Undercounting Covid deaths: India’s official Covid death tally is about 4 lakh; a new study has estimated 45 lakh excess deaths that coincide with the Covid waves, indicating massive underreporting of Covid deaths; this makes Covid the most significant killer in India, ahead of cardiovascular diseases, cancer, road accidents or air pollution

Image management by the government: After being termed as a “flawed democracy”, the Indian government sought to influence its rankings; The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), however, has declined an offer from the Indian government to provide official data for its “Democracy Index” rankings; The EIU pointed out that the curbs on the internet, press freedom and muzzling of civil liberties of peaceful protestors has led to India’s falling rank

Rural economic distress and social security: Demand for work under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) continues to grow, indicating rural economic distress; 77% of budget used up in five months

Propaganda around Kashmir: Several BJP members, Sudarshan News and Zee News that boast of lakhs of daily viewers claimed Janmashtami celebrations were held in Kashmir for the first time in 32 years under PM Modi; However, this is false, as these celebrations have been taking place at least since 2004

Personal liberties: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Monday imposed a complete ban on the sale of liquor and meat in Mathura; 70% of Indians are meat eaters