Current Affair 1:

Centre for Processing Accelerated Corporate Exit (C-PACE)

 

The Honorable Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman introduced the concept of C-PACE as a measure of ‘Accelerated Corporate Exit” in her budget speech on February 1,2022.

The introduction and establishment of such a centralized system is based on two-fold motives;

1. Centralisation and speedy processing of the voluntary winding up of Companies

2. Relieving the workload of the registry officials concerned, so that they can focus on other tasks that fall within their jurisdiction Such a system is beneficial from both the governments and the companies’ point of view.

The establishment of the C-PACE will help to reduce the stress on the Registry along with keeping the registry clean besides availability of more meaningful data to the stakeholders. The C-PACE will also benefit the stakeholders by providing a hassle-free filing, timely and process-bound striking off their company’s names from the Register. 

The setting up of the C-PACE is part of the several measures taken by MCA in the recent past towards Ease of Doing Business and ease of exit for the Companies.

 

Current Affair 2:

How methanol kills people?

 

Spurious liquor is characterised by the liquid mixture containing methanol.

The Food Safety and Standards (Alcoholic Beverages) Regulations 2018 stipulate the maximum permissible quantity of methanol in different liquors. These values span a wide range, including “absent” in coconut fenny, 50 grams per 100 litres of country liquor, and 300 grams per 100 litres of pot-distilled spirits.

What is methanol?

The methanol molecule (CH 3OH) consists of one carbon atom bonded with three hydrogen atoms and one hydroxyl group.

Schedule I of the Manufacture, Storage and Import of Hazardous Chemical Rules 1989 includes methanol.

The most common way to produce methanol is to combine carbon monoxide and hydrogen in the presence of copper and zinc oxides as catalysts at 50-100 atm of pressure and 250° C.

Methanol has several industrial applications, including as a precursor to acetic acid, formaldehyde, and aromatic hydrocarbons. It is also used as a solvent and as antifreeze. In Tamil Nadu, the manufacture, export, import, storage, and sale of methanol requires licences under the 1959 Rules.

How does spurious liquor kill?

The deadliness of spurious liquor arises from methanol. Asper the report, “In every hooch tragedy in the history of India – and of the world since 1945 – the poison has been methanol.”

The human body contains infinitesimal quantities of methanol (4.5 ppm in the breath of healthy individuals, per a 2006 study) as a result of eating some fruits. But even for an adult, more than 0.1 ml of pure methanol per kilogram of body-weight can be devastating.

Once ingested, methanol is metabolised in the liver by ADH enzymes to form formaldehyde (H-CHO). Then, ALDH enzymes convert formaldehyde to formic acid (HCOOH). The accumulation of formic acid over time leads to a baneful condition called metabolic acidosis. Acidosis can lead to acidemia: when the blood’s pH drops below its normal value of 7.35, becoming increasingly acidic.

The blood’s pH is normally maintained by a balance between an acid, like carbon dioxide, and a base, like the bicarbonate ion (HCO 3–). The ‘metabolic’ means the concentration of the bicarbonate ion is dropping, leading to the acid gaining the upper hand.

Formic acid also interferes with an enzyme called cytochrome oxidase, which in turn disrupts cells’ ability to use oxygen and leads to the build-up of lactic acid, contributing to acidosis.

Current Affair 3:

All important points related to G-7.

 

News:

The first “World Economic Summit” – which later became the G7 – was initiated in 1975.

Why was G7 created?

The G7 was created more than four decades ago as an annual gathering of political leaders to discuss and exchange ideas on a broad range of issues, including global economy, security and energy.

France, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, the United States and West Germany formed the Group of Six in 1975 so that the non-communist powers could come together to discuss economic concerns, which at the time included inflation and recession following an OPEC oil embargo.

Canada joined the following year. Russia eventually joined in 1998 — and its inclusion was meant as a signal of cooperation between East and West after the Soviet Union’s collapse in 1991.

G7 used to be known as the G8 (Group of Eight) until 2014 when Russia was excluded because of its annexation of Crimea from Ukraine.

The Group of Seven (G7) is an informal forum of seven leading industrial nations and democracies, Germany, Canada, France, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States of America, and the European Union.

The G7 – like the G20 – is not an international organisation. It does not have its own administrative apparatus, nor are its members permanently represented in any way. Due to the G7’s informal structures, the country that holds the Presidency has a particularly important role to play.

The Presidency rotates between members on an annual basis. Germany takes over the Presidency in 2022 from the UK (2021) and will be succeeded by Japan (2023).

Although the decisions made by the G7 are not legally binding, they do have a tangible political impact.

 

Current Affair 4:

About Monkeypox

 

All 8 below has been taken from World Health Organization website:

1. Monkeypox is caused by monkeypox virus, a member of the Orthopoxvirus genus in the family Poxviridae.
2. Monkeypox is usually a self-limited disease with the symptoms lasting from 2 to 4 weeks. Severe cases can occur. In recent times, the case fatality ratio has been around 3–6%.
3. Monkeypox is transmitted to humans through close contact with an infected person or animal, or with material contaminated with the virus.
4. Monkeypox virus is transmitted from one person to another by close contact with lesions, body fluids, respiratory droplets and contaminated materials such as bedding.
5. Monkeypox is a viral zoonotic disease that occurs primarily in tropical rainforest areas of central and west Africa and is occasionally exported to other regions.
6. An antiviral agent developed for the treatment of smallpox has also been licensed for the treatment of monkeypox.
7. The clinical presentation of monkeypox resembles that of smallpox, a related orthopoxvirus infection which was declared eradicated worldwide in 1980. Monkeypox is less contagious than smallpox and causes less severe illness.
8. Monkeypox typically presents clinically with fever, rash and swollen lymph nodes and may lead to a range of medical complications.

 

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