-The Hindu A vast majority of snakebite deaths globally — up to 64,100 of the 78,600 deaths — occur in India with Uttar Pradesh reporting the highest number of deaths followed by Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan  That snakebite (a neglected tropical disease) is a public health problem in India and many other low- and middle-income countries has been long known. But a global estimate of deaths due to snakebite was not known...

-Scroll.in/ IndiaSpend.com At the coming COP27, India is pushing for a finance facility that could cover monetary losses caused by climate change. It had been drizzling all day on Wednesday, October 19. Suvarna Vikas Shingda, 30, from Palghar’s Ake-gavhan village sat on the front porch of her hut. In one corner, harvested rice was stacked in piles, the cut sheaves covered with grains. A few days prior, her neighbour had informed her that...

-The Telegraph In a remarkable development, for the first time in 20 years, currency in circulation (CIC) declined during Diwali week. With the increased acceptance of digital payments in the country, over-reliance on cash is slowly fading away. Over the years, the Indian cash-led economy has now changed to a smart-phone led payment economy, says a research note.   In the report, Dr Soumya Kanti Ghosh, group chief economic adviser of State Bank...

-The Hindu How significant is the development of the Dhara Mustard Hybrid-11 (DMH-11)? Why are some activist groups opposing the commercial release of the crop? What are their allegations? How many transgenic crops are commercially cultivated in India? The story so far: The Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee (GEAC), India’s apex regulator of genetically modified plants and food products, has approved the environmental release of Dhara Mustard Hybrid-11 (DMH-11), a genetically-engineered variant of...

-The Telegraph Citizens’ participation in policy-making is an important factor in assessing the quality of democracy Within five days of the announcement of Agnipath, the scheme had been amended 10 times, raising the larger question concerning consultation in policy-making. The Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance government has taken a number of policy decisions without public consultation — from demonetisation, which saw 60 changes in 43 days, to GST, which has been...