THE symposium on ‘Self-Reliance in Science & Technology (S&T) and Development’, organised by the Delhi Science Forum (DSF) is association with the All India Peoples Science Network (AIPSN) and held in P Ramamurti Bhavan in Delhi on November12-13, was an eye-opener in more ways than one.

THE UN Environment Programme (UNEP) has, as per usual practice, released its Emissions Gap Report (EGR) 2022 on the eve of the forthcoming COP27 meeting in Sharm-el-Sheikh, Egypt. All countries had been required to submit updated and more ambitious Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) by September 2021, before COP26 in Glasgow, Scotland.

THE US has gambled big in its latest, across-the-board sanctions on Chinese companies in the semiconductor industry, believing it can kneecap China and retain its global dominance. From the slogan of globalisation and "free trade" of the neoliberal 90s, it has reverted to good old technology denial regimes followed by the US and its allies during the Cold War. While it might work in the short run in slowing down the Chinese advances, the cost to the US semiconductor industry of losing China – its biggest market – will also have significant consequences.

THE government has recently released a Draft Indian Telecommunication Bill, 2022, for public comments. At the same time, the union government has withdrawn the Personal Data Protection Bill, which had been in the making for five years. This bill was to give a framework for the citizens' privacy rights, based on the Supreme Court's Puttuswamy Judgement declaring privacy as a fundamental right. However, the citizens' rights still remain undefined. In contrast, the government's powers over what citizens can do, see or hear are vastly increased.

HOW should we remember Queen Elizabeth II and her 70 years on the British throne? A number of people have reacted to the glorification of her rule, pointing out the British Royals' direct connection to the slave trade, Britain's colonial massacres, and its loot from the colonies. Britain's wealth was built on the blood and sweat of people who lost their land and homes and are today poor countries.