July 8, 2021

MOST IMPORTANT ARTICLES OF THE

DAY – 08/07/2021
Delhi gets own genome sequencing lab
Kejriwal inaugurates facility at Lok Nayak Hospital; machine will help identify all variants of COVID-19,
Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday inaugurated the SARS CoV-2 genome sequencing facility at
Lok Nayak Hospital. It will help in timely identification of COVID-19 variants and aid strategies to counter
them, he said,

The third such facility in north India, Mr. Kejriwal stated that the machine will be able to identify and
analyse all variants of COVID-19 for any future waves or spreads in the city. Until now, he added, Delhi
was dependent on the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) for this purpose.

The machine will be able to sequence 5 to 7 samples in a day with a turnaround time of about 4 to 5
days. This facility will be used mainly for surveillance and public health purposes as identification of
variants of concern in interest would be done.

Follow precautions

The Chief Minister also appealed to residents to follow COVID-19-appropriate behaviour and take
requisite precautions to prevent the outbreak of another wave of infection.

“We have been constantly reading in the newspapers that new variants and mutations of COVID-19 are
emerging every day. So as to get our samples tested, we were dependent upon the National Centre for
Disease Control (NCDC), the lab of the Central government,” he said.

“Through this machine, we will be able to analyse all the variants of COVID-19 and understand them for
any future waves or spreads in Delhi, if at all they are witnessed. If we get to know the variant on time,
we will be able to strategise our preparations well and it will be helpful in taking the right action,” he
said.

Mr. Kejriwal said the genome sequencer facility will be an asset not only for Delhi but for northern India.
The COVID-19 pandemic was still ongoing and new viral variants were rapidly emerging leading to
recurrent outbreaks. As the pandemic was notorious for undergoing mutations, he said, it was of
paramount importance to identify the circulating viral strains so that contact tracing can be done to
check the further spread of variants.

Another facility soon

The Delhi government is setting up another SARS CoV-2 genome sequencing facility at the Institute of
Liver and Biliary Services to tackle a possible third wave of COVID-19 pandemic, he said. “I appeal to the

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public that while activities are being opened, the people of Delhi should follow social distancing and take
the right precautions, else COVID-19 might spread again,” Mr. Kejriwal added.

Health start-ups providing innovative solutions

They have begun rolling out new concepts of hybrid pharmacy and diagnostics, Health start-ups coming
up in Rajasthan during the COVID-19 pandemic have provided some innovative solutions to overcome
the crisis amid the virus infection putting an excessive burden on the public health infrastructure. The
start-ups have kicked off with the new concepts of hybrid pharmacy and diagnostics.

Supported by a health research institution, the start-ups have conducted research and made intelligent
planning with an out-of-box thinking to provide succour to those affected by the second wave of
pandemic as well as other other patients whose health needs constant monitoring. The institution
provided orientation to several of the entrepreneurs who launched the new units.

CIIE support

The Centre for Innovation, Incubation and Entrepreneurship (CIIE) at the Indian Institute of Health
Management Research (IIHMR) University here has extended support to the nascent startups in the
State and helped them with the entrepreneurial skills. Home healthcare for the elderly patients was a
major area of intervention in the services of start-ups.

CIIE chairperson Sheenu Jain said here on Wednesday that while one of the start-ups had come up for
operating in the sphere of hybrid pharmacy, another had launched health-based devices for diabetes
and other allied diseases. Technology and service-based start-ups had joined the centre to get
connected with the right set of people, she said.

The CIIE has worked on evolving the prototypes for start-ups and supported them through mentoring,
legal assistance and company registration. Dr. Jain said the CIIE would shortly become the first purely
health-based incubator in Rajasthan and get the State government’s support for laying a strong
foundation for the units adding value to the healthcare services. A women's entrepreneurship
development programme launched by the CIIE has helped out women entrepreneurs to take up the
startup projects with profitable outcomes.

New platform maps Pegasus spread

‘Spyware used on activists in Bhima Koregaon case’, An online database on spyware Pegasus’ use was
recently launched by Forensic Architecture, Amnesty International and Citizen Lab to document attacks
against human rights defenders.

