Current Affairs: 24th Sept 2025

• India, China ‘primary funders’ of Russian war: Trump at UNGA

Context: Oft-repeated allegations against India to the floor of the UN General Assembly, U.S. President Donald Trump accused India and China of being “primary funders” of the Russian war in Ukraine.

• Mr. Trump said he was prepared to impose “very strong tariffs” that would end the purchase of Russian oil but wanted European countries to join in the effort. He said that many NATO countries continued to purchase Russian energy, including gas.
• Despite accusations against multiple countries and the fact that China imports more Russian energy than India, the U.S. has singled out India by imposing “penalty tariffs” of 25%, effectively doubling the tariffs on Indian goods.
• “[It is] inexcusable that even NATO countries have not cut off much Russian energy and Russian energy products,” he added.

• The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) is the main deliberative and policymaking organ of the UN, comprising all 193 Member States, each with equal voting rights.

Purpose and Functions     

• The UNGA serves as a unique forum for multilateral discussion on a wide range of international issues, including peace and security, development, human rights, and international law.
• It is responsible for key decisions regarding the UN budget, the appointment of non-permanent members to the Security Council, and the selection of the UN Secretary-General.
• The Assembly also adopts resolutions that, while not legally binding, carry significant political weight and reflect the collective will of the international community.

Structure and Sessions             

• The General Assembly meets annually in regular sessions from September to December, with additional special sessions as needed.
• Each session is presided over by a President elected from among the Member States.
• The Assembly’s discussions are organized around agenda items, which lead to the adoption of resolutions on various topics.

• IAF’s Sarang to take part in festivities

Context: The Sarang Helicopter Display Team of the Indian Air Force (IAF) will be performing in Mysuru as part of the Dasara festivities.

• The Sarang team, formed in 2003, is the brand ambassador of the IAF.
• The team has performed over 1,200 shows at more than 386 venues across India and internationally, operating the home grown Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH) Dhruv built by the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL).

• Data collection violates right to privacy, petitioner tells court

Context: The linking of caste particulars with Aadhaar, ration cards, electricity RR numbers, mobile numbers, and geo-tagging of households as part of the Social and Educational Survey, being conducted by the State government through the Karnataka State Commission for Backward Classes, violates the fundamental right to privacy under Article 21, it was argued before the High Court of Karnataka.

• However, the commission informed the court that there is no compulsion on people to disclose information to the enumerators during the survey.
• “The data collected is stored digitally and can be hacked or leaked, or published without the knowledge of the person concerned and the Government Order reveals that the State intends to geo-tag each household, assign a Unique Household ID, and link caste particulars with Aadhaar numbers, ration cards, mobile numbers, and electricity (RR) connections, all without the backing of any specific legislation,” it was argued.
• Unlike the Census Act, 1948, which provides for purpose limitation, confidentiality, data retention norms, and penal consequences for misuse, the impugned State process is purely executive, lacking statutory safeguards, it has been contended on behalf of the petitioners while claiming that digitally collected data cannot be reversed.
• However, the State government has contended that it is “not a caste census”, while terming the claim of the petitioners as “mis-characterisation” of the survey. It was argued that the State government is collecting data only to identify the eligible persons to provide benefits under various schemes and it cannot be denied such a right under a federal system.
• Meanwhile, the commission’s advocate told the Bench that Aadhaar cards are being used only to identify the persons and the commission is not collecting any data from their Aadhaar.

• Committee formed to review land revenue (Second Amendment) Bill
• The Legislative Assembly has constituted a select committee to review the Karnataka Land Revenue (Second Amendment) Bill, 2025, which was taken up for discussion in the recently-concluded Monsoon Session of the legislature.

• Criminal past alone cannot be a ground to deny bail: SC

Context: A Bench headed by Justice Dipankar Datta sets aside a 2024 Kerala High Court decision, overturning the bail granted to the five ‘RSS workers’ in the murder of SDPI leader K.S. Shan

Criminal antecedents alone cannot be a ground to deny bail, especially in cases in which the accused have suffered long incarceration as undertrials, the Supreme Court held in a judgment restoring the bail of five alleged Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) workers involved in the murder of Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI) leader K.S. Shan in Kerala in 2021.

• Andhra Pradesh Assembly passes SC sub-classification Bill

Context: The Andhra Pradesh Assembly has passed a Bill to implement sub-classification among the State’s 59 Scheduled Castes (SCs), aiming to ensure a fairer distribution of reservation benefits in education and public employment.

