Factly :-News Articles For UPSC Prelims | Feb 8, 2021

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List of Today’s Factly Articles

• After oils, FSSAI caps Trans Fatty Acids(TFAs) in foods
• NITI Aayog study to track “Economic Impact of Green Verdicts”
• “Exercise AMPHEX- 21” – Tri-service joint amphibious exercise conducted.
• law on draping National Flag over body of a deceased
• Glacial Lake Outburst Floods (GLOF)
• Men access “KIRAN mental health rehabilitation helpline” more
• “Tileswari Barua” – possibly the youngest martyr of India got recognised by PM
  

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After oils, FSSAI caps Trans Fatty Acids(TFAs) in foods

What is the News?
The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India(FSSAI) has amended its rules. Under new rules, it put a cap on trans fatty acids(TFAs) in food products. Previously, it tightened the norms for oils and fats in the food.

What are the new rules?

1. According to FSSAI, Food products contain edible oils and fats. The use of industrial trans fatty acids in these products shall not be more than 2% by mass of the total oils/fats. These rules are effective from 1st January 2022.
2. The allowed limit of TFA was at 5%. In December 2020, the FSSAI had capped TFAs in oils and fats to 3% by 2021, and 2% by 2022.
3. The present amendment has been introduced to achieve the 2022 target.
4. It is in line with the WHO’s call for the elimination of industrially-produced trans-fatty acids from the global food supply by 2023.
5. Achievement of the 2% limit is equal to elimination of TFAs.

About Trans Fatty Acids:

1. They are created in an industrial process.  It adds hydrogen to liquid vegetable oils to make them more solid. It increases the shelf life of food items and can be used as an adulterant as they are cheap.
2. Present in: They are present in baked, fried, and processed foods as well as adulterated ghee. They become solid at room temperature.
3. Harmful Effects: They are the most harmful form of fats. They clog arteries and cause hypertension, heart attacks, and other cardiovascular diseases.
4. As per the WHO, intake of industrially-produced trans-fatty acids results in approx. 5.4 lakh deaths each year globally.

Initiatives against Trans Fats:

• Heart Attack Rewind Campaign: It is a mass media campaign launched by FSSAI. It calls for the elimination of industrially-produced trans fat in the food supply by 2022.
• REPLACE campaign: REPLACE stands for Review, Promote, Legislate, Assess, Create awareness and Enforce. It is a WHO campaign to eliminate industrially-produced artificial trans-fats from the global food supply by 2023.
• Eat Right India Movement: It was launched by FSSAI in 2018. It is a preventive healthcare measure to trigger social and behavioural change among people. The movement aims to improve public health in India and combat negative nutritional trends to fight lifestyle diseases.

Click Here for Further Reading on Trans Fats

 Source: The Hindu

NITI Aayog study to track “Economic Impact of Green Verdicts”

What is the News?

NITI Aayog has commissioned a study to examine the unintended economic consequences of judicial decisions that have hindered and stalled projects on environmental grounds.

About the study

• Responsible body: The study is to be undertaken by Jaipur-headquartered CUTS (Consumer Unity and Trust Society) Centre for Competition, Investment, and Economic Regulation. It also has an international presence.

What is the purpose of this study?

• The judgments of the different courts negatively impact major infrastructure projects. These decisions don’t adequately consider their economic fallout — in terms of loss of jobs and revenue.
• Hence, this study aims to sensitize the judiciary on the economic impact of their decisions. The findings will also be used as a training input for judges of commercial courts, NGT, HCs, SCs.

What will the study examine?

• The study will examine five major projects that are impacted by judicial decisions of the Supreme Court or the National Green Tribunal.
• For that, It will interview people who have been affected by the closure of the projects, environmental campaigners, experts, and assessing the business impact of the closure.
• The five projects to be analyzed include:
  1. Stay on the construction of an airport in Mopa, Goa;
  2. Ending of iron ore mining in Goa.
  3. Shutting down of the Sterlite copper plant in Thoothukudi, Tamil Nadu.
  4. Suspension of sand mining operations in Uttar Pradesh
  5. Stopping of construction activities in the National Capital Region.

Source: The Hindu

“Exercise AMPHEX- 21” – Tri-service joint amphibious exercise conducted.

What is the News?
A large-scale tri-service joint amphibious exercise AMPHEX – 21 was conducted in the Andaman & Nicobar group of islands.

Facts:

• Exercise AMPHEX- 21: It is a tri-service joint amphibious exercise which involved the participation of Navy, Army and Air force.
• Aim:
  • To validate India’s capabilities to safeguard the territorial integrity of it’s island territories.
  • It also aims to enhance operational synergy and joint warfighting capabilities amongst the three Services.
• Exercise KAVACH for the defence of Andaman & Nicobar Islands also formed a part of the exercise.

Click Here for Further Reading on Exercise KAVACH

 Source: The Statesman

law on draping National Flag over body of a deceased

What is the News?

Police in Uttar Pradesh has booked few persons under The Prevention of Insults to National Honour Act, 1971. They had allegedly draped the body of their relative in the national flag after his death.

Prevention of Insults to National Honour Act,1971:

1. This act penalises the desecration of or insults to the country’s national symbols including, the National Flag, the constitution, the National Anthem, and the map of India. It also includes penalties for contempt of the Indian constitution.
2. Section 2 of the act specifies punishment for insults to the Indian National Flag and the Constitution of India.
3. The law specifies acts of insult to the Indian flag and constitution. Some acts of insult include burning, mutilation, defacing, disfiguring, or showing disrespect to the National Flag.
4. It also prohibits using Indian National Flag as a drapery in any form except in State funerals or armed forces or other para-military forces funerals.
5. It prescribes punishment of imprisonment for insults for up to 3 years or a fine or both.

