Dear Express Explained Reader, There were two noteworthy developments on the pandemic front this week. One, the government announced its first 'at-risk' investment of Rs 1,500 crore to reserve 30 crore doses of a new Covid-19 vaccine that is being developed by the Hyderabad-based company Biological E. This was a major course-correction — the reason vaccines are in short supply at a time when India needs to inoculate as many people as fast as possible, is that the government did not place advance orders with global vaccine makers, and by the time the second wave forced it to go shopping in April 2021, almost all manufacturers were already committed to supplying other customer nations. What was also interesting is that the government chose to put its money on a novel platform for a Covid-19 vaccine that is yet to receive regulatory approval. Prabha Raghavan wrote about the Corbevax Covid-19 'recombinant protein subunit' vaccine candidate, how it was developed, how it seeks to defeat the virus, and how it is different from the vaccines that are currently already in use. Two, a study by government scientists has concluded that the massive surge of infections in Delhi in April was caused by the highly transmissible B.1.617.2 variant of the coronavirus, which the WHO this week named 'Delta'. Kaunain Sheriff M wrote about the Delta variant, and what we know about it so far. A lot has been happening in the Supreme Court and High Courts, both related to the pandemic and otherwise. This week, the top court quashed a case of sedition against journalist Vinod Dua, and reiterated its 1962 judgment from the landmark Kedar Nath Singh case. Although this has been the law on sedition for nearly six decades now, governments around the country have long used Section 124A of the IPC indiscriminately to muzzle dissent and silence political opponents. What was the Supreme Court's Kedar Nath Singh judgment? Do read the explainer by Apurva Vishwanath. Finally, I'd like to point you to two explainers that Shyamlal Yadav wrote this week on the rules that govern the conduct of India's civil servants. For some background and context on the extraordinary tussle between the Centre and West Bengal government over the state's former chief secretary, it is helpful to read about the process of calling IAS (and IPS and Indian Forest Service) officers to New Delhi on deputation — what the rules say, and how earlier crises of this kind panned out. Also, the Centre has amended the pension rules for civil servants, putting tough new restrictions on officials of intelligence and security organisations on writing about their work and organisation after retirement. What were the rules before the change, and why has the government brought the amendment? Stay safe. The second wave is receding rapidly, but we'd be rash to think that the danger has passed. The time to discard masks could be months away still. Sincerely, Monojit (monojit.majumdar@expressindia.com) If you received this newsletter as a forward, you can subscribe to it here | Do read our Explained articles here | .png)
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