• The measure seeks to promote fairness and equitable access to opportunities for all SCs in the State.
• Currently, SCs are entitled to a 15% reservation in public sector jobs and educational institutions.

• Under the proposed classification, Group I – Most Backward (12 castes) will receive 6.5%, Group II – Backward (18 castes) will receive 7.5%, and Group III (29 castes) will receive 1%.
• The newly introduced Bill seeks to replace the Andhra Pradesh Scheduled Castes (Sub-classification) Ordinance, 2025 and formalise these provisions through legislative approval.
• This move follows the 2024 Supreme Court judgment that upheld the constitutionality of sub-classification within SCs.
• In response, the State had appointed a one-man commission, led by retired IAS officer Rajiv Ranjan Mishra to recommend sub-classifications among the SCs.

• Penalty in proportion: Criminal defamation is incompatible with democratic debate

Context: When the Supreme Court of India upheld the validity of criminal defamation in Subramanian Swamy (2016), reasoning that reputation is part of the right to life, it may not have anticipated the difficulties of this position.

• On September 22, during criminal defamation proceedings against the Foundation for Independent Journalism, Justice M.M. Sundresh of the Court voiced his unease at the growing use of criminal defamation proceedings by private individuals and political actors as an insurance against criticism and as a means of retribution.
• His observation echoes a broader judicial anxiety expressed in recent proceedings against Rahul Gandhi, Shashi Tharoor and other public figures: that the law is being misused. Criminal defamation proposes imprisonment for speech that injures reputation, a remedy disproportionate to the harm caused.
• Unlike physical harm, reputational injury can be addressed adequately by monetary damages or injunctions. While protecting dignity may justify strong safeguards, protecting reputation seldom warrants criminal punishment. Since 2016, criminal defamation has become a tool of intimidation.
• Faced such cases under the Jayalalithaa government, and Mr. Gandhi over remarks about political leaders, with trial courts issuing summons that required the Court’s intervention.
• The tendency of the lower judiciary to issue summons without weighing the threshold of defamatory speech has aggravated the problem.
• The law has also become an instrument of propaganda: criminal complainants have weaponised statements taken out of context or distorted in circulation, which the law has compounded by attaching the threat of jail time to contested interpretations.
• In this way, criminal defamation has fostered opportunistic litigation. For example, Subramanian Swamy versus Sonia Gandhi and Mr. Gandhi (2012-14) entangled rivals in a punishing process rather than seeking timely resolution, while suits filed by Nitin Gadkari and Arun Jaitley against Arvind Kejriwal and AAP leaders kept the Delhi government from performing its duties.
• For journalists in towns, criminal defamation complaints from local politicians or business interests create the risk of arrest and onerous travel to distant courts, fostering self-censorship.
• Instead, those genuinely aggrieved can approach civil courts for damages, injunctions or retractions, which address the harm of reputational injury and strike a balance between free expression and protecting reputation.
• Importantly, civil proceedings also reduce the scope for misuse by the powerful to silence criticism.
• Many countries, including the U.K., have abolished criminal defamation because such laws are incompatible with democratic debate. It is time for India to follow suit.

• Right to state: Recognition of Palestine is more than just symbolic

Context: When the state of Israel was declared in Palestine on May 14, 1948, the U.S. recognised it in just 11 minutes. In the years since, most UN members extended recognition to the Jewish nation, which became a UN member in 1949.

