India's First & Most Extensive Data Journalism Initiative. Hard Numbers, Investigations, Insights & News You Won't Find Elsewhere. Quiz with us
@indiafactquiz
At 4%, India’s confirmed cases vs tests (as of Apr 7) is lower than the US & Italy, which have among the highest cases globally.
Country Tests Positive %
US 1,951,044 364,058 19
Italy 755,445 135,586 18
India 114,015 4,616 4
#StatueOfUnity
, built at an estimated cost of Rs. 2,989 cr, can fund 2 All India Institute of Medical Sciences, 5
#solarpower
plants of 75 megawatt each, 3 Chandrayan-2 missions to the moon and various
#irrigation
schemes/projects in
#Gujarat
.
Vaccination is only way out of
#COVID19
, not
#lockdown
. Expediting
#vaccination
should be govt's core focus; chasing vaccination dates should be every citizen’s core focus. It’s going to be a long battle:
@Thyrocare
's A. Velumani
The Indian state denied humanitarian aid including ambulances & physicians to victims of violence in the 2016 Kashmir conflict, Physicians for Human Rights reported; this is a war crime as per the Geneva Conventions and the International Criminal Court
Since
#AAP
govt came to power in Delhi in 2015, Lt. Guv has rejected/delayed 32 proposals. Our analysis reveals how these disputes are slowing govt spending. Read here:
Delays in infrastructure development continue to plague second-generation
#IITs
in India. Of the 8 institutes audited, only 2 had completed Phase-I buildings, leaving research facilities, hostels and sports facilities incomplete, per CAG audit. Read:
With India enacting a “humane & participative” land acquisition law, why are Santal
#Adivasi
#women
in Godda,
#Jharkhand
falling at the feet of Adani personnel to not take their land? We investigate:
“I am sure that on May 23 the BJP in Karnataka will be able to record a huge success:”
@Tejasvi_Surya
BJP’s candidate from B’lore South constituency on impact of Balakot strikes and a “huge Modi wave”
#StatueOfUnity
, built at an estimated cost of Rs 2,989 cr, could have instead funded 2 new IITs, 5 IIM campuses, 6
#ISRO
missions to Mars & various
#irrigation
schemes/projects in
#Gujarat
.
21 Indian cities, including Delhi, Bengaluru, Chennai & Hyderabad, may run out of groundwater by 2020, affecting 100 mn people; 40% of country’s population will have no access to drinking water by 2030.
#WorldEnvironmentDay
With cases growing rapidly to cross 11,000 today, India is still detecting fewer positives in testing than Italy & the US
Tests Positive %
US 2,973,208 579,390 20
Italy 1,073,689 162,488 15
India 244,893 10,307 4
(As on Apr 14)
Many participants of Bharat Biotech’s
#COVID
#vaccine
trial in Bhopal’s low-income areas say they did not know they were part of a clinical trial. After reports of irregularities in the trial,
@AnooBhu
visited Bhopal to investigate
70% of the victims of torture in Kashmir are civilians, a new report, endorsed by former UN Special Rapporteur Juan E Mendez, by
@jkccs_
shows, documenting 432 cases btw 1990 & 2017. Torture is a war crime as per
@IntlCrimCourt
and the Geneva Conventions
21 Indian cities,including Delhi, Bengaluru, Chennai and Hyderabad, will run out of groundwater by 2020, affecting 100 mn people; 40% of country’s population will have no access to drinking water by 2030:
@NITIAayog
report
Subsidising rainwater harvesting units & better utilisation of urban transformation mission funds for cleaning water bodies should be top priority:
@Tejasvi_Surya
BJP’s parl candidate from Bangalore South constituency on solving city’s water stress
India is able to offer
#jobs
only to around 400 million people. About 35 million don't find
#employment
. The labour force participation rate has also fallen, from 45% to 39%: Mahesh Vyas,
@_CMIE
. Read the full interview here:
We have a strong support base among the lower economic class who are beneficiaries of improvements in the Delhi government schools and mohalla [neighbourhood] clinics:
@AtishiAAP
on the support in East Delhi parliamentary constituency
Kerala has reported 1 new case, while 10 of its patients have recovered. Since April 7, there has been a steady decline in active cases in Kerala from 267 to 138 today
Sewer deaths in India increased 66% to 83 between 2016 and 2019 (till Nov 6, 2019), accounting for a total of 282 deaths in 4 years, noted a Nov 20, 2019, govt reply in parliament. 2017 & 2019 reported the most deaths (83). Follow this thread for insights:
#SwachhBharat
In the 9th reported incident of bovine-related
#mobviolence
this year, 28-year-old Akbar Khan was
#lynched
to death in Ramgarh in Rajasthan's Alwar district last night on suspicion of cow smuggling:
As PM Modi gets set to appear on
@DiscoveryIN
on Aug 12 to “create environmental awareness”, in May 2019 his govt exempted 13 railway projects from forest clearances, risking at least 5 national parks & sanctuaries. Follow this thread:
#PMModionDiscovery
People across 180 countries will get to see the unknown side of PM
@narendramodi
as he ventures into Indian wilderness to create awareness about animal conservation & environmental change. Catch Man Vs Wild with PM Modi
@DiscoveryIN
on August 12 @ 9 pm.
