 Good evening aspirants, we have an announcement regarding pre-storming 2021 program of Shankar Aya's Academy. It is a prelims test series for the upcoming preliminary UPC exam 2021. We are happy to announce that Shankar Aya's Academy has started admissions for the third test batch. The test will begin on 8th January 2021. With this, we will move on to the Hindu news analysis for the day 4th January 2021. These are the list of news articles that will be discussed in the news analysis. They are provided along with the page numbers of the different editions of the newspaper. This news article is with reference to the Patents Amendment Rules 2020, notified in October 2020. In this article, the author explains why the recent amendment goes against the spirit of few provisions that was mentioned in the principal act called as the Patents Act of 1970. We will discuss related aspects in this analysis. The syllabus that is relevant is highlighted here for your reference. Now, let us move on to this article. First, let us see some of the important statutory requirements under the Patents Act of 1970. Now, let us see the provisions in Chapter 16 of the Act. This chapter, it deals with the working of patents, compulsory licences and revocation. As per Section 84, any person interested may make an application to the Controller General of Patents for grant of compulsory license or patent. Such an application can be made on one of the three grounds. One is that the reasonable requirements of the public with respect to the patented invention have not been satisfied. Two, the patented invention is not available to the public at a reasonably affordable price and thirdly, the patented invention is not worked in the territory of India. So, such an application for compulsory license can be made at any time after the expiration of three years from the date of the grant of a patent. So, from this we can infer that if a patent is granted within three years, it must reasonably satisfy the requirements of Indian public and very importantly, the patented invention must be available to the public at a reasonably affordable price. Now, let us assume that the conditions are not fulfilled by a patentee and a competent person applies for compulsory licensing. Then in such a case, the controller may grant a license to the applicant upon such terms as she may deem fit. Now, this license has got a special responsibility to fulfill the three conditions in a span of two years. So, let us see what will happen if the conditions are not met within two years from the date of the order granting the first compulsory license. See, in such case the central government or any interested person may apply to the controller for an order revoking the patent on the ground that the patented invention is not fulfilled any of the three conditions. If the controller of patents finds substances in the application for revocation, then she may make an order revoking the patent. So, from the above provisions we can understand that a patented invention has to satisfy Indian public while the patentee has got the exclusive right for a limited period to commercialize the invention. Now, let us see one more important requirement under the law. Here, we have section 146 sub section 2. Under this provision, every patentee and every licensee shall furnish details about the extent to which the patented invention has been worked on a commercial scale in India. It shall be furnished in such manner and form and at such intervals for this purpose a form called this form 27 is given effect by the patent's rule of 2003. In this form 27, every patentee or a licensee is required to furnish the information relating to working of patent and statement about the extent to which the patented invention has been worked. So, this form must be submitted annually by 31st March for the previous calendar year. The prescribed format under this form has been recently amended and notified in October 2020. If you take the earlier format, it asked for the quantum of the patented product manufactured in India and the quantum of the patented product imported from other countries. Very importantly, the earlier form 27 asked whether public requirement has been met partly or adequately or to the fullest extent at a reasonable price. So, whenever such a form is submitted, the controller publishes such information under section 146 and this helped the public to introspect and ascertain whether the patented product fulfilled all the three conditions or not. If they find that it did not meet any of the conditions, then an interested person among the public may apply for compulsory licensing in order to fulfill the conditions. Now, let us see how far this will be possible with a new form 27 as per the amended rules. The answer is it will be very difficult because the new form 27 does not ask the patentee or the licensee to mention the quantum of the patented product manufactured in India and the quantum of the patented product imported from other countries. It also does not ask them whether public requirement has been met partly or adequately or to the fullest extent at a reasonable price. It just asks whether the patent worked in India or not and if worked, it asks for the approximate revenue or value that was accrued in India to the patentee or the licensee. So, in this regard, the author heavily criticizes the move of the central government and in fact, the centre has earlier promised the Delhi High Court in 2018 that it will make the functioning