• When the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) declared a state of Palestine in 1988, much of the Global South recognised it, but powerful western nations stayed away with the position that recognition would come only as part of a negotiated two-state settlement.
• But this week, at the UN General Assembly, the U.K., France, Canada and Australia finally recognised Palestine, which shows their fraying ties with Israel and diminishing faith in a coercion-free diplomatic process leading to a final settlement.
• For Palestinians, the western recognition could be seen as a diplomatic respite but comes too late — Gaza has been devastated by Israeli forces; Jewish settlements and Israeli checkpoints have mushroomed in the West Bank; and settler violence has displaced thousands of Palestinians over the past two years.
• Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu openly declares that there will never be a Palestinian state, and Washington offers Israel unconditional support.
• Recognition may not have an immediate impact on the ground. Israel’s ruling coalition is incapable of even ending the slaughter in Gaza, let alone discuss a two-state solution.
• Yet, this wave of recognition is not just a symbolic act. It shows cracks in the post-1948 pro-Israel consensus in the West. The U.K. played a decisive role in the establishment of the state of Israel.
• France armed it in its early years and helped it build nuclear weapons. These powers bear historical responsibility to find a solution to the problem they were a party to from the beginning. And Palestinians have an internationally recognised right to have their own independent, sovereign state.
• If Israel does not stop the war in Gaza, which should be the first step, and continues with the settlements in the West Bank, Europe should impose an arms embargo on Tel Aviv. Israel should be warned against annexing the West Bank, which should be treated as a red line.
• Mr. Netanyahu and his extremist Ministers, though internationally isolated, will not be persuaded. But they will not rule forever. A future Israeli leader could abandon Mr. Netanyahu’s militarism.
• This forever war and genocidal tag are not helping Israel’s interests either, even though it allows Mr. Netanyahu to cling on to power.
• The recognition of today should serve as a stepping stone for a Palestinian state tomorrow. That is the best chance for peace for Palestinians, Israelis and West Asia.

• SC directs Himachal govt. to be clear on its disaster management measures     

Context: The Supreme Court asked the Himachal Pradesh government to come completely clean on its plans for disaster management, its climate change and tourism policies, constructions and industrialisation, details of mega hydroelectric projects, four-lane highways and even the number of trees felled and prosecutions pending district-wise over the years.

• A Bench led by Justice Vikram Nath, in a suo motu case, quoted the Supreme Court’s observation that “humans, not nature, are responsible for the phenomenon such as continuous landslides, collapsing of houses and buildings, subsidence of roads, etc,” against the backdrop of landslides and flash floods which have wrecked the State during the monsoon season.
• The court has recorded a series of questions prepared for the State government by its amicus curiae, senior advocate K. Parameshwar, including “whether zoning (if any) is done on the basis of seismic activity/landslides/ green cover/eco- sensitivity”.
• The court has sought if the State has any ecological sites which prohibit industrialisation/bringing up of mega projects.
• The Bench has sought details of designated protected areas/reserved forests/wildlife sanctuaries/ national parks and eco-sensitive sites in the State and whether the eco-sensitive zones have been notified across the protected areas.

‘Change in green cover’

• It has sought details of the total designated forest area in Himachal Pradesh and how much of the forest area has been diverted for non-forest use in the last two decades.

• Modi to transfer ₹10,000 each to 75 lakh women in Bihar under job scheme

Context: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will transfer ₹7,500 crore as the first instalment to 75 lakh women under the Mukhya Mantri Mahila Rozgar Yojana in Bihar to help them start businesses of their choice.

• An official statement from the Bihar Chief Minister’s Office said the Prime Minister would transfer ₹10,000 each to 75 lakh women through direct benefits transfer at a function here.

1.11 crore applications

• The Rural Development Department, the nodal agency for the scheme, has so far received over 1.11 crore applications from women, while the Urban Development Department will oversee implementation in urban areas.
• The scheme aims to create employment opportunities, particularly for rural women, thereby ensuring economic empowerment and strengthening Bihar’s economy.
• Rural Development Secretary Lokesh Kumar Singh has written to all District Magistrates to organise similar programmes at the district, block, cluster-level federation, and village organisation levels, ensuring participation of Jeevika Self-Help Groups.
• Priority will be given to women from economically weaker sections or those without a permanent source of income. Applicants must be in the 18-60 age group, from nuclear families, and not income tax payees. All Jeevika SHG members are eligible. Unmarried adult women whose parents are no longer alive will also qualify.
• The State Cabinet, chaired by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, approved the scheme on August 29. Following a six-month performance review, an additional grant of ₹2 lakh will be given to eligible women entrepreneurs. The initial ₹10,000 assistance will not have to be returned.

