-The Wire Science * Many regions in India, including the north and the centre, are currently reporting hotter weather thanks to heat waves. * The IMD has forecast ‘severe’ heat wave conditions for the next three days over parts of Rajasthan. Heat waves will also prevail over areas of Himachal Pradesh, Gujarat and Telangana. * According to the government, the IMD’s predictive power to forecast heatwaves has increased significantly over the years. Kochi: Many...

-Down to Earth Hong Kong and New Zealand facing huge waves; situation in Hong Kong similar to India delta wave The COVID-19 pandemic is again rearing its head on the opposite sides of Eurasia after a lull, with both, China and Europe reporting a rise in cases, according to media reports. New Zealand too is facing a resurgence in cases. China recorded 5,280 new cases March 16, 2022, which is a more than...

-Down to Earth The arduous journeys of those who migrate for medical treatment in India Marta kya na karta (One can do anything when pushed to the wall),” says 40-year-old Rita Kumari from Supaul district of north Bihar. At a time when the COVID-19 pandemic was tightening its grip across the country Rita and her daughter, Sandhya, had to undertake multiple trips to hospitals in Nepal and Uttar Pradesh, before reaching the All...

-Down to Earth Smaller cities of Bihar more polluted than the big cities in Delhi-NCR The average concentration of particulate matter 2.5 (PM2.5) in the cities of eastern India was the same as that in the cities of Delhi-NCR in the winter of 2021-22, according to a new report.  Parsed regionally, eastern India was over three times as polluted as southern India and 22 per cent more polluted than northern India from October...

-Newsclick.in Among 179 countries, India ranked 93 in the Liberal Democracy Index, and 100 in the Electoral Democracy Index, says V-Dem’s report. New Delhi: India has figured in the top 10 autocratising countries of the world along with El Salvador, Turkey and Hungary, and projections indicate that there will be a further decline in democracy in the country, according to a recent report released by the Sweden-based V-Dem Institute (Varieties of Democracy...