not been secured. We have made incremental advancement over business as usual, when what we really needed was an exponential leap in our actions and support.
India shifts stand, backs UNGA decsion on immediate ceasefire (Page no. 1)
(GS Paper 2, International Relation)
More than two months after the Israel-Hamas war broke out, India has, for the first time, voted in favour of a draft resolution in the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) that demanded an “immediate humanitarian ceasefire” and unconditional release of all hostages.
This is perceived as a shift in New Delhi’s position, as India had not called for a ceasefire in its statements so far. In October, India had abstained at the UNGA on a resolution that had called for an immediate humanitarian truce leading to a cessation of hostilities and unhindered humanitarian access into the Gaza Strip.
India has voted in favour of the resolution just adopted by the General Assembly,” India’s Permanent Representative to the UN, Ambassador Ruchira Kamboj, said after the vote. She said the challenge in “this extraordinarily difficult time” is to strike the “right balance.
Govt & Politics
Rajya Sabha clears Central universities law, repealing of 76 redundant and obsolete laws (Page no. 7)
(GS Paper 2, Governance)
The Rajya Sabha Wednesday passed The Central Universities (Amendment) Bill, 2023, by voice vote even as Opposition members staged a walk-out, demanding a statement from Home Minister Amit Shah on the security breach in the Lok Sabha.
The Lok Sabha had cleared the Bill last week. The Rajya Sabha also cleared the Repealing and Amending Bill, 2023, with a voice vote. The Lok Sabha had cleared the legislation in July.
The Upper House also gave its nod to a Bill to establish the Sammakka Sarakka Central Tribal University in Telangana.
During the debate, Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said the establishment of a central tribal university in Telangana is slated under the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2014.
He said in Andhra Pradesh, a tribal university has been set up already and the campus has started functioning. “If the Telangana government had cooperated at the right time, this university would have come up by now. They took a long time to provide land, so there was a delay in the implementation.
Irani: Menstrual leave could lead to discrimination among women (Page no. 7)
(GS Paper 1, Social Issues)
Union Women and Child Development Minister Smriti Irani told the Rajya Sabha that menstrual leave could lead to discrimination against women in the workforce.
She was responding to a query on whether the government is looking into providing a law for menstrual leave.
Given today women are opting for more and more economic opportunities, I will just put my personal view on this, I am not the officiating ministry.
We should not propose issues where women are in some way denied an equal opportunity just because somebody who does not menstruate has a particular viewpoint towards menstruation.
Rashtriya Janata Dal MP Manoj Kumar Jha had asked in a supplementary question whether the government had taken any measures for making compulsory provisions for employers to grant a certain number of leaves to female employees.
Express Network
Given a robust action plan to keep 1.5degree celsius target within reach (Page no. 9)
(GS Paper 3, Environment)
Every time he spoke in the last two weeks, Sultan Al Jaber, the COP28 President, said that the 1.5 degree Celsius warming threshold was his ‘north star’ in guiding the climate negotiations and that he was ‘laser focused’ on delivering an outcome consistent with that threshold.
COP28 was, after all, possibly the last chance to galvanise global climate action to ensure the world did not permanently slip away from the 1.5 degree Celsius pathway.
We have given it a robust action plan to keep 1.5 (degree Celsius target) within reach. It is a plan that is led by science.
But beyond the symbolism of the first-ever acknowledgment of the need to move away from fossil fuels, the final agreement in Dubai does little to move the needle towards achieving the 1.5 degree target.
The only provision that can make some difference in this regard is the one that calls upon countries to triple global renewable energy installed capacity and double the rate of annual improvements in energy efficiency by 2030. And that is clearly not enough, as several past analyses have shown.
Editorial
Misunderstood freedom (Page no. 12)
(GS Paper 2, International Relation)
An unintended side-effect of the war unleashed by the Israeli state in Palestine is the revelation of the limits of the idea of academic freedom in its own birthplace, the modern West.
The credibility of this idea is in tatters today as protests against the war in American universities provoke threats from donors, alumni and administrators; and as European governments pass laws to defund and punish any academic or artistic activities that question the state of Israel.
Of course, the authorities in India that is Bharat have stood shoulder to shoulder with their Western counterparts, pre-empting protests, banning film shows, cancelling talks and demanding apologies from speakers who dare to present any views other than those of the Israeli state.
But despite the global attention it is now receiving, academic freedom remains a much misunderstood idea. Each of its two words misleads in its own way.
“Academic” suggests something obscure and impractical, far removed from the everyday world. “Freedom” implies the ability to act exactly as one pleases in the absence of any constraints.
To the aam aadmi, the whole thing seems to be yet another perk that already pampered professors are demanding, and that too “for free”. This is a pity, because it is very far from the truth.
Opinion
In custody, civil liberties (Page no. 13)
(GS Paper 2, Governance)
The government has in quick succession withdrawn the Criminal Law Bills and then reintroduced newer versions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS-II to replace the IPC, 1860), the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS-II to replace the Criminal Procedure Code, 1973), and the Bharatiya Sakshya Bill (BSB-II to replace the Indian Evidence Act, 1872).
