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A new study in India has found that warning labels on food packets are most effective in helping consumers identify foods “high in sugar, saturated fat and sodium” as compared with other labelling formats.
Published in an open access journal Nutrients earlier this month, the study is the first peer-reviewed paper on the subject in an Indian context.
It found that on most parameters, the Health Star Rating (HSR) format — where a product is assigned between half-a-star and five stars — was least effective.
The study comes at a time the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) is expected to issue its draft regulation on front-of-package labelling (FOPL) and has indicated that it favours HSR, inviting criticism from public health experts who have accused it of favouring the food industry.
The authors conducted an in-person randomised experiment on 2,869 adults in six States in India, where participants were shown food packets with one of five FOPLs — a control label (barcode), nutrient-specific warning label (octagon symbol indicating whether the product was high in salt/sugar or saturated fat), Health Star Rating, guideline for daily amount (GDA that gives nutritional content information) or traffic light label (indicating red, amber or green levels of nutrients of concern).
The objective of the study was to evaluate the impact of different labels in helping consumers correctly identify packaged products containing excess levels of nutrients of concern such as sugar, saturate fat and sodium.
The study found that relative to a control label, most number of participants were able to identify a nutrient of concern when they were presented a packet with a warning label with 60.8% recognising harmful nutrients as compared to 55% recognising them when they were shown a GDA label, and 54.8% when shown a traffic light label.
Health Star Rating label performed the worst with only 45% being able to recognise the three nutrients of concern. Warning label outperformed other labels even where secondary outcomes were concerned such as perceived message effectiveness, which is predictive of behavioural change, argue the authors.
It also performed best on outcomes such as identifying products as unhealthy and making users concerned about health consequences.
The GDA and MTL performed best at grabbing attention. The HSR performed worse than all other FOPL types on most secondary outcomes.
News
Himachal prone to natural disasters, says study (Page no. 6)
(GS Paper 3, Environment)
As Himachal Pradesh experiences nature’s fury in the form of landslips, cloudbursts, flash floods, avalanches and droughts year after year, natural hazards have become a matter of immediate concern, the hilly region’s latest State of Environment report shows.
The report, released by the Department of Environment, Science and Technology, points out that mountain areas are highly vulnerable to natural disasters, where development over the years has compounded the problem by upsetting the ecological balance of various physical processes.
The increased pressure on the mountain environment has contributed in some measure to environmental problems such as landslips, land subsidence, removal of vegetation and soil erosion.
According to one estimate, about 58.36% of the land is subjected to intense soil erosion, much of which is located in the Himalayas, and Himachal Pradesh, which forms part of the western Himalayas, is environmentally fragile and ecologically vulnerable.
The fragile ecology of the mountain State [Himachal Pradesh] coupled with large variations in physio-climatic conditions has rendered it vulnerable to the vagaries of nature.
The incidence of cloudbursts in the last few years has been unprecedented. Notwithstanding, the continuous efforts made by the government to cope with natural hazards through relief and rehabilitation measures, landslides and snow avalanches continue to inflict widespread harm and damage to human life as well as property.
The roads that are the State’s lifeline are repeatedly damaged, blocked or washed away by one or other acts of nature. In the circumstances, the Government has to divert the already scarce resources of the state for relief and rehabilitation measures.
Himachal Pradesh is vulnerable to 25 out of 33 types of hazards identified by the Government of India. Moreover, the State is also confronting the emerging threats of climate change, and man and animal conflict.
The report asserts that an attempt was made to develop a vulnerability matrix for the State as a whole. The overall vulnerability of the State on the basis of the matrix clearly suggests that the districts of Chamba, Kinnaur and Kullu, and parts of Kangra and Shimla, fall in the “very high” vulnerable risk status.
Similarly, the districts of Kangra, Mandi, Una, Shimla, and Lahaul and Spiti, fall in “high” vulnerable risk status. The districts of Hamirpur, Bilaspur, Solan and Sirmour fall in the “moderate” vulnerable risk status.
Model nikahnama remains a work in progress (Page no. 8)
(GS Paper 1, Social Issues)
Five years after the All India Muslim Personal Law Board pledged to insert a prohibition on instant triple talaq in the model nikahnama to be used for solemnising Muslim marriages, the wedding contract remains a work under process. There is no clear word when, if at all, such a nikahnama would be readied and sent across to qazis who solemnise nikahnama .
An AIMPLB meeting earlier this month failed to reach a consensus on the content of the new model nikahnama . Though there was large agreement on the need to insert a clause against instant triple talaq after the Supreme Court made it invalid and the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Act made it a criminal act, the members suggested that a clause on Talaq-e-Tafweez or delegated divorce needed to be inserted.