#PMModionDiscovery
Nationwide, as of 8 p.m. on Mar 24, India detected 536 cases of
#COVID19
--more than double the cases 5 days ago (223 on Mar 20):
@ICMRDELHI
data. Explore our live tracker here:
In Indore, at least 20% of garments, snacks & savories, basic hardware units collapsed; 15,000 rendered jobless; fewer jobs left for construction workers. 1st of series of reports from 11 job hubs reveals long-term effects of
#demonetisation
,
#GST
Pramila Bishoyi, 69, studied only until class 2, speaks no Hindi or English, has never stepped outside Odisha and has two sons, one of whom runs a tea-stall. She will be entering parliament for the first time
#ElectionResults2019
The Centre has allowed max projects in & around protected areas (PAs) in Maharashtra (98), our analysis of 2,053 clearances since July 2014 showed. Building within PAs could up risk of
#COVID19
-like disease, we reported in the first part of the series:
“I thought about it for a few days & decided that I wanted to do this. I wanted to have a good future:” Ridhima Pandey of Haridwar first sued Indian govt for not providing clean water when she was 9. At 11, she’s part of a team fighting a case at the UN
Concerns are rising about
#monkeypox
cases detected in many countries recently, which like
#Covid19
was transmitted from animals to humans. Monkeypox is similar to smallpox and can be treated with the smallpox vaccine, said
@drgilada
in an interview:
The ICMR has released an advisory on testing pooled samples, which is expected to enable more widespread
#COVID19
testing with limited resources, key to the lifting of the
#lockdown
and easing of
#socialdistancing
Indore has learned to finance trash collection: It spent Rs 155 crore on operations, earned Rs 27 crore in user fees & funded the rest through property tax.
@shreyashah26
explains how Indore’s streets are kept clean & what other Indian cities can learn.
On
#WorldEnvironmentDay
, we’re looking back at our
#EnvironmentUndone
series. For part 3,
@TishSanghera
examined a coal-fired power plant coming up <100km from Delhi, set to worsen air quality in Delhi NCR, home to 6 of the world’s 20 most polluted cities
IndiaSpend announces the launch of
#PrisonWatch
, a new portal that brings together data on undertrial prisoners over the last 25 years. Explore the data here:
Any person who tests positive for
#COVID19
has to be tested at least thrice before they are declared recovered. Yet, the difference between the no. of samples & people tested in India stayed constant at 890. Why is this happening? Read our report:
Today, PM
@narendramodi
said that India has the world’s largest
#COVID19
#vaccination
drive. In three months, India has vaccinated 120 mn but that is 1.3% of its popn vs 23.7% vaccinated in the US, 15.3% in the UK and 4.3% in Brazil. We put India’s vaccine numbers in context:
We’re delighted to tell you that IndiaSpend was chosen as the ‘Best E-Magazine’ for data journalism focusing on women at the South Asia
#Laadli
Media & Advertising Awards for Gender Sensitivity
“Electoral bonds are the worst form of political corruption and institutionalises what we have always suspected when it comes to quid pro quo and lack of transparency:”
@AtishiAAP
on the use of electoral bonds
An acid attack on a woman is reported every ~3 days in India. Follow this thread for insights on acid attacks and other crimes against women
#Chhapaak
#AcidAttack
Indore, Madhya Pradesh
Daily wages before
#demonetisation
in Nov 2016: Rs 350-400
Daily wages in 2019: Rs 150-200
Drop in daily wages: 50%
1st in 11-part series on informal-sector job losses after
#demonetisation
,
#GST
Testing data show that India is detecting 3% positive
#COVID19
cases among the samples tested, the same as South Korea but lower than the US's 58%, China's 25% and Italy's 23%
Overjoyed by these kind words from Dr Abhijit Banerjee, as we complete 10 years in data-led, public interest journalism this month. This is a true testament to our work on important policy issues, data-led discussions and analysis.
Thank you, Dr Banerjee!
