In Focus by The Hindu

A new study from Nutrition Advocacy for Public Interest (NAPI), titled The Junk Push: Rising UItra Processed Food Consumption In India: Policy, Politics and Reality, paints a grim picture of misleading marketing, rising consumption of Ultra Processed Foods (UPFs) in India, and the role of UPFs in triggering an epidemic non-communicable diseases such as obesity, diabetes and hypertension, among others, with children being particularly vulnerable.

To find out how to identify harmful UPFs and why they are a public health concern, we speak with Dr Arun Gupta, Convener of NAPI and former member of PM’s Council on India’s Nutrition Challenges. 

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Recently, Telugu Desam Party (TDP) national president N. Chandrababu Naidu was arrested by the Crime Investigation Department for his alleged complicity in the ₹371-crore A.P. Skill Development Corporation ‘scam’, which reportedly took place during his term as Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister between 2014 and 2019. The TDP termed the arrest a “political vendetta” against Mr. Naidu by the Jagan Mohan Reddy-led YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) government. The ruling party argued that there is “clinching evidence” in the case.

Here we discuss whether corruption cases against politicians are driven by political rivalries.

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In this bonus episode, Suhasini Haider looks at all that the G20 Summit in India was able to achieve- the big wins, the spotlight, the shade and the seven big takeaways.

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The Nipah virus is back in the news. For the fourth time in five years, Kerala is battling an outbreak of Nipah. The virus, first documented in Malaysia in 1998, is zoonotic, which means it is transmitted to people from animals, in this case the animals are believed to be the fruit bats of the Pteropus species. As of September 15, six people have tested positive for Nipah virus, and two have died. A Central government team is in Kerala at present and a mobile testing lab has been set up. In infected people, the World Health Organisation says, the virus can cause a range of illnesses from asymptomatic (subclinical) infections to acute respiratory illnesses and fatal encephalitis. 

But despite our many brushes with Nipah, there still remains a lot that is unknown – we still need to know more for instance, about how the virus spills over from bats to humans, and why this is happening. There’s also the growing concern of the surge in zoonotic infections across the country – scrub typhus and leptospirosis for instance, and why this is happening.

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The RBI has issued a new circular on how banks should go about resetting interest rates on floating rate loans. Interest rates have been rising throughout this year, and customers haven’t been too happy with the way banks impose changes on their loans.

But the new RBI guidelines promise to increase transparency and clarity. For one, borrowers will now be given the option to shift from a floating to a fixed rate of interest. Secondly, banks have to offer them the choice of whether they want to raise the EMI or extend the loan tenure, or do a combination of both.

What prompted the RBI to come up with these new rules? How will they benefit borrowers? And will it enable more equitable information-sharing between lenders and borrowers? 

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The G20 Summit under India’s presidency last week announced the launch of the India-Middle East-Europe economic corridor. It aims to enhance connectivity and trade throughout this corridor, connecting India to Saudi Arabia and then onto Europe. 

The other signatories to this proposal are the UAE, France, the EU, the US and Germany. In some quarters, this is also seen as a sort of a challenge to China’s Belt and Road Initiative. That Italy has signalled to China its keenness to exit the Asian nation’s infrastructure initiative adds to the intrigue. 

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After two weeks of high octane tennis, the US Open has produced two new champions in men’s and women’s singles. Novak Djokovic has claimed a record 24th Grand Slam. And Coco Gauff has finally fulfilled her promise with a victory over the new world number 1, Aryna Sabalenka.

Some of the match-ups were intriguing, and so were their outcomes – Medvedev versus Alcaraz, for instance, and also Karolina Muchova versus Coco Gauff. The tournament has also produced two new world number 1s – Novak Djokovic and Aryna Sabalenka. But how long are they likely to hold on to their perch?

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How do we understand how an infection affects the human body? And how do we go about the process of finding safe and effective drugs and vaccines for the many diseases that abound? One way scientists do this is through Controlled Human Infection Studies or CHIS, also known as human challenge studies. This involves deliberately exposing a volunteer to a disease-causing germ, in a controlled environment. This is done to understand the various facets of the infection and disease, and also to speed up the process of finding a cure. India has so far stayed away from such studies, because of the many ethical issues involved: the deliberate harm caused and the potential risk of exploitation since volunteers are paid for their participation, though they have been carried out in other countries. Last month however, the country’s premier medical research body, the Indian Council of Medical Research, released a consensus policy document, arguing the case to bring in human infection studies into our country.

What exactly will these studies involve? Do they have any benefits over regular clinical trials? After the world saw the sudden explosion of Covid-19, is there a need for deeper, faster studies of infectious diseases especially with resistance to many drugs increasing? Does India have a robust-enough regulatory system to oversee such trials and to ensure transparency and accountability?

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The Union government has set up a committee headed by President Ramnath Kovind to look at various aspects of implementing the ‘one nation, one election’ plan. The broad idea is to synchronise the timing of Lok Sabha and State Assembly elections across all States.

The proposal for simultaneous elections has raised many concerns. Foremost among them is the impact it will have on federalism. Then there is the question of feasibility – what happens if a state government falls, for instance? Then there are the legal aspects – what are the various constitutional amendments that would be needed, and would the states have to ratify it as well?

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President Xi Jinping will not be attending the G-20 summit in Delhi. Instead, Premier Li Qiang with lead the Chinese delegation. This is the first time that Xi will be missing the G-20 summit, and China has offered no explanation for why he won’t be attending.

So, what is the significance of Xi skipping such a high profile international event that will also see the likes of US President Joe Biden attending? Is China trying to send a message to India? By staying away from G-20, isn’t Xi missing an opportunity to be front and centre of an important diplomatic forum?

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