Under Talaq-e-Tafweez , the husband vests his power to divorce in his wife, thereby effectively ruling out hasty or instant talaq . However, many intellectuals of the Hanafi sect did not agree to it, leading to a fresh failure to draft the new nikahnama .
Some members felt khula, women’s inalienable right to instant divorce, was a viable alternative for women, thereby doing away with the need for the clause on Talaq-e-Tafweez. Others though insisted that the husband’s consent is necessary for khula.
The ideological logjam has been going on since 2017, when faced with the heat on the issue of instant triple talaq , the AIMPLB had pledged to formulate a nikahnama prohibiting Talaq-e-Biddat .
Since then, multiple parleys have failed to bring about a consensus on the new nikahnama whose first model was formulated in 2003.
The nikahnama is essentially a contract between the spouses, containing terms and conditions of marriage. Besides incorporating basic details of temporary and permanent residence, their respective age and the names of their parents, the nikahnama carries details of mehr (loosely translates to dower), which the husband has to pay his wife.
It can be paid immediately at the time of nikahnama or later, in which case deferred payment is clearly mentioned in the contract.
The nikahnama carries the signature of a wakeel (advocate) and two eyewitnesses, besides those of the bride and groom. The bride’s consent is sought by the qazi in private without the presence of her parents to avoid family pressure on her to agree to the marriage.
Only J&K residents can enrol as voters (Page no. 8)
(GS Paper 2, Election)
The J&K government clarified that only existing residents of the J&K who have attained the age of 18 would be enlisted in the electoral rolls but remained silent if domicile was a requirement for outsiders to get registered as voters.
Putting out advertisements in J&K-based news outlets, the government described the media reports of more than 25 lakh additions on the electoral rolls as a misrepresentation of facts, which was being spread by the vested interests.
This revision of electoral rolls will cover existing residents of the UT of J&K and increase in numbers will be of the voters who have attained the age of 18 years as on 1.10.2022 or earlier.
The clarification remained silent on whether outsiders with or without domicile certificates could register as voters. It said the number of electors as published in Special Summary Revision of J&K State in 2011 was 66,00,921; and the number of electors as on today in the electoral roll of J&K UT is 76,02,397. This increase is mainly due to the new voters, who attained the age of 18 years, it said.
Prior to 2019, when J&K had a special constitutional position, only the Permanent Residents Certificate was entertained as an official document to register local people as voters. No outsider was allowed to register as voters for the Assembly elections.
The government, however, said the fresh electoral rolls would “allow a person who has changed his ordinary place of residence to enrol at a new location by getting himself deleted at the old location”.
It said there was no change in the special provisions for Kashmiri migrants for their enrolment in the electoral rolls of their original native constituencies and “will continue to be given the option of voting at their place of enrolment or through postal ballot”.
The government spokesman said there was no change in rules regarding buying of property, or seeking jobs in the government of UT of J&K and “have no link to representation of voters or otherwise”.
The Election Commission of India’s announcement that outsiders could register as voters was opposed by political parties in J&K. The Gupkar alliance is set to meet on August 22 to form a joint strategy to oppose the move.
It said the number of electors as published in Special Summary Revision of J&K State in 2011 was 66,00,921; and the number of electors as on today in the electoral roll of J&K UT is 76,02,397.
World
Pak. wants permanent peace with India through talks: Sharif (Page no. 9)
(GS Paper 2, International Relation)
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has said that Pakistan wants to have “permanent peace” with India through dialogue as war is not an option for either of the countries to resolve the Kashmir issue.
Mr. Sharif also said that sustainable peace in the region was “linked to the resolution of the Kashmir issue as per the United Nations resolutions. We want permanent peace with India through dialogue as war is not an option for either of the countries.
Relations between India and Pakistan have often been strained over the Kashmir issue and cross-border terrorism emanating from Pakistan.
However, the ties between the two countries nosedived after India abrogated Article 370 of the Constitution, revoking the special status to Jammu and Kashmir and bifurcating the State into two Union Territories on August 5, 2019.
India’s decision evoked strong reactions from Pakistan, which downgraded diplomatic ties and expelled the Indian envoy. India has repeatedly told Pakistan that Jammu and Kashmir “was, is and shall forever” remain an integral part of the country.
India has said it desires normal neighbourly relations with Pakistan in an environment free of terror, hostility and violence.
During the interaction, Mr. Sharif pointed out that Islamabad and New Delhi should have competition in trade, economy and improving the conditions of their people.
