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Abhishek Jha

Abhishek Jha is a data journalist. He analyses public data for finding news, with a focus on the environment, Indian politics and economy, and Covid-19.

Articles by Abhishek Jha

An hour-by-hour account of how Delhi’s air quality tanked on Diwali

Delhi air was cleaner on Diwali eve in 2021 than it was in 2019 and 2020. Things went downhill rapidly.

A heavy layer of smog engulfed Kirti Nagar, as people burst firecrackers on Diwali night.(Sanchit Khanna/HT Photo)
Updated on Nov 06, 2021 04:09 AM IST
ByAbhishek Jha, New Delhi

PM Modi unveils door-to-door drive to cover those yet to get the jab

Prime minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday launched the month-long Har Ghar Dastak (knock on every door) campaign aimed to conduct a special house-to-house Covid-19 vaccination drive, with special focus on those whose second dose is overdue, to accelerate complete vaccination

Prime Minister Narendra Modi holds the review meeting with districts having low vaccination coverage, through video conferencing, in New Delhi.
Updated on Nov 04, 2021 05:36 AM IST
ByRhythma Kaul & Abhishek Jha

Happy Diwali, but do not lower your guard against Covid-19

Covid-19 cases in India have been falling, more than a billion doses of vaccines have been administered, most studies show the high prevalence of Covid antibodies among people, and high frequency indices on the economy and mobility are looking up

People queue outside a shop to buy goods and decorative ornaments on the eve of Diwali. (AFP Photo)
Updated on Nov 04, 2021 04:58 AM IST
ByAbhishek Jha

Mapping a clean October, and what could lie ahead...

In terms of concentration of PM 2.5, October 2021 was a better air-quality month than October 2020 in most Indian states. This is especially the case for northern India.

Even if emission of pollutants doesn’t decrease, the weather can improve air quality.(HT file photo)
Updated on Nov 03, 2021 05:03 AM IST
ByAbhishek Jha, Hindustan Times, New Delhi

Mapping a clean-air October in Delhi, and what could lie ahead...

Indians, especially in the northern plains, have so far been spared the toxic air they usually breathe with the end of the monsoon

There is enough data to show that pollution levels and factors which contribute to it are already seeing a spike. (Arvind Yadav/HT Photo)
Updated on Nov 03, 2021 12:46 AM IST
ByAbhishek Jha

The invisible churn in India’s labour markets

A country’s unemployment rate can increase or decrease over time, and people can move from one form of employment to another. But headline numbers on unemployment rate and kind of employment do not tell us about the degree of churn in the labour market.

India did not collect panel data for its labour markets until the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) was started in 2017-18.(File photo. Representative image)
Updated on Nov 01, 2021 07:11 AM IST
ByAbhishek Jha, Hindustan Times, New Delhi

An epic exercise in 4 months

52 parties contested the country’s first general election and the second-highest number of seats, after the Congress party’s 364, was secured by independent candidates: 38

In the first two Lok Sabha elections, parliamentary constituencies (PCs) could have more than one seat. (Sonu Mehta/HT PHOTO)
Published on Oct 30, 2021 03:07 AM IST
ByAbhishek Jha

Suicides increase 10% to highest since 1967, accidental deaths down 11%: Data

Among those who died by suicide, students and small entrepreneurs saw the biggest jump, supporting anecdotal accounts of stress

The 2020 report; it covers the period from January to December 2020, shows that there was a sharp rise in the number of deaths by suicides.(Pic for representation)
Updated on Oct 29, 2021 04:37 AM IST
ByAbhishek Jha, New Delhi

22 in 1951 to 78 in 2019: How has India fared in electing women?