of the patents more accountable and transparent by strengthening form 27. Therefore, the author alleges that the centre has gone against its own promise that it made before a court of law. So, the government has significantly diluted or weakened the critical duty that was imposed by the law on patentees or licensees to disclose patent working information and the lack of this information could prevent invocation of compulsory licensing and other public interest measures in cases of patent abuse and this will also make certain inventions inaccessible to the public. Such lack of accessibility in case of patented medicines could in turn have adverse consequences for public health of the country. Therefore, the author asks the government to reconsider its amendments to the form by taking into account the recommendations made in relation to the case at the Delhi High Court. With this, we come to the end of analysis of this news article. Now, let us move on to the next news article. Now, let us take up this news article. It talks about the government's crackdown against companies which were found to indulge in tax fraud. The government, with the support of the income tax department, used data analytics tools to identify fraudster companies which generated illicit incomes by fooling the GST regime and income tax. In this regard, around 7000 companies were found to be issuing fake bills or using fake bills to evade GST and income tax. In this context, we will discuss about GST, data analytics, etc. The syllabus relevant for this article is given below for your reference. We know that the government taxes in the form of direct taxes and indirect taxes. In cases of indirect taxes, the Goods and Service Tax Act was passed in the parliament as Constitution 101st Amendment Act 2016. And this came into effect on 1st of July 2017 and after its implementation, any tax that was levied by the central or the state government on the supply of goods or services was converged into GST. When you look at Article 279A, it provides for constituting a GST council. The members of the council includes the Union Finance Minister who will be the chairperson. And the other members are the Union Minister of State in charge of revenue or finance. The minister in charge of finance or taxation or any other minister who is nominated by each state government and the wise chairperson will be chosen among the members. This GST council is tasked with the duties to make important decisions and changes in GST and some of its functions or duties include determining the tax rate under the GST, tax exemption rules, the due date of submitting GST forms, tax related laws and deadlines and also the special exemptions for some states. Now according to Article 246A Clause 1, Parliament and the state legislatures have got the power to make laws with respect to GST that is imposed by the Union or by such state. And according to Article 246A Clause 2, Parliament has exclusive power when it comes to making laws with respect to GST where the supply of goods and services takes place in the cause of interstate trade or commerce. So in GST, central government will levy and collect CGST and the state government will levy and collect SGST on intra-state supply of goods or services. The center will also levy and collect IGST on interstate supply of goods or services. The constitution has got a provision to compensate the states for laws of revenue that is arising out of implementation of the GST and we are discussed about this GST compensation scheme on a September 1st, 2020 Hinder News Analysis. If in case you have not watched, please go back and watch it. Now let us have a brief understanding about data analytics. See, data analytics is a process of examining data sets in order to find trends and draw conclusions about the information they contain. So it is done with the help of specialized systems and softwares. An advanced type of data analytics includes data mining which involves sorting through large data sets in order to identify trends, patterns and relationships. And another type of data analytics is called predictive analysis which seeks to predict customer behavior, equipment failures and other future events. And also note that mission learning can also be used for data analytics using automated algorithms to churn through data sets in a more rapid manner. Also know that the big data analytics applies data mining, predictive analysis and mission learning tools. Now let us see how this data analytics is used by a government. See, a government collects large amount of data and get relevant results to make correct policy decisions. In this regard, big data analytics are used to achieve results which is far better than the traditional analyzing techniques. Say for example, as stated in today's news, the government analyzes data using certain data mining techniques in order to catch tax evaders. The Indian government has rolled out a platform which is completely based on big data analytics known as the project insight to make this happen. It is also to be noted that many insights and government actions clearly reveal the use of data analytics. Say for instance, the government use analytics to ensure that agriculture is not left behind. The very idea of geotagging the entire agricultural infrastructure is a result of this only. The soil moisture level, controlling irrigations and selection of right inputs was also data driven. So, in this discussion, we saw about GST and data analytics. With this