Pakistan was not an aggressor, but its nuclear assets and the trained Army are deterrence, he said, adding that Islamabad spends on its military to protect their frontiers and not for aggression.
In response to a question about Pakistan’s economy and the International Monetary Fund programme, the premier said that the country's economic crisis stem from structural problems along with political instability in the recent decades.
Russian crops, fertilizer must reach world markets: UN chief (Page no. 9)
(GS Paper 2, International Relation)
Russian fertilizers and agricultural produce must be able to reach world markets “unimpeded’ or a global food crisis could strike as early as next year, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said.
It is important that all governments and the private sector cooperate to bring them to market,” he said from the Joint Coordination Center (JCC).
The JCC oversees the implementation of the Ukrainian grain export agreement signed in July by Kyiv and Moscow with the UN and Turkey as guarantors.
The agreement also guarantees Russia the right to export its agricultural products and fertilizers despite Western sanctions.
What we see here in Istanbul and in Odesa is only the more visible part of the solution. The other part of this package deal is the unimpeded access to the global markets of Russian food and fertilizer, which are not subject to sanctions,” Mr. Guterres said, adding that despite this, Russian fertilizer and agricultural exports still faced “obstacles.”
Without fertilizer in 2022, there may not be enough food in 2023. Getting more food and fertilizer out of Ukraine and Russia is crucial to further calm commodity markets and lower prices for consumers.
Mr. Guterres travelled this week to Ukraine, where he met with the Presidents of Ukraine and Turkey, Volodymyr Zelensky and Recep Tayyip Erdogan, in the western city of Lviv.
The UN chief vowed that his organisation would try to “step up” grain exports from Ukraine before the onset of winter, which are crucial for food supplies in many African countries.
Under the agreement signed in July, 6,50,000 tons of Ukrainian grain and agricultural products have left the Ukrainian ports of Odessa, Chornomorsk and Pivdenny since August 1.
Cereal exports from Ukraine, one of the world’s leading producers and exporters, were blocked for several months due to the Russian invasion, raising fears of a global food crisis.
Science and Tech
Corbevax booster should be a vaccine of choice (Page no. 10)
(GS Paper 3, Science and Tech)
On January 10, 2022, booster doses were rolled out for health-care and frontline workers and those above 60 years with comorbidities. It was then expanded to all adults above 18 years from April 10.
The greenlighting of booster doses on December 25, 2021 was done even without the approval of the vaccine approval body of the National Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (NTAGI).
At the time of greenlighting booster doses and even now, only Covaxin and Corbevax booster trial data are available. No clinical trial data of Covishield as a booster dose are available even now, seven months after the rollout of booster doses.
In December last year, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the rollout of booster doses for the three high-risk, vulnerable categories, only the same vaccine as used for primary vaccination — homologous boosting — was allowed.
The phase-3 clinical trial data of Bio E’s Corbevax vaccine given as a booster dose to people who had received either Covaxin or Covishield during primary vaccination — heterologous boosting — showed the vaccine to be safe and effective in producing elevated antibodies levels.
Based on this data, on June 3, the Indian drug regulator approved Corbevax as a heterologous booster for all adults; NTAGI’sapprovalcame at the end of July.
And on August 10, the government approved the use of Corbevax as a heterologous booster shot to all adults who have received two doses of either Covaxin or Covishield.
The clinical trials of heterologous boosting carried out in other countries have found greater elevation of antibody levels (which is the criterion used for regulatory approvals) than homologous boosting.
While Bio E’s phase-3 trial did indeed show Corbevax used as a heterologous booster shot was both safe and enhanced the immune responses, the clinical trial failed to show if heterologous boosting with Corbevax was superior to homologous boosting with either Covaxin or Covishield.
This was because the trial used a placebo for the control arm, and hence, no comparison could be made with homologous boosting.
Just like the second dose, a booster dose — homologous or heterologous — too will produce elevated immune responses when administered a few months after primary vaccination. So, the elevated immune responses seen when Corbevax was used as a heterologous booster was not unexpected.
Improving rice yield with an additional gene (Page no. 10)
(GS Paper 3, Science and Tech)
The Green Revolution of the 1960s brought about a marked improvement in the yield of agricultural crops such as rice and wheat.
It was based on the use of newly developed high-yielding crop varieties in conjunction with the intense use of irrigation, chemical fertilizers and pesticides. India saw a three-fold increase in rice yield per hectare.
Now, fifty years later, some negative effects of this intense methodology are becoming apparent—nitrogen fertilizers and agrochemicals pose environmental hazards; water is often in short supply; and agricultural soil is increasingly fatigued.