• President lauds women-centric films

Context: At National Film Awards ceremony, Murmu notes recognition of films focusing on women; she calls for adequate representation of women on the jury panels, says films should spread social awareness; receiving Dadasaheb Phalke Award, actor Mohanlal says cinema is the ‘heartbeat of his soul’

• President Droupadi Murmu presented the prestigious Dadasaheb Phalke Award for 2023 to actor Mohanlal and gave away awards to the other winners at the 71st National Film Awards ceremony.
• “Cinema is the heartbeat of my soul. Jai Hind,” Mohanlal said after receiving the country’s highest cinema honour.
• Congratulating all the winners, Ms. Murmu spoke about Mohanlal’s phenomenal contributions, stating that the accomplished actor effortlessly portrayed emotions ranging from the most gentle to the most intense.
• She noted that good films focusing on women were being made and recognised. “We all see that women, at some level, struggle with patriarchy and prejudiced attitudes.
• Today, the award-winning films include stories of mothers shaping the moral character of their children, women uniting to challenge social norms…, the stories of courageous women who raise their voices against patriarchal structures,” she said, praising such filmmakers.
• The President said there should be adequate representation of women on the central and regional panels of the jury.
• Underscoring the importance of cinema in spreading awareness of, and sensitivity to, social issues, particularly among the youth, Ms. Murmu said cinema should not only be popular but also serve a larger public interest. The President commended everyone involved in the award ceremony for encouraging films that focus on children, especially girls. Six child actors won awards this year.

Notable awards

• The best male actor award went to Shah Rukh Khan for Jawan and Vikrant Massey for 12th Fail, which was also declared the best feature film.
• Rani Mukerji got the best female actor award for her role in Mrs. Chatterjee vs Norway.
• The best direction award was bagged by Sudipto Sen for The Kerala Story (Hindi), which also won in the best cinematography (Prasantanu Mohapatra) category.
• P.V.N.S. Rohit and Shilpa Rao were adjudged the best male and female singers for the song Premisthunna in Baby (Telugu), which also won for the best screenplay (Sai Rajesh Neelam) along with Parking (Tamil) and Chaleya in Jawan (Hindi).
• The best debut film award went to Ashish Bende for Aatmapamphlet (Marathi), and the best popular film providing wholesome entertainment to Karan Johar-directorial Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani.
• Meghna Gulzar’s Sam Bahadur was the best feature film promoting national, social, and environmental values.
• Sudhakar Reddy Yakkanti-directed Naal 2 (Marathi) was adjudged the best children’s film and Hanu-Man (Telugu) the best film in the animation, visual effects, gaming and comic category.
• The best male actor in a supporting role award was shared by Vijayaraghavan for Pookkaalam (Malayalam) and Muthupettai Somu Bhaskar for Parking (Tamil). Urvashi won the award for the best female actor in a supporting role for Ullozhukku (Malayalam) along with Janki Bodiwala for Vash (Gujarati).
• The best child artiste award went to Sukriti Veni Bandreddi for Gandhi Tatha Chettu (Telugu), Kabir Khandare for Gypsy (Marathi), and Treesha Thosar, Shrinivas Pokale and Bhargav Jagtap for Naal 2.
• The awards for music direction went to G.V. Prakash Kumar in Vaathi (Tamil) and Harshavardhan Rameshwar in Animal (Hindi); and for lyrics to Karsarla Shyam for the song Ooru Palleturu in Balagam (Telugu).
• Deepak Kingrani won the award for the best dialogue writer for the Hindi film Sirf Ek Bandaa Kaafi Hai. Rongatapu 1982 (Assamese), Deep Fridge (Bengali), Parking (Tamil), Kandeelu (Kannada), Shamchi Aai (Marathi), Puskara (Odia), Godday Godday Chaa (Punjabi), and Bhagavanth Kesari (Telugu) won in the language film categories.

• India to submit updated carbon-reduction targets by the beginning of COP30 on Nov. 10

Context: India will submit its updated Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) around the commencement of the UN Climate Change Conference COP30 in Brazil on November 10, likely with an increased target for energy efficiency improvement, sources in the Environment Ministry indicated.

• India last updated its NDCs in 2022, when it committed to reduce the emissions intensity of its GDP by 45% of 2005 levels; source half of its electric power capacity from non-fossil fuel sources; and create a carbon sink of at least two billion tonnes by 2030.
• Emissions intensity of the GDP refers to the amount of carbon emitted per unit of GDP and does not mean a reduction in net emissions. As of December 2023, India reported to the United Nations climate-governing body that the emissions intensity of its GDP had been reduced by 33% between 2005 and 2019. This June, India reported installing at least 50% of its power capacity from non-fossil fuel sources.
• The updated NDCs, or NDC 3.0 as they are called, is expected to reflect the degree of emissions reductions by 2035. So far, only 30 of the 190-odd countries have submitted their NDCs though it is not uncommon for countries to submit their NDCs just ahead of the annual climate talks.
• The NDCs are of particular significance this year because Brazil, which assumes the COP presidency in Belém, has stressed that a major effort this year will be to assess what hindered countries from achieving their stated NDCs. All commitments by countries, even if achieved perfectly, cannot stop the globe from heating to an average of 3 degrees Celsius by the century – well short of the Paris Agreement goals.
• Overall, the ambition to undertake significant emission cuts seems muted.

