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6 min read
On the PSA's new COVID-19 advisory
The Office of the Principal Scientific Adviser (PSA) to the Government of India, K. VijayRaghavan, has issued a new advisory emphasising the roles of "masks, distance, sanitation and ventilation&
4 min read
Melinda, Bill and Jeffrey (Epstein)
I'm not sure what to make of Bill Gates as he features in the New York Times's report on his divorce with Melinda French Gates, although
2 min read
Courts and COVID
India's courts have played a prominent in helping (or not) the country manage its COVID-19 epidemic, especially during the second wave this year – from asking the government to
5 min read
Being apolitical doesn't mean politics doesn't exist
A few years ago, we had a writer who would constantly pitch articles to us about how the Indian government should be doing X, Y or Z in the fight
3 min read
The constructionist hypothesis and expertise during the pandemic
Now that COVID-19 cases are rising again in the country, the trash talk against journalists has been rising in tandem. The Indian government was unprepared and hapless last year, and
1 min read
Exporting risk
I’m torn between admitting that our cynicism about scientists’ solutions for the pandemic is warranted and the palliative effects of reading this Reuters report about seemingly nothing more than
9 min read
On crypto-art, racism and outcome fantasies
If you want to find mistakes with something, you’ll be able to find them if you tried long enough. That doesn’t inherently make the thing worthless. The only
6 min read
Anti-softening science for the state
The group of ministers (GoM) report on "government communication" has recommended that the government promote “soft topics” in the media like “yoga” and “tigers”. We can only speculate
2 min read
The government's enblightenment
The GMO debate is a fascinating object, even though participating in it often amounts to nothing but pain, frustration and lost time – especially if you're pro-GMO foods. It&
6 min read
What the DNA Bill needs
The following article has been published in The Wire, but since it began as a blog post and because I haven't published anything else in a while, I&
5 min read
Pandemic: Science > politics?
By Mukunth and Madhusudhan Raman Former Union health secretary K. Sujatha Rao had a great piece in The Indian Express on January 14, whose takeaway she summarised in the following
4 min read
Science prizes, wealth location and social signals
One count on which I almost always find myself to be an outlier in India is my opinion that the Nobel Prizes and their derivatives belong in the gutter. But
3 min read
Vaccines for votes
A week or so ago, the Bharatiya Janata Party in Bihar released its poll manifesto, the first point on which was that should the party win, it would make a
6 min read
The climate change of bad news
This post flows a bit like the 1987 film Full Metal Jacket. As one friend put it, “It starts somewhere and then goes in a different direction.” This year hasn’
4 min read
The passive is political
If Saruman is the stupid shit people say, I have often found Grima Wormtongue is the use of the passive voice. To the uninitiated: Wormtongue was a slimy fellow on