To obtain more food for the world’s growing population, forests and grasslands would have to be converted to farms in order to produce food. This, in turn, would enormously strain our ecosystems.
A transcriptional regulator that boosts grain yields and shortens the growth duration of rice, which appears in the journal Science, July 22, 2022.
This report points out that giving a Chinese rice variety a second copy of one of its own genes has boosted its yield by up to 40%.
When a second copy of a single gene (called OsDREB1C ) is added to rice, it improves photosynthesis and nitrogen use, speeds up flowering and absorbing nitrogen more efficiently—offering larger and more abundant grains.
The change helps the plant absorb more fertilizer, boosts photosynthesis, and accelerates flowering, all of which could contribute to larger harvests.
India is the world’s largest exporter of rice. It exported 18.75 million metric tons to over 150 countries during the year 2021-22, thereby earning $6.11 billion. This is a vast improvement from what it did a few years ago.
Vietnam turns out to be the second most producer of rice, and it produced 6.5 million tonnes in 2021-2022.
It has to be much more than the 18.75 million tons for India to continue and expand its role as the world’s largest producer and exporter of rice. It is here that the above-mentioned paper from China by Wei et al. in Science is of value.
FAQ
What is India’s policy on the Rohingya? (Page no. 11)
(GS Paper 2, International Relation)
On August 17, Union Housing Minister Hardeep Singh Puri tweeted that Rohingya refugees would be shifted to flats meant for economically weaker sections (EWS), and provided with basic amenities and police protection.
The Minister said “India respects & follows the UN Refugee Convention 1951 & provides refuge to all, regardless of their race, religion or creed.”
The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) under Amit Shah issued a clarification saying that no such direction had been given to provide EWS flats to “Rohingya illegal foreigners”.
The Rohingya live in hutments in the densely populated Kalindi Kunj and Madanpur Khadar areas in Delhi which are contiguous with Uttar Pradesh.
Officially, about 1,200 Rohingya have been identified as among the first batch to have arrived in Delhi in 2012. After they protested outside the UNHCR (UN Refugee Agency) office in Delhi, they were provided with refugee cards.
On June 13, 2021 a fire ravaged one of the Rohingya camps at Kanchan Kunj near Kalindi Kunj metro station in south Delhi. The land belonged to the irrigation department of the Uttar Pradesh government.
A day before the fire broke out in the hutment, the Rohingya had been served notice by the U.P. irrigation department to vacate the premises.
After the incident, the Sub Divisional Magistrate, Sarita Vihar, and Delhi Police made arrangements to move the displaced Rohingya to an empty plot nearby that belonged to the Zakat Foundation of India, an NGO.
The Delhi government pitched tents and provided water and electricity. A mobile toilet was also set up. As the Delhi government was incurring an expenditure of ₹7 lakh per month, it was decided at a meeting held by the Delhi chief secretary on July 29 this year, to shift all Rohingya families to EWS flats which were to be designated as a detention centre and would be put under constant police watch.
Residents at the camps said that currently the police do a daily roll call but they are free to move anywhere. A police post has been set up near their camp.
How will FIFA suspension impact Indian football? (Page no. 11)
(GS Paper 2, International Organisation)
Late on August 15, world football’s governing body FIFA suspended the All India Football Federation (AIFF) indefinitely for “undue interference by a third party” in the process to finalise a new constitution and elect office-bearers.
The third party in question was the Supreme Court of India-appointed Committee of Administrators (CoA), comprising Justice (retd.) Anil Dave, former Chief Election Commissioner S.Y. Quraishi and former Indian football captain Bhaskar Ganguly, formed in May to temporarily assume charge of AIFF after the previous establishment, led by president Praful Patel, was deemed to have overstayed the National Sports Development Code of India-mandated 12-year tenure.
If AIFF’s suspension is not revoked in time, India will lose the rights to host the U-17 Women’s World Cup in October.
International sports federations like FIFA view any governance structure where an unelected body wields power at a national sports federation like AIFF as third-party interference. In exceptional cases where such a body — in the present case, the CoA — takes charge, it is required to play a temporary, enabling role in line with the statutes of the international body. Ever since the CoA presented the draft constitution to FIFA on July 13, the latter has suggested multiple changes.
Chief among them was a repeal of CoA’s decision to give players and State associations equal representation (50%) in the electoral college (36 votes each).
The Sports Code mandates a minimum of 25% representation for players in decision-making roles. In a letter dated July 25, FIFA said, “Although we agree that the players’ voice needs to be heard, we are also of the view that the importance of the existing members of the AIFF should not be undermined.
