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The Latest Breaking News from IndiaSpend

Two-thirds of Delhi does not have reliable air quality data

As winter deepens, New Delhi is once again losing the fight for breath. Every winter, Delhi continues to choke under hazardous air — and this year is no exception. On November 18, the Central Pollution Control Board’s (CPCB’s) 24-hour bulletin recorded a city-wide Air Quality Index (AQI) of 374, placing Delhi…

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130 kmph tracks, 55 kmph speed: Why are Indian trains still this slow despite Mission Raftaar?

In March 2025, the Ministry of Railways had stated that most of its divisions maintain “over 90% punctuality”. Behind the headline figure lies the everyday reality of passengers, with the punctuality index actually declining. Reliance on diesel locomotives, signal failures and congestion lead to most delays, data show and experts say.

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More two-wheelers, gig workers under pressure: In India, 9 bike riders die every hour

Indian roads are increasingly becoming more dangerous for its most vulnerable users, an IndiaSpend analysis of national data shows. In a decade to 2023, road accident deaths increased 24 percent to about 173,000, but pedestrian deaths nearly tripled, those of two-wheeler riders nearly doubled, and cyclist deaths rose 13 percent.

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‘We thought the battle was over’: 40 years after resistance, mining fears return to Odisha’s sacred hills

There is an uneasy calm in Kuradiphasa village at the foothills of the Gandhamardhan Hills. “It is the calm before the storm,” says Himanjali Das, who belongs to the indigenous Kondh tribe.

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In coastal Odisha, climate change is disrupting a generation’s education

On a cloudy afternoon, CH Padmini, in her mid 20s, strolls along the Rushikulya beach, lost in memories. A group of fishermen mending nets exchange greetings in Telugu as she walks by. She stops close to the water, where a fishing boat is tied up.

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‘Jail within a jail’: Death row and the impact on mental health

When Asif Khan was arrested in Belgaum in October 2006 in connection to the Mumbai blasts in July of that year, he did not think it would be the beginning of a 19-year prison ordeal involving physical torture, terrorism allegations and “mental torture”.

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11 years later, Swachh Bharat progress mired in weak verification

Eleven years after India launched the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, the Union government’s flagship rural sanitation programme, it has missed its target of ‘Sampoorn Swachhata’ by 2024-25, exposing gaps in waste management, untreated sewage, and behavioural change that challenge the sustainability of India’s sanitation progress.

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Why are dowry-related crimes underreported

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Mapping India’s 10 million teachers in six charts

India’s teaching workforce crossed 10 million in 2024-25, latest publicly available data show. Government schools continue to employ the largest share, even as private unaided schools are increasing their teacher strength.

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Why wetlands need dry days

It was May and the Nawabganj Bird Sanctuary in Unnao, Uttar Pradesh was blooming with pink lotus. The wetland had water pumped into it from Sharda Canal – one of the oldest and largest irrigation systems in the state – to ease the nesting of open-billed stork and black-necked ibis.

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India’s health systems need to prepare better for rising climate risks

Diarrhoea in October, heat stress in April, and malaria and dengue year-round are part of a new pattern that Suvarna Kamble (46), an accredited social health activist (ASHA) in Palghar district in Maharashtra, has identified in recent years.

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The challenges in UP’s wetland conservation

Sanjaya Singh knew that most bureaucratic decisions last only until a transfer order is issued, or a new official takes charge. So, when it came to the conservation of Uttar Pradesh’s 1.24 million hectares of wetlands, Singh – then principal chief conservator of forest and chief wildlife warden – led with an…

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How industries, chemicals ministry influenced India’s plastic rules

As diplomats from 175 countries convene for a plastics showdown in Geneva, India’s negotiators arrive armed with a playbook shaped less by environmental urgency and more by industry whispers.

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Explained: Why India’s inequality is underestimated

India’s consumption gap appears to shrink, but income inequality is rising fast, as per analysis of India’s consumption data by the World Bank.

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India’s unregulated bidis harm workers, consumers

On a busy street near Patna’s Rajendra Path, 11-year-old Sanjay* watches his elder brother roll up tendu leaves stuffed with tobacco flakes. Within minutes, a fresh bundle of bidis is ready to be sold for one rupee (Re 1) to eager customers that have lined up outside his paan shop.…

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Why are tribal students dropping out after primary school?

Nearly every tribal Indian child aged six to 10 years is enrolled in school, but by the age of 14, only three in four go to school, while fewer than half the children aged 16-17 remain enrolled, data from the Unified District Information System for Education (UDISE+) for 2023-24, the…

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Why India needs to urgently address gender gap in digital skills

As India’s mobile phone ownership increases, the country’s digital divide is showing up not in usage but in the digital skills that her citizens possess in order to leverage the devices, according to data from the Comprehensive Modular Survey: Telecom 2025 (CMST 2025), under the 80th round of the National…

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Queer Indians forge alternative careers amid workplace discrimination

With a brush in his hand and eyes focused on a 2.5 x 4 ft canvas, Suvajit, also known as Rony, is making intricate designs on his newly commissioned Gond painting.

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India’s gender divide in domestic, care work is deeper than you think

Indian men spend less time on unpaid domestic and caregiving work compared to the women, and the little time they do spend is also concentrated in outdoor activities such as shopping, travelling, moving and transporting for family needs, and playing with children, an analysis of data from the Time Use…

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India’s fight against bonded labour: A tale of delayed rehabilitation

Manoj Kumar Anant and his wife Shakuntala Bai were rescued from bonded labour at a brick kiln in Uttar Pradesh’s Kushinagar in 2022. He had told IndiaSpend in September 2023 that he was waiting for rehabilitation assistance under the Union government’s Central Sector Scheme for Rehabilitation of Bonded Labour, 2021.…

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Why interest in multi-cropping is declining in Kachchh

In the semi-arid landscape of Kachchh in Gujarat, farmers have traditionally practised Ram-Mol, or multi-cropping, to sustain through the harshest times.

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Why the media must stop using the phrase ‘mystery disease’ in health reporting

Seventeen people in Kachchh, who developed fever and respiratory distress towards the end of August 2024, died in quick succession between September 3 and 9, prompting authorities to rush teams to the affected area – villages Bekhada, Sanhrovand, Medhivandh and Morgar in Lakhpat taluka, and Bharavandh and Valavari in Abdasa…

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Census delay cuts access to subsidised foodgrain for 120 million Indians

The Census is now four years overdue, and the budget for the exercise has been slashed indicating further delays. This is even as millions of Indians are left without access to subsidised foodgrain, pushing them to the brink of food insecurity. Evidence shows that entitlements under the Public Distribution System…

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How Ayushman Bharat fails India’s transgender population

The Ayushman Bharat-Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY) was launched in 2018 to make quality healthcare accessible and affordable to everyone in India. In August 2022, the government announced that AB-PMJAY would also cover transgender individuals and offer them additional access to gender-affirming procedures such as sex reassignment surgery (SRS)…

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Mental health-linked suicides on the rise in India

Between 2018 and 2022, suicides in India linked to mental health rose by 44 percent, according to National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data. Three in five such suicides were reported among the 18-45 age group. The NCRB classifies suicides linked to mental health under ‘insanity’ or ‘mental illness’.

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