Richness of human milk (GS Paper 2, Health)
Why in news?
- A new finding about the carefully tailored richness of human milk has shed light on the importance of myo-inositol, a cyclic sugar alcohol.
Details:
- The levels of myo-inositol are high over the first two weeks of lactation and gradually taper off over a period of a few months. In the early stages, the brain of the newborn is a site of rapid ‘wiring’, as synapses (or connections between nerve cells) are formed in profusion.
- Proper synapse formation during early development lays the foundation for cognitive development; inadequate synapse formation leads to development difficulties in the brain.
- The researchers also matched their findings on myo-inositol induced synapse abundance in cultured rat neurons in test tubes. Here too, myo-inositol promoted the formation of synapses between neurons.
Myo-inositol:
- Myo-inositol is a cyclic sugar-alcohol, about half as sweet as sugar. It is abundant in the brain, where it mediates the response to several hormones.
- The body needs inositol to form cell membranes.
Sources:
- The body makes myo-inositol from glucose, mostly in the kidneys. However, our body’s requirements go up along with the intake of coffee and sugar, and in conditions such as diabetes.
- The bran of grains and seeds contains a precursor of inositol, phytic acid. Almonds, peas and cantaloupes are also rich sources.
- In animal models of diabetes, adding myo-inositol back to the diet of inositol-deprived mice helps prevent cataract formation and other complications associated with diabetes.
Other constituents of human milk:
- An essential nutrient, an Omega-3 fatty acid called dicosahexaenoic acid (or DHA), varies depending on the food the pregnant mother has been eating.
- The DHA levels vary in the lactating mother’s milk across nations—2.8% in mainland China, 1% in Japan, around 0.4-0.2% in Europe and the U.S., and only 0.1% or so in several developing countries.
Necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC):
- Necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) is a severe gastrointestinal condition that impacts premature or extremely low birth weight infants.
- Symptoms include inadequate feeding, abdominal bloating, multiorgan failure, and can be fatal. Risk factors consist of bottle-feeding, prematurity, and low birth weight (1.5 kg or less).
- The condition arises from a combination of compromised blood flow and intestinal infection. The NEC can be prevented by the utilisation of breast milk and probiotics. Nearly 10% of premature babies develop NEC, with a quarter of affected infants succumbing to the disease.
- The intestines of premature babies do not produce enough IL-22, which is involved in protecting us from microbial infections.
What are the reasons for rise in global debt?
(GS Paper 3, Economy)
Why in news?
- Global debt rose to an all-time high of $307 trillion in the second quarter, by the end of June 2023, the Institute of International Finance (IIF) said in a recent report.
- The global debt has risen by about $100 trillion over the last decade. Further, global debt as a share of gross domestic product (GDP) has started to increase once again to hit 336% after dropping quite steeply for seven consecutive quarters.
What is global debt?
- Global debt refers to the borrowings of governments as well as private businesses and individuals. Governments borrow to meet various expenditures that they are unable to meet through tax and other revenues.
- Governments may also borrow to pay interest on the money that they have already borrowed to fund past expenditures. The private sector borrows predominantly to make investments.
Why is it rising?
- Both global debt in nominal terms and global debt as a share of GDP have been rising steadily over the decades. The rise came to a halt during the pandemic as economic activity turned sluggish and lending slowed down. But global debt levels, it seems, have started to rise again in the last few quarters.
- Most (over 80%) of the rise in global debt in the first half of the year has come from advanced economies such as the U.S., the U.K., Japan, and France. Among emerging market economies, China, India and Brazil have seen the most growth in debt.
- During the first half of 2023, total global debt rose by $10 trillion. This has happened amid rising interest rates, which was expected to adversely affect demand for loans. But a rise in debt levels over time is to be expected since the total money supply usually steadily rises each year in countries across the globe.
Global debt as a share of GDP:
- There is drop in global debt as a share of GDP over seven consecutive quarters prior to 2023.
- The IIF attributes the decline in global debt as a share of GDP to the rise in price inflation, which it claims has helped governments to inflate away the debts denominated in their local currencies. Inflating away of debt refers to the phenomenon wherein the central bank of a country either directly or indirectly uses freshly created currency to effectively pay off outstanding government debt by, for example, purchasing government bonds in the market.
- But the creation of fresh money causes prices to rise, thus imposing an indirect tax on the wider economy to pay the government’s debt.
Is it a cause for worry?
- Rising global debt levels usually leads to concerns about the sustainability of such debt. This is particularly so in the case of government debt which is prone to rise rapidly due to reckless borrowing by politicians to fund populist programmes.
- And when central banks raise interest rates, servicing outstanding debt becomes a challenge for governments with a heavy debt burden.
- Despite rising debt levels over the last decade, the interest that governments had to pay lenders largely remained manageable due to extremely low interest rates, particularly in western economies. This is set to change now as central banks have let interest rates rise in order to fight high price inflation since the pandemic.
- Rising interest rates can increase pressure on governments and force them to either default outright or inflate away their debt. Many analysts believe that several governments will never be able to pay their debt in full and that inflating away debt is the only way for such governments to avoid an outright default on their debt.
Caution:
- In its report, the IIF has also warned that the international financial infrastructure is not equipped to handle unsustainable domestic debt levels. Generally, rapidly rising private debt levels also lead to worries among analysts about their sustainability.
- This is because such a rise is linked to unsustainable booms that end in economic crises when such lending is not backed by genuine savings.
- The most recent example of the same was the 2008 global financial crisis. The crisis was immediately preceded by an economic boom fuelled by the U.S. Federal Reserve’s easy credit policy.
Bihana Didi wins Norman Borlaug award for introducing rice variety
(GS Paper 3, Agriculture)
Why in news?
- Fondly called Bihana Didi (Seed Lady) by local communities in Odisha, agriculture scientist Swati Nayak recently won the prestigious Norman E. Borlaug Award for 2023.
- She became only the third Indian agriculture scientist to win the prestigious Norman E. Borlaug Award for 2023.
Her contribution:
- Now with the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), she won the Borlaug Award for “Field Research and Application”, a unique distinction when usually breeders walk away with such awards.
- Before joining IRRI in 2013, she is credited with the successful dissemination and adoption of more than 20 climate-resilient and bio-fortified rice varieties.
- Among these are ‘Sahbhagi Dhan’, a drought-tolerant variety suitable for hilly uplands, and ‘BINA Dhan-11’, which is flood-tolerant.
- Nayak and her team formulated a strategy for introducing ‘Sahbhagi Dhan’ in the tribal belt of Odisha’s Mayurbhanj district, encompassing setting up demonstration plots, on-farm evaluation and seed production by women farmers. The cascading effect was borne out by ‘Sahbhagi Dhan’ becoming a much in-demand variety throughout Odisha.
- ‘BINA-Dhan-11’, which contains a submergence-tolerant Sub1 gene identified from an indigenous land race of Odisha, was a similar success story of adoption.
- She and her team formulated a strategy for introducing the drought-tolerant Shahabhagi Dhan rice variety in Odisha. It brought about a major change in rain-fed areas. The variety became an integral element of every farmer family’s diet and crop rotation.
About Norman E. Borlaug Award:
- The award recognises exceptional scientists under 40 and someone who works in the field of food and nutrition security and hunger eradication.
- It is given in memory of the Nobel awardee and Green Revolution's chief architect Dr Norman Borlaug.
- The award was created in 1972 and named in honour of Nobel Laureate Norman E. Borlaug.
