Harsh Vardhan - Fresh Lime Soda

He is never wrong

Oct 21, 2021 2 min read

Akshay Deshmane reported for The Morning Context on October 20 that the Union environment ministry has reversed two important decisions it made earlier this year: (a) to invite private law firms to he…

The political theatre of Vardhan v. Ramdev

May 24, 2021 2 min read

Op-eds Baba Ramdev Epidemic Diseases Act 1897 Harsh Vardhan Indian Medical Association Manmohan Singh political theatre Prime Minister Narendra Modi whataboutery

Last week, Baba Ramdev made offensive remarks against allopathic medicine and against people desperately looking for oxygen for their loved ones hospitalised with COVID-19. On Sunday, Union health min…

The WHA coronavirus resolution is not great for science

May 22, 2020 4 min read

Op-eds Scicomm Science coronavirus lab origin hypothesis COVID-19 Donald Trump evolutionary biology furin Harsh Vardhan Nitin Gadkari novel coronavirus principle of correspondence SARS-CoV-2 sufficient cause sufficient condition WHO World Health Assembly World Health Organization zoonotic spillover

On May 19, member states of the WHO moved a vote in the World Health Assembly (WHA), asking for an independent investigation into the sources of the novel coronavirus. Their exact demands were spelle…

Dehumanising language during an outbreak

Mar 5, 2020 5 min read

Op-eds Scicomm Science Amit Shah Bharatiya Janata Party COVID-19 dehumanisation Eman Ahmed epidemic Harsh Vardhan infection infectious diseases local transmission private healthcare public healthcare system Saifee Hospital SARS-CoV-2 science communication science journalism The Guardian Washington Post Wuhan coronavirus

It appears the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus has begun local transmission in India, i.e. infecting more people within the country instead of each new patient having recently travelled to an already affected…