Elections amidst the third wave: Spanning over seven phases, the elections to five states (Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Goa, Punjab and Manipur) would be held from February 10 to March 7; Uttar Pradesh alone needs 7 phases for the election; In light of Covid, the Election Commission has banned election rallies, roadshows and meetings till January 15 

India's jobs crisis is more serious than it seems: India’s unemployment is at the worst it has been in three decades; Only a little over 2% of the workforce have secure formal jobs with access to social security; Surveys show 45% of all salaried workers earn less than 9,750 rupees a month

The unvaccinated flood hospitals: In Mumbai, 96% of the oxygen bed occupants were unvaccinated and had not taken even a single dose of the vaccine

Counting the real Covid mortality: After Gujarat re-estimated and increased its Covid death tally a few weeks ago, now Kerala adds 18,000 more deaths to its Covid death tally; other states are lagging behind in counting the dead

Exclusion: Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and Bajrang Dal have been putting up posters around the ghats of Varanasi that read, “Non-Hindus are prohibited from visiting the Ganga’s bank in Varanasi… This is a warning, not a request”; no action taken from state authorities