-The Hindu The committee constituted by Home Ministry on reforms to the IPC may propose a separate Section A panel constituted by the Union Home Ministry to suggest reforms to the British-era Indian Penal Code (IPC) is likely to propose a separate Section on “offences relating to speech and expression.” As there is no clear definition of what constitutes a “hate speech” in the IPC, the Committee for Reforms in Criminal Laws is...

-The Hindu There are recognised ways to overcome the patents hurdle, ensuring social justice and boosting the COVID-19 battle In order to achieve global herd immunity and prevent new strains of COVID-19 from emerging, possibly for years to come, vaccines need to be affordable and available in massive quantities throughout the globe. This can happen through patent owners voluntarily licensing their products to other companies, especially Indian producers who are experienced at...

-TheWire.in For millions of rural families who still lack access to good internet connectivity or are computer illiterate, the programme may end up increasing out-of-pocket expenses. As part of the Digital India Land Records Modernisation Programme (DILRMP), the central government intends to create an Aadhaar-like unique identification for every land parcel in the country. The initiative named Unique Land Parcel Identification Number (ULPIN) will assign a geo-referenced 14-digit alphanumeric unique ID for...

-The Hindu Business Line It’s only an open-ended deal with co-developer Bharat Biotech, says top source The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) is willing to share the know-how to produce the indigenously-developed Covid-19 vaccine, Covaxin, with any company as the contract with co-developer Bharat Biotech is not close-ended. Currently, Bharat Biotech has the sole licence to manufacture Covaxin, which it developed in collaboration with scientists from ICMR’s Pune-based National Institute of Virology...

-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...