What to Read in Indian Express Editorial( Topic and Syllabus wise)

EDITORIAL 1: India’s S&P rating upgrade

Context

S&P Global Ratings had upgraded its rating on India to BBB from BBB-. The sovereign rating upgrade by S&P is significant for two key reasons. One, it came after a gap of nearly two decades; and two, it has meaningful implications for the Indian economy.

India’s upgrade pursuit

• The Indian government has over the last several years aggressively pursued the three global agencies — S&P, Moody’s, and Fitch Ratings — for higher ratings that, in its opinion, better reflect the economy’s fundamentals.
• In fact, New Delhi has repeatedly expressed its displeasure over the agencies’ methodologies, saying they were biased against emerging economies.
• So, what has convinced S&P that now is a good time for India to be given an upgrade?

Steady economic improvement

• The primary reason is clarity on the government’s finances. While the Centre has had a law called the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management Act since 2003— it demands reducing the annual fiscal deficit to 3 per cent of GDP — it has rarely been met.
• Then there is growth. Despite GDP growth falling to a four-year low of 6.5 per cent in 2024-25, India remains one of the fastest growing large economies in the world — or in S&P’s words, “among the best performing economies in the world”.
• And this is real, or inflation-adjusted, growth; nominal growth — which is the actual increase in the GDP in today’s prices — is even higher.
• When it comes to calculating the debt-to-GDP ratio, it is the nominal GDP that matters.As such, as long as nominal GDP growth is higher than the pace with which the debt is increasing, the debt-to-GDP ratio will keep falling.
• Another key factor has been the fairly low and stable domestic inflation, with S&P praising the Reserve Bank of India’s inflation management record.
• As per latest data, India’s headline inflation rate had fallen to 1.55 per cent in July — the lowest since mid-2017.
• Low and stable inflation is crucial to foreign investors as sharp increases in pricescan erode their investments, weaken growth and the domestic currency, and create social unrest — all factors that can lead to a rating downgrade.

Why credit ratings matter

• A credit rating is nothing more than a measure of an entity’s creditworthiness, or how likely it is that they may pay back borrowed money.If you pay back your loans and credit card bills on time and in full, your credit score improves. It is the same for countries.
• Most countries need to borrow money every year to fund some of their expenditures. The difference between the total income and the expenditure for a year is the fiscal deficit; the Indian government’s is Rs 15.69 lakh crore for 2025-26.
• This has to be met by borrowing money from the markets, with the government paying interest on it.

The rating scale

• To be sure, India’s rating level with S&P has itself not changed — the country remains in the BBB category. It’s just that it has gone from the lowest edge of it, or BBB-, to a more secure position. The next step would be BBB+.
• Ratings are divided into two rough classes: investment and speculative grades. Entities, including countries, in the former class are worth investing in, while repayment of loans taken by those in the latter is difficult to predict. But even within the investment grade, there are steps, and BBB is the lowest.
• According to S&P, a BBB rating indicates “adequate capacity to meet financial commitments, but more subject to adverse economic conditions”.
• The next step is A, then AA, and finally, AAA, which signifies “extremely strong capacity to meet financial commitments”.

Way forward

• The implications of a better credit rating are clear — the Indian government should be able to borrow at a lower rate of interest.
• This has already occurred, with government bond yields in the secondary market on August 14 falling as much as 10 basis points, with the rupee’s exchange rate also getting a boost.

 

EDITORIAL 2: How jellyfish disrupt nuclear power plants

Context

One of the largest nuclear power plants in France was forced to temporarily shut down on recently due to a slimy and spineless adversary: jellyfish.

Thwart to nuclear power plants

• The incident took place after a “massive and unpredictable” swarm of the marine creature clogged up the plant’s cooling system.
• This is not the first time that jellyfish have thwarted nuclear plants. Swarms of these invertibrates have caused such disruptions across the world since at least the 1990s — Gravelines itself was disrupted in 1993.
• However, experts suggest that the incidents of jellyfish disrupting power generation have been on the rise in recent years. For instance, in 2011 alone, jellyfish paralysed plants in Israel, Japan, and Scotland. In 2013, an invasion of jellyfish halted a reactor in Sweden.

How do jellyfish thwart?

• Nuclear power plants require a constant flow of water to cool their reactorsand turbine systems, which is why many plants are typically built near large bodies of water.
• The plants’ intake pipes have screening areas that have grated barrier systems to remove solid materials and aquatic life, and allow the inflow of water, sometimes millions of gallons every minute.
• However, jellyfish pose a unique problem to this system. When a large volume of jellyfish — around a million individuals — gets pulled in by the intake pipes, they entirely cover and clog the screening areas within minutes.
• As a result, the flow of water is interrupted. This risks overheating and damage to the major plant constituents, such as the turbines, condensers, and boilers, forcing the reactors to shut down.
• Such a large number of jellyfish are typically pulled in when these creatures bloom — a rapid, temporary increase in jellyfish reproduction rates — near coastal nuclear power plants. During this process, millions of separate jellyfish clump together into dense groups.
• Another issue is that dead jellyfish can turn into a gel and pass through the screens, causing problems deeper in the plant system.
• Removing jellyfish from the screens involves complicated and dangerous procedures. If a large population of jellyfish has clogged the intake pipes, it may take up to two days for the workers to clean them. During this process, there is a chance that jellyfish may sting the workers.

Incidents on rise

• The increase in incidents of power disruption caused by jellyfish is primarily due to a rise in their population in recent years,and their ability to adapt to the conditions found in and around coastal nuclear power plants.
• Several factors are contributing to the proliferation of jellyfish.
• CLIMATE CHANGE: Global warming has led to higher ocean temperatures, which, in turn, has resulted in the surge of plankton — the primary food source of jellyfish.
• Also, these marine creatures breed faster in warmer water. Studies have found that higher temperatures lead to a higher metabolic rate and faster division of cells among jellyfish.
• OVERFISHING: Jellyfish have proliferated because of overfishing as well. That’s because various kinds of species, such as tuna and sea turtles,that prey on them have been removed from the ecosystem. These species also feed on plankton, and with their reduced population, jellyfish have more plankton to consume and thrive unchecked.
• PLASTIC POLLUTION:Unlike other marine creatures, jellyfish can tolerate low oxygen levels in water, which is a consequence of pollution. This has also contributed to the increase in their population in recent years.

Conclusion

As global temperatures continue to soar and marine ecosystems further deteriorate, the population of jellyfish is expected to skyrocket. This would increase the number of nuclear power plant shutdowns due to jellyfish, resulting in power disruption and loss of millions of dollars.