Differences between Webb and Hubble telescopes

 The James Webb Space Telescope, NASA’s most powerful telescope, is scheduled to be rocketed into orbit no earlier than December 22. Though Webb is often called the replacement for the Hubble Space Telescope, NASA said it prefers to call it a successor.

Launched into low Earth orbit in 1990, the Hubble Space Telescope has made more than 1.4 million observations, including tracking interstellar objects, capturing a comet colliding with Jupiter, and discovering moons around Pluto. Hubble has captured galaxies merging, probed supermassive black holes and has helped us understand the history of our universe.

Here we explore some of the major differences between Webb and the Hubble Telescope.

Wavelength

The James Webb Space Telescope, carrying four scientific instruments, will observe primarily in the infrared range and provide coverage from 0.6 to 28 microns. The instruments on Hubble see mainly in the ultraviolet and visible part of the spectrum. It could observe only a small range in the infrared from 0.8 to 2.5 microns.

The infrared region of the electromagnetic spectrum covers the wavelength range from approximately 0.7 to a few 100 microns.

Size comparisons

Webb’s primary mirror has a diameter of 6.5 metres. Hubble’s mirror was much smaller – 2.4 metres in diameter. So, Webb will have a larger field of view compared to the camera on Hubble.

Webb also carries a large sun shield measuring about 22 metres by 12 metres – about the size of a tennis court.

Orbit

Hubble orbits around the Earth at an altitude of ~570 km. Webb will not orbit the Earth. It will orbit the sun at about 1.5 million kilometres away from Earth. As the Earth orbits the Sun, Webb will orbit with it – but it will stay fixed in the same spot with relation to the Earth and the Sun.

How far will Webb see?

NASA says, “Hubble can see the equivalent of “toddler galaxies” and Webb Telescope will be able to see “baby galaxies”.” Webb’s near- and mid-infrared instruments will help study the first formed galaxies, exoplanets and birth of stars.

Webb vs Herschel Space Observatory

In 2009, the European Space Agency launched an infrared telescope named the Herschel Space Observatory.

It also orbits the Sun similar to how Webb would. The primary difference between Webb and Herschel is the wavelength range: Webb goes from 0.6 to 28 microns, while Herschel covers 60 to 500 microns.

Also, Herschel’s mirror is smaller than Webb’s. It is 3.5 metres in diameter, while Webb’s primary mirror has a diameter of 6.5 metres.

Written by Aswathi Pacha

Source: Indian Express, 12/12/21

How the pandemic has worsened inequality in India

 

Ishan Bakshi writes: It has adversely affected chances of social mobility. This could combine with already high levels of inequality of opportunities and precipitate greater demands for income redistribution.

That India is a highly unequal economy is beyond contestation. And that was so before the pandemic struck. While precise estimates of the level of inequality in India are hard to come by — household surveys tend to massively underreport consumption, income and wealth — it’s hard to dispute the notion that Covid has deepened existing faultlines, exacerbating entrenched inequalities. The rise in the fortunes of the very rich during this period, when juxtaposed against the misery of the millions of migrant workers who had to walk back to their villages, is a stark reminder of the extent of economic disparities. To that extent, the latest edition of the World Inequality Report serves as a useful reminder of the concentration of income at the very top of the pyramid. The top 10 per cent earns 57 per cent of the national income. Within the top 10 per cent, the very elite top 1 per cent earns 22 per cent. In comparison, the share of the bottom 50 per cent in national income has declined to 13 per cent. And this is only one estimate of inequality. In the case of inequalities based on wealth, the numbers are even more skewed.

By and large, the discourse on inequality in India tends to centre around disparities in consumption, income, and wealth. But countries like India are also marked by high levels of inequalities in “opportunities”. In such societies, an individual’s class of origin, his household of birth, who his parents are, tend to have a significant bearing on his educational attainment, his employment and income prospects, and as a consequence, his class of destination. In such countries, characterised by low levels of social mobility across generations, children born in disadvantaged households have a lower chance of moving up the income ladder. While these bonds may well have weakened over time in India, the question is to what degree has the pandemic, which has widened economic disparities, also impacted social mobility?

