FUEL PRICE HIKE FORCES INDIA TO ALTER CLEAN ENERGY PATH
NEW DELHI: The University Grants Commission (UGC) plans to do away with the mandatory requirement of publishing research papers in peer reviewed journals for the submission of PHD thesis, officials said. The commission will allow higher education institutions to formulate their own rules and regulations on the matter. The reason for doing so is because many PHD students were resorting to publishing their articles in so-called predatory journals — basically those that publish articles in return for a fee, without adequate due diligence of the sort academic publications are expected to ensure.
“This mandatory requirement led to a “journal business” in India. Making anything mandatory does not improve the quality of research. Therefore, UGC is now considering doing away with this requirement while strongly recommending research scholars to publish the research outcomes of their PHD in peer reviewed journals, apply for patents, and present in conferences,” UGC chairperson M Jagadesh Kumar told HT.
NEW DELHI: Skyrocketing international fossil fuel rates, particularly of natural gas, due to the Russia-ukraine war and a supply squeeze by energy exporting countries have compelled India to change its clean energy transition road map and revert to using coal to meet its energy requirements, a top government functionary said.
“As far as fulfilling Paris commitment is concerned, India was among top three countries... But due to rising prices of natural gas, the country is forced to raise domestic coal production,” this person added.
Before gas prices spiked, India planned to reduce its carbon footprint by 33-35% of its 2005 levels by 2030, part of its commitment at the Paris climate conference seven years ago. India made a commitment at the COP-26 summit in November last year to achieve net zero carbon emission by 2070.
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THE COMMISSION WILL ALSO ALLOW HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS TO FORMULATE THEIR OWN RULES ON THE MATTER