08 Jan 2024 : The Hindu Editorial

Topic 1 : A new high: On the Aditya-L1 mission and ISRO outreach

Context: ISRO should help everyone enjoy the fruits of its new science missions

Introduction

• On January 6 evening, a stream of commands transmitted by scientists and engineers of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) were translated by a computer onboard the Aditya-L1 spacecraft into manoeuvres that guided it into orbit around an imaginary point in space.
• Thus, Aditya-L1 reached its destination, around the L1 Lagrange point, from where it will have an unfettered view of the sun for its expected lifetime of five years.

ISRO

• The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is the space agency of the Government of India, established in 1969. With its headquarters in Bengaluru, Karnataka, ISRO has emerged as a leading player in space exploration and satellite technology.
• The organization is known for its cost-effective and innovative approach to space missions.
• ISRO has achieved numerous milestones, including the launch of its first satellite, Aryabhata, in 1975.
• It gained global recognition with the successful launch of the Mars Orbiter Mission (Mangalyaan) in 2013, making India the first Asian nation to reach Martian orbit and the first nation in the world to do so on its maiden attempt.
• The organization has a diverse portfolio, encompassing satellite communication, Earth observation, navigation, scientific research, and interplanetary exploration. ISRO's Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) and Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) have been instrumental in deploying satellites for various purposes.

Aditya-L1

• Aditya-L1 is an observatory-class solar mission that will study the sun with seven instruments: VELC, a coronagraph to study the uppermost layer of the sun’s atmosphere; SUIT, an ultraviolet imaging telescope; SoLEXS and HEL1OS, to study solar flares and coronal mass ejections; ASPEX and PAPA, to study the solar wind and plasma; and a set of digital magnetometers to measure properties of the magnetic field around the spacecraft.
• ISRO picked the L1 Lagrange point — 1.5 million km from the earth in the earth-sun direction and one of five Lagrange points in the earth-sun system — because the gravitational influences of the two bodies interact such that a smaller body here will not experience a net tug towards either.
• So, Aditya-L1 can stay at L1 while expending little fuel. Its scientific mission will begin in a month or so, once its thrusters’ emissions drift away.

History of observing the Sun!

• As such, Aditya-L1 supplements India’s storied history of observing the sun — dating back to the Kodaikanal Solar Observatory, which commenced operations in 1901 — by lofting it into space.
• It also follows the XPoSat mission, launched on January 1 to become only the world’s second X-ray polarimetry satellite, and eight years after AstroSat, which reached several highs of its own.

Public perception of such achievements

• An important issue with such achievements is public perception. For example, while Aditya-L1 and AstroSat are big strides from India’s point of view, they pale in comparison to the imaging abilities of the James Webb Space Telescope, which is operated by three space agencies.
• Yet, many continue to expect the Indian spacecraft to capture hi-res photographs of the cosmos and are disillusioned when it does not. This is not fair (setting aside the fact that not all instruments are imagers).

What ISRO can do more?

• ISRO can do more, too, by expanding its own and its collaborating institutes’ public outreach efforts, such as by hosting open days focused on specific missions and commissioning science communication on new results at regular intervals.
• Everyone should be able to celebrate a new high, but especially the people at large, so ISRO should also consider including components on missions that feed public interest.

Conclusion

All these efforts will require funds, but considering the love ISRO has been getting from the government of late, it may just be a matter of asking.

Topoic 2 : Structured negotiation as a boost for disability rights

Context: Its success lies in the win-win situation that its methodology presents, for defaulting service providers and complainants.

Introduction

• Structured negotiation is a collaborative and solution-driven dispute resolution technique which is increasingly being used as an alternative to litigation. It typically involves inviting the defaulting service provider to the negotiation table and impressing upon them the benefits of complying with social welfare legislations.
• While its utility pervades sectors, structured negotiation has been most effective in settling disability rights cases in the United States, a development that one of us, Ms. Feingold, has played no small part in ensuring.

Its success rate

• Structured negotiation has proven successful in addressing issues related to inaccessible automated teller machines, point of sale devices, pedestrian signals, and service provider websites.
• It has convinced companies like Walmart, CVS, and Caremark to create accessible prescription bottles for blind or low vision customers and has driven institutional reform by facilitating strategies for creating more accessible voting machines and websites.
• The methodology presents a win-win situation, as defaulting service providers want to avoid litigation costs and negative publicity, while complainants want barrier-free participation in the marketplace.
• The success of structured negotiation depends on the creation of a strong body of disabled-friendly legal precedents.
• Once courts create a blueprint for accessibility and compliance in a given sector, structured negotiation becomes a pathway for businesses to make their offerings accessible without litigation and for users with disabilities to obtain a disabled-friendly offering without the cost and unpleasantness associated with litigation.

India’s red tape

• Pendency, paperwork, and red tape in Indian courts are reducing traditional dispute resolution methods.
• The Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016 allows non-compliance to be reported to the Chief Commissioner for Persons with Disabilities (CCPD). The CCPD can direct service providers to make their services accessible or impose penalties for non-compliance.
• The impact of this body on repairing accessibility barriers in the marketplace is yet to be seen. Paytm, a digital payments application, was directed to make its mobile applications accessible for Persons with Disabilities, but compliance resulted in the application becoming more inaccessible.
• Structured Negotiation technique can help service providers avoid embarrassment, avoid legal fees, and allow Persons with Disabilities to monitor the implementation of fixes.

Priority is key

• However, at the same time, it is pertinent to note here that the success of any alternative dispute resolution model is directly proportional to the level of priority that such service providers are willing to afford to the struggles of persons with disabilities.
• Till the time such providers continue to feel that there are no real benefits of providing any services to persons with disabilities, any attempts to settle these claims amicably outside courts would be a tall order to achieve.
• That said, as Helen Keller noted, “optimism is the faith that leads to achievement”. And so we submit that for India, the time to deploy structured negotiation in a big way has come.
• Businesses that refuse to join the bandwagon will be doing so at their own peril as they will be losing out on the enormous buying capacity that persons with disabilities possess, even keeping aside the question of legal compliance to one side.

Conclusion

• It is high time that businesses prioritised the needs of disabled users, and exhibiting openness to enter into a structured negotiation would be a powerful step in this direction.

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