To the extent that Covid has led to a worsening of education inequalities, induced labour market scarring, and exacerbated income inequality, it is likely to depress social mobility. While some effects will be evident in the immediate, others will take shape over time. Take education. The extended closure of schools and the shift to online modes of education has widened the learning gaps between children from poor and affluent households. With early education being critical to creating a semblance of a level-playing field, that younger children from low-income households were more deprived of mediums of learning, smartphones, will reflect in lower learning outcomes. The ASER 2021 report attests to this.

Children born to parents with lower levels of education were less likely to have access to a smartphone, although even the availability of a smartphone in the household may not have necessarily led to greater access for children. Over a fourth of children in households with a smartphone could not access it (for those in the lower grades the numbers are significantly higher). This has already begun to impact learning outcomes — children are unable to catch up with their curriculum.

To what extent these learning gaps will rise or fall over time is difficult to estimate. Needless to say, the larger the gap, the greater will be the effort required to bridge it. But, a drop in foundational skills, an inability to catch up, “educational scarring” as some have called it, is bound to impact their life chances. Education, after all, provides pathways to upward mobility.

Then there is the issue of jobs. From the labour market data during this period, three broad trends emerge, all of which have worrying implications for social mobility.

First, since the onset of the pandemic, there has been a decline in labour force participation. According to CMIE data, the labour force participation rate has fallen from 42.7 per cent during September-December 2019 to 40.2 per cent during May-August 2021. This means that despite a “young” population, the number of individuals looking for jobs has actually fallen, perhaps dismayed by the lack of employment opportunities.

Second, over the same period, the unemployment rate has risen from 7.5 per cent to 8.6 per cent. This implies that among those looking for jobs, those unable to find jobs, perhaps even at lower wages, have risen. Third, among those with jobs, more are increasingly being employed as casual wage labour. This growing “casualisation” or “contractualisation” of the workforce implies an absence of well-paying, productive jobs. This labour market scarring has implications for social mobility. Being unemployed for a long period or shifting to less paying, less productive jobs will have a bearing on an individual’s lifetime earnings. This will weaken avenues for upward mobility for entire households.

A swift return to a higher growth trajectory will heal some of the scars. Periods of rapid growth lower obstacles to mobility, create opportunities to move up the income ladder. But if growth is subdued and uneven, if the benefits flow disproportionately to those at the top end of the income distribution, to the owners of capital, and among those employed, to the more educated, skilled sections, as seems to be the case now, then this will only hinder social mobility. Paradoxically though, as high mobility perhaps blunts concerns over high inequality, it is of greater consequence in highly unequal economies.

Left unaddressed, this toxic combination of high inequality and low social mobility will lead to greater demands for redistribution. The clamour for levying a wealth/inheritance tax will only get louder, as will demands for equal taxation of income from labour and capital considering that those at the very top of the income pyramid get a larger share of their income from capital. Political expediency will demand bowing to such demands, more so when every action is viewed through the prism of politics. Arresting this slide is not going to be easy. The world of Horatio Alger seems distant.

Written by Ishan Bakshi

Source: Indian Express, 13/12/21

Quote of the Day December 10, 2021

 

“Just as there are no little people or unimportant lives, there is no insignificant work.”
Elena Boner, Alone Together

“तुच्छ व्यक्तियों या क्षुद्र जिंदगियों जैसी कोई चीज़ जिस तरह से नहीं होती, ठीक वैसे ही तुच्छ काम जैसी भी कोई चीज़ नहीं होती।”
एलेना बोनर, एलोन टुगेदर

Current Affairs-December 10, 2021

 

INDIA

– Lok Sabha passes two bills to extend the tenures of directors of CBI and ED up to a maximum of 5 years from the present 2 years

– IMO (International Maritime Organization) Council awards Certificate of Commendation to Indian Navy, Indian Coast Guard and Master along with crew members of tugboat Ocean Bliss for ‘exceptional bravery at sea’

– Samyukt Kisan Morcha, a joint platform of protesting farm unions, accepts Centre’s proposal to resolve pending demands; calls off year-long agitation on the borders of Delhi

ECONOMY & CORPORATE

– Parliament passed National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research (Amendment) Bill, 2021

– MNRE (Ministry of New and Renewable Energy) issues advisory for general public on rooftop solar scheme; no vendor authorized by the ministry for setting up rooftop solar plants

– Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman virtually participates in G20 International Seminar hosted in Bali by Indonesia