information, let us move on to the next news article. This news article talks about trans fats or trans fatty acids also called as TFA. Recently, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India also called as FSSAI has capped the amount of TFA in oils and fats that is it is set an upper permissible limit for TFA in oils and fats. So, what are these trans fats or TFA's? See, they are a form of unsaturated fats and they come in both natural as well as in artificial forms. Naturally formed trans fats are found in small quantities in meat, milk and milk products. Whereas the artificial trans fats or industrial trans fats are created when hydrogen is added to unsaturated liquid vegetable oils in order to make them more solid. That is, they are formed during hydrogenation of vegetable oils and also by other processes such as heating of oil at high temperature. They are largely present in partially hydrogenated fats or oils which is also called as PHOs. Examples for that would be margarine and bakery shortening. These are used in preparation of bakery products. It is also present in Vanaspati which is used in the preparation of sweets and deep fried foods. Food manufacturers use these PHOs in order to improve the texture, shelf life and flavour of food. Therefore, artificial trans fats are found in fried foods, commercial baked goods, processed foods etc. Now, let's see what exactly is the issue with TFA's. See, they cause adverse health effects such as cardiovascular and other related diseases, especially they are double trouble for the health of the heart as it increases bad cholesterol like VLDLC and LDLC and it lowers the good cholesterol like HDLC in the body. And also trans fats have been linked to overweight or obesity, high blood pressure, diabetes and some types of cancers as well. So, according to a recent report, 15 countries account for approximately two thirds of the worldwide deaths that is linked to trans fat intake and India is one among them. So, let's see what is the recommended level of TFA intake. WHO recommends that trans fat intake to be limited to less than 1% of the total energy intake which translates to less than 2.2 grams per day with a 2000 calorie diet. But WHO wants trans fats to be eliminated totally. For this, in 2018, WHO launched a comprehensive plan to eliminate industrially produced trans fat from the global food supply by the year 2023 and this plan is named as Replace. In the same line, India also committed to eliminate industrial trans fats in fats or oils and in foods containing fats or oils in a phasen manner and FSSAI is working for the elimination of industrially produced trans fat in the food supply in India by the year 2022 which is a year ahead of WHO target. So, FSSAI has taken several steps like on the regulatory side. Food safety and standards, food products, standards and food additives regulation 2011 prescribes that TFA shall not be more than 5% in inter-esterified vegetable oils, vanaspati, bakery shortening and bakery and industrial margarine and also as per today's news it is said that the 2011 regulation has been amended to further reduce the limit of TFA's and it has capped the amount of TFA in oils and fats to be about 3% for 2021 and 2% for 2022. It also applies to edible refined oils, vanaspati, margarine, bakery shortening and other mediums of cooking such as vegetable fat spreads and makes it fat spreads. The Central Drugs and Standards Committee also called the CDSCO has approved two vaccines for emergency use in India. These two vaccines are vaccines by Bharat Biotic and Serum Institute of India. They are planned to be offered to Indian healthcare workers and frontline workers. However, one serious cause of concern is that these two vaccines have not completed a crucial phase 3 trial in India. Now, let us see about these two vaccines. The first vaccine called Kovishield is developed by Serum Institute of India and it is based on the Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine. The efficacy of this vaccine is found to be 70.4% based on the phase 3 trials that was conducted in the UK and Brazil. However, the efficacy data of this vaccine on 1600 volunteers that was conducted across 17 Indian cities have not been made public yet. On moving to the next vaccine which is called Kovaxin, it was developed by Bharat Biotic and the Indian Council for Medical Research. But even for this, the vaccine efficacy details on volunteers have not been made public yet. But the vaccine has been given approval with the condition that the firm has to inform the drug regulator every fortnight about the adverse effects that the vaccine may cause. They should be doing this for a period of the first two months. The health ministry has said that around 3 crore such personnel who are considered at highest risk for COVID-19 will be given the vaccine for free. However, it is not yet known about which vaccine will be made available to these personnel and it is also said that the vaccines will be administered to these people in about two weeks. The CDSCO approval was based on a recommendation by a subject expert committee of technical experts who deliberated for two days in sessions lasting over 12 hours on approval of the two vaccines and as per a press statement by the health ministry, it is said that the vaccine's efficacy in Indian volunteers was comparable to that which was tested in overseas trials. And the regulator has given approval for the vaccine only for restricted use in emergency