About Flag Code of India, 2002

The Flag Code of India contains a set of laws, practices, and conventions for the display of the national flag of India. It also prohibits using the national flag as a drapery except in State/Military/Central Paramilitary Forces funerals.

Use of National Flag as a drapery

1. The National Flag of the country can only be used as a drapery if a funeral has been accorded the status of a state funeral.
2. State funerals are held if a person passed away belongs to police, armed forces, office of President, Vice-President, Prime Minister, Cabinet Minister, Chief Minister.
3. The state government can accord the state funeral status to the person other than the mentioned categories.

Source: Indian Express

Glacial Lake Outburst Floods (GLOF)

What is the News?

Parts of Uttarakhand witnessed massive flooding due to Glacial Lake outburst.

 What is Glacial Lake Outburst Floods(GLOF)?

• It is a type of outburst flood. It occurs when water dammed by a glacier is released. In other words, it’s an outburst that happens when a dam containing a glacial lake fails.

Note: An event similar to a GLOF, where a body of water contained by a glacier melts or overflows the glacier is called a jökulhlaup.

How does GLOF happen?

• Retreating glaciers, like several in the Himalayas, usually result in the formation of lakes at their tips, called proglacial lakes. It is often bound only by sediments and boulders.
• If the boundaries of these lakes are breached, it can lead to large amounts of water rushing down to nearby streams and rivers. It gathers momentum on the way by picking up sediments, rocks, and other material, and resulting in flooding downstream.

Features of GLOF: The three main features are:

• They involve sudden (and sometimes cyclic) releases of water.
• They tend to be rapid events, lasting hours to days.
• Furthermore, they result in large downstream river discharges (which often increase by an order of magnitude).

Causes behind GLOFs

The boundaries of glacial lakes breach due to multiple reasons. Like,

1. A buildup of water pressure or structural weakness of boundary due to an increase in the flow of water.
2. An earthquake (Tectonic) or cryoseism (non-tectonic seismic event of the glacial cryosphere) can also cause GLOF. During this, the boundary of the glacial lake will collapse suddenly and release the water in the glacial lake.
3. An avalanche of rock or heavy snow: During this, the water in the glacial lake might be displaced by the avalanche.
4. Volcanic eruptions under the ice can also cause GLOF. These volcanic eruptions might displace the boundary or increase the pressure on glacial lake or both.
5. Heavy rainfall/melting of snow: This can lead to massive displacement of water in a glacial lake.
6. Long-term dam degradation can also induce GLOF.
7. Other reasons such as the collapse of an adjacent glacial lake, etc.

What are Glaciers?

• Glaciers are made up of fallen snow. It compresses into large, thickened ice masses over a period of time. They are formed when snow remains in one location long enough to transform into ice.
• Where are Glaciers found? Glaciers are found on every continent except Australia. Some are hundreds of thousands of years old. A large cluster of glaciers are in the Himalayas, which are part of India’s long northern border.

Source: The Hindu

Men access “KIRAN mental health rehabilitation helpline” more

What is the News?

According to a report by the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment(SJE), 70% of callers to KIRAN (mental health rehabilitation helpline) are male.

Kiran helpline(1800-599-0019):

• Launched by: It was launched by the Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities(DEPwD). The Department works under the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment (SJE).
• Purpose: It aims to offer support for mental health through experts. Support includes early screening, psychological support, distress management, mental wellbeing psychological crisis, and referrals to mental health experts.
• It offers this support in 13 languages for any individual, family, NGOs, parent associations, professional associations, rehabilitation institutes, hospitals, etc.

Key Findings of the report:

• The helpline received 13,550 new calls of which 70.5% were from males and 29.5% from females.
• The majority of callers (75%) were in the age group of 15 to 40 years, while others were older, in the 41 to 60 age group.
• Majorly the challenges faced by the callers were related to anxiety, depression, pandemic-related challenges, suicidal tendency, substance abuse, and miscellaneous.
• Most of the calls were from the North zone, followed by West, South, East, and North East.

Source: The Hindu

“Tileswari Barua” – possibly the youngest martyr of India got recognised by PM

What is the News?

The Prime Minister went the historic martyr town of Dhekiajuli in Assam and recognised the freedom fighters of that town. The town was associated with the Quit India Movement of 1942. During his visit, the PM also laid the foundation stone for two medical colleges and launched a road and highway project.

Dhekiajuli’s connection to the Quit India movement:

• Dhekiajuli was home to possibly the youngest martyr of the Indian freedom struggle, (Tileswari Barua).

Sequence of Events:

• On September 20,1942, as part of the Quit India movement, parades of freedom fighters marched to various police stations across several towns in Assam.
• These squads were known as ‘Mrityu Bahini’ or death squads. The Mrityu Bahini had wide participation including women and children. They went to unfurl the tricolour on the top of police stations, as police stations were seen as the symbols of colonial power.
• However, British administration came down heavily on them and open fired them. Due to which at least 15 people were shot dead in Dhekiajuli including the 12-year-old girl Tileswari Barua. This made Tileswari Barua possibly the youngest martyr of the freedom movement.

Impact of this incident :

• This incident led to an increase in women’s participation in the Freedom Struggle. Several important women icons were Kanaklata Barua, Pushpalata Das, Tileswari Baru among others.
• They not only started picketing but were also leading the ‘death squads’, presiding over meetings among others.

Source: Indian Express