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From “quantity” to “quality” and from “food security” to “nutritional security” — this seems to be the new research focus of the Punjab Agricultural University (PAU).
The Ludhiana-based institution, which played a pivotal role during the Green Revolution to make India surplus in foodgrains by developing high-yielding strains, has bred a new wheat variety with high amylose starch content, known to reduce risks of type-2 diabetes and cardiovascular diseases.
Eating chapatis made from this wheat — called PBW RS1, with RS being short for resistant starch — won’t cause an immediate and rapid rise in glucose levels.
The high amylose and resistant starch, instead, ensure that glucose is released more slowly into the bloodstream. Being slower to digest also increases a feeling of satiety; a person consuming 4 chapatis from normal wheat would now feel full after having just two.
It has total starch content, almost the same as the 66-70 per cent in other wheat varieties. But it has 30.3 per cent resistant starch content as against only 7.5-10 per cent for other varieties including PBW 550, PBW 725, HD 3086 and PBW 766, show trials conducted by PAU over four years.
The other varieties have 56-62 per cent non-resistant starch content which is nearly half (37.1 per cent) in PWB RS1. Similarly, PBW RS1 has 56.63 per cent amylose compared to only 21-22 per cent in other varieties.
Explained
Delhi HC rejects Pepsico’s appeal over potato patent: What is the case (Page no. 9)
(GS Paper 3, Economy)
The Delhi High Court last week upheld an order by the Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers’ Rights Authority (PPVFRA), revoking the intellectual property protection granted to PepsiCo India Holdings Pvt. Ltd with respect to a potato variety developed by it.
It pertains to FL 2027, a potato variety with high dry matter and low sugar content better suited for making chips. Normal table potatoes have more moisture, which adds to dehydration and energy costs during processing, and higher sugar, which causes blackening on frying.
FL 2027 was developed in 1996 by Robert W Hoopes, a US breeder employed with Frito-Lay Agricultural Research, a division of PepsiCo Inc.
The latter has been manufacturing potato chips sold under its Lay’s brand using this processing-grade variety, which is grown by some 14,000 farmers in India via contract cultivation and buy-back at pre-fixed rates.
PepsiCo India Holdings, the subsidiary of the US food, snack and beverage giant, was granted a certificate of registration for FL 2027 as an “extant variety” on February 1, 2016.
The validity period – during which nobody else could commercially produce, sell, market, distribute, import or export it without the breeder’s authorisation – was six years from the date of registration and extendable up to 15 years.
Editorial
Climate of concern (Page no. 10)
(GS Paper 3, Environment)
Let us first start with the good news. As per the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD), the monsoon rainfall momentum has picked up in India, and the overall deficiency of rainfall in June (1 to 29) has reduced to 5 per cent compared to its Long Period Average (LPA).
The IMD has also predicted that the July rainfall will be normal and so would be overall rainfall for the monsoon season (June to September).
The sowing of important kharif crops, especially rice, maize and millets, pulses, oilseeds, and cotton, is likely to pick up. That will give much needed relief to agriculturalists and observers of agriculture and food prices.
However, the spread of rainfall is so far quite uneven. Large parts of Maharashtra, Karnataka, Kerala, Telangana, coastal Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Jharkhand, Bihar, and even West Bengal are reeling under rain deficiency of more than 20 per cent.
This is somewhat worrying. On top of this, the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO)’s report of July 4 has already declared 2023 to be an El Nino year with 90 per cent probability. July 3 and 4 have been reported to be hottest days on Earth.
Fast warming of the Pacific Ocean during July to September can play spoilsport with the Indian monsoon. One only hopes that the positive Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD) can neutralise the negative impact of El Nino Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and India can escape a drought.
Ideas Page
Energizing the sciences (Page no. 11)
(GS Paper 3, Science and Technology)
A draft bill, to legislate the creation of a National Research Foundation (NRF), has been approved by the Union cabinet. When the NRF emerges after parliamentary approval, it will set out to catalyse and channel inter-disciplinary research for accelerating India’s ambitious development agenda, through impactful knowledge creation and translation. NRF will replace the Science and Engineering Research Board of India (SERB), established in 2009.
Presided by the Prime Minister, the board of NRF, will have the ministers for science, technology, and education as ex-officio vice-presidents.
Registered as a society, the 18-member board will have eminent Indian and international scientists, senior government functionaries and industry leaders.
It will consist of 10 major directorates, focusing on natural sciences, mathematical sciences, engineering, environmental and earth sciences, social sciences, arts and humanities, Indian languages and knowledge systems, health, agriculture, innovation and entrepreneurship.
The NRF Board will oversee the work of these directorates, each of which will have an appointed chair, vice chair and secretariat.
World
Yellen sees 'progress' in rocky US-China ties after visit ends (Page no. 12)
(GS Paper 2, International Relation)
U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said 10 hours of bilateral meetings with senior Chinese officials in recent days were “direct” and “productive”, helping stabilise the often rocky relationship as her four-day Beijing trip ended.
Before departing China on Sunday, Yellen said the United States and China remained at odds on a number of issues but expressed confidence that her visit had advanced efforts to put the relationship on “surer footing”.
“The U.S. and China have significant disagreements,” Yellen told a press conference at the U.S. embassy in Beijing, citing Washington’s concerns about what she called “unfair economic practices” and recent punitive actions against U.S. firms.
“But President (Joe) Biden and I do not see the relationship between the U.S. and China through the frame of great power conflict. We believe that the world is big enough for both of our countries to thrive.”
With U.S.-China relations at a low over national security issues, including Taiwan, U.S. export bans on advanced technologies and China’s state-led industrial policies, Washington has been trying to repair ties between the world’s two biggest economies.
Economy
Data protection bill may lower age of consent, ease related norms (Page no. 13)
(GS Paper 3, Science and Technology)
The upcoming data protection Bill could empower the central government to lower the age of consent from 18, and also exempt certain companies from adhering to additional obligations for protecting kids’ privacy if they can process their data in a “verifiably safe” manner.
The change is a major departure from the draft Digital Data Protection Bill, 2022 that was floated last November, under which the age of consent was hardcoded at 18 years – meaning that for processing data of individuals below the age of 18, companies were required to seek their parents’ consent. The upcoming Bill, it is understood, will take a graded approach to defining the age of consent on a case-by-case basis.
This had been a key ask of the industry, especially social media companies, as a hardcoded age of consent would have meant business disruptions for them on account of setting up new systems for obtaining parental consent for users under 18 years of age — a key demographic for such services.
However, it is in line with data protection regulations in the Western world, with regions like the European Union and the United States prescribing a lower age of consent.
Government to hire agency to estimate size of digital economy (Page no. 13)
(GS Paper 3, Economy)
The government is planning to hire an agency to measure the actual size of the digital economy which is estimated to be around $1 trillion by 2025, according to an official document.
The selected agency will be roped in for a period of nine months for the assignment. The agency will need to submit the draft report on estimation of the size of the digital economy and projections from the current financial year till 2029-30 to Ministry of Electronics and IT within 32 weeks from the date of selection.
The RFP aims to invite proposal in the area of estimation and measurement of India’s digital economy including formulation of measurement framework, capturing data and identifying digital interventions.
The report will also look into state rankings and their share in the digital economy, along with the impact of e-commerce and emerging technology on such economy.
Collective action is required in a team India spirit with collaboration between government and private/social sectors," the document said. MeitY had earlier published a report titled 'India’s Trillion Dollar Digital Opportunity' which identifies 30 digital themes ranging from IT infrastructure, software capabilities and healthcare education to next-generation financial services.