The COVID-19 pandemic unleashed a human development crisis. On some dimensions of human development, conditions were equivalent to levels of deprivation. In those critical times, access to authentic information was of paramount importance. Understanding the need for better information dissemination and taking science to the maximum number of people, with the science communication perspective, a dedicated e-newsletter initiative was taken up to disseminate the pandemic related information by preparing and publishing a compilation of the most relevant initiatives, efforts, and wartime protocols, engaged by the Government of India through its various Science Ministries, Departments, and Funding organizations, in the shape of daily, weekly, fortnightly, and later on monthly e-Newsletter, S&T Efforts in India on COVID-19, from 5th April 2020.
In some ways, our collective destiny is intertwined with India’s. And this comes with collective responsibility. Public participation is a powerful medium for realising all of a nation’s hopes and dreams. India demonstrated great fortitude by using collective strength to pull herself out of trouble. As the pandemic has been superimposed on unresolved tensions between people and technology, the current edition focuses on various impactful initiatives to mitigate the pandemic and recent developments in S&T to apprise the scientific fraternity, like research outputs, industry collaborations, communications & resources, along with additional fact-check questionnaires. We continue compiling new information related to the pandemic to sensitise our readers about COVID-related latest developments, to inform the readers and strengthen the usefulness of the information. This edition also includes a trending story on the contribution from a science centre towards various teaching-learning methods developed in crisis time to reach out to the broader and most captive audience and subsequently take-home-points.
Thousands of science stories related to ongoing research & their outputs, developed technologies, efforts of various ministries, institutions, industries, organizations, civil societies, on efforts impacting COVID mitigation, industry spotlights, capacity building on medical oxygen, community outreach, fact-checks, and also philanthropic contributions. Tens of editions of the newsletter have been published so far. Hundreds of organizations in STI space across the country have subscribed to the newsletter and tens of institutions of national importance have multiplied the reach of the provided information. Direct reach of the newsletter is to lakhs of people and thousands of institutions across the country and Indian embassies across the globe.