-The Hindu West Bengal tops the list with 964 fatalities caused by flash floods, landslides Nearly 6,800 people lost their lives in the country over the past three years due to hydro meteorological calamities such as flash floods, landslides and cyclones and West Bengal has recorded the highest deaths among all States, The details were provided by the Home Ministry in response to a question by Congress MP from Tamil Nadu, Su. Thirunavukkarasar,...

-The Hindu India’s failure to put in place a sound schooling system is exacting a heavy price Word has it that there are two schools of thought among Indian development economists — one advocating growth and the other redistribution. This perception is quite misleading. For one thing, growth and redistribution are not the only means of making the world a better place. To illustrate, civil liberties have much to contribute to the...

-The Hindu The channels of communication between scientists and society remain limited Indian scientists engaged in science, contributing to the understanding of the natural world and developing approaches and technologies to measure or change outcomes well before the Scientific Revolution that began in Europe in 1543. Whether it was the more than two millennia-old Charaka Samhita or the Jantar Mantars of Maharaja Sawai Jai Singh II, science and technologywere embedded in the...

-The Hindu The archivist and activist on curating the oral history of the Narmada Bachao Andolan and its importance as a movement of the marginalised As an activist of the Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA), Nandini Oza lived and worked among the people affected by the Sardar Sarovar Project (SSP) for over a decade. Having participated in the movement and documented its oral history through the voices of its leaders, she felt it...

-The Hindu The monsoon session which has ended is another example of Parliament being quite ineffective in all its functions The monsoon session of Parliament which ended on Wednesday was a disappointment in several ways. This was the fourth straight session that ended ahead of the original schedule — other than the cancelled winter 2020 session. This meant that many important issues had not been discussed such as the COVID-19 response and...