Hence we choose articles on daily basis and analyse them with respect to UPSC PRELIMS 2021.
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Current Affairs News Analysis for UPSC | 4th Jan 2021
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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