Editorial 1: Law is not enough
Recent Context:
- Recently, The Constitution (One Hundred and Twenty-Eighth Amendment) Bill, 2023, received the President’s assent .
- It seeks to reserve one-third of the total number of seats in the Lok Sabha and state legislative assemblies, and the Legislative Assembly of the National Capital Territory of Delhi for women. The Women’s Reservation Bill, as it has been referred to, is now recast as the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam.
Historical debate over women’s reservation in politics
- It has been a long struggle for women in India for the right to equal participation in politics.
- While there has been near unanimity among women as far as the goal of equal representation in legislative bodies is concerned, there are several differences on the approaches and methods (especially on the issue of reservation for women) for the achievement of these goals.
- Stalwarts such as Sarojini Naidu, Muthulakshmi Reddy and others in the pre-Independence period had diverging and complex views on the issue of reservation for women in legislative bodies.
- The Constituent Assembly debates feature some leading women who resisted the idea of reservation for women in any form. Rajkumari Amrit Kaur, for instance, was of the opinion that such measures would weaken women’s self-esteem and confidence while also threatening the goal of national unity.
New phase for women’s voice after 1980s
- The revitalised women’s movement of the 1980s and the changed political landscape of India in the 1990s, especially north India, created fresh thinking on a quota for women.
- While there was a general agreement amongst women political activists within political parties and civil society organisations about the need for measures to increase women’s political participation, there were sharp disagreements about the place of caste-based quotas within the Women’s Reservation Bill that was presented in Parliament in 1996.
- The struggles of women belonging to Dalit, Adivasi and other marginalised groups made it obvious that women experience exclusion due to a variety of discriminatory structures such as caste, religion, class, age and ability.
- The inability to reach an agreement on the issue of caste-based quotas within the proposed Women’s Reservation Bill in its earlier forms, saw the Bill languish in Parliament until now.
Significance of the Women's Reservation Bill
Gender Equality
- Historical Underrepresentation: Historically, women have been significantly underrepresented in India's political landscape. This underrepresentation perpetuates gender inequality as it restricts women's ability to influence policies and decisions that affect their lives.
- Political Empowerment: The Women's Reservation Bill is a proactive measure to ensure that women have a fair opportunity to participate in the highest levels of decision-making in the country, promoting gender equality in politics.
- Symbolic Importance: It signifies that Indian society recognizes and values the contributions of women in politics, sending a message that women’s voices and perspectives are essential in shaping the nation's future.
Empowerment
- Access to Political Arena: The Women's Reservation Bill empowers women by granting them equal access to the political arena. It breaks down traditional barriers and prejudices that may have discouraged women from entering politics in the past, such as social norms and lack of opportunities.
- Enhancing Political Skills: As more women enter politics and gain experience, it helps in building their leadership and governance skills. This empowerment extends beyond politics, as women who succeed in the political sphere can become role models for others, inspiring greater participation in various fields.
- Policy Influence: Through political participation, women gain the power to influence policies that directly impact their lives and those of their communities. This empowerment translates into tangible changes in areas such as healthcare, education, gender-based violence, and economic opportunities.
Diverse Perspectives
- Addressing Gender-Specific Issues: Increased female representation in politics brings attention to gender-specific issues that may have been overlooked in the past. Women often advocate for policies related to maternal health, childcare, gender-based violence, and economic opportunities that directly affect women and families.
- Enhancing Decision-Making: Diverse perspectives lead to more comprehensive and balanced decision-making. When women are actively involved in policymaking, the resulting laws and regulations are more likely to consider the needs and interests of the entire population, not just a segment of it.
- Social and Cultural Change: Female political leaders can challenge traditional gender roles and norms, inspiring broader social and cultural change. Their presence in politics can help break down stereotypes and create a more inclusive and gender-equal society.
Concern about its implementation after post-2026
- In 2001, the Vajpayee government amended Article 82 (84th amendment to the Constitution), thereby barring any delimitation of constituencies before the 2026 census.
- This implies that the provisions of the Bill under discussion can be implemented only after delimitation (of Lok Sabha constituencies based on population) based on a Census that takes place post-2026.
- Multiple variables and the absence of a clear timeline have led to scepticism about the intentions behind its passage.
Way forward
- The passage of this Bill needs to be placed within the predominant political discourse that seeks to “respect, protect and venerate” (vandan) women, while remaining oblivious to the multiple ways in which women are excluded from work, subjected to violence (within their homes and in public)
- Women are seen as passive recipients of largesse provided by the state, rather than as active and agential rights-bearing citizens.