#IndiaSpendAt10
#Kerala
is the only state where over half the women read a newspaper or magazine at least once a week in 2019-21. In 8 out of 28 states, fewer than 1 of 10 women read a
#newspaper
or magazine, including Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal
Thiruvananthapuram constituency of Congress’
@ShashiTharoor
& Hyderabad of All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen’s
@asadowaisi
have least proportion of stunted children, among 18 high-profile constituencies measured by child stunting: new
@Harvard
study
Maps have been used to assess & tackle diseases since the 1850 cholera outbreak in London. Countries incl India are deploying mapping & location tracking for
#COVID19
containment & mitigation. We explain how GIS can help disease surveillance
About 43% of newly elected MPs face criminal charges, a 26% increase from the previous (16th) Lok Sabha. “These are terrifying statistics:”
@DrSYQuraishi
, India’s former election chief, who says Supreme Court spurned a chance in 2018 to stem the rot.
India’s electricity production grew 34% over 7 yrs to 2017; country now produces more energy than Japan and Russia, which had 27% & 8.77% more electricity generation capacity installed than India seven years ago: New report
As PM Modi is set to appear on
@DiscoveryIN
tonight to “create environmental awareness”, in May 2019 his govt exempted 13 railway projects from forest clearances, risking at least 5 national parks & sanctuaries. Follow this thread:
People across 180 countries will get to see the unknown side of PM
@narendramodi
as he ventures into Indian wilderness to create awareness about animal conservation & environmental change. Catch Man Vs Wild with PM Modi
@DiscoveryIN
on August 12 @ 9 pm.
#PMModionDiscovery
PM Modi said business would return to normal within 50 days of
#demonetisation
. On days 54-55, we'd visited 24 corner shops near Mumbai--80% reported losses. 10 months later, we revisit 17: Most say they're in worse straits, customers refuse to go cashless
India has tested 21,804 people by 8 p.m. on March 24,
@ICMRDELHI
said. This is 16 tests per million people in India. In comparison, Austria tested 3,226 people per million, Italy tested 4,917 and UK tested 1,362 by March 23.
#COVID19
Though new
#Covid19
cases are currently declining in India, the share of the elderly in total deaths has risen slightly in Mumbai, TN & Kerala.
@Rukmini
asks health experts if this indicates that India needs a vaccine
#boostershot
programme
We’re delighted to tell you that IndiaSpend reporter Tanvi Deshpande
@worthwords01
won the 2023
#RedInk
Awards for Excellence in Journalism in the ‘Saving the Environment’ category
India also felled about 10.76 million trees between April 2015 and March 2020, according to a govt response to the
#Parliament
. Telangana, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra felled the most trees.
Economist Jean Drèze said that it would be a surprise if there were another example of a country growing so fast for 10 years with hardly any increase in real rural wages. Our dispatch on a decade of stagnation in rural wages:
Today, 600,000 of India’s 1 million accredited social health activists (
#ASHA
workers) have gone on strike for 2 days to demand better and timely pay, and a legal status that ensures minimum wages. Follow this thread to know more:
Hundreds flock to
#Lucknow
recruitment drive for jobs in Israel's construction industry. Low wages, unemployment are key reasons behind large turnout. Many are hoping to earn more money abroad.
@mithileshdhar
@saurabhsherry
report
Mumbai began the third phase of vaccination at 5 hospitals in the city on
#May1
. No walk-ins allowed. Only those who registered via the
#CoWIN
app are allowed to take the vaccine.
21% Delhi govt health and education budget unspent due to disputes between
#AAP
govt and Lt Guv. Budget has increased 29% since 2013, but feud makes spending hard. Our analysis
Without naming PM Narendra Modi, 11-yr-old Indian school girl petitioning UN on
#climatechange
says Indian leaders make “tall claims” but there is “no action on the ground”. Ridhima Pandey, who lives near Ganga, says it is dirty despite billions spent.
Lalaram Chowdhury had a gemstone factory, earned Rs 40,000/month, employed 25, built a 3-bedroom house. After
#demonetisation
,
#GST
, his factory shut, income fell 3/4ths; he survives on manual labour. 2nd of 11 stories from labour hubs nationwide
India had the largest number of migrants living abroad (17.5 mn), followed by Mexico (11.8 mn) & China (10.7 mn), noted the World Migration Report 2020 released in Nov 2019. Follow this thread for insights:
Nearly 60 children of every 1,000 born in Uttar Pradesh die before their 5th birthday, a rate similar to that of Afghanistan (60.3 deaths/1,000 children). Our
#dataviz
compares the child mortality rate of India’s states with the world:
#PMCARES
fund, set up for
#COVID19
relief & other such emergencies, doesn’t publish the details of donations it receives. At least Rs 9,677.9 crore ($1.27 bn) has been donated to the fund; an additional Rs 2,098.2 cr has been pledged: our analysis
PM Modi had claimed that no major bomb blasts had taken place during the tenure of his government, but South Asia Terrorism Portal data showed 942 explosions in India from Jan 1, 2014 to April 11, 2019; 451 dead & 1,589 injured
“A truck came and announced that anyone who wanted the
#COVID
#vaccine
and Rs 750 for taking it could go to People’s University Hospital and take it. I needed the money:” Man Singh Parihar, 74.