In a statement on July 3, Amnesty said the interactive platform — Digital Violence: How the NSO Group
Enables State Terror — showed the connections between ‘digital violence’ of Pegasus spyware and the
real-world harms faced by lawyers, activists, and other civil society figures.

Amnesty said the NSO Group, which makes the spyware, was a “major player in the shadowy
surveillance company” and Pegasus had been used in some of the “most insidious digital attacks” on

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human rights activists in the world. The spyware enabled an attacker to get complete access to a
person’s phone, it stated.

“The investigation reveals the extent to which the digital domain we inhabit has become the new
frontier of human rights violations, a site of state surveillance and intimidation that enables physical
violations in real space,” said Shourideh C. Molavi, Forensic Architecture’s researcher in charge.

Bhima Koregaon case

The platform, available at digitalviolence.org, lists out “targets” of the spyware in India that include
activists Bela Bhatia and Anand Teltumbde.

In 2020, Amnesty and Citizen Lab revealed that the spyware was used on nine human rights defenders
who were accused in the Bhima Koregaon case. “The spyware campaign… targeted lawyers and activists
Nihalsing B. Rathod, Degree Prasad Chouhan, Yug Mohit Choudhary and Ragini Ahuja; academics Partho
Sarothi Ray and P.K. Vijayan; a journalist who prefers to stay anonymous; and a human rights collective
– Jagdalpur Legal Aid Group (JAGLAG), received malicious e-mails on the group’s official ID,” a blog post
by Amnesty on June 15, 2020, said.

NCBS lab retracts paper after data fraud

A research paper by scientists at the National Centre for Biological Sciences (NCBS), among India’s top
research institutes and part of the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, announcing a breakthrough
in the field of chemical biology, and published in the prestigious Nature Chemical Biology (NCB), has
been retracted as its key findings were manipulated.

On October 5, 2020, the paper “Discovery of iron-sensing bacterial riboswitches” was published online
in the NCB. The publication was announced in an NCBS press release on October 6, 2020. Its listed
authors were Siladitya Bandyopadhyay, Susmitnarayan Chaudhury, Dolly Mehta and Arati Ramesh, the
last of whom was the group leader and is faculty at the NCBS.

The finding was significant as it announced the discovery of a new class of RNA (ribonucleic acid)
molecules that could detect iron. Thus far, it was thought, iron could be detected only by specialised
protein. RNA molecules, it has emerged, could detect nickel, cobalt, manganese but being able to detect
iron, a key element that is vital for governing many biochemical processes, opened the possibility of
designing RNA-based sensors.

Though it had ostensibly passed the process of peer review, within weeks of the discovery being made
public, independent commentators said images included with the article, that provided critical proof of
the discovery, appeared manipulated. In response, Ms. Ramesh uploaded original images and denied
manipulation. Other commentators pointed out several more discrepancies in the original files.

Inquiry held

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Ms. Ramesh meanwhile informed NCBS Director Satyajit Mayor of these comments. He set up a
departmental inquiry that found that the images had most certainly been manipulated “by a single
individual”.

The NCBS hasn’t named the individual responsible, but Mr. Mayor told The Hindu that the person was
no longer with the institute. The journal formally retracted the paper on June 30 but it was only on
Wednesday, the NCBS issued a press statement on the retraction. “As the corresponding author, I must
bear responsibility and am deeply shocked and saddened that such scientific misconduct could happen
under my watch,” Ms. Ramesh said.

Haiti President Jovenel Moïse assassinated, First Lady injured

PM said some of the attackers spoke in Spanish but offered no further details, Gunmen assassinated
Haitian President Jovenel Moïse and wounded his wife in their home early on Wednesday, inflicting
more chaos on the Caribbean country that was already enduring gang violence, soaring inflation and
protests by Opposition supporters who accused the leader of increasing authoritarianism.

Interim Prime Minister Claude Joseph, who confirmed the killing, said the police and the military were in
control of security in Haiti, the poorest country in the Americas where a history of dictatorship and
political upheaval have long stymied the consolidation of democratic rule. Despite Mr. Joseph’s
assurances that order would prevail, there was confusion about who should take control and
widespread anxiety among Haitians. Authorities declared a “state of siege” in the country and closed the
international airport.

