Editorial 1: Without a caste count caste, there can be no honest politics
Recent Context:
- Recently, Bihar state government released the 2022 caste-based survey. For far too long, any decision to collect caste data has been seen as self-evidently “political”, whereas the equally deliberate decision to not collect it has somehow been placed outside or beyond politics
Earlier activities for caste-based census:
- Earlier, the states of Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, as well as the Union government itself (in the ill-fated Socio Economic and Caste Census 2011), have collected comprehensive caste data in the past, but for reasons that remain unclear, never revealed it.
- On the other hand, the Bihar government is yet to release the all-important supplementary data (on the socio-economic status of caste groups) that will allow us to make social sense of the bare caste counts made public.
Politics based on caste
- As per, Max Weber’s famous dictum about the modern state. Today, states are no longer defined by their monopoly over legitimate violence within a specified territory. They are defined as much, or even more, by their monopoly over aggregated social statistics.
- Nation-wide numbers are priceless resources crucial for the exercise and maintenance of political power in modern electoral democracies because they are critical to the management of public perceptions, beliefs, and feelings.
- And totalitarian regimes need to control social statistics — numbers that describe our collective self — are always big news precisely for that reason.
- That is why the first moves towards authoritarianism are often aimed at controlling institutions that produce social statistics on growth, employment, health, and inflation — in general, numbers that say something about the well-being (or otherwise) of the electorate.
- Caste data is a special case within the more general category of social statistics. It tells us about the smaller identity-containers (castes) that form the larger national whole.
Two sides of caste-based census:
- CBC is important because this data has the potential to highlight social inequalities, likely to lead towards social discontent and tension, which in turn threaten to weaken or break the political hegemony of the ruling regime.
- And it is also the inescapable first step towards an honest political engagement with the real differences and disparities of caste.
- Caste must be counted because it counts — it is arguably the most important regulator of life chances today. This means that caste differences are real differences. To call for “unity” without addressing these differences is to practice dishonest politics.
- Just as courage is not the absence of fear (which could be mere foolishness) but its overcoming, true political unity is the negotiated overcoming of differences, not their denial or suppression.
- However, the strongest, most enduring and common argument against caste enumeration has been that it will harden caste divisions and delay or prevent the movement towards a casteless society.
- There is some truth here, but it is overshadowed by a larger and more compelling truth — the realities of caste inequalities in the present must be acknowledged and addressed before we can arrive at a caste-free future. To censor or suppress caste divisions is not to overcome them.
A data driven better planning and implementation of schemes and programmes for welfare of vulnerable section:
- In a data-driven economy, this survey will not only reveal the exact number of Dalits and Backward Classes, but will also reveal the levels of education, standard of living, occupation (private, government, gazetted, non-gazetted etc.), work efficiency, other sources of income, how many earning members in the family, etc.
- Accurate information will also be available about the number of dependents on one person, the number of castes in the village, etc., which will also help the state government in formulating development policies.
- With the benefit of data, the backward castes can be strengthened by giving them the benefit of reservation. The caste survey will enable us to know the economic, social and educational status of any caste. This will make it easier to make plans for their betterment.
Conclusion:
- This survey data not only presents a detailed picture of caste demographics but also raises important questions about representation, social justice, and political strategies in Bihar and India as a whole.
- However, it is necessary to ensure that this information should be used constructively for targeted development rather than misused for identity-based politics.
Editorial 2: Physics Nobel 2023
Recent Context:
- Recently, The Nobel Prize in Physics for 2023 has gone to scientists Anne L’Huillier, Pierre Agostini, and Ferenc Krausz s whose work made it easier to observe electrons
- Their work has given humanity new tools for exploring the world of electrons inside atoms and molecules. They have demonstrated a way to create extremely short pulses of light that can be used to measure the rapid processes in which electrons move or change energy.
About their scientific work
- An atom, a tiny unit into which matter can be divided, is composed of a nucleus of protons and neutrons, and electrons that travel around this nucleus.
- Electrons move so fast that it is impossible to observe them in real time. The work of L’Huillier, Agostini, and Krausz has brought humanity closer to observing and studying the movement of electrons, by producing pulses of light that last only attoseconds, which is 1×10−18 of a second.
- Roughly, this can be compared to a high-shutter-speed camera. If a normal camera is used to capture a moving train, the image will be blurred. But a high shutter-speed camera can freeze motion and capture a clear image of the train.
Attosecond science
- To observe any process, the measurement must be made at a pace quicker than the rate of change. That is how clear images of moving objects are generated.
- Light pulses, the only plausible tool to capture processes at the atomic level, cannot be made indefinitely shorter.
- Light consists of waves, or vibrations in the electromagnetic field. The shortest possible pulse would have to be at least one cycle long, equivalent to its wavelength.
- For all sorts of light produced by laser systems, this cycle used to take at least a few femtoseconds to complete.
- This was longer than the sub-atomic motion that was happening in a matter of attoseconds. Scientists were therefore unable to glimpse the motion of electrons with existing technologies.
How did they do this?
- According to the Nobel website, back in 1987, L’Huillier discovered that when a laser light wave was passed through a noble gas, it interacted with the atoms, giving some electrons extra energy that was then emitted as light.
- “In 2001, Pierre Agostini succeeded in producing and investigating a series of consecutive light pulses [or flashes of light], in which each pulse lasted just 250 attoseconds.
- At the same time, Ferenc Krausz was working with another type of experiment, one that made it possible to isolate a single light pulse that lasted 650 attoseconds,” said the Nobel website.
- These flashes of light made it possible to provide images of processes inside atoms.
Why is this work important?
- Attosecond science has potential applications in a variety of areas, from electronics to medicine, across disciplines in physics, chemistry and biology.
- It has open new door to the world of electrons. Attosecond physics gives us the opportunity to understand mechanisms that are governed by electrons
- A better understanding of how electrons move and transmit energy can also help in creating more efficient electronic gadgets..
- One possible application is to study molecular-level changes in blood, to identify diseases. One of the active areas of research using this technology is in medical science, particularly in finding therapies for cancer care.