-The Hindu There seems to be a shift from prioritising expressways and megaports to agriculture and forests Environmental promises have made a visible entry into Tamil Nadu’s politics, along with a guarded valourisation of farmer and fisher rights over big-ticket infrastructure and industrial projects. All key parties in the 2021 Assembly polls barring the AIADMK dedicated a section for “environmental protection” in their manifestos. Setting aside the justified cynicism about fulfillment of...

-The Indian Express As a second Covid wave rolls over Maharashtra, mainly the rural areas, patients are forced to travel long distances to seek treatment. At Nashik civil hospital, a nodal centre for rural areas, all the 110 beds are full. WITH PACKED food, bedsheets and bottles of water, they camp outside Nashik Civil General Hospital. They are relatives and close contacts of Covid cases admitted there. There is Digambar Kad, who lives...

-The Indian Express Never mind what the bhadralok class thinks. The poll campaign has exploded the myth of Bengali exceptionalism. As West Bengal is witnessing the pathology of the prevalent electoral politics, the illusory character of the “cultural capital” the Bengali bhadralok community boasts of is becoming increasingly clear. Yes, this bhadralok class — quite often fixated at the glory of the late 19th and early 20th century Bengal — loves to...

-The Hindu Physicians are confronted with a complex problem that involves multiple organ systems Medical students are taught to classify diseases as either congenital or acquired. Acquired diseases are infectious or inflammatory, nutritional or metabolic, vascular or neoplastic (tumours, benign or malignant). COVID-19 is acquired, infectious/inflammatory. The microbe is SARS-CoV-2. What are co-morbidities and why do they make COVID-19 severe and life-threatening? Chronic nutritional/metabolic diseases start as diabetes, hypertension, metabolic syndrome or obesity....

-The Hindu Company releases fact sheet detailing possible adverse events and those who are eligible for the vaccine Those with any history of allergies, fever and bleeding disorder, on blood thinners and who are immunity compromised or on medication have been told by COVAXIN manufacturer Bharat Biotech not to take the vaccine. A statement uploaded on the company website on Monday said the vaccine was also contraindicated for pregnant/lactating women, those using other...