@AnooBhu
reports from Bhopal after a trial participant’s death
Among the 15 states that have more than 100 cases each, Kerala has reported the highest recovery rate (33.8%), per
@MoHFW_India
’s latest (8 a.m., Apr 11) update. It had reported the 1st
#COVID19
case in India, and for weeks was among the states with the most cases
Terrorism accounted for 0.007% of all deaths in India in 2017, compared to 63.4% by non-communicable diseases such as diabetes, heart disease & hypertension the same year. India’s defence budget is double its health budget
Goa now has no active cases after its seventh and last
#COVID19
patient’s recovery. It had reported its first case on March 27 and first recovery on April 10. Nagaland also has no active cases after its single case was transferred to Assam
BJP is as ‘dynastic’ as Congress, shows new dataset. Since 1999, 8% Congress MPs have been descended from/married to MPs; in BJP, 6%. Lok Sabha 2009 had highest density of
#dynastic
politicians: BJP had 12%, Congress, 11%
Kerala, which reported India’s 1st case of
#COVID19
on Jan 30, has reported 2 cases since yesterday. In the 10 days to April 12, Kerala has reported an average daily increase of 13, compared to Maharashtra’s 146.
In India, 929 girls are born for every 1,000 boys, lower than the natural sex ratio at birth of 950, according to WHO. Our map shows that 10 of 36 states & UTs have
#sexratio
at birth lower than 900:
In the 37th cow-related hate crime this yr, cow vigilantes allegedly shot dead a Muslim man, transporting cows near the Rajasthan-Haryana border, and thrashed his 2 aides (1/5)
The Indian
#government
under the leadership of
#NarendraModi
spent Rs 4,880 cr on advertisements, more than the budget to establish 20 new AIIMS hospitals.
“We are proposing 7 missions, each of which will contribute to not just employment but the economy in general:”
@_YogendraYadav
of
@_SwarajIndia
on fixing unemployment in Haryana, which had the highest unemployment rate (28.7%) in India in Aug 2019
The Indian
#government
’s expenditure on advertisements rose 34% from Rs 980 crore in 2014-15 to Rs 1,314 crore in 2017-18. The amount spent on advertisements could have provided
#middaymeals
for 46 mn children for a year.
As candidates, Muslim women face a double bind, discriminated against both as women and as Muslims. The usual barriers to entry that apply to all
#women
, apply even more strongly to Muslim women
#LokSabhaElections2019
We are happy to report
@FactCheckIndia
has been certified as a signatory to the International Fact-Checking Network's Code of Principles. This makes us part of a group of less than 40 global organisations, incl PolitiFact, Snopes, Washington Post Fact Checker, Africa Check.
As of 2016, Madhya Pradesh (43.4), Goa (43.2), and Rajasthan (42) held the highest rate of crime against dalits in the country. Their conviction rates were 31%, 8% and 45% respectively.
#Dalitsprotest
Haryana’s unemployment is due to job losses in agri, auto & manufacturing sectors, & increased job aspirations:
@_YogendraYadav
of
@_SwarajIndia
, which is contesting its 1st state election. > 2 mn are unemployed in the state
Patients are being charged upto Rs 10,000 per day for PPE for healthcare workers, our analysis of private hospital bills shows. Patients have no way of knowing how much PPE was used on them and what each unit of PPE costs.
26 years after Sunitha Krishnan faced social ostracisation following her own gang-rape by eight men when she was 15, victim shaming continues. The anti-trafficking activist explains why children don’t seem to be a priority in India
#Section377
of the IPC was introduced in 1861 during British rule and is modelled on Britain’s ‘Buggery Act’ of 1533. It criminalises sexual activities “against the order of nature with any man, woman or animal” which includes homosexual sexual activities
India has crossed 7,000 confirmed cases today, after crossing 6,000 yesterday. Yet, it also reported its highest ever number of daily
#COVID19
recoveries in the last 24 hours, at 127. This is the first time India has reported more than 100 recoveries in a day