WOMEN IN INDIAN POLITICS

“Performance of Women in Parliament” A Quantitative Study of Questions by Women Members in Lok Sabha (1999-2019) is a recent study that was published.

The author of this article is Sadia Hussain

Highlights:

Through a quantitative examination of the inquiries made by female lawmakers on the floor, the study highlights the performance of women in the Lok Sabha.

It asserts that they only serve as flimsy forms of representation in political arenas.

Access to power:

• Over the past 20 years, India has not seen a single women's movement that questioned gender and patriarchal conventions.
• To gain power, women have had to employ alternative strategies.
• Women's political participation has benefited from their income and education.

Political awareness:

• Studies indicate that more women have begun to form economic groupings, and their increased financial freedom has encouraged them to become more politically engaged.
• The decreased gap in voter turnout between men and women is a positive sign toward gender inclusivity in the political sphere.

Comparative advantage: Women in politics

• The general election of 2019 marked a turning point for women in politics.
• For the first time since independence, when there were only 22 women in the 543-member Lok Sabha, 78 women were elected to the lower house of Parliament.
• However, the author argues that this figure still does not accurately reflect the proportion of women in the nation.
• Powerful women's performances during Question Time are noteworthy because it is a time when lawmakers can act without interference from their parties.
• Study detractors assert that female lawmakers behave like "gungi gudiyas" or mute dolls during question periods in parliament.

Positive:

• Although males participated in more debates and asked more questions, women have significantly increased their question-asking.

Evaluating the member questions side by side

• Contrary to popular assumption, women politicians were more interested in the welfare of their families, their own health, their homes, their finances, their industries, and the railroads than in women's issues.
• Male legislators were more likely than female peers to ask inquiries about issues affecting women.

Significance:

• Although women are supposed to offer a feminine quality to public politics, by simply acting like men, they are shattering stereotypes.

Challenges

Politics as a male-dominated profession:

• Women are frequently prevented from pursuing careers in politics on the argument that they are not 'feminine' enough.
• Elections were frequently forced to field female candidates as "namesakes" for their husbands.

Infrastructure issues:

• Young women encounter significant infrastructure issues when they want to enter politics.
• This includes a lack of sanitary facilities and secure lodging while conducting fieldwork.
• One of the biggest reasons women avoid running for office is the sexism and harassment they experience during campaigns.
• Lack of safety is the additional factor stated.

The sexual division of labour:

• A system in which all domestic work is either organized by or performed by the women of the household is known as the "sexual division of labour."
• It implies that women devote far more time to caring for the home and children than do males.

Government initiative

The 2008 Women's Reservation Act (108th Amendment)

• The proposed law will allocate 33% of the Lok Sabha's seats and all state legislative bodies to women.
• In May 2008, the Rajya Sabha received the bill, which was then sent to a standing committee. It was approved by the House in 2010 and then forwarded to the Lok Sabha. The Bill, however, expired with the 15th Lok Sabha.

Gender-neutral terminology and practices:

• The Rules of Procedure of the Lok Sabha were completely gender neutralized in 2014, thanks to the guidance of the Lok Sabha's then-President.

• Since then, every Lok Sabha Committee Head has been referred to in all papers as a Chairperson rather than a Chairman.
• This initiative is proof that amending legal documents to make them inclusive for all genders is an attainable goal if there is a will.
• India is a signatory to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women.
• States are required under the convention to take the necessary steps to end discrimination against women in politics and public life, and in particular, to make sure that women are equally eligible to run for office in all public bodies.
• They are entitled to take part in shaping how government policy is implemented.

Convention on Civil and Political Rights:

• India is a signatory state to Article 25 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which is enforceable.
• It states that "every citizen shall have the right and opportunity to vote and to be chosen at true periodic elections, without any of the distinctions mentioned in article 2 and without unjustifiable limits."

Way forward

• The underrepresentation of women is merely a surface issue.
• The issue of structural inequality, where women are marginalized on various levels, is what lies beneath.
• The rise in political involvement is encouraging gender equality and inclusion in politics.
• However, there is still a long way to go because of the socioeconomic and cultural factors that continue to socialize women to dislike politics and prevent them from pursuing it as a career.

Review on Political Empowerment in India: “2022 Global Gender Gap Index “

The WEF's Global Gender Gap Index measures the progression of gender parity across four important parameters, including:

• Economic Participation and Opportunity,
• Educational Attainment,
• Health and Survival, and
• Political Empowerment.

The Global Gender Gap Index's subindex "Political Empowerment" takes into account statistics like the proportion of women in parliament and ministerial positions, among others.