The normally bustling streets of the capital, Port-au-Prince, were empty and quiet on Wednesday.
Sporadic gunshots were heard in the distance, public transportation was scarce, and some people
searched for businesses that were open to buy food and water.

‘Foreign mercenaries’

Bocchit Edmond, the Haitian Ambassador to the United States, said the attack on the 53-year-old Mr.
Moïse was carried out by “well-trained professional commandos” and “foreign mercenaries” who were
masquerading as agents of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.

Mr. Moïse’s wife, Martine, was in a stable but critical condition and efforts were under way to move her
to Miami for treatment, Mr. Edmond said in Washington. Haiti has asked the U.S. government for
assistance with the investigation, he said, adding that the assassins could have escaped over the land
border to the Dominican Republic or by sea.

Haiti appeared to be heading for fresh volatility ahead of general elections later this year. Mr. Moïse had
been ruling by decree for more than a year after failing to hold elections, and the Opposition demanded
that he step down in recent months, saying he was leading it toward yet another grim period of
authoritarianism.

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Mr. Joseph said the heavily armed gunmen spoke Spanish or English, but he gave no details on the
attack. The White House described the attack as “horrific” and “tragic”, and said it was still gathering
information to brief President Joe Biden, spokesperson Jen Psaki said. “The message to the people of
Haiti is this is a tragic tragedy,” she said. “And we stand ready and stand by them to provide any
assistance that’s needed.”

IMF chief warns of U.S. inflation risk

Fund sees response spurring outflows, The International Monetary Fund on Wednesday said further
fiscal support in the United States could fuel inflationary pressures and warned that the risk of a
sustained rise in prices could require raising interest rates earlier-than-expected.

Higher U.S. interest rates could lead to a sharp tightening of global financial conditions and significant
capital outflows from emerging and developing economies, IMF MD Kristalina Georgieva said in a blog
published Wednesday.

The IMF’s assessment of U.S. inflation risks comes amid sharp criticism by Republican lawmakers of
President Joe Biden’s multi-trillion-dollar plans to boost spending on infrastructure, child care,
community college tuition and expanded coverage of home care for the elderly and disabled.

Ms. Georgieva said an accelerated recovery from the pandemic in the U.S., where growth is seen
reaching 7% in 2021, would benefit many countries through increased trade, but rising inflation could be
more sustained than expected. The IMF forecasts global growth of 6%.

Other countries face rising commodity and food prices, which are now at their highest level since 2014,
putting millions of people at risk of food insecurity, the IMF said in its report.

Thespian Dilip Kumar dies, the legend lives on

Laid to rest with full state honours; tributes pour in from friends, political leaders and peers, Legendary
actor Dilip Kumar died at a Mumbai hospital on Wednesday morning and was laid to rest with full state
honours in the evening, his death a testament that the end of an era can be more than just a cliché. He
was 98.

The actor, known to generations of film-goers as “tragedy king” for his portrayal of the brooding, intense
romantic in classics like Mughal-e-Azam and Devdas, is survived by wife Saira Banu. Kumar, born Yusuf
Khan, an enduring legend through his decades in cinema and in public life, had been admitted to
Hinduja Hospital, a non-COVID-19 facility in Khar, since last Tuesday.

“He passed away due to prolonged illness at 7.30 a.m.,” Dr. Jalil Parkar, who had been treating Kumar,
told PTI. “With a heavy heart and profound grief, I announce the passing away of our beloved Dilip Saab
a few minutes ago. We are from God and to Him we return,” family friend Faisal Farooqui posted on the
actor’s Twitter handle at 8.01 a.m.

Kumar’s body was taken to his Pali Hill residence around 9.30 a.m., where friends, political leaders and
colleagues, including Dharmendra, Shabana Azmi, Shah Rukh Khan and Maharashtra Chief Minister

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Uddhav Thackeray, paid their respects. “I am very sad today, I can’t say anything. I’ve lost my brother,”
an emotional Dharmendra told reporters outside Kumar’s residence.

