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DURING an interview with Jonas Salk, the creator of the polio vaccine, CBS newsman Edward R Morrow asked him who owned the patent for the vaccine. “Well, the people, I would say,” said Salk, “There … Read morePublic Health & Private Profits under Covid-19 Pandemic

THE prime minister has now extended the 21-day countrywide lockdown to 40 days, that is, till  May 3.. While doing this, no explanation has been given on what basis the lockdown has been extended, and … Read moreLockdown: Victory Declarations Premature In the Battle against Covid-19

THE Indian grid was tested as no grid in the world has ever been by PM’s 9-minute at 9 pm lights off call, on April 5. An unprecedented load reduction to the tune of 27 … Read moreIndian Grid Survives a Modi 9*9 PM Emergency

AS I write this column (April 2), Covid-19 is crossing a million infected cases in the world and nearly 50,000 dead. In India, the total infected cases are more than 2,000, with 51 deaths. It … Read moreIndia’s Testing Strategy Has to Change

FOLLOWING the prime minister’s address to the nation on the evening of the March 24, the GOI strategy for dealing with the potential stage 2 to stage 3 transition of the covid-19 epidemic is now … Read moreThe National Coronavirus Lockdown

IT is now clear that Europe, particularly the core European Union countries – Italy, Spain, France, and Germany – is the new epicentre of the Covid-19 epidemic. China, followed by South Korea, managed to contain … Read moreCovid-19 Pandemic Poses Fundamental Challenges to all Societies

THE unprecedented popular struggles all over the country against the CAA-NPR-NRC trio of adopted and proposed legislations and executive actions have gripped India. Protest actions have taken many forms such as rallies, human chains and … Read moreLooking Behind CAA-NPR-NRC: Reason & Scientific Temper

THE novel coronavirus or COVID-19 epidemic appears to be under control in China, but could create new epicentres in South Korea, Italy and Iran. If this happens and creates multiple countries acting as new centres … Read moreCOVID-19: China Supercharged Conventional Epidemic Control With Modern Science and Technology

WASHINGTON Post, the German and Swiss broadcasters ZDF and SRF have revealed that German Federal intelligence Agency BND and NSA-CIA jointly owned a Swiss company called Crypto AG. Through Crypto AG, they hacked into encrypted … Read morePaying Uncle Sam for Stealing Our Secrets

FOR a hyper-nationalistic government that boasts of a muscular military posture, the defence budget of 2020 strikes a discordant note. The finance minister, while presenting the union budget for the year in a dreary two-hour … Read moreDefence Budget Allocations: Crunch Time

FOR the first time, on two successive days, the number of new cases of the novel coronavirus (2019nCov) have dropped below 4,000 as against the earlier daily figures. The comprehensive measures the Chinese authorities have taken … Read moreThe Novel Coronavirus and the Virus of New Cold War

IN two months, the novel coronavirus—or 2019-nCoV—has affected more people than the SARS virus had done in 2002-2003. While it is spreading faster, it is more infectious than SARS, the infections are less severe: the … Read more2019-nCoV, a New Threat and Exemplary Action by the Chinese Authorities