– ADB approves Rs 2,645-crore loan to improve urban services in India

– Commercial international flights to remain suspended till Jan 31, 2022

– Power Ministry celebrating Energy Conservation Week from Dec 8 to 14

WORLD

– NASA launches X-ray space telescope to unlock secrets of black hole

– Jailed Chinese journalist Zhang Zhan wins Lin Zhao Freedom Award by US-based NGO ChinaAid

– US: President Joe Biden opens first White House Summit for Democracy

– Italy fines Amazon $1.3 billion, alleging harm to outside sellers

– China is world’s biggest captor of journalists: RSF (Reporters Without Borders) report

– UK, Canada and Australia announce diplomatic boycott of 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics after US

– International Day of Commemoration and Dignity of the Victims of the Crime of Genocide and of the Prevention of this Crime observed on December 9

– International Anti-Corruption Day observed on Dec 9; theme: ‘Your right, your role: say no to corruption’

Jnanpith Award 2021- Winners

 56^th and 57^th Jnanpith Awards were announced recently, for the year 2020 and 2021 respectively.

Key Facts

• Assamese Poet Nilmani Phookan Jr. and Konkani Novelist Damodar Mauzo have emerged as the winners of 56th and 57th Award respectively. They were selected for their contribution to Indian literature.
• Jnanpith Awards are India’s highest literary honour, which is bestowed on the writers for their outstanding contribution in Literature.
• Both Phookan and Mauzo are also the winners of Sahitya Akademi Award. They are known for their significant contribution to the respective regional literature.
• Damodar Mauzo is from Majorda in Goa while Nilmani Phookan is from Guwahati in Assam.

Assamese Poet Nilmani Phookan

Assamese Poet Nilmani Phookan received the highest literary honour ‘Jnanpith Award’, honouring his lifelong devotion to literature.

Other Assamese to won the award

Assam has received Jnanpith Award for the third time. Before Nilmani Phookan, Birendra Kumar Bhattacharya won the award in 1979 while Mamoni Raisom Goswami won it in 2000.

Konkani Writer Damodar Mauzo

Damodar Mauzo is a 77 years old Konkani writer. He has been awarded the 57th Jnanpith Award. He is known for his novels like Tsunami Simon and Karmelin as well as for short stories like Other Stories from Goa and Teresa’s Man.

About Jnanpith Award

Jnanpith Award is the oldest and highest literary award. Award is honoured annually by Bharatiya Jnanpith to an author for their contribution to literature. The award was established in 1961. It is bestowed only on the Indian writers who are write in the Indian languages mentioned in the 8th schedule of Indian Constitution, besides English.

The rich-poor gap in India

 

The latest World Inequality Report flags India as a poor and very unequal country, with the top 10% holding 57% of national income in 2021, and the bottom 50% holding just 13%. Breaking down the key findings.

India stands out as a “poor and very unequal country, with an affluent elite”, where the top 10% holds 57% of the total national income, including 22% held by the top 1%, while the bottom 50% holds just 13% in 2021, according to the World Inequality Report 2022. Released this week, the report also flags a drop in global income during 2020, with about half the dip in rich countries, and half in low-income and emerging countries. It attributes this primarily to the impact of “South and Southeast Asia, and more precisely” India.

The report has been authored by economist and co-director of the World Inequality Lab, Lucas Chancel, along with economists Thomas Piketty, Emmanuel Saez and Gabriel Zucman.

“India stands out as a poor and very unequal country, with an affluent elite,” the report says. It says India’s middle class is relatively poor with an average wealth of Rs 7,23,930, or 29.5% of the total national income, compared with the top 10% and 1% who own 65% (Rs 63,54,070) and 33% (Rs 3,24,49,360), respectively.

The average annual national income of the Indian adult population is Rs 2,04,200 in 2021. The bottom 50% earned Rs 53,610, while the top 10% earned over 20 times more (Rs 11,66,520), the report states. The average household wealth is Rs 9,83,010, of which the bottom 50% owns Rs 66,280, a mere 6%.

The share of the top 10% and bottom 50% in pre-tax national income has remained broadly constant since 2014. The quality of inequality data released by the government has seriously deteriorated, making it particularly difficult to assess recent inequality changes, the report says.

As per the recent Multi-dimensional Poverty Index prepared by Niti Aayog, one in every four people in India was multi-dimensionally poor. Bihar has the highest such proportion (51.91%), followed by Jharkhand (42.16%) and Uttar Pradesh (37.79%).