However, we understand the requirements of the Sports Code of India and recommend AIFF to bring in a presence of above 25% of the Eminent Players in the Executive Committee as Co-opted (nominated) Members.”
FIFA didn’t approve of the fact that before the hearing in the Supreme Court on August 3, the CoA didn’t revise its equal representation clause.
FIFA also took issue with the move to elect an interim body for three months just for the conduct of the World Cup, while the constitution is finalised parallelly.
We understood that the CoA would still play a role within the aforesaid interim mandate, the FIFA letter conveying the suspension said, concluding that this too constituted “undue interference”.
Profile
A double-edged sword for China’s rulers (Page no. 12)
(GS Paper 2, International Relation)
On July 28, China’s President and Chinese Communist Party General Secretary Xi Jinping visited the Military Museum, a massive Soviet-style complex in west Beijing that abuts the headquarters of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA).
The PLA, which turned 95 on August 1, was marking the “double anniversaries” — the CPC turned 100 last year — with an expansive tribute to itself.
The message was direct, conveyed in four sprawling exhibits — each focusing on key periods in the PLA’s history, from the revolutionary era to its current modernisation in the past decade under Mr. Xi, which received the biggest display, including everything from China’s three aircraft carriers to its “carrier-killing” missiles.
For China, which suffered in the early 20th century both internal turmoil and humiliation by outside powers, a strong army was the only guarantor of both stability and national pride.
And, the message conveyed, key to ensuring the army remained strong was who, in Mao’s words, controlled the gun — the Party and Mr. Xi.
Mr. Xi, while touring the exhibition, hailed what he called a “historically great achievement” in national defence, and called on the military to make “persistent efforts to provide strategic support for the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.”
Mr. Xi, who completes 10 years in office this year and will begin an unprecedented third-term at a once-in-five-year Party Congress likely in October, has since taking over emphasised the “Chinese dream” (“ zhongguo meng ”) of “the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation” as a central theme.
To be sure, the idea of China’s “rejuvenation” long predates Mr. Xi. Indeed, even Sun Yat-sen, who became the first President of the Republic of China in 1912, founded a “Revive China society” as early as 1894.
In China’s more recent history, however, Mr. Xi has, more than his predecessors, emphasised the idea of “revival” and of a “strong country” (“ qiangguo ”).
The Party has, under Mr. Xi, declared a third “new era”, turning the page from the Deng Xiaoping era (which followed the first Mao era) where the emphasis was not on showing strength but as Deng famously put it, “biding time” and “hiding strength”.
There is a reason for this shift. After three decades of a focus on economic growth, Mr. Xi and the Party leadership believed they needed to address a sense of drift and a widening chasm between the Party and the people, with Communism and Maoism fading as an ideological tether.
Searching for a new binding glue, Mr. Xi has settled on “rejuvenation”, which is essentially an appeal to nationalist sentiment.
Business
China’s Russia coal imports hit 5-year high (Page no. 13)
(GS Paper 3, Economy)
China’s coal imports from Russia jumped 14% in July from a year earlier to their highest in at least five years, as China bought discounted coal while Western countries shunned Russian cargoes over its invasion of Ukraine.
China brought in 7.42 million tonnes of coal from Russia last month, data from the General Administration of Customs showed on Saturday.
That was the highest monthly figure since comparable statistics began in 2017, up from 6.12 million tonnes in June and 6.49 million tonnes in July 2021.
Western countries were avoiding cargoes from Russia ahead of a European Union ban on Russian coal that came into force on Aug. 11, aimed at reducing the Kremlin’s energy revenue.
The ban has forced Russia to target buyers such as China and India and sell at a steep discount. Russian thermal coal with a heating value of 5,500 kilocalories (kcal) traded around $150 a tonne on a cost-and-freight basis in late July, while coal of the same quality at Australia’s Newcastle port was assessed at more than $210 a tonne on a free-on-board (FOB) basis.
Russia also held its spot as China’s top supplier of crude oil for a third month in July, separate data showed, as independent refiners stepped up purchases of discounted supplies while cutting shipments from suppliers like Angola and Brazil.
Imports of Russian oil, including supplies pumped via the East Siberia Pacific Ocean pipeline and seaborne shipments, totalled 7.15 million tonnes, up 7.6% from a year earlier, China’s Customs data showed.
Still, Russian supplies in July, equivalent to about 1.68 million barrels per day (bpd), were below May’s record of about 2 million bpd. China is Russia’s largest oil purchaser of oil.
Some Chinese traders expect more Russian coal to flow into China in the fourth quarter when utilities in northern China build stocks for the winter heating season.