Author Archives: rgeeta

Thalassemia: what does it mean to you?

I change this post as I discover new things, wrong things, more interesting things, etc. BEWARE if you don’t like the world dynamic. Recently I signed a petition that asks the government (specifically, Jagat Prakash Nadda, Minister of Health and Family Welfare) to make sure that thalassemic patients … Continue reading

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Income Tax Blues

Two letters from the IT office. Don’t dare open them. Finally do, in the presence of sister and cousin after getting to Chennai (well, the letters came just before I left to go there). AAAARRGGHHH I owe them moneys?!! Quite a … Continue reading

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Bt Cotton and Monsanto’s patent

23 Feb 2016 Monsanto faces challenge from CICR’s Bt cotton varieties ET 18 Feb 2016 Competition Commission of India (CCI) orders investigation against Monsanto on govt complaint Business Standard Complaint by the agriculture ministry and three Indian companies — Nuziveedu Seeds, Prabhat Agri Biotech and Pravardhan Seeds. CCI … Continue reading

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Caste-blind in India

The India Human Development Surveys conducted by NCAER and University of Maryland have put out two sets of data based on interviews with over 40,000 households across India. These surveys were conducted in 2004-5 and again in 2011-12. Here are … Continue reading

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Chilgoza and nutcrackers

We became familiar with Pinus gerardiana as undergraduates on field trips in the Himalaya in Himachal Pradesh and, of course, knew it as source of the most delicious chilgoza nut. Pinus gerardiana Wall. 1832; Pinus gerardiana               Well, … Continue reading

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Dilli o Dilli or, The world of MTNL-2

It’s been nearly FOUR years since I last lost my cell phone. In the meantime, I have rejected Aircel and taken up with Airtel, which is an improvement, and have been managing pretty well with my dual SIM phone. That … Continue reading

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Lawlessness

It is overtaking all aspects of life. This one got me all het up this morning. The pavement area outside the Vishva Vidyalaya metro station. Like Dislike

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Pinjra kaise banta hai

A couple of days ago, I emerged from the small side exit on my way to have some tea, when I noticed a gaggle of bicycles at the main gate, all green–indicating they had been rented at the metro station–and … Continue reading

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Evolution of multicellularity in animals

Evolution of an ancient protein function involved in organized multicellularity in animals – Anderson et al. eLife 2016;5:e10147 Very interesting study about the evolution of multicellularity in animals. As has long been known in plants, animal studies conducted within the … Continue reading

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Rain Havoc in Tamil Nadu

In the context of the Chennai deluge, All India Radio (AIR) had a discussion on climate change, urban impacts and resilience in its regular feature, Current Affairs. VK Sharma, Professor, Indian Institute of Public Administration Nagraj Adve, Member, India Climate … Continue reading

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