-TheWire.in We must change the parameters we use to judge the "productivity" of parliament. My first few days in the Rajya Sabha were tumultuous enough to realise that classics like Erskine May’s Parliamentary Practice, the bible of Westminster, would really have to be ‘tropicalised’ a lot to adjust to the gross realities of the world’s largest and beleaguered democracy. The small endoscopic view of parliament’s functioning also Leads to the belief that...

-The Hindu Global warming to trigger extreme rain in South India, it says The current global warming trends overall are likely to Lead an increase in annual mean precipitation over India, with more severe rains expected over southern India in the coming decades, says the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)’s Sixth Assessment Report, public on Monday. The planet was irrevocably headed towards warming by 1.5° Celsius over pre-industrial times in the next...

-Press release by Centre for Science and Environment dated 9th August, 2021 The latest IPCC report confirms that we can no longer lose time in prevarication or in finding new excuses not to act, including empty promises of net zero by 2050. We bring you an appraisal of the report’s findings by CSE director general Sunita Narain * The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) releases the first part of its sixth...

-The Hindu Opposition members question government’s commitment to democratic norms The Lok Sabha on Monday passed three Bills in 20 minutes as disruption by Opposition members over the Pegasus snooping controversy and the farms continued into the last week of the monsoon session of Parliament. The government also introduced three Bills in the din, prompting Congress Leaders Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury and Manish Tewari to question the government’s commitment to democratic norms. RSP’s N.K. Premachandran...

-TheWire Science * The Indian government has consistently discouraged compulsory licenses on generic drugs.   * One of the big questions the India government has not answered is why it isn’t using pharma PSUs to produce drugs and vaccines. * Not one member of Indian industry is willing to stand up and fight for compulsory licenses, and for patients, says lawyer Murali Neelakantan. India has played a crucial role in supporting South Africa, as a...