-Newsclick.in The recent agreements between Medicine patent Pool and Big Pharma are being projected as benevolent gestures from pharma companies in sharing their patented technologies with other countries. The fact is it is working towards cementing its monopoly power further. The development of anti-viral oral pills to combat COVID-19 will, hopefully, make the fight against the pandemic more promising. While Merck has developed the anti-viral pill Molnupiravir, Pfizer has come up with...

-Newsclick.in It appears the stage is being set to scuttle India and South Africa’s IP waiver proposal with regard to Covid vaccines and technology ahead of the 12th WTO Ministerial this month-end. At various global fora, Big Pharma and rich countries have been steadfastly pushing the focus toward supply-side bottlenecks of vaccines and unequal distribution of doses in a bid to steer the discourse away from the more contentious issue of patents...

-ThePrint.in From Jayalalithaa to Amarinder Singh, chief ministers throughout the years seem to have ignored the seniority principle in choosing chief secretaries. The position of the chief secretary is arguably the most crucial civil service post in any state. Normally, the senior-most serving Indian Administrative Service officer in the cadre is expected to be posted and officers senior to them, who are on central deputation, can be overlooked. Apart from suitability, the...

Media reports indicate that at the start of the southwest monsoon season, lightning strikes caused the death of over 70 people in the states of Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh on a single day i.e. 11th July, 2021. Prior to those separate events related to human casualty caused by thunderbolts, eighteen elephants were found dead on a hilltop at Kandali Proposed Reserve Forest situated in Assam's Nagaon district on...

Scientific knowledge has immensely helped in combating the dreadful coronavirus and its spread. Within a record short period of time, scientists (including virologists, epidemiologists, biostatisticians, etc.) and their research outputs helped the commoners to learn more about the SARS-CoV-2 and how it spreads from one individual to the next one. Common people have now come to know how simple techniques and behavioural change like the wearing of N95 masks, maintaining...