Quiz -2 Quantitative Aptitude (Ratio & Proportion)

Food Safety and Standards Authority (FSSAI) has notified food safety standards for honey and its products in bid to curb adulteration. These standards will be applicable to both domestic manufacturers and importers. It will help farmers to fetch better prices for their products.

Key Features of new standards

It defines honey as natural sweet substance produced by honey bees from nectar of blossoms or from secretions of plants, which honey bees collect, transform and store in honeycombs for ripening. Honey products should comply with 18 parameters like that of sucrose content, glucose ratio, pollen count, foreign oligosaccharides etc,
These products should contain fixed maximum 5% limit for sucrose, 10% for carviacallosa and honeydew honey. The moisture percentage should be maximum 20% and pollen count should be 25,000 per gram. If product is sold as honey then food ingredient, including food additives should not be added to it.
Honey should not be heated or processed to such extent that its essential composition is changed and its quality is impaired. Honey can be labelled according to floral or plant source, if it comes from any particular source and has organoleptic, physicochemical and microscopic properties corresponding with torigin.
In case of ‘Monofloral Honey’, minimum pollen content of plant species concerned should not be less than 45% of total pollen content. In case of ‘Multi Floral Honey’, pollen content of any of plant species should not exceed 45% of total pollen content.

Background

About 90,000 tonnes of honey of all varieties is produced annually in the country. There are about 30 lakh honey bee colonies and five lakh people are engaged in the business. Government considers promoting farmers to venture into beekeeping business as key component to increase their income. Union Government is promoting honey production through mission for integrated development of horticulture (MIDH). It has established National Bee Board for implementing various activities for development of scientific beekeeping under MIDH.

According to recent report by Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In), maximum number of cyber-attacks on official Indian websites are from China, US and Russia. The report was forwarded to National Security Council Secretariat (NSCS) and other security agencies. It had analysed cyber-attacks from April-June 2018.

Key Highlights of report

China continues to intrude Indian cyberspace in significant way as cyber-attacks originating from China account for largest 35% of total number of cyber-attacks on official Indian websites followed by US (17%), Russia (15%), Pakistan (9%), Canada (7%) and Germany (5%).
Indian institutions attacked by these malicious activities on cyberspace include Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC), National Informatics Centre (NIC), Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC), Railways, Centre for Railway Information Systems (CRIS) and some banks like Punjab National Bank (PNB), Oriental Bank of Commerce (OBC), State Bank of India (SBI) and state data centres, particularly in Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka. CERT-In has advised to take appropriate preventive action.
Pakistan malicious actors from Pakistan are possibly using German and Canadian cyberspace for intruding into Indian cyberspace and carrying out malicious activities. They are targeting by sending spear phishing emails with malware attachments. Phishing attacks are usually in form of email from trusted source where they ask for personal details such as bank details personal details, passwords.

Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In)

CERT-In is nodal agency for information technology (cyber) security under aegis of Department of Information Technology, Ministry of Electronics and IT. It was established in 2004. Its mandate is to protect Indian cyberspace and software infrastructure against destructive and hacking activities. It also responds to computer security incidents, report on vulnerabilities and promote effective IT security practices throughout country. It also issue guidelines, vulnerability notes, advisories and whitepapers regarding to information security practices, prevention.

Maharashtra Government has appointed Bollywood actor Raveena Tandon as the brand ambassador of Mumbai city-based Sanjay Gandhi National Park (SGNP). She was appointed to spread awareness among fellow citizens as she is environmentally-conscious citizen and respected member of the community. As brand ambassador, she will help state forest department to create awareness about its various initiatives, like 50 crore tree plantation drive, eco-tourism in SGNP and conservation of leopards in SGNP, among others.

Sanjay Gandhi National Park

It protected area near Mumbai in Maharashtra. It was formerly known as Borivali National Park (renamed to present name in 1996, after Sanjay Gandhi, eldest son of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.). It is notable as one of the major national parks existing within metropolis limit and is one of the most visited parks in the world.
It is spread over are of 103 sq.km in heart of Mumbai city and surrounded by population of 20 million people. It is part of Western Ghats biodiversity and forms roughly 205 of Mumbai’s geographical area. It is home to more than 274 species of birds, 35 species of mammals, 78 species of reptiles and amphibians, 170 species of butterflies and over a staggering 1,300 species of plants. Kanheri Caves, 2000 year old complex of some 160 rock-cut caves (was important Buddhist learning centre) is situated within national park and is protected archeological site.

University Grants Commission (UGC) issued circular directing all varsities and higher education institutions to ban sale of junk food on their campuses. This ban will help will set new standards for healthy food, making students live better, learn better and reduce obesity levels. It will also help to prevent lifestyle diseases which have direct link with excessive weight.

Key Facts

The circular was issued after a directive from the HRD ministry, asking the UGC to ban the sale of junk food on premises of higher education institutions. Similar move was made earlier by Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) which had directed all affiliated schools to take junk food off their canteen menu. Moreover, schools were also asked to inspect lunch boxes of students, create awareness about nutritious food and regularly monitor students’ health. The directive was released following report by Ministry of Women and Child Development (MCB) on consumption of foods high in fat, salt and sugar (HFSS) and promotion of healthy snacks in schools.

University Grants Commission (UGC)

UGC is statutory body set up by Union government in accordance to UGC Act 1956. It functions under Ministry of Human Resource Development. It is mandated to initiate important decisions and dialogues which have important bearing on the entire student population of the country. The three primary functions of UGC include overseeing distribution of grants to universities and colleges in India, providing scholarships and fellowships to beneficiaries and monitoring conformity to its regulations by universities and colleges.