situations. But then the criteria for this emergency situation has not yet been defined clearly. The Bharat biotech whose vaccine candidate was being tested in large phase 3 efficacy trial in India has provided safety and immunogenicity data and it has shown that the vaccination doesn't harm and is capable of stimulating an immune response in the body. Therefore, the head of CDSCO has stated that the vaccine is 110% safe and even if there is any adverse effect, it would be followed up immediately. As per the head of the epidemiology and communicable diseases division of ICMR, the emergency approval to the co-vaccine was given on the grounds of pandemic situation, the detection of the UK strain and the vaccine's safety profile. So, the officials felt this vaccine could be approved in the clinical trial mode. Also, he stated that the vaccine is not for everybody at present and it is meant only for restricted use and in case of adverse effects, then the vaccine could be withdrawn. He also added that co-vaccine has been developed based on an inactivated SARS-CoV-2 strain cultured at the National Institute of Virology which is a body of ICMR. This was a whole virus and therefore, more of it would be exposed to the immune system. This means that there are high chances for it to mount a response against a variety of mutant virus types or strains. So, scientifically co-vaccine offers much better antigen presentation and a consequent immune response than a vaccine that is developed as a specific part of the viral protein. This means that it is potentially more effective against mutant strains and this approach is followed since historically the same thing was observed for polio virus. The Barrett's Biotic Vaccine Co-Vaxin will be used as a backup vaccine and to be used only if it was not clear how efficacious the SSI vaccine or CoV shield would be. However, the opposition has come in from various quarters. Many doctors are of the opinion that this vaccine is no efficiency against the original virus or the mutant strain. Some also say that in spite of being safe, if the vaccine doesn't prove to be efficient then there is no point in approving the vaccine. There were also questions about the ace manner in which the regulator has approved the vaccines. So, this is all about the two approved vaccines. Now, let us see about the Central Drugs and Standards Committee or the CDSCO. So, this CDSCO it comes under the Directorate General of Health Services under the Union Ministry of Health. It is the National Regulatory Authority of India. Under the Drugs and Cosmetics Act of 1940, the CDSCO is responsible for the approval of drugs, the conduct of clinical trials, laying down the standards for drugs and to control over the quality of imported drugs in the country. So, with this, we have come to the end of this news analysis. With this information, let us move on to the next news article. This oped article talks about women farmers and how much less recognition and rights they get. As author correctly pointed out, many think of only men when we talk about farmers but is it the real scenario? Definitely not. Let us take the Agriculture Census which is conducted at five yearly intervals in order to collect data on structural aspects of operational holdings in the country. The operational holding refers to the land which is used wholly or partly for agricultural production and which is operated as one technical unit by one person alone or with others without regard to the title, legal form, size or location. The objectives of the agricultural census is given below for your reference. Now, according to the census, 73.2% of rural women are engaged in farming activities but only 12.8% of rural women own land holdings. So, even though the majority of women are engaged in agricultural activities, they do not own the land or we can also say that they are denied ownership of the land. This is also found by the Indian Human Development Survey which is a nationally representative multi-topic survey. It is a collaborative project from the University of Maryland, the National Council of Applied Economic Research in Delhi, the Indiana University and the University of Michigan. So, according to this IHDS or the Indian Human Development Survey, less than 2% of agricultural land in the country is inherited by female members of the family whereas the male member inherits around 83%. So, what is the reason for such a denial of ownership? It is because of the perception that farming is a man's profession. So, using cultural, social and religious forces, women are denied ownership of land. Because of such perception and denial, women are also excluded from the definition of farmers. So, they are often referred as cultivators or agricultural laborers only rather than being recognized as farmers. According to the author, this in turn systematically excludes women from all the benefits of government schemes. They are also not guaranteed the rights such as loans for cultivation, loan waivers, crop insurance, subsidies etc. Apart from this, women farmers also have unequal access or gendered access to support systems such as storage facilities, transportation costs etc. Thus, while farmers, both men and women are protesting against the formulas, they should also focus on measures to eliminate this gender gap in agriculture. With this, we have come to the end of this oped article. Now, let us move on to the next news article. Scientist at the CSIR National Institute for Interdisciplinary Science and