EU target

• The European Union has yet to announce a 2035 target, though it has a long-term goal to be “net zero” by 2050.
• The EU commission this July had proposed an amendment to the EU climate law enabling a 90% cut in emissions compared to 1990 by 2040.
• Though they were to vote on a target for 2035 last week, France and Germany weighed in to postpone a vote on the matter.
• The EU is expected to submit its NDCs ahead of COP30 with an indicative 2035 target in a range from 66.25% to 72.5%, compared with the 1990 levels. Australia this month updated its NDCs to say that it “aimed” to cut emissions to 62%-70% of 2005 levels by 2035.
• The numbers that have been made public so far will feed into a UN ‘synthesis report’ expected next month that will add up these numbers to show how far off the globe is from the Paris Agreement targets.
• India is also expected to operationalise the India Carbon Market by 2026 — under which 13 major sectors will be given mandatory emission-intensity targets — and can trade their resulting savings,via emission reduction certificates.

• Private sector growth loses some steam in Sept., PMIs show

Context: India’s private sector growth remained strong in September but cooled from August’s multi-year high as softer demand tempered new orders and failed to translate into faster job creation.

• HSBC’s flash India Composite Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI), compiled by S&P Global, fell to 61.9 this month from a final reading of 63.2 in August and below a Reuters poll median forecast of 62.9.
• However, it was the second-sharpest rate of expansion in just over two years and was comfortably above the 50-mark separating growth from contraction. The moderation was seen across the economy, with both factory output and services growth cooling from last month.

• ‘Huge scope for Indian tea sector’

Context: India has all the ingredients to become the superpower of the tea industry, according to the Executive Director of the International Tea Committee, James Suranga Perera.

• Mr. Perera, who spoke recently at the India International Tea Convention in Kochi, that India was the second-largest producer and consumer of tea and the third-largest exporter. Of the total global tea output of 7.074 billion kg and consumption of 6.97 billion kg in 2024, India produced 1.303 billion kg and consumed 1.22 billion kg.

Largest exporter

• On exports, Kenya, which is the largest exporter of tea, ships almost the entire quantity it produces and China, the second-largest exporter, consumes locally a substantial volume of the tea it produces. Sri Lanka shipped 245 million kg worth $1.4 billion.
• However, India exported 255 million kg worth almost $800 million. Hence, India should focus on quality to get better realisation and explore newer markets such as South America and Africa, Mr. Perera said.

Per capita consumption

• On the domestic front, Indian consumers are increasingly willing to pay more for quality. While India’s per capita consumption is 840 gm a year, Turkey’s per capita consumption of 3 kg a year is the highest globally.
• If the Indian per capita consumption can touch even one kg, it will consume the entire quantity that it produces. “So, the scope is definitely there (for the Indian tea sector),” he said.

• IPR Gandhinagar proposes roadmap for India’s fusion power plans

Context: Controlled fusion can only happen in extreme conditions, the kind that exists inside stars; there are currently two popular ways to achieve this: inertial confinement and magnetic confinement. India is already invested in the magnetic confinement technique as a member of the ITER project, which is building a reactor in France

• Researchers at the Institute for Plasma Research (IPR) in Gandhinagar have laid out a roadmap for India to achieve fusion power.
• They envisage developing India’s first fusion electricity generator, called the Steady-state Superconducting Tokamak-Bharat (SST-Bharat), with a power output 5x the input.
• According to the team, it will be a fusion-fission hybrid reactor with 100 MW of the total 130 MW provided by fission. The estimated construction cost is ₹25,000 crore.
• The team ultimately aims to commission a full-scale demonstration reactor by 2060 with an ambitious output-to-input power ratio of 20 and to generate 250 MW.

