CATEGORIES

Calling out Albert Bourla and Big Pharma

Omicron is the result of leading vaccine makers and rich nations' failure to provide equitable supplies of jabs against COVID-19

On thin ice

Reduced snowfall and high temperatures have upturned the lives of people in the Himalayan cold desert

Virus' Variant Ways

The third year of the global COVID-19 outbreak begins with a new variant, much like the earlier Delta variant that emerged at the start of the second year. Delta caused deadly waves, but the new variant, named Omicron, is more transmissible and shows signs of breaching acquired immunity. The world should be braced for a prolonged pandemic

Some more unequal

The world today is richer than ever, but the wealth gap between the rich and the poor has also widened to levels last seen at the height of imperialism 200 years ago

RAINING FOR 60 DAYS

Incessant heavy rains over south India for the past two months indicate a drastic change in the country’s monsoon system and hint at the new climate extremes of a perpetually warming world

Plant protection authority sets right its potato blunder

A public campaign forced it to revoke registration of PepsiCo’s potato variety, but the agency needs to reset its priorities

POLAVARAM DAM "FROM HEAVEN TO HELL"

Under the serene backwaters of the Godavari are 72 villages of Andhra Pradesh that got submerged, some completely, this June because of the under-construction Polavaram dam. SHAGUN KAPIL visited some of these villages in East and West Godavari districts as well as seven rehabilitation colonies, and found serious flaws with the resettlement process that has caused agony to countless families

AEDES THE MENACE

The latest outbreaks of Zika fever in India indicate that mosquito-borne diseases are fast spreading to new populations and regions. They are also no longer restricted to the monsoon season. Aedes mosquitoes that are responsible for transmitting a range of diseases are particularly becoming invasive in a rapidly warming world. An analysis by VIVEK MISHRA and VIBHA VARSHNEY in Delhi with NEETU SINGH in Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh

Moderna's brazen patent rab on a COVID jab

The US administration is finally putting its foot down on the appropriation of public research by drug firms

Bitter sweet

Petha production in Agra leaves behind waste and pollution. The city must develop strategies to reduce their impact

India's successes at COP26

Collaborative, not competitive, approach can save our planet

THE SIGNS

The Sumi Naga tribe has developed a whole portfolio of ecological indicators to help predict weather. The lack of documentation and loss of biodiversity puts this traditional knowledge at risk of extinction

Deadlock in Palk Bay

India-Sri Lanka fishing conflicts show no signs of abatement as efforts to phase out destructive trawling practices show little progress

Tantalising wait

As Himalayan farmers grow the country’s first asafoetida plants, changing weather threatens to play spoilsport

Take heart

A STATIN-FREE LIFE IS A PRACTICAL GUIDE TO HEART HEALTH FROM A CARDIOLOGIST WHO HAS LONG ARGUED THAT THE CHOLESTEROL-FOCUSSED APPROACH TO PREVENTING AND TREATING HEART DISEASE IS FLAWED

Yes, says Prime Minister

After a year of farmers’ protests, the government will repeal the three farm laws

Global Crackdown On Greenwashing

AS COUNTRIES begin to step up their climate commitments to reduce the burden of global warming, industries are facing heat for years of greenwashing practices, or the act of passing off products or services as environmentally friendly without proof.

Long-distance lessons

An educational non-profit virtually connects rural children with teachers who can instruct in their native language ANIL ASHWANI SHARMA

A reluctant survivor

MORE THAN 28 FARMERS AND AGRICULTURAL WORKERS DIE BY SUICIDE EVERY DAY IN THE COUNTRY. ONE DAY IN 2014, RAMRAO PANCHLENIWAR FROM MAHARASHTRA'S VIDARBHA REGION WAS SET TO BE ONE SUCH CASE; BUT HE MIRACULOUSLY SURVIVED. IN RAMRAO: THE STORY OF INDIA'S FARM CRISIS, JOURNALIST JAIDEEP HARDIKAR TRACES THE LIFE OF THIS COTTON GROWER AND THROUGH IT, THE TRIBULATIONS OF INDIA'S AGRARIAN COMMUNITY. EXCERPTS FROM THE BOOK:

The new bare minimum

The newly agreed global minimum corporate tax to prevent ultinational firms from avoiding the legal cess regime is riddled ith clauses to ensure that profits stay with the rich nations

The bizarre demand for a Banarasi paan GI

Geographical Indication tag continues to be handed out without examining the scientific basis or the integrity of such claims

VALUE IN THE WEED

BATHUA IS IN DEMAND FOR ITS NUTRITION AND TASTE. IMPROVED VARIETIES OF THE WEED CAN MAKE IT POPULAR AMONG FARMERS

Agenda For COP26

THE 26TH session of the Conference of the Parties (COP26) to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change is being held at a time when the impacts of global warming are more palpable than ever—both for the poor and the rich.

The Numbers Behind Climate Change

The planet can barely afford any more carbon emissions. But we need to continue to emit for our survival and development. What is the carbon budget available to us? More importantly, who should be allowed to emit and how much? An analysis by Sunita Narain and Avantika Goswami

INHERITANCE OF LOSS

The young are restless to conserve the world they know they will inherit

Borrowed time

The world is set to produce over twice the amount of fossil fuels in 2030 than would be consistent with limiting warming to 1.5°C

‘America's original social distancer'

THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC AND LOCKDOWNS MADE DAVID GESSNER, PROFESSOR OF CREATIVE WRITING AT THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA WILMINGTON, REVISIT HENRY DAVID THOREAU—THE 19 TH CENTURY AMERICAN NATURALIST, ESSAYIST, POET AND PHILOSOPHER WHO LIVED IN ISOLATION FOR TWO YEARS STARTING 1845. THOREAU SPENT HIS TIME GROWING HIS OWN FOOD, CONTEMPLATING AND WRITING. HIS STAY IN THE WOODS BY THE WALDEN POND IN CONCORD, MASSACHUSETTS, RESULTED IN HIS MOST-KNOWN WORK, WALDEN—A BOOK THAT DESCRIBES THE ACT OF LIVING DAY TO DAY AND IS CONSIDERED A CLASSIC ON NATURE WRITING AND INDIVIDUALISM. GESSNER COMPARES THOREAU’S SELF-IMPOSED ISOLATION TO HIS OWN FORCED SECLUSION DURING THE PANDEMIC IN HIS BOOK QUIET DESPERATION, SAVAGE DELIGHT TO CONCLUDE “JUST HOW INTENSELY RELEVANT THOREAU IS TO OUR TIMES”. EXCERPTS FROM THE BOOK:

Toxic ignorance

In absence of robust framework and infrastructure, segregation of domestic hazardous waste remains a distant dream for most Indian cities

Supply snags

States must contend with several production hurdles before they can roll out fortified rice as part of the Union government's plan to fight malnutrition

‘Reality is not as fixed as people like to think'

Humans pride themselves on the fact that they cannot just see and perceive what is around them but also analyse their observations and form definite conclusions. However, this ability to understand reality is not foolproof, say researchers from the University College of London, UK, in a recent preprint paper published in the online repository PsyArXiv. Through a series of experiments, the researchers have determined that people are often akin to mistaking their imagination for real-life perception. DAKSHIANI PALICHA speaks to lead author of the study NADINE DIJKSTRA about the potential implications of their findings. Excerpts: