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&…
Op-eds
182 posts
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 it's tempting to see hints of that attitude so ofte…
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 explain which proof…
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 against this or that disease. Their submissions grew q…
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 it is this year a…
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 the b…
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 exception I’ve encountered to this truism…
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 what…
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's fascinating beca…
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'm using it here as well. The Parliamentary…
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 line: Science, evi…
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 while many people in other countries share…