• India will be ranked highest in this sub-index in 2022 out of all the sub-indices (48th out of 146).

• India's rating on this metric has also declined since the previous year.

• The bright side is that despite the drop, India still scored higher than the average score for this area globally.

Other nation performance:

• Some of the top-scoring nations in this area have significantly better ratings.
• For instance, Bangladesh is ranked ninth and Iceland is ranked first.

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Him Drone-a-thon Program

The "Him Drone-a-thon" campaign has been started by the Indian Army in association with the Drone Federation of India.

Aim:

• The program's goal is to stimulate the development of ground-breaking drone capabilities for fulfilling the needs of frontline troops by providing specific possibilities to the Indian drone ecosystem.
• The "Him Drone-a-thon" program is an ongoing connection between all stakeholders in India, including business, academia, software developers, and manufacturers of drone products.

Significance

• According to the Indian Army, this effort supports Make in India's defence manufacturing goals.
• Based on the idea that "good available locally" is preferable to "best available worldwide," the Indian Army supports the domestic drone ecosystem.
• The local industry has the necessary knowledge to create items in this subject that are of the highest quality.
• To promote domestic drone production, India has mainly banned the import of drones and exempted the import of drone parts. Its purpose is to encourage local drone producers and increase investment.

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Small Satellite Launch Vehicle (SSLV)

• The Earth observation satellite EOS-02 and a student satellite called AzaadiSAT were carried on the inaugural flight of the Small Satellite Launch Vehicle (SSLV) that the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) recently launched.
• However, because the satellites were already separated from the launch vehicle, the mission failed to deploy them in the necessary orbits.

Image Source - Iasgyaan

What is a Small Satellite Launch Vehicle?

• A three-stage launch vehicle called the Small Satellite Launch Vehicle (SSLV) is designed with three solid propulsion stages and a terminal stage called the Velocity Trimming Module (VTM) that uses liquid propulsion.
• The SSLV has a 2 m diameter, is 34 m long, and weighs about 120 tonnes when it lifts off.
• From Satish Dhawan Space Center, SSLV is capable of launching 500kg satellites into 500km-planar orbit (SDSC).

Key Features:

• Low cost,
• The low turn-around time,
• Flexibility in accommodating multiple satellites,
• Launch demand feasibility,
• Minimal launch infrastructure requirements, etc

Aim:

• A small satellite launch vehicle (SSLV) designed by ISRO allows for the "launch-on-demand" launch of satellites weighing up to 500 kg into low Earth orbit.
• Mini, Micro, or Nanosatellites (10 to 500 kg mass) can be launched by SSLV into a 500 km planar orbit.

Significance

The Age of Small Satellites:

• Previously, larger satellite payloads were prioritized, but as the industry evolved, a variety of stakeholders, including businesses, governments, colleges, and laboratories, started launching satellites. They are all primarily classified as tiny satellites.

The Rise in Demand:

• Over the past eight to ten years, there has been a sharp rise in the demand for small satellite launches as a result of the expanding demand for space-based data, communication, surveillance, and commerce.

• Saves money: Satellite producers and operators do not have the luxury of booking months in advance or incurring astronomical travel costs.
• As a result, organizations are building satellite constellations in orbit.
• One Web and SpaceX's Starlink are two initiatives building a constellation of several satellites.

Opportunity:

• Since the majority of the demand comes from businesses launching satellites for commercial purposes, there is now a business opportunity for space organizations like ISRO to capitalize on the sector's potential due to the rise in demand for rocket launches.

What was the Issue?

• The velocity trimming module (VTM), the SSLV's terminal stage, seemed to be the source of the issue.
• At 653 seconds after launch, the VTM was scheduled to have burned for 20 seconds in accordance with the launch profile.
• It only burned for 0.1 seconds though, depriving the rocket of the necessary height boost.
• After the VTM burnt, the two satellites disengaged from the vehicle. A sensor fault caused the satellites to be placed in an elliptical orbit as opposed to a circular orbit.
• According to ISRO, both satellites were successfully injected, and all steps ran smoothly. However, the orbit obtained was less than anticipated, making it unstable.

What is the SSLV-D1/EOS-02 Mission?

• With the ability to launch satellites into Low Earth Orbit, it was designed to capture a larger share of the market for small launch vehicles.
• The rocket was transporting the two satellites.
• The primary EOS-2 Earth-observing spacecraft, called EOS-02, was created and launched by ISRO.
• Advanced optical remote sensing with the great spatial resolution is available on this Microsat class satellite.
• The second student satellite for AzaadiSAT is an 8U Cubesat that weighs about 8 kg.
• It conducts Femto experiments and carries 75 distinct payloads, each weighing about 50 grams.
• It carried out minute tests that would have determined the amount of ionizing radiation in its orbit, as well as a transponder that operated on the ham radio frequency to make it accessible to amateur users.
• These payloads were constructed with assistance from female students from remote areas of the nation.
• Does the "Space Kidz India" student team integrate the payloads?