Fission to fusion

• “Fusion is the process where two small, light atoms come together to form a bigger, heavier atom. When this happens, a huge amount of energy is released,” Daniel Raju, Dean of academics and student affairs at IPR and lead author of the new study, said.
• Nuclear fusion is the reason stars exist and produce heat and light.
• For decades, fission reactors have provided the backbone for nuclear power. Fusion, however, is more attractive than fission because it produces less radioactive waste, eliminating many (but not all) of the costs and headaches of storing hazardous material.
• Controlled fusion can only happen in extreme physical conditions, the kinds that exist in the belly of a star. There are currently two popular ways to achieve this: inertial confinement and magnetic confinement. Inertial confinement uses powerful lasers to blast a capsule with X-rays to initiate fusion. Magnetic confinement works by recreating some of the conditions inside stars.

• India is already invested in magnetic confinement as a member of the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) project, which is building a large reactor in France. In this method, scientists heat plasma to 100 million degrees C, then gently guide the nuclei with magnetic fields until they fuse. To compare, temperatures in the sun’s core reach 15 million degrees C.

Maintaining the plasma

• The ratio of the output power to the input, called the Q value, determines efficiency.
• “We need Q to be much greater than 1, meaning the reactor gives us more energy than we use to run it. Right now, the best result has come from the Joint European Torus in the U.K., which got about 0.67, that is, 67% of the energy back,” Raju said.
• ITER aims to achieve a Q of 10. Future fusion power plants are expected to achieve a value of 20 to be commercially feasible. The doughnut-shaped reactor vessel in which fusion happens is called a tokamak. Its success is measured by how long it can hold the plasma together without dissipating.
• “The longer we can hold it, the closer we get to continuous and reliable fusion reactions,” Raju said.
• In February 2025, the WEST tokamak in France maintained plasma for a record 22 minutes. The current state-of-the-art facility in India is the SST-1 tokamak at IPR. According to Raju, “It has managed to produce plasma for about 650 milliseconds, and it is designed to go up to 16 minutes.”
• SST-1 is a research machine and not meant to generate electricity. SST-Bharat is presented as the next step beyond this experimental base.

Digital twinning

• To strengthen the new roadmap, the researchers have proposed digital twins — virtual replicas of physical systems that mimic real-time conditions inside a tokamak. This would allow scientists to test new designs and troubleshoot before building them physically. They also suggest machine learning-assisted plasma confinement and programmes to develop radiation-resistant materials. These innovations are still at an early stage, but the roadmap argues they are critical to making progress.
• Globally, however, timelines remain uncertain. The U.K.’s STEP programme aims for a prototype fusion plant by 2040. Several U.S. private firms claim they will demonstrate grid-connected fusion as early as the 2030s. China’s EAST tokamak has already set records for plasma duration. India’s target of 2060 places it on a longer path — one that may be less competitive but more cautious.
• Funding and policy are crucial. While the EU and U.S. are investing billions of dollars in fusion R&D and private start-ups, India’s budgets remain modest and almost entirely public-sector driven. The absence of Indian private-sector engagement stands out when compared with the global boom in fusion start-ups. Within India’s wider energy policy, fusion also competes with pressing commitments: net zero by 2070, major expansions in solar and wind, and a long-standing nuclear fission programme.

Rough terrain

• M.V. Ramana, Simons Chair in Disarmament, Global and Human Security at the University of British Columbia, also struck a note of caution on the prospects for fusion.
• “Timelines in nuclear fusion are realistic and often not achievable,” Mr. Ramana emphasised.
• He also pointed out that the economic viability of fusion power is unproven: “The unstated assumption is that electrical power from this process will be affordable at some future date. There is no reason to expect that to be the case.”
• Raju himself acknowledged the cost challenge: “The economic viability of fusion energy will certainly face a huge challenge while competing with fission and other energy sources due to costs in R&D, construction, and operations.”
• Even if commercial viability remains elusive, the researchers argued that fusion R&D will produce dividends in other areas, including radiation-hardened materials, superconducting magnets, plasma modelling, and high-temperature engineering. These capabilities have strategic value, potentially upgrading Indian industry and strengthening technological autonomy. Partnerships with ITER and global firms may also spark innovation and bring project management expertise into Indian labs.
• “Since its [commercial viability hasn’t been demonstrated so far], we are aware that it would be difficult to push it as a potential source of energy in the near future,” Raju said. “Since a lot of private [entities], start-ups, and government bodies across the world are jumping into fusion energy, it makes sense for us to go with optimism and align our domestic fusion programmes with the world.”

• The mapping of the India-China border

Context: During the Simla Conference, the delegate from the Republic of China categorically maintained that Tibet had no claim to the territories of the tribal belt (corresponding to present day Arunachal Pradesh) on the Assam side of the Himalayan divide, for they were not ethnically Tibetan and were self-governing.

