Explained Editor’s note | The nature of Omicron, shelf life of vaccines, and the PM's security

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Dear Express Explained reader,   Hearing will resume on Tuesday in the Supreme Court in the challenge by 12 Maharashtra MLAs against their suspension for a whole year. Both unruly incidents in Houses and tough action including suspensions of lawmakers have been occurring fairly regularly in recent months and years. While hearing the Maharashtra case this week, the top court observed that suspending a lawmaker amounted to punishing the constituency as a whole, given that it goes unrepresented in the House for the duration of the lawmaker's suspension. Sadaf Modak summarised the questions in this very significant case, and weaved in some important background on the rules of procedure in Parliament and state Assemblies, as well as provisions of the Constitution that are relevant to this matter.   The biennial India State of Forest Report released this week showed overall gain in the country's forest cover, but continuing loss of natural, old-growth forests. Esha Roy unpacked the report for its main takeaways, including the threats to the forests in the Northeast, and the impact of climate change.   Contrary to expectations - and in spite of the benefits from 'mixing' of Covid-19 vaccines demonstrated in several studies - India has chosen to use the same vaccine for the third, 'precautionary' dose as the one that beneficiaries had received earlier. Anuradha Mascarenhas examined the regulatory and clinical aspects of the government's decision, and some larger questions around booster shots, now widely recognised as beneficial in fighting off infections with the Omicron variant.   Stay safe and stay aware. Keep reading The Indian Express Explained.   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

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