What is the Difference between Circular and Elliptical Orbits?

Elliptical Orbits:

• Typically, spacecraft and satellites are placed in elliptical orbits only briefly.
• Then, either they are propelled higher into circular orbits or the acceleration is increased until the trajectory shifts from an ellipse to a hyperbola, allowing the spaceship to escape the gravity of the Earth and travel farther into space, such as to the Moon or Mars, or farther still.

Circular Orbits:

• satellites that circle the Earth are typically put into circular orbits.
• One argument is that it is simpler if the satellite has a set distance from the Earth if it is used to image the planet.
• Keeping the cameras focused can be challenging if the distance is constantly shifting, as it would be in an elliptical orbit.

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Novel Langya Henipavirus

• China's Shandong and Henan provinces have both reported cases of a novel Langya henipavirus (LayV).
• The zoonotic virus has been identified in 35 people so far, marking the first instances of human-to-animal transmission.

What is the Langya virus?

• Henipaviruses, a new zoonotic virus is categorized as pathogens at biosafety level 4 (BSL4).
• They can cause serious sickness in both humans and animals, and there are currently no approved medications or vaccines designed specifically for humans.
• A "phylogenetically different Henipavirus" is the recently found virus.
• The Paramyxoviridae family of viruses includes the genus Henipavirus, which includes the viruses Nipah and Hendra.
• A family of single-stranded RNA viruses called Paramyxoviridae is responsible for a variety of viral illnesses.
• Prior to this, the genus Henipavirus has been divided into Hendra, Nipah, Cedar, Mojiang, and the Ghanaian bat virus.
• It is unknown whether the Mojiang virus, Ghanaian bat virus or Cedar virus infect people.
• Hendra and Nipah, however, infect people and have the potential to be lethal.?

Discovery

• In eastern China, surveillance testing on patients with fever and a recent history of animal exposure led to the discovery of Langya.
• It was found in the throat swab sample of one of those patients and isolated.
• The disease might have been spread by shrews, tiny insectivorous mammals that resemble mice

Transmission

The study's authors have emphasized that their sample size is insufficient to determine human-to-human transmission

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Gold Exchange Traded Funds

As part of their portfolio rebalancing strategy, investors pulled money out of gold Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) in July 2022, resulting in a net outflow of Rs 457 crore.

Image Source - Finology

Comparatively, in June 2022 there had been a net inflow of Rs 135 crore.

About Gold Exchange Traded Funds

• Gold ETFs are passive investment products that are based on gold prices and invest in gold bullion with the goal of tracking the domestic physical gold price.
• Gold ETFs are securities that track actual gold, which may be in the form of paper or in a dematerialized form.
• One gram of actual, ultra-high purity gold serves as the backing for each unit of the gold ETF.
• They mix the simplicity of gold investments with the flexibility of stock investing.

Advantages:

• The holdings of an ETF are completely transparent.
• Compared to investments in real gold, gold ETFs have significantly lower costs.
• ETFs are not subject to a wealth tax, a securities transaction tax, a VAT, or a sales tax.
• Since ETFs are safe and secure as units stored in the holder's Demat Account, there is no need to worry about theft.

Reasons for the Outflow

• Investors anticipate that a rising interest rate cycle will cause gold prices to decline.
• The net inflows into gold ETFs were impacted by the decline in the price of gold.
• Another element that has probably affected the dynamics of gold demand and supply is the depreciating rupee.
• It has also been noticed internationally, with gold ETFs reporting sizeable outflows as a result of falling gold prices.

Exchange Traded Fund

• An exchange-traded fund (ETF) is a collection of securities that trade like stocks on an exchange.
• ETFs represent an Index's constituent parts, such as the BSE Sensex. The Net Asset Value (NAV) of the underlying stocks (such as shares) that it represents determines its trading value.
• ETF share prices change during the day due to buying and selling. Unlike mutual funds, which only trade once a day after the market closes, this is different.
• An ETF may own hundreds or thousands of equities across a range of industries, or it may be confined to a single sector or business.
• Government bonds, corporate bonds, state and local bonds, and other types of bonds—referred to as municipal bonds—can all be included in bond ETFs.

(A bond is a financial product that symbolizes a loan from an investor to a borrower (typically corporate or governmental).

• ETFs, provide investors with a diversified investment portfolio in addition to being cost-effective.

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