Pandemic impact

The impact of the pandemic was reflected in a drop in global income, which was impacted significantly due to India. “When India is removed from the analysis, it appears that the global bottom 50 per cent income share actually slightly increased in 2020,” the report says.

Also, even as countries have become richer over the last 40 years, their governments have become significantly poorer, a trend magnified due to the pandemic. “The share of wealth held by public actors is close to zero or negative in rich countries, meaning that the totality of wealth is in private hands. This trend has been magnified by the Covid crisis, during which governments borrowed the equivalent of 10-20 per cent of GDP, essentially from the private sector,” the report says.

The rise in private wealth has also been unequal within countries and at world levels. Since the mid-1990s, the top 1% globally took 38% of all additional wealth accumulated, whereas the bottom 50 per cent captured just 2%. “The wealth of the richest individuals on earth has grown at 6 to 9% per year since 1995, whereas average wealth has grown at 3.2% per year. This increase was exacerbated during the COVID pandemic,” it says.

Global, regional trends

The poorest half of the global population “barely owns any wealth” at just 2% of the total, whereas the richest 10% owns 76%, the report says. The richest 10% currently takes 52% of global income, and the poorest earns just 8% (Figure 1).

The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) are the most unequal regions in the world, whereas Europe has the lowest inequality levels, the report says. In Europe, the top 10%’s income share is around 36%, and in MENA, it is 58%; in East Asia, it is 43%, and in Latin America, 55%.

Global wealth was equal to around 510 trillion euros in 2020, or about 600% of national income. The ratio of total wealth to total income rose from around 450% in the early 1990s to about 600% today. In high-income countries, in 1970, private wealth–national income ratios ranged between 200-400%. By 2008, when the global financial crisis began, these ratios averaged 550%.

Large emerging economies such as China and India experienced faster increases than wealthy countries after they transitioned away from communism (in China and Russia) or from a highly regulated economic system (in India). In India, private wealth increased from 290% in 1980 to 560% in 2020.

Global inequalities seem to be about as great today as they were at the peak of Western imperialism in the early 20th century, the report said.

Other key inequalities

Women’s share of total incomes from work was about 30% in 1990, and is less than 35% now, the report notes.

Inequalities within countries are now greater than those between countries. Within countries, the gap between the average incomes of the top 10% and the bottom 50% almost doubled from 18 times in 1820 to 41 times in 1910, reached an all-time high of 53 in 1980 and 50 in 2000, before declining to 38 in 2020.

It notes that global income and wealth inequalities are “tightly connected to ecological inequalities and to inequalities in contributions to climate change”. The top 10% of emitters is responsible for close to 50% of all emissions, while the bottom 50% contributes 12%.

If the rich were taxed

The report has suggested levying a modest progressive wealth tax on multimillionaires.

In 2021, there were 62.2 million people owning more than $1 million (measured at market exchange rates). Their average wealth was $2.8 million, a total of $174 trillion. More than 1.8 million individuals (top 0.04%) own over $10 million, 76,500 (0.001%) own over $100 million, and 2,750 (0.00005%) own more than a billion dollars. The billionaires own more than $13 trillion, or 3.5% of global wealth (Table 1).

A global effective wealth tax rate of 1.2% for wealth over $1 million, the report said, could generate revenues of 2.1% of global income. A tax rate of 0.6% for wealth between $1-10 million can yield 0.6% of global income, a 1.1% rate for wealth group $10-100 million can generate 0.4% of global income, and a 5% rate for wealth between $1 billion and $10 billion could generate 0.3% of global income.

Written by Aanchal Magazine

Source: Indian Express, 10/12/21

Across India, minorities are overrepresented in jails

 

Christophe Jaffrelot, Maulik Saini write: This is a clear indication of the communalisation of the police that tends to prevail, irrespective of the ideology of the ruling party.

The National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) reports show that in almost all the states of the Indian Union, irrespective of the party holding office, religious minorities are over-represented in jail.

