What is the News ?

Australia’s Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) issued a medical advisory warning Australians of the risk of liver injury from using medicines and herbal supplements containing turmeric or its active ingredient, curcumin.

Facts About:

Health benefits of turmeric: 

• The risk of liver injury did not appear to relate to curcuma longa consumed in typical dietary amounts as a food. 
• As a staple ingredient in South and South East Asian cuisine, turmeric is also used in Ayurvedic and Chinese-medicine concoctions. 
• Several studies report it to have anti-oxidant properties that can help with inflammation. 
  • These include arthritis and infections. 
• A research have reported that curcumin used along with the drug Artemisininwas effective in treating malaria when tested on mice. 
• There have also been studies investigating the drug as an adjuvant in chemotherapy based on results in mice and animal studies. 
• However, their effect in human trials have been inconclusive.

Adverse effects of turmeric: 

• The French Agency for Food reported various adverse effects, including reports of hepatitis, potentially related to the consumption of food supplements containing turmeric or curcumin. 
• The ANSES report underlines that turmeric has “choleretic” properties, which means it stimulates the secretion of bile to improve digestion, and therefore, it is advisable that those with bile duct disease should avoidturmeric. 
• Curcumin could also interact with medications such as anticoagulants, cancer drugs and immunosuppressants, reducing their safety and effectiveness.

Why is curcumin being used in supplements?

• One of the challenges of turmeric and by extension curcumin is that very little of it is absorbed, or made ‘bioavailable’, by the body. 
• To improve its bioavailability, a popular approach is to use piperine, the major active component of black pepper, which improves bioavailability by 2000. 
• However, whether increasing the bioavailability of curcumin and packaging them in supplements makes them effective and safe for use in medicines is still being debated with no conclusive evidence emerging from trials.

Safe limit on consumption of turmeric: 

• The European Food Safety Authority has set an acceptable daily intake of 180 mg of curcumin per day for a 60 kg adult as the safe level of consumption. 
• A World Health Organization/Food and Agricultural Organisationadvisoryrecommends 3 mg/kg of body weight. 
• India’s Food Safety and Standards Authority of India has standards that packaged turmeric must comply with but nothing on the recommended dietary allowance.
• Statistically, on an average about 200 to 500mgs is consumed on a daily basis in Indian households.

Source: https://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/health/explained-are-turmeric-supplements-advisable/article67214093.ece

What is the News ?

Recently there have been internal conflicts about the nature and scope of the potential expansion of BRICS.

Facts About:

• BRICS is an acronym for five regional economies: Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.
• The first four were initially grouped as “BRIC” in 2001 by an economist Jim O’Neill, who coined the term to describe fast-growing economies that would collectively dominate the global economy by 2050.
• Summits: The governments of the BRICS states have met annually at formal summits since 2009.
• India hosted the 13th BRICS summit in 2021 virtually.
• China hosted the 14th BRICS summit in 2022.
• South Africa will host the 15th summit 2023.
• BRICS is an important grouping bringing together the major emerging economies from the world, comprising:
  • 41% of the world population,
  • 24% of the world GDP
  • Over 16% share in world trade.
  • Total combined area of 29.3% of the total land surface of the world
• Over a period of time, BRICS countries have come together to deliberate on important issues under the three pillars of:
  • political and security,
  • economic and financial and
  • Cultural and people-to-people exchanges.
• New Development Bank and BRICS: Formerly referred to as the BRICS Development Bank, is a multilateral development bank established by the BRICS states.
  • The Bank shall support public or private projects through loans, guarantees, equity participation and other financial instruments.

The need for BRICS expansion

• Economic strength: The economic strength of the five members of the grouping is not as promising as it was when the platform was first announced in 2009.
  • Though the BRICS nations certainly represent 43% of the world’s population and around 30% of the global economy, their economic weaknesses are certain.
• China’s anti-western orientation: China is focused on a quick expansion of BRICS with the aim of giving the platform a distinctly anti-western orientation.
• Prevailing Anti-Western sentiment: Many realize that the doors of other groupings are closed to them.
  • The clamour reflects prevailing anti-western sentiments and a pervasive desire to create a sizeable forum of the Global South.
• Global challenges: Russia is being marginalised in the global economy, while China is facing a difficult economic environment with the west turning against it.

Challenges with expanding BRICS grouping:

• An increase in membership is likely to weigh the group in favour of Chinabecause some countries waiting to join are also part of the Chinese Belt and Road Initiative.
  • This raise concerns that an expanded BRICS could be seen as a Chinese-led anti-American bloc. 
• India, which has been strengthening its bilateral relationship with the US, has been concerned about expansion.
  • India views China’s role in driving these countries for membership of BRICS along with the support of Russia.
• India also raised its concern in last year’s BRICS that any addition of new members must follow the carefully thought-out objective criteria for membership.
  • This should be mutually discussed among the present members, so that all are of the same view regarding expansion.
• Further, at the BRICS foreign ministers’ meeting last month, India’s External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar emphasized the need to consider the ways in which existing BRICS countries collaborate with each other and engages with non-BRICS countries.

Way Forward:

The 15th BRICS summit holds multifaceted importance for India, offering a platform for addressing geopolitical concerns, facilitating bilateral talks, and advancing economic collaborations. As the global landscape continues to evolve, BRICS remains a critical forum for emerging economies to engage and collaborate on key global challenges. The outcomes of this summit will not only affect the member nations but also shape the broader trajectory of international relations and cooperation.

Source: https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/explained-global/brics-expansion-significance-for-india-8907925/

What is the News ?

A large number of megalithic hat stones were found during a recent archaeological salvage excavation conducted by the Kerala Archaeology Department at Nagaparamba in Kuttippuram village, near Tirunavaya.

Facts About:

• Hat stones, popularly called Thoppikkallu in Malayalam, are hemispherical laterite stones used as lid on burial urns during the megalithic period.

What is Salvage excavation?

• Salvage excavation also known as rescue archaeology or emergency archaeology, refers to a type of archaeological excavation that is conducted in response to a situation where archaeological remains are threatened by construction, development, or other activities

Megaliths 

• Megaliths were constructed either as burial sites or commemorative (non-sepulchral) memorials. 
• Origin: As megalithic societies were preliterate, the racial or ethnic origins of the megalithic people are thus difficult to pin down.
• Significance: Megaliths were not built for commoners. They signify the emergence of a ruling class or elite who presided over a surplus economy.
• Time – Period: In India, archaeologists trace the majority of the megaliths to the Iron Age (1500 BC to 500 BC), though some sites precede the Iron Age, extending up to 2000 BC.

Geographical Spread: Megaliths are spread across the Indian subcontinent, though the bulk of them are found in peninsular India, concentrated in the states of Maharashtra (mainly in Vidarbha), Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.

• Even today, a living megalithic culture endures among some tribes such as the Gonds of central India and the Khasis of Meghalaya.
• Different Types of Megalithic Structure include: Stone Circles, Dolmen, Cist, Monolith and Capstone style.

Source: https://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/science/hat-stones-in-abundance-at-archaeology-site-near-tirunavaya/article67210231.ece