-TheWire.in Scientists described a 'culture of silence' at ICMR, with researchers worried that they would be passed over for opportunities if they questioned their superiors. New Delhi: The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR)’s top leadership “tailored” the agency’s findings on the spread of COVID-19 and its possible trajectory to suit Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s agenda and pressured scientists to downplay the threat posed by the pandemic, New York Times has reported. The...

-The Hindu A troubled Meghalaya will see unrest growing until 2023, when the next elections are due, says the editor of ‘The Shillong Times’, Patricia Mukhim On August 13, an ailing former leader of an armed group was shot dead in the middle of the night at his home in Shillong by a police team. The incident led to unrest in Mawlai where the encounter occurred and resonated in the adjoining neighbourhoods...

-Civil Society News, Gurugram THROUGHOUT the first and second waves of the coronavirus pandemic, the extent of the tragedy in India was mostly unknown. How many people had really died? Were they men or women? Information was anecdotal and speculative. This April, there were queues at crematoriums and burial grounds, but even as bodies piled up there were no reliable figures to go by. We now have some figures based on data-hunting...

Remote teaching and learning promoted by Edtech companies as an alternative to physical classrooms, especially since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, may have a sizeable consumer base in our country. However, at the bottom of the pyramid, there are only a few takers of online education. In reality, class and caste-divide, which is more prominent in rural areas, affects access to digital learning. The majority of the school going...

-Scroll.in With growing Evidence on the transboundary nature of climate risks, there is an urgent need for a comprehensive regional risk governance framework. In the space of three months in early 2021, two glacial lakes in Uttarakhand burst their banks, with tragic consequences for mountain communities and ecosystems. In February, a glacier lake breach caused flash floods that surged through the Rishiganga River. At least 61 people were killed and around 143...