Condolence messages for the much-loved star poured in, with President Ram Nath Kovind and Prime
Minister Narendra Modi joining political leaders, the film fraternity and others to express their grief.
“Dilip Kumar summarised in himself a history of emerging India. The thespian’s charm transcended all
boundaries, and he was loved across the subcontinent… Dilip Saab will live forever in the heart of India,”
the President said.

Prime Minister Modi tweeted: “He was blessed with unparalleled brilliance, due to which audiences
across generations were enthralled. His passing away is a loss to our cultural world. Condolences to his
family, friends and innumerable admirers. RIP.”

Judge recuses from hearing Mamata’s election petition

He imposes cost of ₹5 lakh on CM, Calcutta High Court Justice Kaushik Chanda on Wednesday imposed a
cost of ₹5 lakh on Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee while recusing himself from hearing an election
petition filed by her. The cost has been imposed for “vilification adopted to seek recusal”.

The Chief Minister had filed an election petition in June 2021 before the High Court, alleging
irregularities in the counting process in the Nandigram Assembly poll. The matter came for hearing
before Justice Kaushik Chanda.

Ms. Banerjee urged the judge to recuse himself from hearing the petition, alleging that he had links with
the Bharatiya Janata Party.

The order said, “The calculated psychological offensives and vilification adopted to seek recusal need to
be firmly repulsed, and a cost of ₹5 lakh is imposed upon the petitioner… Such cost should be deposited
with the Bar Council of West Bengal within two weeks from date, and upon such deposit, the Bar
Council shall set aside the amount for the families of the advocates who had succumbed to COVID-19.”

In a strongly worded order, Justice Chanda said the petitioner had approached the Hon’ble Chief Justice
(Acting) on the administrative side on June 16, 2021 by way of writing the letter for reassignment of the
case. “The election petition was first taken up for hearing on June 18, 2021, before this Bench, and quite
surprisingly, nothing regarding recusal was revealed. No clue was given to me as to the fact that the
petitioner had already approached the Hon’ble Acting Chief Justice for reassignment of the petition,”
the Judge said.

In the 13-page order, Justice Chanda referred to tweets by leaders of the State’s ruling party, and as well
as statements in public, and said that a “deliberate and conscious attempt was made to influence my
decision before the recusal application was placed before me for judicial consideration on June 24,
2021”.

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While recusing himself from hearing the case, Justice Chanda said he had “no personal inclination to
hear out the case of the petitioner. I had no hesitation in taking up the case, either”. “I have, however,
decided to recuse myself from this case for a different reason.”

The Judge also stated, “Since the two persons involved in this case belong to the highest echelon of the
State politics, in the name of saving the judiciary, some opportunists have already emerged. These
trouble-mongers will try to keep the controversy alive and create newer controversies. It would be
contrary to the interest of justice if such unwarranted squabble continues along with the trial of the
case, and such attempts should be thwarted at the threshold.”

Explained: Lambda, variant of interest

Lambda Covid variant: It is not newly discovered, but is the dominant strain in Peru, where it originated,
and has recently spread in smaller numbers to several countries. While India has not yet reported a
case, any new variant is a cause for concern.

Even as the Delta variant of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus continues to drive the rise in infections around
the world, another variant, Lambda, is increasingly being seen by scientists and health experts as a new
emerging threat. On June 14, the World Health Organization designated the Lambda variant, previously
known by its formal scientific name C.37, as the seventh and newest “variant of interest”, meaning it
was something to watch out for.

Like the Delta variant, the Lambda variant, which has now been detected in more than 25 countries, is
feared to be more transmissible than the original virus, although it is not yet established because of lack
of enough studies on it. It has been the dominant variant in Peru and other countries of South America.
The Lambda variant has not yet been found in the Indian population, but has recently been detected in
the UK and other European countries.

Lambda is not a new variant of Covid-19

The Lambda variant is not a new emergence. It has been around at least since last year, possibly as early
as August 2020. In Peru, where it is believed to have originated, it accounts for almost 80% of the
infections. It is the dominant strain in neighbouring Chile as well. But until recently, it was largely
concentrated in a handful of South American countries, including Ecuador and Argentina.

Since the end of March, this variant has been detected in more than 25 countries, although the numbers
are still very small. The UK, for example, said it had found this variant in six infected people, all
international travellers. Recently, it has also been found in Australia.