Muslims are a case in point. During UPA II, they represented 21 to 22.5 per cent of the “undertrials” and under NDA II (from 2014 to 2019) 19 to 21 per cent. But law and order being a state subject, this question needs to be scrutinised at this level. Muslims are (and were) over-represented among jail inmates in almost all the Hindu-majority states: In Assam, Muslims, according to the 2011 census, are 34 per cent of the population and they represent 43 to 47.5 per cent of the “undertrials”; in Gujarat, Muslims are 10 per cent of the population and since 2017, they have been about 25 to 27 per cent of the “undertrials” (they were 24 per cent in 2013); in Karnataka, Muslims are 13 per cent of the population and they are 19 to 22 per cent of the “undertrials” since 2018 (they were 13 to 14 per cent in 2013-2017); in Kerala, they are 26.5 per cent of the population and 28 to 30 per cent of the “undertrials”; in MP, Muslims are 6.5 per cent and 12 to 15 per cent of the “undertrials” since 2017 (they were already 13 per cent in 2013); in Maharashtra, Muslims are 11.5 per cent of the population, and their percentage among the “undertrials” peaked at 36.5 per cent in 2012 (it went back to its 2009 level, 30 per cent, in 2015); in Rajasthan, Muslims are 9 per cent and they represent 18 to 23 per cent of the “undertrials” (they were 17 per cent in 2013); in Tamil Nadu, Muslims are 6 per cent, and 11 per cent of the undertrials since 2017; in Uttar Pradesh, Muslims are 19 per cent of the population, and 26 to 29 per cent of the “undertrials” since 2012; in West Bengal, Muslims are 27 per cent of the population, and they represent more than 36 per cent of the “undertrials” since 2017. The only major state where Muslims have been under-represented among the “undertrials” is Bihar, where the latter are 15 per cent when Muslims constitute 17 per cent of the population.

The over-representation of Muslims in jail is to some extent a reflection of the communal bias of the police. In many states, the percentage of “convicted” Muslims is much lower than their percentage amongst “undertrials”. Take 2019: The percentage drops from 47.5 per cent of “undertrials” to 39.6 per cent of “convicted” in Assam; from 19.5 to 14 per cent in Karnataka; from 31 to 27 per cent in Kerala; from 12 to 10 per cent in MP; from 30 to 20 per cent in Maharashtra; from 18 to 17 per cent in Rajasthan; from 29 to 22 per cent in UP. These data show that when the judiciary, at last, take up the cases of many “undertrials”. the judges realise that there is not enough evidence and they release people who have spent a lot of time — years sometimes — incarcerated for no reason. The police and judiciary are, therefore, somewhat at cross purpose in many states, to such an extent that the share of the convicts is not much larger than the share of the Muslims in many states, including Karnataka, Kerala and even UP. At the pan-Indian level, the proportion of Muslim convicts was 2.5 percentage points above the percentage of Muslims in the population, according to the 2011 census (14.2 per cent).

The police and the judiciary are on the same page in only a few states. The percentage of Muslim “convicts” is equal to the percentage of Muslim “undertrials” in only one state, Tamil Nadu (11 per cents) and the former are more than the latter in only three states: Gujarat (31 against 25 per cent), West Bengal (38 against 37 per cent) and Bihar (18 against 15 per cent).

If Muslims are overrepresented among jail inmates in most of the Hindu-majority states — among “undertrials” more than “convicts” — Hindus are overrepresented among jail inmates in the only Muslim majority state, Jammu and Kashmir. In this state, where Hindus represent 28.5 per cent of the population, they were 34 to 39.5 per cent of the “undertrials” between 2014 and 2019 and were even more over-represented among convicts — between 42.6 and 50.5 per cent. Muslims, 68.3 per cent of the state population, followed the opposite trajectory: Their percentage of “undertrials” (between 60.5 per cent and 56 per cent) was much higher than their share of the “convicts” (between 53 and 43 per cent). Similarly, in Punjab, Sikhs — 58 per cent of the population — tend to be under-represented among the undertrials at 51 per cent in 2019 and 52 per cent in 2018, whereas Muslims (2 per cent of the population) are over-represented at 4-5 per cent.

These detailed figures suggest something very disturbing: In almost every state, the minorities are over-represented in jail and the majorities are under-represented. This is a clear indication of the communalisation of the police that tends to prevail, irrespective of the ideology of the ruling party. One of the only ways to correct this state of affairs could be the recruitment and promotion of policemen from minority communities. Indeed, Muslims are under-represented among the IPS officers, except in J&K.

Written by Christophe Jaffrelot , Maulik Saini 

Source: Indian Express, 10/12/21