-Hindustan Times On November 15, Boston-based health news website Stat News cited official documents that purported to detail a series of problems in how Bharat Biotech’s coronavirus vaccine, funded partly by the government, was approved. The Union government and vaccine maker Bharat Biotech on Thursday refuted a report that alleged rules and protocols were bent during the approval process for Covaxin, but the clarifications served to further add to the questions that...

-ThePrint.in In an affidavit filed before Supreme Court, environment ministry has said domestic production of GM Mustard will reduce India’s dependency on other countries to meet domestic demand. New Delhi: Defending the clearance given last month to the environmental release of Genetically Modified (GM) Mustard, the central government told the Supreme Court that the deployment of GM Mustard hybrids will contribute to India’s self-sustenance in the production of edible oil and shall...

-Livemint.com Just as much of today’s world is locked into fossil-fuel dependence, Indian farmers are in a trap of water-guzzling crop production that is not environmentally sustainable. The annual United Nations climate conference underway in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, has entire days devoted to two crucial sectors that directly impact the lives of millions in India: agriculture and water. At a time of stagnant incomes and groundwater depletion, we must enable farmers to...

-IndiaToday.in The Wednesday tremor brings to mind the devastating 2015 Nepal earthquake and makes us ponder over the risks ahead. Nepal was rocked by a 6.3 magnitude earthquake in the wee hours of Wednesday, claiming six lives. Tremors were felt across north India, including Delhi, Gurugram, Ghaziabad and Lucknow. The epicenter of the earthquake was in Nepal, about 90 km east-southeast of Pithoragarh in Uttarakhand, said the National Centre for Seismology (NCS). At least...

-The Telegraph University Grants Commission has also advocated online exams and ‘blended’ online-offline courses New Delhi: A proposal for India’s universities to introduce “flipped classrooms”, where teachers provide material to students in advance to study at home and the classroom is used for debate, analysis and problem-solving, has divided academics. Central University of Punjab vice-chancellor R.P. Tiwari said flipped classrooms help develop critical thinking while conventional classrooms encourage passive learning, but St Stephens...