Official Manchu maps

• During the 267-year Manchu rule (1644-1911), two major maps of the Empire, drawn to scale with coordinate lines, were prepared with the assistance of European Jesuits.
• The first is Emperor Kang-hsi’s map (1721), depicting the territorial bequest of the Tibet-Assam segment to the then Republic of China (RoC). In the map, Tibet was never conceived as a trans-Himalayan state. Its southern boundary extended only upto the Himalayas, for Tibetans never resided on the southern side of the Himalayan divide.
• Consequently, non-Tibetan Tawang, south of the Himalayan divide, although Buddhist, was not depicted as Tibetan territory. Corroborative evidence in this regard comes from the RoC delegate’s statement during the Simla Conference (1913-14), in which he categorically maintained that Tibet had no claim to the territories of the tribal belt (corresponding to present day Arunachal Pradesh) on the Assam side of the Himalayan divide, for they were not ethnically Tibetan and were self-governing.
• Moreover, the RoC delegate did not claim this non-Tibetan tribal-belt on behalf of his country, leaving it to the Indian delegate to include it in Assam as it had already been under its sphere of influence for centuries. The resultant Indo-Tibetan boundary agreement in March 1914, also called the 1914 alignment, was in keeping with Kang-hsi’s map.
• The second Manchu map that depicts its territorial bequest to the RoC in the eastern Turkestan-Kashmir segment is Emperor Ch’ien-lung’s map (1761), which shows that Eastern Turkestan (a region in the northwestern part of the now People’s Republic of China) was never conceived as a trans-Kunlun territory (mountain range abutting eastern Turkistan).
• Consequently, the Manchu never claimed the stretch of desolate area south of the Kunlun mountain extending all the way upto the Hindu Kush-Karakoram mountains, lying further south. A proposal was submitted to the Manchu Foreign Office in 1899 suggesting the division of this area on the watershed principle, resulting in the Kashmir-Sinkiang boundary line, which became the 1899 alignment (related to the Aksai Chin region).

Territorial claims to the contrary

• Apart from the official Manchu maps cited above, there is no subsequent official Manchu map. In 1943, when World War II was at its peak, a tottering RoC felt emboldened enough to set aside the Manchu’s territorial bequest (1721 & 1761 maps), resulting in the emergence of a claim to large tracts of Indian territory. On being questioned on the new map, the RoC’s response was, “The map was but an unprecise draft, to be corrected later on.” A similar map was repeated by the RoC in December 1947, at a vulnerable moment, when a newly independent India’s energies were directed on its military conflict with Pakistan.
• China retained the same map-making pattern set by its predecessor regime. In a rare moment of candour in Peking in October 1954, Chou En-lai, the then Chinese Premier acknowledged in the presence of the Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, ‘…it is a historical question and we have been mostly printing old maps…At least we do not have any deliberate intentions of changing boundaries as KMT (RoC) had. The whole thing is ridiculous….’.
• It has been shown that during his talks with Jawaharlal Nehru on the boundary question in New Delhi in April 1960, Chou En-lai had, more or less, conjured up a narrative in support of the Chinese position. He did so by attempting to pick holes in the evidence in support of India’s claim through a clever play of words and assertions, not backed by facts. However, he was cautious in making a reference to evidence of Chinese origin, for he knew that here he could be skating on thin ice.
• He slowly revealed his tactic to resolve the boundary question: that instead of focusing on maps and documents alone, both sides should agree to the use of a set of principles, enunciated by him, for a resolution. This was a trap, as reasoned by former Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale in his book, The Long Game. There appears to be no evidence in the public domain to suggest that Chou En-lai had proposed a territorial swap — where India would concede to the Chinese position in the Aksai Chin region in exchange for Chinese acceptance of India’s claim over Arunachal Pradesh.
• Instead, the way forward, as agreed to by both parties, was through a package deal that would aim at resolving not only the entire length of the boundary, but also address other pending geopolitical and trade-related matters. To break the impasse, both sides would need to work towards a “…solution which brings no defeat to any side and that it should be reasonable, equitable and friendly…and which is…consistent with dignity and self-respect of both countries.” The broad contours of such a solution could possibly lead to the acceptance of the 1899 and 1914 alignments respectively, with a provision for a territorial swap to meet each other’s security concerns.