-Hindustan Times WHO will be updating the list of priority pathogens—agents that can cause outbreaks or pandemics—to guide global investment, research and development, especially in vaccines, tests and treatments, the UN Health body announced. India is working on a plan to effectively combat public Health emergencies and disease outbreaks in future, according to people familiar with the matter, even as WHO on Monday announced it will be identifying pathogens that could cause...

-The Hindu The National Suicide Prevention Strategy must cascade down to every district The best first step towards addressing a malaise is to recognise that it exists. The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare’s recently published National Suicide Prevention Strategy fits right there. It has been a long time coming, but the Strategy, finally in the public realm, calls attention to the massive burden of suicides in the country, and initiates steps...

-TheWeek.in Greater damage to planet is unsustainable consumption and inequalities, he says We are now 8 billion strong, just 11 years after the world’s population touched 7 billion. The United Nations designated November 15 as the official day to mark the 8 billion milestone, although it’s hard to identify precisely when we reached it.  What exactly does it mean to be a world of 8 billion for humanity? Experts have varying opinions. Many...

-The Telegraph The 2026 delimitation exercise will lead to anomalies On November 15, according to a subtle calculation, the world’s population touched eight billion. And who was the largest contributor to this figure? Who but… India, adding 177 million people out of the last billion born in the world. This ‘contribution’ would have been a matter of some embarrassment were it not for some good news that came alongside. The United Nations...

-PTI/ NDTV.com The IIT Gandhinagar study highlighted that mega-heatwaves occurred during the summer of 1995 and 1998, with 20 per cent and 8 per cent of the country being affected by sequential extremes. New Delhi: The frequency of extreme weather events such as floods and heatwaves is projected to rise manifold in India in the future due to climate change, according to a study by researchers at the Indian Institute of Technology,...