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.

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.Almost all commentators are stating that the world after the Covid will not remain the same.

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.CPI(M) welcomed chief minister Uddhav Thackeray's address to the people of Maharashtra today, in which he emphasised the following points: 1.

As information about coronavirus emerged, the Chinese government and Chinese society began to organise an immense campaign against its spread.ON March 31, 2020, a group of scientists from around the world – from Oxford University to Beijing Normal University – published an important paper in Science.

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.The lockdown of J&K preceded the lockdown of India by a full eight months. That lockdown was not caused by any epidemic or health emergency.