11 of 26 states sent women to the first Lok Sabha. Uttar Pradesh, the state with the largest share of seats , elected the most: six

Studio/January, 1952, A31A. Election Scenes in Delhi (January, 1952). Village women voters approach a Polling Officer for receiving ballot papers at a rural Polling Station, near Delhi. (Courtesy PHOTO DIVISION)
Updated on Oct 27, 2021 10:20 PM IST
ByAbhishek Jha

Delhi’s air quality has been surprisingly good in Oct, but smog may be on way

The air quality this October in Delhi is not only better than last year, but also the best in at least the past four years

A man performs yoga on a hazy morning at Sanjay Lake in New Delhi. (Raj K Raj/HT Photo)
Updated on Oct 26, 2021 10:07 PM IST
ByAbhishek Jha, Hindustan Times, New Delhi

Comparing the 2021 festival season with the one in 2020

The festival of Diwali is just a couple of weeks away

A vendor arranges earthen lamps at her shop ahead of Diwali in Ahmedabad on Monday. (PTI Photo)
Updated on Oct 26, 2021 04:19 AM IST
ByRoshan Kishore and Abhishek Jha, Hindustan Times, New Delhi

The numbers behind India’s billion dose landmark

India's billion dose vaccination statistics mean that the country will likely not see a third wave of infections according to experts. But India’s high population (1.3 billion) mean that the country’s vaccine drive still has some distance to cover.

The 1 billion Covic vaccine dose count has come along with coverage of 75% adults with at least one dose.(HT Photo)
Updated on Oct 22, 2021 03:03 PM IST
ByAbhishek Jha

October is the new June: India’s chaotic rain calendar

Here are three charts which summarise the chaotic rainfall this year (headline numbers suggesting a technically normal monsoon).

Heavy Clouds seen hovering over the skies after heavy rains at Anand Parbat in New Delhi, October 17 (Sanchit Khanna/Hindustan Times)
Updated on Oct 20, 2021 12:57 PM IST
ByAbhishek Jha

Is it time to reduce the waiting time for second dose of Covid-19 vaccines?

India on May 13 increased the waiting period between two doses of the Covishield vaccine from four-eight weeks to 12-16 weeks

A medic administers Covaxin to a health worker. (REUTERS File)
Updated on Oct 13, 2021 06:18 AM IST
ByAbhishek Jha, Hindustan Times, New Delhi

What does SAS tell us about India’s animal farms?

HT has analysed unit-level data from the latest Situation Assessment of Agricultural Households and Land and Livestock Holdings of Households in Rural India (SAS) to answer some of these questions.

How big are animal farms and animal farming in the business of farming in India?(HT file photo)
Published on Oct 11, 2021 04:50 AM IST
ByAbhishek Jha, , Hindustan Times, New Delhi

What does SAS tell us about India’s animal farms?

Have tractors finally replaced bullock carts and private dairies the milk-animal in the Indian farmer’s house? Vigilante groups (“gau rakshaks”) claiming to be protecting cows have been making news (for the wrong reasons) in the past few years in India

HT has analysed unit-level data from the latest Situation Assessment of Agricultural Households and Land and Livestock Holdings of Households in Rural India (SAS) to answer some of these questions. (HT File Photo)
Published on Oct 10, 2021 08:08 PM IST
ByAbhishek Jha and Roshan Kishore

8th highest rainfall in Sept, and yet a normal monsoon in 2021

This year’s monsoon season ended officially on September 30

September rainfall this year is the eighth highest since 1901, the earliest period for which data are available.
Updated on Oct 04, 2021 01:39 AM IST
ByAbhishek Jha

Number Theory: The class divide among Other Backward Classes in India

The demand for a caste census is not without context. It is linked with a demand for doing away with the Supreme Court imposed 50% limit on reservations.

OBCs, as of now, are entitled to reservations not just on a caste-basis(HT PHOTO)
Updated on Sep 30, 2021 09:49 PM IST
ByRoshan Kishore and Abhishek Jha

59 of 121 rainy days saw deficit, September wettest month: Data

Fifty nine of 121 days of monsoon so far have seen a deficit compared to the LPA and 62 a surplus.

While monsoon rainfall in June was 15.2% more than the LPA for this month, July and August were much drier. (PTI)
Updated on Sep 30, 2021 02:07 AM IST
ByAbhishek Jha, New Delhi

Number Theory: Understanding the business of farming in India’s ‘input markets’

The challenges facing Indian farmers in input markets are quite different from what they face in output markets.