Technology at Pappanam Code in Kerala have come up with a new product called the banana grit. It is developed from raw nendron bananas. Nendron bananas are a variety of banana grown in Kerala and the banana grit refers to the broken particles of banana and this can be used for making a wide range of dishes according to the NIHST. This banana grit looks similar to rava and broken wheat and it is an ideal ingredient in a healthy diet. The concept was introduced to utilize the presence of resistant starch in bananas which is reported to improve the gut health. See the gut health refers to the health of gastrointestinal tract. Hence, the dishes prepared with banana grit and its by-product banana powder has renewed its focus on gut health which the scientific community is widely discussing now to maintain health and well-being as stated by the NIHST. The years of research on the nendron variety helped the NIHST to open up a new segment of application for the starch rich banana. The nendron banana is generally consumed ripe and it also finds use in typical Kerala dishes such as avyal and thoran. The grit or granules can be used for making upma or it can be mixed with banana powder for making porridge with milk or coconut milk for use as a health drink. Banana powder can also be used in cake and bread preparation along with refined wheat flour. Developing new uses for nendron also comes as a boon to farmers who have often been struggling against falling prices according to scientists. So, the technology had been transferred to coachy based mosa organic and the product would hit the market soon. So, with this we come to the end of this news article. Let us take up this news article which talks about a speech by the director of the Hindu group of publications. In a speech he opined that India is still in danger of having an undemocratic and biased citizenship regime and there was no room for complacency and he was referring to the Citizenship Amendment Act to the CAA Act of 2019. We have discussed in detail about the CAA Act on many occasions. So, today let us freshen up our knowledge on CAA. See this constitutional amendment was related to giving Indian citizenship to illegal migrants who have been persecuted on religious basis in three countries which includes Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh. These individuals can be from any of these six religions which are Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians. And according to the amendment they shall not be treated as illegal migrants if they have entered India on or before 31st December 2014. So, we can see that Muslims are left out of this amendment. So, we can also say that this Act discriminates the migrants on the basis of religion. Now, you need to know two major amendments which help in facilitating and fast tracking the citizenship status of such persons whom we saw now. One amendment is to establish that these persons will not be treated as illegal migrants. So, section 2 of the Citizenship Act 1955 was amended by inserting a new clause for not treating these persons as illegal migrants. The next major amendment is to reduce a time period in acquiring citizenship or in other words to fast track the citizenship through naturalization for these persons. So, for this a provision has been inserted in the third schedule as per this amendment act and it is displayed here for your reference. So, we can see that this Citizenship Amendment Act of 2019 helps in facilitating and fast tracking the citizenship status of these persons. So, remember only for these set of persons the time period to acquire citizenship by naturalization has been reduced and for every other person who wish to acquire citizenship through naturalization the time period will be the same as before. This is all about this amendment act that you need to know. Now, you can see that Muslim community is excluded in this amendment. The exclusion of Muslim community from the Citizenship Act has become a major concern among the Indian society and also among the opposition political parties who are against this act. Many petitions were filed in the Supreme Court in order to stay the Citizenship Amendment Act. So, with this we have come to the end of this news analysis. Now, let us move on to the discussion of the prelims practice questions which of the following statements is or are not correct with reference to trans fats. Statement A, they come in both natural and artificial forms. Statement B, partially hydrogenated fats or oils such as margarine and bakery shortening are used to replace trans fats. Option C, they are risk to the cardiovascular health of the consumers. Option D, WHO has a target to eliminate industrially produced trans fat from the global food supply by the year 2023. When you look at option A, it is correct because they are found in both natural and artificial forms. When you look at option B, it is incorrect because partially hydrogenated fats or oils such as margarine and bakery shortening are the major source of trans fats and they are not used to replace it. When you look in the statement, it is given that they are used to replace trans fats but in reality, they are not used to replace it. So, therefore, option B is wrong. Both option C and option D is correct because the trans fats are a risk to the cardiovascular health of consumers and also WHO has targeted to eliminate industrially produced trans fat from the global food supply by the year 2023. A company marketing food products