DURING an interview with Jonas Salk, the creator of the polio vaccine, CBS newsman Edward R Morrow asked him who owned the patent for the vaccine. “Well, the people, I would say,” said Salk, “There is no patent. Could you patent the sun?” This is what drives science and scientists like Salk, that science must be for public good and not the private profit of companies.

BLAME it on Covid! Whatever be the problem that the world is facing, the causes for those problems – be it social, economic or political – are being attributed to the Covid-19 pandemic. In a word, the pandemic is being used to silence criticism, questioning and dissent that are rising or are on the verge of rising.

THE CPI(M) Maharashtra state committee strongly condemns the shocking incident of mob lynching that took place on April 16 night in the remote village of Gadachinchle in Dahanu tehsil of Palghar district. Three persons were killed, and two of them were sadhus who were proceeding from Mumbai to Surat. It demands stringent action against those proved guilty and a thorough inquiry into the incident.

As information about coronavirus emerged, the Chinese government and Chinese society began to organise an immense campaign against its spread.

NOT much is heard about what is happening in Jammu and Kashmir in these times of the pandemic. But even when the people there are seriously concerned about the spread of the coronavirus, the Hindutva rulers are busy designing what is now called the “union territory” of J&K. For the people of the Kashmir valley, there is no let up in the repression and suppression of rights they have been experiencing since August, 2019.