-Down to Earth With more than 230,000 pending COVID-19 reports, the actual daily caseload of UP can be much higher Uttar Pradesh, India’s most populous state, is in the Middle of a COVID-19 maelstrom. Even as thousands are dying or getting infected, the experiences of patients shows that COVID-19 test results are getting delayed and the administration is fudging figures. Down to Earth (DTE) analysed the government’s data related to the daily sample...

-Livemint.com A section of the BJP’s own supporters, and its vocal Middle class base appears opposed to the controversial farm laws In 2015, the first Narendra Modi-led Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) central government unveiled an ambitious reform to overhaul India’s land acquisition laws that would have enabled corporations easier access to land across the country. But faced with intense protests from Opposition parties, the changes were rolled back. In 2020, the second Modi-led...

-Financial Express If patents continue to determine global access to vaccines and drugs, then fighting Covid-19 will remain a distant dream for most countries Vaccines are badly required by the world, as are drugs like Remdesivir and Tocilizumab, and medical equipment like ventilators and oxygen concentrators. A large number of countries, particularly low- and Middle-income ones, are struggling to access vaccines, drugs and equipment. There cannot be a more important occasion than the...

-The Indian Express The United States will pursue negotiations at WTO to waive intellectual property for Covid-19 vaccines. This can allow large-scale production in Middle-income countries, but there are arguments against the move. The United States on Wednesday announced support for waiving intellectual property protection for Covid-19 vaccines, saying extraordinary circumstances call for extraordinary measures. United States Trade Representative Katherine Tai said the US will pursue “text-based negotiations” on the waiver at...

-TheIndiaForum.in Aprajita Sarcar is a postdoctoral researcher at the Centre de Sciences Humaines, New Delhi. She works on histories of reproductive technology, population control and their links to urbanisation in India. India’s family planning programme advertised the small Middle-class family as a means to develop the nation. But its top-down approach meant that sterilisations became the default contraceptive option for poor and working class women. This legacy persists. In a letter to the...