- In such a milieu the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam (2023) is a largesse, rather than the right that women have been denied for so long. It needs to be placed in the context of a society that is grappling with the eclipsing of basic civility and increasing intolerance of differences.
Conclusion:
- However, the strength of democratic forces outside Parliament and the state assemblies would determine whether or not these women are able to set the agenda and bring their issue to the table.
- Finally, the fond hope is that the women who get to Parliament and other legislative bodies will turn the tables when the opportunity arises.
Editorial 2: OSIRIS-REx and Bennu: Sample return missions of NASA
Recent Context:
- Recently, NASA’s OSIRIS-REx is a robotic spacecraft that has been on a seven-year mission to collect and return samples from an asteroid called Bennu landed in Utah, USA.
- It took more than two years to reach Bennu after OSIRIS-REx launched in 2016. It then spent almost as much time mapping the asteroid, finding a site to scrape and collecting about 250 grams (8.8 ounces) of the rock. Then it began its journey back toward Earth.
How will the OSIRIS-REx samples return to Earth?
- At an altitude of about 250 kilometers from the surface of Earth, OSIRIS-REx released a capsule carrying the samples over the Great Salt Lake Desert in Utah.
- Scientists have been trained to recover the capsule and securely transfer the samples to NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas.
- But that’s not the end of OSIRIS-REx. Having released its capsule, it will travel on toward a new destination: Apophis, an asteroid once thought to pose a hazardous impact threat to Earth but not anymore, at least not for the next 100 years.
What is a sample return mission?
- Sample return missions send spacecraft to land on a celestial body a moon, asteroid or planet and collect samples of soil, minerals and rock.
- These days, sample return missions tend to be robotic. But in the past sent humans to collect rocks and soil from space NASA’s Apollo missions did that between 1969 and 1972.
- The samples are analyzed in laboratories on Earth. But some get stored, too a lot of the Apollo samples were left sealed and untouched because scientists and engineers figured technology would improve over time, allowing them to conduct different or better experiments in the future.
Why do scientists collect samples from space and what do we learn?
- Samples from space tell us about life elsewhere in our solar system and early Earth history.
- Some scientists, and people in industry, hope asteroids will become a source of minerals as our earthly resources deplete.
- The samples can include atoms, molecules and complex compounds — even, scientists hope, evidence of water — and, as crazy as it may sound, particles of solar wind or cometary debris
Who will analyze the samples from Bennu?
- NASA has said its samples from the asteroid Bennu “will give generations of scientists a window into the time when the sun and planets were forming about 4.5 billion years ago” and the beginnings of life as we know it today. Bennu is thought to be rich in carbon, a chemical that is essential to life.
- While NASA plans to keep 25% of the samples for its own research, it has said it will distribute the rest among 200 mission members at 35 institutions around the world.
- That includes 4% of the samples going to the Canadian Space Agency, because it provided an instrument a laser altimeter for the OSIRIS-REx mission.
- And 0.5% of the samples will go to the Japanese space agency, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) as part of a partnership.
- It’s not exactly quid pro quo, however: JAXA has previously shared 10% of its asteroid samples with NASA.
Earlier asteroid sample collected missions?
- Aside from the Apollo era moon landings, during which NASA collected about 382 kilograms (842 pounds) of rock and moon soil, Soviet-era Russia conducted three successful robotic missions between 1969 and 1976 to procure about 326 grams of samples (11 ounces).
- More recently, JAXA’s Hayabusa mission from 2003 to 2010 was the first time humans had brought back samples from a near-Earth object: the asteroid Itokawa.
- Japan followed that with Hayabusa2, which returned samples from an asteroid called Ryugu in 2020.
- And, also in 2020, China’s Chang’e 5 mission returned samples from the moon
Are any sample return missions planned for the future?
- Japan’s Martian Moons eXploration (MMX) aims to be the first sample return mission to bring back rocks from the Mars region.
- Scheduled to launch in 2024, MMX aims to investigate the moons of Mars, Phobos and Deimos, and gather information on how they formed.
- It’s hoped that this will help scientists better understand how the solar system formed. MMX also aims to collect samples from Phobos, the larger of the two moons, and then return to Earth in 2029.
- Meanwhile, the European Space Agency and NASA are engaged in a sample return mission from the surface of Mars, which, if all things go to plan, will return to Earth in 2033.
Conclusion:
- Therefore, Sample return missions shows technological demonstration of space agencies for future space missions and also help in understating the evolution and composition of universe.