advertises that its items do not contain trans fats. What does this campaign signify to the consumers? Statement 1, the food products are not made out of hydrogenated oils. Statement 2, the food products are not made out of animal fats or oils. Statement 3, the oils used are not likely to damage the cardiovascular health of the consumers. Which of the statement given above is or are correct? So, when you take the statement 1, it is correct. So, as we saw during the discussion that hydrogenated and partially hydrogenated oils have trans fats. So, if trans fats are not present in the product, they are not made with these oils. So, statement 2 is also correct. We saw that natural trans fats are found in milk and meat also in small quantities. So, trans fats are not present in the product. It can be inferred that they are not made with animal fats or oils. Since trans fats are not present in the product, it can be inferred that they are not made with animal fats or oils. Coming to statement 3, it is also correct since the product does not contain trans fat which mainly affect the cardiovascular health and the product is not likely to damage the cardiovascular health of the customers. So, therefore, the right option is option D that is 1, 2 and 3. The question states, with reference to goods and service tax regime, consider the following statements. Statement 1, only parliament as the power to make laws with respect to GST where the supply of good and services takes place in the course of interstate trade or commerce. Statement 2, the goods and services tax council is a statutory body whose chairman is the union finance minister. Which of the above statements is or are correct? So, when you look at statement 1, the statement 1 is correct as it is according to article 246a clause 2 of Indian constitution. And I am looking at statement 2, the first part of the statement is incorrect because GST council is a constitutional body and not a statutory body. As per article 279a, it provides for constituting a goods and services tax council and members of the council are the union finance minister who will be the chairperson. So, union finance minister who is the members of the council are the union finance minister as chairperson. So, the second part of the second statement is correct. Therefore, the right option is A that is 1 only. The question states, consider the following statements with regard to the central drugs and standards committee. Statement 1, it comes under the ministry of chemicals and fertilizers. Statement 2, under the drugs and cosmetics act 1940, responsible for approval of drugs, conduct of clinical trials, laying down the standards for drugs, control over the quality of imported drugs in the country. Which of the above statement is or are correct? Option A, 1 only. Option B, 2 only. Option C, both 1 and 2. Option D, neither 1 nor 2. So, the correct option is option B that is 2 only because statement 1 is incorrect since CDSEO comes under the directorate general of health services under the union ministry of health and not under the ministry of chemicals and fertilizers. Whereas, when you look at statement 2, it is, which talks about the drugs and cosmetics acts of 1940, it is correct. Therefore, the right answer is option B that is 2 only. The question states, with reference to citizenship amendment act 2019, consider the following statements. Statement 1, the act provides for giving Indian citizenship to all illegal migrants who have been persecuted on religious basis in three countries which are Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh. Coming to statement 2, it states, the general time period prescribed for citizens of other countries to acquire Indian citizenship by naturalization has been reduced by this amendment. Which of the above statements is or are correct? When you take statement 1, it is incorrect because, see the CAA is related to giving Indian citizenship to illegal migrants who have been persecuted on religious basis in three countries which are Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh. But it is not for all religious communities but only for individuals who are from any one of these six religions which includes Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians. Coming to statement 2, it is also incorrect because only for these set of persons who are of religious minorities from these three countries, the time period to acquire citizenship by naturalization has been reduced whereas for every other person who wish to acquire citizenship through naturalization, the time period will remain the same as before. Therefore, the right answer is option D which is neither 1 nor 2. Now let us take up this prelims practice question. Consider the following statements regarding banana grit developed by the CSIR National Institute for Interdisciplinary Science and Technology. Statement 1, it is starch rich and improves gut health. Statement 2, it can help farmers by increasing the prices of locally grown bananas. Which of the statements is or are correct? Both the statements that is both statement 1 and 2 is correct. Therefore, the right answer is option C that is both 1 and 2. The list of mains practice question is displayed below. Write the answer and post it in the comment section. With this, we come to the end of today's news analysis. If you like the video, don't forget to like, comment and share and do subscribe to Shankara's Academy YouTube channel for updates regarding UPSC civil service preparation.