Many significant mutations

According to the WHO, the Lambda variant has at least seven significant mutations in the spike protein
(the Delta variant has three) which could have a range of implications, including the possibility of
increased transmissibility or enhanced resistance to antibodies, created either through natural infection
or vaccination.

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A recent study by researchers at the Chile reported that the Lambda variant had greater infectivity than
the Alpha and Gamma variants (known to have originated in the UK and Brazil respectively). The study
also reported decreased effectiveness of the Chinese Sinovac vaccine (Coronavac) against the Lambda
variant.

However, the behaviour of the Lambda variant is not very well understood right now.

“There is currently limited evidence on the full extent of the impact associated with these genomic
changes, and further robust studies into the phenotype impacts are needed to better understand the
impact on countermeasures, and to control the spread,” the WHO said in a statement. “Further studies
are also required to validate the continued effectiveness of vaccines.”

But, the designation as a “variant of interest” means that the genetic changes involved are predicted or
known to affect transmissibility, disease severity, or immune escape. It is also an acknowledgement of
the fact that the variant has caused significant community transmission in multiple countries and
population groups.

There are currently seven variants, including the Lambda, that the WHO classifies as “variants of
interest”. Another four – Alpha, Beta, Gamma and Delta – have been designated as “variants of
concern”, and are considered a bigger threat. These were all recently named after letters of the Greek
alphabet to avoid linkage with the country of their origin that had been happening until then.

Should India worry about the Lambda variant?

The Lambda variant has so far not been found in India or neighbouring countries. In Asia, only Israel has
reported this variant until now. But several countries in Europe from where travel to India is frequent,
including France, Germany, UK, and Italy have reported this variant.

The potential of emerging variants to bypass the immunity gained through vaccination means that there
could be fresh waves of infections even in populations that were being considered close to reaching
community-level protection. That is what is happening in many countries in Europe right now,
particularly in the UK. There has been a sharp rise in cases in several countries in the last few weeks.

That means that a country like India, which is still recovering from the debilitating second wave, would
need to proactively watch out for, and prevent the spread of any new variant that could trigger a fresh
wave.

Explained: Why the Joe Biden government cancelled the JEDI contract
The JEDI project was a major cloud computing contract that would have allowed the country’s military
to improve communications with soldiers on the battlefield. Why was it cancelled?

The US Department of Defence (DoD) has cancelled a Trump-era cloud computing contract worth $10
billion that had been awarded to Microsoft, and said that it would now announce a new contract that is
expected to include both Microsoft and tech rival Amazon.

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The mammoth Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure (JEDI) project had been awarded to Microsoft in
October 2018, but had since sparked a row between the company and Amazon, which slammed the
bidding process and went to court accusing former President Trump of interfering in the decision.

While it did not directly mention Amazon’s legal challenge, the Department said in a statement, “With
the shifting technology environment, it has become clear that the JEDI Cloud contract, which has long
been delayed, no longer meets the requirements to fill the DoD’s capability gaps.”

What was the JEDI contract that the US government has cancelled?

The JEDI project was a major cloud computing contract that would have allowed the country’s military
to improve communications with soldiers on the battlefield, with artificial intelligence being utilised to
enhance fighting capabilities and war planning. According to the Department, the project was to be a
“worldwide, highly available, exponentially elastic, secure, resilient cloud computing and storage
environment that seamlessly extends from the homefront to the tactical edge” and aimed to “enable
rapid development and deployment of new applications and advanced capabilities.”

The JEDI aimed to store vast amounts of classified data, and would have been the DoD’s first war cloud.
Worth $10 billion over 10 years, it was to provide “enterprise level, commercial Infrastructure as a
Service (IaaS) and Platform as a Service (PaaS) to support Department of Defense business and mission
operations.”

So, why was the contract cancelled?

In October 2019, the mammoth contract was awarded to Microsoft, despite Amazon being considered
by many as the frontrunner to clinch the deal.Amazon contested the decision, alleging that it lost out on
the contract because of interference by President Trump, who for years had been publicly critical of Jeff
Bezos, Amazon’s CEO, and The Washington Post, a publication owned by Bezos that aggressively
covered his administration.

