Course correction on freeing Rajiv Gandhi’s killers; COP27 derails; Space voyage of Vikram-S
Opinion Watch
Course correction on freeing Rajiv Gandhi’s killers
The two-judge bench of the Supreme Court order had triggered a national uproar to release the six remaining convicts in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case. The convicts freed from jails in Tamil Nadu had been giving bytes on television, while the local leaders were feting them. One convict – Nalini Sriharan – has plans to fly to London. Another convict wants to build the North-South narrative, asking that he be treated as victim. In a way, the Supreme Court by succumbing to the narrow interpretation of the Constitutional provisions invited popular wrath against the verdict.
The Times of India in its Editorial has welcomed the decision of the Central government to appeal against the verdict of the Supreme Court on the grounds that the two judges were swayed by narrow interpretation of the Constitution. The daily stated that the issue at the core of the verdict is the apex court endorsement of the executive decision of the state government, Tamil Nadu, is binding on Governor. Tamil Nadu government had decided for the release of the remaining six convicts.
Now, the issue as stated by the daily is whether a state government influenced by a narrow view can decide on the release of convicts who have committed rarest of the rare crime – attacking the sovereignty of the country. Certainly, Tamil Nadu government was not thinking of the sovereignty of the country but playing to the gallery of Tamil nationalism and narrow political opportunism. This is a rot, which can cause serious harm in the federal relations. The apex court must set the records right.
COP27 derails
The COP27 at Sharm el-Sheikh in Egypt after two weeks of deliberations has slipped into the usual marshy land of the developed countries shirking their responsibilities on climate action. The divide between the developed and the developing countries is too large to bridge. The US is the key culprit.
The Pioneer in its Editorial has given an account of the knots of COP27. The daily stated that the developed countries need to commit $400 billion by 2030 in climate action finance as part of the damage financing in the developing and least developed countries. But the developed countries are cold to the idea. This was expected. The climate action finance agenda is not new, for the developed countries had committed $100 billion in 2010 only, and only $83 billion could be mibilised by 2020, while only $58 billion were spent on climate change mitigation efforts.
The US is truly a villain in the climate change, accounting for 11 per cent of the carbon emissions. China is another super villain, with more than 20 per cent contribution in carbon emission. India accounts for just seven per cent carbon emission, while the population of the country is over 1.3 billion. Pakistan, which is an evident victim of climate change, as the super floods ravaged the country, accounts for less than four per cent of carbon emissions. The COP27 derailment again affirms that the multilateral agencies have been grossly inadequate to the meet the demands of the global challenge.
Space voyage of Vikram-S
The launch of Vikram-S, a first private endeavour in India, is truly an epochal event. The Indian Express has richly lauded the launch by the Hyderabad-based private agency Skyroot Aerospace. Students of several countries are collaborating in space sciences and designs of small satellites. The Hyderabad-based space entity has shown that the opening of the space sector for the private players by Narendra Modi-led NDA government is on the right course.
The Noida-based daily underlined that there are over 350 startups in the country working in the space sector. But India’s share in the global space economy is mere three per cent, while the government aims to scale it up to 10 per cent by 2030.
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