Hence we choose articles on daily basis and analyse them with respect to UPSC PRELIMS 2021.
“Success is walking from failure to failure with no loss of enthusiasm.” —Winston Churchill
ORANGE COLOUR: Important for Prelims.
RED COLOUR: Important for Mains.
BLACK COLOUR: Must Read !
BLUE COLOUR : Important Links/Survey.
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Current Affairs News Analysis for UPSC | 4th Jan 2021
Today's Must Read Articles :Nendran Banana’s
HEADLINES:
Banana grit for that good gut feeling
WHY IN NEWS:
Developed by NIIST scientists, the product can be used to make wide range of dishes
SYLLABUS COVERED: GS 3 : Miscellaneous
ISSUE:
- Scientists at the CSIR in Kerala have come up with a new product, banana grit or granules, developed from raw Nendran bananas.
- Billed as an ideal ingredient for a healthy diet, banana grit can be used for making a wide range of dishes.
- The product resembles to ‘rava’ and broken wheat.
NENDRAN BANANA
- Generally consumed ripe, Nendran banana also finds use in typical Kerala dishes such as avial and thoran.
- The granules can be used for making upma, or it can be mixed with banana powder for porridge, with milk or coconut milk for use as a health drink.
- Banana powder can be used for making cakes and breads, along with refined wheat flour.
IASbhai WINDUP:
- The technology had been transferred to Kochi-based Moza Organic and the product is expected to be in the market soon.
SOURCES: THE HINDU | Current Affairs News Analysis For UPSC | 4th Jan 2021
FSSAI slashes limit for transfat levels
HEADLINES:
FSSAI slashes limit for transfat levels in foods
WHY IN NEWS:
5.4 lakh deaths a year globally from its intake, says WHO
SYLLABUS COVERED: GS 2 : FSSAI
ISSUE:
REGULATING TRANSFATS
- The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has capped the amount of trans fatty acids (TFA) in oils and fats to 3% for 2021 and 2% by 2022.
- The FSSAI notified the amendment on December 29, more than a year after it issued a draft on the subject for consultation with stakeholders.
BROAD SPREAD
- Transfats are associated with an increased risk of heart attacks and death from coronary heart disease.
- The FSSAI rule comes at the time of a pandemic where the burden of non-communicable diseases has risen.
IASbhai WINDUP:
- It was in 2011 that India first passed a regulation that set a TFA limit of 10% in oils and fats, which was further reduced to 5% in 2015.
SOURCES: THE HINDU | Current Affairs News Analysis For UPSC | 4th Jan 2021
Chalking out an effective COVID-19 vaccination plan
HEADLINES:
Chalking out an effective COVID-19 vaccination plan
WHY IN NEWS:
In how many districts of the country was a dry run held and will vaccines be rolled out soon?
SYLLABUS COVERED: GS 3:Health:Diseases
ISSUE:
COVID-19 VACCINATION PROGRAMME
- Several States and Union Territories conducted a dry run for a COVID-19 vaccination programme.
- Four States — Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Gujarat and Punjab — had done a pilot dry run on December 28-29.
WHY WAS IT NECESSARY?
- Under India’s ‘Expanded Programme on Immunization’, which was initiated in 1978, the country has gathered experience in administering essential vaccines to children and pregnant women.
- In 1985, the programme was renamed ‘Universal Immunisation Programme’, under which about 12 different vaccines are provided through the government health system.
- Other than inoculation, there is a three-tier system at the district, State and national levels to monitor coverage and adverse events and to ensure that the vaccines adhere to quality norms.
- Roughly 9 million immunisation sessions are conducted annually in India, according to the UNICEF.
- Despite that, only about 60% of eligible children are fully immunised, with wide variations among States.
DRY RUN
- The dry run was carried out in one or two districts of the States.
- Sessions were organised at district hospitals or medical colleges, community or primary healthcare centres, private health facilities, and at outreach sites in urban and rural areas.
- The dry run tested all the key steps in the COVID-19 vaccination process in a field environment.
- These ‘IDs’ were sent as a phone message to 25 volunteers at each session site.
- There are five such sites in each district.
- Each site is manned by a medical officer, who is entrusted with ensuring that these groups of 25 people are inoculated.
- The dry run involved dummy boxes of vaccines being brought to the centre.
- Cold storage points were also checked to ensure coordination with the actual points of vaccine delivery.
- Once the session was completed, all data and feedback were relayed back to district, State, and eventually Central centres for feedback and analysis.
IASbhai WINDUP:
- The dummy runs are useful as a warm-up exercise, but they will reveal little about the toughest parts of the vaccination process, namely the actual inoculation, reactions, severe adverse reactions and potential hospitalisation.
SOURCES: THE HINDU | Current Affairs News Analysis For UPSC | 4th Jan 2021
The UK-Spain pact that saves Gibraltar
HEADLINES:
The UK-Spain pact that saves Gibraltar from a hard Brexit
WHY IN NEWS:
Hours before the Brexit transition period ended on New Year’s Eve, Spain announced it had struck a deal with the UK to maintain free movement to and from Gibraltar.
SYLLABUS COVERED: GS 2 : IR
ISSUE:
IASbhai WINDUP:
- It remains strategically important, with half the world’s seaborne trade passing through the strait.
- It is also an important Tourist and cargo ship refuelling centre.
SOURCES: IE | Current Affairs News Analysis For UPSC l 4th Jan 2021
Tampon tax
HEADLINES:
Why the UK’s decision to abolish the ‘tampon tax’ is significant
WHY IN NEWS:
The measure had been promised by the British Chancellor of the Exchequer (equivalent to finance minister) Rishi Sunak in March last year, and is part of a wider UK government effort called ‘End Period Poverty’.
SYLLABUS COVERED: GS 3 : Taxes
ISSUE:
THE “TAMPON TAX”
- The UK began 2021 by abolishing a 5 per cent Value Added Tax (VAT) on women’s sanitary products, often referred to as the “tampon tax”.
BACKGROUND
- Until December 31, the UK was a part of the EU, where period products such as sanitary napkins and tampons are classified as non-essential, and member states are required to levy a 5 per cent tax on them.
- The removal of the tax has thus been praised by women’s right activists and Brexit proponents at the same time.
- According to the BBC, the EU itself has been in the process of removing the tax on period products.
IASbhai WINDUP:
- Scotland, which is a part of the UK, made history in November 2020 by becoming the first country in the world to make period products free of cost to those who need them.
SOURCES: IE | Current Affairs News Analysis For UPSC | 4th Jan 2021
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