Editorial 1: Woman, moment, nation
Recent Context:
- Recently, both the houses of Parliament passed the Constitution (One Hundred and Twenty-eight Amendment) Bill 2023 under a new name, Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam that reserve one-third of all seats for women in the Lok Sabha, the state legislatures, and the Delhi legislative assembly.
- It is a pivotal instrument for achieving political empowerment. This is a matter of unwavering commitment for the government that have taken resolute actions whether it’s regarding Article 370, Triple Talaq, or now the Women’s Reservation Bill.
- Women, when given the same access and opportunities, can excel in the political arena just as our women scientists have excelled at ISRO
Government’s initiatives toward women-led development
- India has pivoted towards a paradigm of ‘women-led development’. The outcomes of these empowerment initiatives are evident, ushering in a transformative change in the nation’s social fabric.
- Governments’ efforts to empower women through initiatives such as Ujjwala Yojana, Swachhata Abhiyan, Beti Bachao Beti Padhao, MUDRA Yojana, increasing maternity leave, and permanent commissioning of women in the Armed Forces are visible to all.
- Around 70 per cent of loans under the PM MUDRA Yojana have been sanctioned to women.
- These are loans up to Rs 1 million to support micro-level units and those self-employed.
- Similarly, 80 per cent of beneficiaries under Stand-Up India are women.
- While ensuring a life of dignity for women government promoted adoption of LPG cylinders under the Ujjwala Yojana, safeguarding millions of women from chronic respiratory disorders by promoting smoke-free kitchens
- Furthermore, with the success of the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, countless women now have access to toilets in their homes, easing concerns over their safety and preserving their dignity. Women got joint ownership of houses made under PM Awas Yojana (PMAY).
Achievement of the women
- Over the past years, women have surged ahead with notable accomplishments.
- This progress is evident in the increased representation of female police personnel, accolades secured by our sportswomen on international platforms, and the rising enrolment of women in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) disciplines.
- Since 2014, female participation in technical education, especially in the Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs), has doubled.
- Remarkably, nearly 43 per cent of STEM graduates in India are women.
- About a quarter of space scientists in India are women whose dedication and hard work have been instrumental in the nation’s flagship space missions, including Chandrayaan, Gaganyaan, and Mission Mars.
- Today, more women are enrolling in higher education than men in India. We also have one of the highest numbers of women pilots in civil aviation. And female pilots in the Indian Air Force are now flying fighter aircraft.
- Women fighters now stand to serve as “Amrit Rakshaks” in the “Amrit Kaal”
Political representation and empowerment of women(Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam)
- The right to vote and contest elections was granted to women in India since the beginning. About 1.4 million, that is 46 per cent of elected representatives in rural local bodies in India, are women. Indian women and their empowerment are playing a big role in pushing the country’s growth.
- As, India’s success cannot be achieved if 50 per cent of the population, which comprises women, remains confined to their homes.
- As India propels itself to become a dominant global economic force, the role of women in contributing to the nation’s growth becomes increasingly indispensable with each passing day.
- The Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam is historic legislation, which will further boost women’s empowerment and enable even greater participation of women in our political and governance processes.
- With the enactment of the legislation, India positions itself on the brink of a more radiant and inclusive tomorrow, with our Nari Shakti at the heart of this transformation.
- This transformative journey also signifies a paradigm shift in societal perceptions – where women are no longer merely beneficiaries but are active contributors and shapers of the nation’s destiny.
- For e.g. Rashrapati Droupadi Murmu stands as a shining example of an empowered woman, and every female MP embodies empowerment.
- The elected women representatives will undoubtedly enhance the quality of parliamentary debates, influence law and policy making, and contribute positively to governance for the greater good of all Indians.
Conclusion:
- We must remember that empowering women means empowering a nation. When women thrive, societies prosper. As we stand at this significant juncture, it’s not just about celebrating the milestones achieved but also about looking forward to the limitless possibilities that lie ahead.
- India is setting an example on the global stage, showcasing that with commitment, vision, and action, gender barriers can be overcome, making way for a more inclusive, prosperous, and balanced future.
- Therefore, the essence of the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam and similar initiatives signifies hope, progress, and a promise of a brighter future for all. It’s a clarion call for the entire nation to rally together and ensure that the winds of change, set in motion, continue for generations to come.
EdItorial 2: Not Just Oil
Context:
- India’s foreign relations have had a genuine lift-off in the last 10 years with the Middle East that has gained exponentially in momentum particularly with Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
- The recently concluded state visit to India by the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, Muhammad bin Salman (MBS) in conjunction with the G20 Summit in New Delhi brings this out in new heights in relation of both the nations.
India-Saudi Arab bilateral relation:
- India is Saudi Arabia’s second-largest trading partner; Saudi Arabia is India’s fourth-largest.
- Trade between the two countries touched $52.75 billion in the 2022-23 fiscal year, and until being displaced by Russia in the last financial year, Saudi Arabia has been India’s largest source of crude imports for nearly a decade ($29 billion in the 2022-23).
- India has a large number of expatriates based in Saudi Arabia in both the skilled and unskilled sectors, and has been earmarked a quota of 175,000 pilgrims for the annual Hajj.
Saudi Arab ensures the energy security for India
- Needless to say, the core element in Indo-Saudi relations continues to revolve around energy, especially Saudi export of crude oil.
- India’s reliance on Saudi oil exports dates back to the 1960s, but India used to buy a greater volume of her crude from among the lighter crude that came from the north side of the Persian Gulf (Iraq and Iran) rather than the Arab Gulf states, because Indian refineries were better equipped to handle that variety.
- It was only with the fall in the volume of Iraqi exports from the 1990s, and then with the 2010 sanctions regime imposed on Iran by the USA, EU and their allies, that India began to proportionately increase her import of Saudi crude.
- Riyadh seized this opportunity by investing in the conversion of refinery technology at Jamnagar to suit the crude of the southern side of the Gulf.
- In 2019, MBS committed further in this direction by promising investment to the tune of $50 billion in another refinery on the Maharashtra coast (with a projected capacity of 1.2 million barrels a day in partnership with Abu Dhabi National Oil Company of UAE) and a petrochemical plant.
- Over and above the energy and petrochemical sector, MBS has reconfirmed Saudi intention of investing another $50 billion and setting up an office for the Saudi Sovereign Wealth Fund in Gujarat International Fin Tech-City.
Emerging new heights in India-Saudi Arab relation:
- The proposed grand IMEC (India-Middle East-European Corridor), creating a port-railroad connectivity to link India, the Gulf countries, and the European Union (in which India and Saudi Arabia are to be two nodal countries) to rival China’s Belt-Road-Initiative would alone have sufficed to highlight this growing bonhomie.
- The prospective collaboration of both the is likely to integrate the two countries in a way to the global supply chain that has not happened since the Portuguese discovery of the sea route to India in the 15th century.
- And India’s support for the induction of Saudi Arabia as a permanent member of BRICS seems just the kind of game changer Saudi Arabia needs to materialise MBS’s vision of Saudi Arabia 2030, a post-oil economy.
- The India-Saudi bilateral meet immediately after the G20 summit saw the conclusion of eight major MoUs
- (Involving vigilance, financial regulation and exim banks, desalination technology)
- and several other minor understandings (ranging from IT, petrochemicals, pharmaceuticals, new “clean” energy technology, manufacturing and defence).
Conclusion:
- Saudi investment would provide India with a kind of foreign capital that may not be as susceptible to knee-jerk reactions as Western capital often has been. The issue of India’s energy security will also be addressed in a big way. Therefore, the reciprocity of benefits is likely to make the bonhomie endure over the medium term.