For Amazon and Microsoft– the companies that bid for JEDI– the contract was not important for its
dollar value as much as it was for its prestige. The two giants had long been persuading governments
and businesses to shift from individual computer servers to their cloud services. A contract with the US
military would have visibly given their cloud computing products a stamp of reliability, and thus helped
them win over new customers.

In February 2020, the contract was put on hold indefinitely after Amazon went to court challenging the
award. A month later, US government lawyers said the DoD wished to reconsider the contract. In April
this year, a judge refused to dismiss the possibility that President Trump interfered in the award
process.

According to a New York Times report, after President Joe Biden took over this year, his administration
examined the status of the contract and came to two conclusions– that the legal challenges could
continue to stall JEDI for several years, and that the technological concept had already become
outdated.

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What is the US military going to do now?

The DoD will now have a new system called the Joint Warfighter Cloud Capability (JWCC), in which both
Amazon and Microsoft are expected to win contracts, and possibly more cloud players. Unlike the
Trump administration, which wanted a single cloud provider, the Biden administration will be dividing
the contract between multiple companies, allowing the US military to not get locked into a single
vendor.

Explained: Why Singapore is urging people to avoid exercise for a week after
getting a Covid-19 vaccine
Previously, the Singapore guidelines recommended a brief break from exercise only after receiving both
doses of the vaccine.

Singapore’s Health Ministry has urged its residents to avoid strenuous exercise for a week each after
receiving the first and second dose of all mRNA Covid-19 vaccines. The country has updated its health
guidelines for vaccine beneficiaries, which earlier advised a 12-24 hour break from exercise following the
shot.

Previously, the guidelines recommended a brief break from exercise only after receiving both doses of
the vaccine.

While the advisory applied to all those seeking vaccinations, it focussed particularly on adolescents and
men below the age of 30. “We recommend that everyone, in particular adolescents and younger men,
aged younger than 30, avoid strenuous physical activity, such as intense exercise, for one week after the
first and second doses,” the Ministry’s updated guidelines read.

Why is Singapore asking people to avoid exercise after the Covid vaccine?

The updated guidelines were based on reports of young men experiencing heart problems after
receiving the shot. Most recently, a 16-year-old boy suffered from cardiac arrest while lifting weights on
July 3, days after receiving his first dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.

“The preliminary diagnosis of his condition is an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest. Clinical and laboratory
tests are in progress to understand the underlying cause,” the Health Ministry explained on Monday.
“This will include a thorough consideration of whether there was acute severe myocarditis, which is
severe inflammation of the heart muscles affecting the heart function, as a possible diagnosis.”

Apart from the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, Singapore is also offering the jab developed by Moderna.

As of June 30, Singapore’s Health Science Authority has received reports of heart problems experienced
by at least 12 people following their vaccinations. A majority of these cases involved men aged 30 and
below, Bloomberg reported.

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The advisory comes based on emerging data, which suggests a slight risk of myocarditis (inflammation of
the heart muscle) and pericarditis (swelling of the membrane surrounding the heart) associated with
Covid vaccines.

“During this time, the vaccinated persons should seek medical attention promptly if they develop chest
pain, shortness of breath or abnormal heartbeats. All doctors should also be vigilant around such clinical
presentations after vaccination,” the advisory stated.

What forms of exercise should be avoided according to Singapore’s Health Ministry?

As per its latest advisory, activities such as swimming, cycling and running should be avoided for one
week after the first and second doses of the vaccine. The list of avoidable activities also included lifting
heavy weights, jogging, competitive sports, ball and racket games.

It also states that physical education classes in schools should be avoided. Physical activities that are
safe to do after one week include walking, stretching and housework.

Has an advisory like this only been issued in Singapore?

No. Both the United States and Israel have also adopted a similar stance on exercise after receiving the
vaccine. This is because of a few cases of myocarditis reported among young men after they received
the Pfizer vaccine.

Last month, the US Food and Drug Administration announced that it was adding a warning about rare
cases of heart inflammation in adolescents and young adults on all fact sheets about the Pfizer and
Moderna Covid-19 vaccines.