With the report of the Parliamentary Standing Committee appearing between the two versions, it is appropriate to assess the final shape of these changes.
While the proverbial devil is certainly in the detail, there is much to worry about in the rhetoric around these Bills, too. It is difficult to see any transformative vision for criminal law and justice.
We seem to be heading towards a system that unreasonably expands state control by extensive overcriminalisation and wider police powers.
One particular aspect of the BNSS will have a significant impact on civil liberties but it has barely received any attention.
The massive expansion of the possible duration of police custody in the BNSS strikes at the very heart of civil liberties protection.
The BNSS expands the maximum limit of police custody under general criminal law from 15 days to either 60 days or 90 days (depending on the nature of the offence). Under our current law, police custody is limited to the first 15 days of arrest.
The expansion under the proposed BNSS heightens the risk of exposure to police excesses. Given widely acknowledged concerns about the safety of arrested persons in police custody, and the heightened risk of coerced and fabricated evidence after prolonged detention, this provision of the BNSS is a shocking expansion of police powers.
Remarkably, our general criminal law will now incorporate provisions that were until now limited to “special laws”. In fact, these provisions go beyond what the “special laws” provide on the duration of police custody.
Explained
COP 28: Much done but still not enough (Page no. 14)
(GS Paper 3, Environment)
The COP28 climate meeting delivered some important outcomes — a first-time acknowledgement of the need to move away from fossil fuels, a first promise to reduce methane emissions, operationalisation and capitalisation of the loss and damage fund, and an agreement on a framework for the global goal on adaptation.
However, like all previous COPs, it still remained an underachiever, unable to measure up to the expectations, particularly in galvanising more ambitious climate action in the immediate term.
COP28 was being seen as possibly the last opportunity to ensure that the world had some hopes of keeping within the 1.5 degree Celsius warming threshold.
The main agenda at COP28 was to carry out a Global Stocktake (GST), a comprehensive assessment of where the world was in its fight against climate change and what more needed to be done to meet the climate objectives.
The GST is mandated by the Paris Agreement to be a periodic exercise, the first one in 2023 and every five years thereafter.
Revised criminal reforms bill in parliament (Page no. 14)
(GS Paper 2, Governance)
The Centre introduced three revised criminal reform Bills in Lok Sabha on Tuesday, withdrawing the previous versions, introduced in August this year.
On August 11, Union Home Minister Amit Shah had introduced three Bills in Lok Sabha to replace the Indian Penal Code (IPC), 1860; the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (originally enacted in 1898); and the Indian Evidence Act, 1872. The new bills—Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023, to replace the IPC; Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), 2023, for CrPC; and Bharatiya Sakshya (BS) Bill, 2023, for the Indian Evidence Act—were subsequently referred to a standing committee the same day.
The committee, headed by BJP MP Brij Lal, proposed several key changes to the Bills. Subsequently, the Centre re-introduced the revamped criminal law Bills in Parliament’s winter session. However, several recommendations have gone unconsidered in the new Bill.
Economy
GPAI members back equitable AI access in New Delhi declaration (Page no. 15)
(GS Paper 3, Economy)
The Global Partnership on Artificial Intelligence (GPAI), an alliance of 29 member countries, has unanimously adopted the New Delhi declaration underscoring the need to mitigate risks arising from the development and deployment of AI systems, and promoting equitable access to critical resources for AI innovation including computing and high quality diverse datasets.
While acknowledging the rapid pace of improvement in advanced AI systems and their potential to generate economic growth, the declaration flagged concerns emanating from such systems including misinformation, unemployment, lack of transparency and fairness, protection of intellectual property and personal data, and threats to human rights and democratic values.
We support the intention of India, as Lead Chair for 2024, in its endeavour to promote collaborative AI for global partnership among GPAI members by supporting projects aimed at promoting equitable access to critical resources for AI research and innovation, such as AI computing, high quality diverse datasets, algorithms, software, testbeds, and other AI-relevant resources in compliance with applicable intellectual property protections and data protection legislations.
World
Sunak avoids revolt in house, wins vote on migrant scheme (Page no. 16)
(GS Paper 2, International Relation)
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak avoided defeat in parliament on an emergency bill to revive his plan to send asylum seekers to Rwanda, seeing off a revolt by dozens of his lawmakers that laid bare his party's deep divisions.
Sunak, who has pinned his reputation on the strategy, in the end comfortably won the first vote on the legislation in the House of Commons after a day of last-ditch negotiations and fears that some of his Conservative lawmakers would help defeat the bill because it was not tough enough.
Last month, the UK Supreme Court ruled that Sunak's policy of deporting to Rwanda those arriving illegally in small boats on England's southern coast would breach British and international human rights laws and agreements.
In response, Sunak agreed to a new treaty with the East African nation and brought forward emergency legislation designed to override legal obstacles that would stop deportations.
In power for 13 years and trailing the opposition Labour Party by around 20 points with an election expected next year, Sunak's Conservatives have fractured along multiple lines and lost much of their discipline ahead of the first parliamentary vote on that bill.