Poor quality of material inputs are hardly a concern for farmers, but what is really a problem is their lack of awareness(Praful Gangurde/ HT file photo)
Updated on Sep 29, 2021 03:51 PM IST
ByAbhishek Jha,

Number Theory: Understanding the business of farming in India

Supporters of the three farm laws have been arguing that the new regime will help farmers receive better prices by selling products in the open market rather than the APMCs. SAS data does not support such a claim

Business of farming: HT’s analysis of SAS data shows that one in three farmers in India is unhappy with the prices received on selling the crop.(PTI)
Updated on Sep 29, 2021 03:53 PM IST
ByAbhishek Jha and Roshan Kishore, Hindustan Times, New Delhi

Why do farm concerns not get as much political attention as they should?

A large majority of the population at the bottom of the social hierarchy in India does not have significant stakes in agriculture.

The social groups, who are still invested in farming, are also the ones who are more successful in getting out of villages.(Praful Gangurde/ HT file photo)
Published on Sep 23, 2021 01:32 AM IST
By, Abhishek Jha, Hindustan Times, New Delhi

What do the new targets mean for Delhi?

The annual average of PM2.5 levels in Delhi was 109.7µg/m³ in 2019, 95.3µg/m³ in 2020, and is 85.1µg/m³ till September 21 this year.

The revised standards were issued by WHO on Wednesday for six air pollutants which include PM2.5 and PM10.
Published on Sep 23, 2021 01:24 AM IST
ByAbhishek Jha, Hindustan Times, New Delhi

Why do farm concerns not get as much political attention as they should?

The social groups, who are still invested in farming, are also the ones who are more successful in getting out of villages.

The challenges facing political mobilisation to rescue Indian agriculture from its current crisis are partly a result of India’s feudal past. (File Photo)(AP)
Updated on Sep 22, 2021 10:04 PM IST
ByRoshan Kishore and Abhishek Jha

A Dalit chief minister in Punjab: Political masterstroke by the Congress?

Charanjit Singh Channi, who has replaced Amarinder Singh as the chief minister in Punjab, is the first Dalit to hold this office in the state

Punjab chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi addresses the media after the oath-taking ceremony at Punjab Bhawan in Chandigarh, Monday. (PTI Photo)
Updated on Sep 20, 2021 11:09 PM IST
ByAbhishek Jha and Roshan Kishore, Hindustan Times

Monsoon normal despite heavy rainfall in September

Only about two weeks remain in the 122-day-long June-September monsoon season.

Such days, as has been the pattern this season, only made up the deficit which was created due to dry patches in previous weeks.
Updated on Sep 20, 2021 05:52 AM IST
ByAbhishek Jha, Hindustan Times, New Delhi

Covid violations led to rise in total cases filed in 2020

The 2020 crime statistics have to be read in the context of the pandemic and any comparison with past or future reports should be done with adequate caution.

If possible Covid-19-related violations are left out, the figures decrease – backing anecdotal evidence that Covid-19 triggered lockdowns in reality led to a drop in crime.(Vipin Kumar/ Hindustan Times)
Updated on Sep 15, 2021 04:26 AM IST
ByAbhishek Jha, Vineet Sachdev, Hindustan Times, New Delhi

Farmers earned 27 a day from cultivation in 2018-19

Agriculture is considered to be the employment of last resort in India. This became apparent during the lockdown last year, when share of agricultural employment increased for the first time in India. 

India’s inability to shift a large part of its workforce from agriculture to non-agricultural work, especially manufacturing, is considered one of the biggest failures of its economic policy.(HT File)
Updated on Sep 14, 2021 04:54 AM IST
By, Abhishek Jha, Hindustan Times, New Delhi

Average daily income from cultivation was 27 per day in 2018-19

An Indian farmer earned ₹27 per day on average from cultivation in 2018-19. This is less than what he would have earned doing MGNREGS work through the year.

An Indian farmer earned <span class='webrupee'>₹</span>27 per day on average from cultivation in 2018-19. This is less than what he would have earned doing MGNREGS work through the year. (Reuters)
Updated on Sep 13, 2021 10:49 PM IST
ByRoshan Kishore and Abhishek Jha

25 yrs after reservation Bill, equitable women’s representation remains elusive

Only 7.7% members in the Lok Sabha and 4% members of state assemblies were women in 1996, when the first women’s reservation Bill was introduced. Women’s share is now 14.4% in Lok Sabha and around 8% in state assemblies

Representational Image. (HTarchive)
Updated on Sep 14, 2021 09:23 AM IST
ByAbhishek Jha
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