-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...

-The Hindu Malappuram, the most densely populated district of Kerala, epitomises the challenges the State faces in controlling the rising number of COVID-19 infections. Abdul Latheef Naha and C. Maya explain how the State, which seemed to have a grip on the pandemic, has been faltering “Two people have died. Please come and pack the bodies,” a nurse tells the cleaning staff who are on a break. Within a few minutes, cleaning...

-The Hindu West Bengal has effectively used the vaccines supplied by the Centre, economist says West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday met Nobel laureate Abhijit Vinayak Banerjee and discussed India’s management of the COVID-19 pandemic with him. Mr. Banerjee, who is a member of West Bengal’s COVID-19 management committee, said that his sense is that the biggest problem is that the Centre is not capable of generating the supply of vaccines...

-The Hindu Business Line As our governments think and rethink lockdown measures and scheme policy interventions, it is time we, as a society collective, pay attention to our children on the brink of irreversible damage What does it mean to lose one’s childhood to unsung labour? What is it like when books are replaced by bricks, playgrounds by agricultural fields, plastic toys with heavy-metal machines, alphabet recitations by silent cries of help?...

-The Hindu Business Line Number of placements under the flagship PMKVY scheme plunged during 2020-21 There’s a drastic decline in the number of unemployed youth getting placements under the short-term training programme of the Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY) scheme during the Covid-19 pandemic. Launched in 2015, the PMKVY is among the flagship programmes of the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship that aim to mobilise and train youth according to the...