Meanwhile, in a report submitted to the Israeli Ministry of Health, researchers said that the vaccine
made by Pfizer and BioNTech appears to put young men at elevated risk of developing myocarditis.

But the expert committee advising the Singapore government on its vaccination drive continues to
recommend inoculation against the deadly virus, arguing that the benefits outweigh the potential risks.
Both Israel and the US have also maintained that these vaccines are integral in fighting the pandemic.

What other vaccine advisories have been issued around the world?

Several advisories have been issued across the world, urging citizens to avoid certain activities after
receiving the vaccine.

Late last year, Russian health officials advised citizens to avoid alcohol for around two months after
receiving the shot. The warning did not go down well with a wide section of Russians, who believe the
request was unreasonable. However, soon after, Sputnik V vaccine’s developer contradicted the claim.

Meanwhile, Germany has been issuing a strong recommendation for mixing Covid vaccines on efficacy
grounds. In fact, German Chancellor Angela Merkel herself took the AstraZeneca vaccine as her second
dose, after receiving Moderna as her first.

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Strengthening FPOs - EXPLAINED

Indian Agriculture is facing many challenges like increasing input costs, changing pattern of southwest
monsoon, poor economies of scale, etc. Possible solutions to these challenges include increasing the
price the farmer receives, improved practices to reduce inputs, value addition at farm gate, insurance,
and credit models that are farmer-friendly.

However, there is one issue that underlies all these solutions and that is of reach. The establishment of
Farmer Producer Organisations (FPOs) can help immensely in this regard. An FPO helps grow the farmer
base, provide inputs, buy output, give them advice on crops, give them credit and insurance, facilitate
post processing, etc. Despite many government schemes supporting FPOs, over 7,500 FPOs have been
registered so far, only 15 percent of these are active.

Advantages of FPOs

▪ Advantage Of Economies of Scale: Cost of production can be reduced by procuring all necessary
inputs in bulk at wholesale rates.

o Aggregation of produce and bulk transport reduces marketing cost, thus, enhancing net
income of the producer.

o Access to modern technologies, facilitation of capacity building, extension and training on

production technologies and ensuring traceability of agriculture produce.

▪ Reduced Losses: Post-harvest losses can be minimized through value addition and efficient
management of the value chain.

o Regular supply of produce and quality control is possible through proper planning and
management.

▪ Easy Access to Finance: Access to financial resources against the stock, without collaterals.

▪ Improved Bargaining Power: Collectivisation through FPOs also gives them more ‘bargaining’
power as a group and helps in social capital building.

Associated Challenges

▪ Lack of Professional Management: FPOs are required to be efficiently managed by experienced,

trained and professionally qualified CEO and other personnel for supervision and control.

o However, such trained manpower is presently not available in the rural space to manage
FPO business professionally.

▪ Weak Finances: FPOs are mostly represented by small and marginal farmers with poor resource
base and hence, initially they are not financially strong enough to deliver vibrant products and
services to their members and build confidence.

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▪ Inadequate Access to Credit: Lack of access to affordable credit for want of collaterals and credit
history is one of the major constraints the FPOs are facing today.

▪ Lack of Risk Mitigation Mechanism: Presently, while the risks related to production at farmers’
level are partly covered under the existing crop/livestock/other insurance schemes, there is no
provision to cover business risks of FPOs.

▪ Inadequate Access to Infrastructure: The producers’ collectives have inadequate access to basic
infrastructure required for aggregation like transport facilities, storage, value addition and
processing, brand building and marketing.

Way Forward

▪ Division of Work: An alternative model is to have the FPO focus solely on farmer engagement and
an FPO Support Unit (FPOSU) set up to help with non-farming activities.

o The FPOSU will be set up to work with numerous FPOs and can aggregate demand from
millions of farmers to get larger discounts, negotiate with large buyers, source
appropriate advisory, credit, insurance and other products and services.

▪ Enabling Marketing: Marketing of produce at remunerative prices is the most critical requirement
for the success of FPOs.

o The linkage with Industry/other market players, large retailers, etc. is necessary for long
term sustainability of FPOs.

o Also, there is a need to treat the FPO as a place of Gramin Agri Market (GRAM) and build
up the required marketing infrastructure to be owned and managed by the FPO.

