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Dear Reader,
We wish you health and happiness in the new year. Appropriately, the first issue of this newsletter in the new year leads with the gladdening news of the nod to two vaccines for use against the Covid-19 virus. A day that has not come too soon.
Not given to accepting anything at face value, Down to Earth raises key questions about the efficacy of the vaccines that remain unanswered. And The Wire reports on how the “breaches in protocol” and the unseemly haste seem to have raised skepticism over how thoroughly the mandatory trials and protocols were followed.The story delineates ten questions, answers to which will go a long way in establishing the credibility and efficacy of the vaccines.
When former Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi was nominated for a Rajya Sabha seat in March last year within months of his retirement, it raised questions of impropriety. But,The Print finds that he is just one of the 73 Supreme Court Judges who have accepted appointments after demitting office!
And, StoriesAsia talks to women farmers in Bihar’s Buxar to understand why they remain so “invisible” and how their contribution and significance is eroded by a lack of ownership rights on the land they till.
We will continue to bring you the latest and the best of our grantees work through the year. For a selection of coverage from our grantees this week, please read on.
Warmly,
Sunil Rajshekhar
IPSMF
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DCGI clears Bharat Biotech, SII COVID-19 vaccines but efficacy question unanswered |
Down to Earth reports that despite The Drug Controller General of India approving the restricted emergency use of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccines manufactured by Bharat Biotech International Ltd and Serum Institute of India, key questions about the efficacy results remain unanswered.
Read Here |
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10 Questions the DCGI Needs To Answer About the Two Vaccine Candidates Approved |
“Multiple breaches of protocol” and unseemly haste have raised questions over the approval given to the two vaccines for use against Covid-19 in India. The Wire poses ten questions on the protocols followed, answers to which are critical in ensuring that the vaccines gain wide and willing public acceptance.
Read Here |
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Ranjan Gogoi RS seat made big news in 2020. But he is among 70% SC judges with retirement gigs |
When former Supreme Court Justice Ranjan Gogoi, was nominated to the Rajya Sabha in March last year, within months of his retirement from the Apex Court, its propriety was questioned. However, an analysis by The Print reveals that of the SC judges who have retired since 1999, a whopping 71 per cent, 73 out of 103, accepted assignments after demitting office. These included appointments to tribunals, human rights commissions, ad-hoc commissions, court-appointed committees, and as lokayuktas.
Read Here |
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India’s Invisible Farmers |
Despite their critical and significant role on the farm, women in rural India are hardly counted as farmers. A recent study reports that 75 percent of rural women are engaged in farming full-time, apart from performing household chores. Their status is also affected by the fact that women are rarely the owners of their land. This denies them access to credit as well as government programmes. StoriesAsia talks to women farmers in Bihar’s Buxar district and brings you their story.
Watch Here |
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#Ennore | Why the Tamil Nadu govt made this map disappear? | Asiaville Tamil Explainer |
Asiaville reveals how the Tamil Nadu government made a 1996 map “disappear” and discreetly replaced the ‘inconvenient’ map with a new one a year later, to facilitate the construction of a petrochemical park in Ennore. The earlier map, on which the Coastal Zone Management Plan for Ennore was based, recorded the important salt-water bodies, sand dunes, mangrove forests and salt pans which were all buried in the second map.
Watch Here |
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2020- The Year of the Pandemic |
EPW recollects 2020 – The year of the Pandemic through a resource kit that brings together over 170 articles on the COVID-19 crisis published in EPW in 2020. |
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Darkness under the sun: The struggles of an Assam village against 'green' energy |
EastMojo reports on a case of tribal villagers in Assam’s Nagaon district being forcefully evicted from their lands to make space for a solar power plant. While India has been chasing ambitious climate targets by steadily expanding production of solar power, the story shows how people’s rights are violated even by supposedly “clean” energy projects. |
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पहा.. पोलिस ठाण्यातली शाळा |
Max Maharashtra profiles a unique initiative at the Pundliknagar Police Station in Aurangabad. Everyday children from the nearby slums gather at the Station’s premises for free English classes offered by the police staff. |
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