VISION

 Why in news?

Julius and Patapoutian have been awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology 2021 for their discoveries of receptors for temperature and touch.

What is their discovery about?

• In the human body, only very specific proteins sense heat and relay this signal to the nervous system which then triggers an appropriate response.
• Scientists knew that such sensors must exist, but were not able to identify them until Julius discovered the first heat receptor in capsaicin, the chemical compound in chilli peppers.
• That first discovery led to identification of several other receptors that can sense coldness, pressure, etc.

What is the mechanism of the receptors?

• When something hot or cold touches the body, the heat receptors enable the passage of some specific chemicals like calcium ions through the membrane of nerve cells.
• The entry of the chemical inside the cell causes a small change in electrical voltage, which is picked up by the nervous system.
• There is a whole spectrum of receptors that are sensitive to different ranges of temperature.
• Things are similar for sensing coldness.
• These receptors were sensitive not just to external touch, but could detect temperature or pressure changes inside the body as well.

What is the significance of this discovery?

 What is the issue?

The annual report, ‘Crime in India’ was released by NCRB to provide insights on the patterns of crimes that were registered in 2020.

What does the report say?

• Crime rate - States/UTs such as Tamil Nadu (1808.8), Kerala (1568.4) and Delhi (1309.6) recorded the highest crime rate (crimes per one lakh people) overall.
• Crime against women - There was an 8.3% decline and out of the total registered cases, 30.2% were of the category “cruelty by husband or his relatives”.

 What is the issue?

The Union government notified the Plastic Waste Management (Second Amendment) Rules, 2021 allowing recycled plastic in food packaging.

What was the earlier case of recycled plastic?

• The 2016 rule mentions that carry bags or products made of recycled plastic shall not be used for storing, carrying, dispensing or packaging ready to eat or drink foodstuff.
• In 2018,the FSSAI banned the use of recycled plastic or newspaper for packaging of food items from July 1, 2019.

What is the new amendment about?

• The new rules provide a moratorium of 10 years to big companies to keep polluting since more single-use plastic products will be added to the phase-out list only after a decade.
• It has also allowed the use of recycled plastics for packing food products.

What are the concerns of using recycled plastic?

• India recycles 60 per cent of its plastic waste and most of this is done by the informal workforce in the country.
• Industrial packaging happens to be the highest user of plastic.
• The unscientific methods used by the informal workforce to produce plastic pellets raise concerns, especially around the contamination and purity of the recycled plastic.
• Plastic is used in a variety of sectors ranging from medicines, electronic equipment to chemical fertilizers and using such plastics in food contact applications is a concern.
• No standards were prescribed for recycling of plastic making it difficult to understand the chemical conformity of the recycled plastic.
• A growing body of research proves there is migration of chemicals (additives) from plastics to the food.

What are the global practices regarding the use of recycled plastics?

• In the U.S., manufacturers are responsible for ensuring that the recycled product is of suitable purity.
• The European Union has come up with a ‘plastic strategy’ in 2018 to transform the way plastic products are designed, produced, used and recycled in the EU.
• Korea’s Ministry of Food and Drug Safety revised its legislation allowing only chemically recycled resins in parts that do not come into direct contact with food.
• The Chinese agency is now conducting an industry survey and initiating a risk assessment method for recycled food contact materials.

What are the recommendations for India?

 Why in news?

The existing Mid-Day Meal scheme which provides hot meals to students will be renamed as the National Scheme for PM Poshan Shakti Nirman.

What are the key features of the scheme?

 Why in news?

• Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister launched the State’s population policy for 2021-2030.
• Also, draft of the Uttar Pradesh Population (Control, Stabilisation and Welfare) Bill, 2021 was published earlier.

What are the key features of the policy?

• The new policy aims to achieve the following targets:

1. decrease the Total Fertility Rate from 2.7 to 2.1 by 2026 and 1.7 by 2030
2. increase Modern Contraceptive Prevalence Rate from 31.7 to 45 by 2026 and to 52 by 2030
3. increase male methods of contraception use from 10.8 to 15.1 by 2026 and to 16.4 by 2030
4. decrease Maternal Mortality Rate from 197 to 150 to 98
5. decrease Infant Mortality Rate from 43 to 32 to 22
6. decrease Under 5 Infant Mortality Rate from 47 to 35 to 25

• The state would attempt to maintain a balance of population among the various communities.
• Awareness and extensive programmes would be held among communities, cadres and geographical areas that have a higher fertility rate.

What does the draft bill propose?