▪ UBER/OLA Model: Convergence of resources for creation of farm level infrastructure at FPO level
for cleaning, grading, sorting, assaying, processing, branding & transportation.

o This can be done by establishment of custom hiring centres based on the UBER/OLA
model for the benefit of shareholder members.

▪ Nudging the Strengthening of FPOs: The concerned Ministries/departments may be mandated

to implement all “Farmercentric Schemes” through the FPOs for efficient delivery of services and
improved outcomes.

o Further, there can be an appropriate provision in the Food Grain Procurement policy of
the Government of India requiring procurement of agricultural commodities directly
through FPOs under MSP scheme.

▪ Education Related to FPOs: Private Institutions/ Agricultural Universities may introduce special
courses on FPO promotion and agribusiness management, with focus on rural youths including
women so as to create large pool of professionals in rural areas for managing FPO activities

Conclusion

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Since the FPO has been considered to be the way forward for enhancing farmers’ income and boosting
agricultural growth, future strategies for scaling up of FPO promotion by various stakeholders should
focus on mass awareness building, institution development, forging linkages with the ecosystem, and
digital monitoring.

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NEWS IN SHORT
1. Rajasthan government has planned to develop a tiger corridor connecting Ranthambore tiger
reserve, Ramgarh Vishdhari tiger reserve and Mukundra tiger reserve. A tiger corridor will be
developed by relocating eight villages. It will be a functional corridor to deal with issue of
overpopulation of tigers which Ranthambore tiger reserve is facing currently. Ranthambore Tiger
Reserve has a population of above 65 tigers currently. On the other hand, Mukundra reserve is
left with just one Tiger. Thus, this tiger corridor was proposed to balance the population
distribution.
2. First edition of Indo Pacific Business Summit is being organised by Confederation of Indian
Industry (CII) in partnership with External Affairs Ministry. This event witnessed the participation
from Ambassadors and High Commissioners of various countries across Indo Pacific. Secretary
(East) in External Affairs Ministry, Riva Ganguly Das addressed the summit and underlined
promotion of trade facilitation in Indo-Pacific by improving cross border linkages and trade
infrastructure. She highlighted importance of a free, open, & rules-based Indo-Pacific in
facilitating trade & connectivity across the region. She also highlighted initiatives undertaken by
India including building up of cross border linkages & infrastructure, promotion
3. Indian Army has named a firing range in Gulmarg, Kashmir after an Indian cinema actress, Vidya
Balan. ‘Vidya Balan Firing range’ is situated in Gulmarg, Kashmir. She has also attended the
Gulmarg Winter festival along with her husband Siddharth Roy Kapur which is organised by Indian
Army. To recognise her contributions to cinema, this range was named after her.
4. Delhi government has formulated a policy for welfare of street children in light of covid-19
pandemic situation. Policy underlines the role of various stakeholders in promoting Covid-
appropriate behaviour and generating awareness about the infection. It was prepared by Women
and Child Development Department (WCD) of Delhi Government. Policy encourages direct
participation of civil society organisations. It also highlights their role in identifying hotspot areas
and distributing masks among those children. As per policy, district administration could consider
training children rescued from streets as Civil Defense Volunteer, after they attain age of 18 years.
It will provide them respectable employment. Trained children can also assist many other children
who coming from a similar background.
5. Union Minister for Fisheries, Animal Husbandry & Dairying, Giriraj Singh launched Online Course
Mobile App “Matsya Setu” for fishermen. Matsya Setu app was developed by ICAR-Central
Institute of Freshwater Aquaculture (ICAR-CIFA), Bhubaneswar. Funding support was provided by
National Fisheries Development Board (NFDB), Hyderabad. This app comprises of species-wise or
subject-wise self-learning online course modules. On the app, renowned aquaculture experts will
explain basic concepts and practical demonstrations regarding breeding, seed production and
grow-out culture of commercially important fishes such as carp, murrel, catfish, scampi,
ornamental fish and pearl farming. This online course app was launched with the aim of
disseminating latest freshwater aquaculture technologies for aqua farmers across India.

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