The Centre’s ‘single source of truth’ in easing lockdowns is a database of Covid-19 cases ridden with unverified data, duplicate names and other flaws. States, some protesting at the confusion, use another database and only in five states do the two databases tally

In the first week of April 2020, the government’s top scientists laid out conditions for lifting the Covid-19 lockdown. The government ignored that advice and evolved its own criteria, still unclear to states. The result is a surge in cases and ever-changing criteria

Despite prior warnings from its scientists in late February, India’s government did not put in place a testing and surveillance strategy against the Covid-19 outbreak till end March, by which time its own medical experts expressed frustration at the inaction

“Absent any other control measure, lifting lockdown would allow a resurgence of transmission:” India’s top medical-research body told the government in the first week of April. Two weeks into the lockdown, the measures were still not in place

Documents reveal that all the costs associated with electoral bonds are paid from the Consolidated Fund of India, which includes all tax revenues

However, the bank regularly shares updates on the controversial funding scheme with the finance ministry, documents reveal

Documents obtained under RTI also reveal that crucial discussions on allowing shell companies to secretly fund political parties were not officially recorded

Modi govt's bizarre justification: Corporates should be allowed to donate secretly because they have a Right to Life under the Constitution which overrides citizens' right to information and is equal to citizen's right to secret ballot!

The Modi government claimed repeatedly that donors asked for electoral bonds due to fear of political retribution if they used transparent methods of funding. An RTI reply shows this was a lie

The bonds worth Rs 10 crore were redeemed soon after the 2018 Karnataka state elections resulted in a hung assembly. The bonds had been purchased in a special sale window opened at the direction of Prime Minister Modi's office

The State Bank of India (SBI) maintains a secret number-based record of donors who buy electoral bonds, and the political parties they donate to. Law enforcement agencies can request access to this record

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's office directed the finance ministry to break its own rules to approve the special and illegal sale of electoral bonds just before critical state assembly elections

A confidential note reveals that finance ministry officials intentionally misled the Election Commission in an effort to dilute its opposition to the electoral bond scheme

Former finance minister Arun Jaitley took just hours to dismiss the RBI's warning that electoral bonds could funnel black money into politics and destabilise the Indian currency, documents show

Fuelling Manipur's conflict is a complex interplay of political ambition, armed groups, cross-border migration, ethnic divisions, narcotics, tainted armed forces, cynical statecraft and a devious game to give it all a communal colour. In this, the youth have become the fodder. Fed on hate, mobilised to defend themselves as the State fails to end violence. Our two-part investigative series delves into the layers, exposing a web of power, armed factions, and the battle for control.

Niti Aayog CEO BVR Subrahmanyam reveals Modi held backdoor negotiations with the Finance Commission to cut tax funds allocated to states, and says gov't finances are so shady, they could be hit by a 'Hindenburg'.

This investigative series exposes how the Modi government favoured commercial interests over forest conservation and indigenous rights while abandoning the long-delayed National Forest Policy. Just after taking office, it aimed to open forests for private plantations, culminating in the 2023 amendments to the Forest (Conservation) Act. These changes prioritize profit over biodiversity, granting private businesses access to India's forests. The amendment limits protection to recognized forests, endangering large swathes of potential unofficial forestland. These investigations reveal a troubling pattern of forest exploitation, corporate interests, and indigenous rights neglect.

Tapering growth, untamed inflation, alongside the pressure to ramp up welfare schemes in the run up to elections will shape the budget

The move could stop millions of poor children without Aadhaar from having healthy meal, and violates a Supreme Court order that no subsidy or service may be denied to children for want of Aadhaar

The Union government's auctions worth more than Rs 4,600 crore to provide pulses to the poor and armed forces were rigged to benefit a few big millers, shows the findings of the National Productivity Council, a government research body headed by Minister Piyush Goyal. The Council’s findings confirm The Collective’s previous exposé that the terms of auctions allowed the millers to rip the government off tonnes of pulses and sell them at a profit in the open market, and also supply poor-quality pulses.

Auction method used to mill pulses under welfare schemes for poor and armed forces allowed millers to make unchecked profits for years, hammering the public exchequer and the quality of pulses supplied

Data from thousands of pages of death registers maintained by municipalities in Gujarat show an excess death count of 16,892 for just 6% of the state's population during the pandemic. When projected across the state, the figure zooms to a staggering 281,000.

MEA made urgent late evening deployments to its Covid Cell as late as May 01. This was 24 hours after the Philippines Embassy sought help from Indian Youth Congress for delivery of oxygen cylinders. In response, the MEA launched a bitter Twitter dogfight against the opposition for supplying cylinders to the embassy.

Through a secretive deal, the government sold off vehicular bulk data of the entire country to a private company in a deal that officials red-flagged over lack of price discovery. With this exclusive low-cost bounty, the firm developed an entire business model based on the data. It even cut a separate agreement with a German firm and sent samples of sensitive data it received from the government. All this happened five years before the government announced a dedicated policy to sell the same data to other buyers.

A network of self-proclaimed Hindu volunteers file legal complaints and unleash a toxic wave of trolling, harassment, threats and doxing against social media users who they believed make “anti-Hindu” remarks

Modi government first ignored its experts' recommendations on how to lift the country-wide lockdown. It then based its response on unreliable data, show its own records. This led to surge in Covid-19 cases

Government documents and internal meeting records show its experts warned that a country-wide lockdown would only delay the pandemic not control it. The government repeatedly ignored experts' warnings and did not put in place key protocols even after a month into the lockdown

Analysis of Modi's package: Analysis: Modi govt’s #COVID19 aid package is miserly & unimaginative. It will do little for poor who need help. With data & more.

Documents sourced through Right To Information applications reveal several irregularities in how the government brought the controversial source of political financing into effect

Convoluted auction rules, scuttled competition and friendly bidders lead to the mega solar power deal. The deal is now caught in allegations of corruption, bribery and fraud by the US authorities.

हितों के टकराव को नजरअंदाज करते हुए, भाजपा सरकार ने कर वसूलने वाली निजी कंपनियों को इकोलॉजिकल रूप से संवेदनशील हिमालयी राज्य में नदियों में खनन करने के लिए भी प्रोत्साहित किया है। यह सब आपदाओं को रोकने के नाम पर किया जा रहा है।

Ignoring the conflict of interest, the BJP government has encouraged tax-collecting private companies to also mine the rivers in the ecologically-fragile Himalayan state. All done in the name of preventing disasters.

प्रधानमंत्री नरेंद्र मोदी ने 2020 में केंद्र सरकार की नौकरियों के लिए युवाओं से एक सामान्य पात्रता परीक्षा आयोजित कराने का वादा किया था। चार साल बाद भी युवा इसका इंतजार कर रहे हैं।

In 2020, PM Narendra Modi promised a common eligibility exam to hire young Indians for jobs in the Union government. Four years later, the youth are still waiting.

ड्रग्स के व्यापार ने मणिपुर की राजनीति को तो प्रभावित किया ही है, मौजूदा जातीय हिंसा को बढ़ाने में भी महत्वपूर्ण भूमिका निभाई है।

प्रेजेंटेशन में लंबे समय तक चली इस हिंसा में मैतेई और कुकी-ज़ो दोनों समुदायों के सशस्त्र समूहों की भूमिका की ओर भी इशारा किया गया है

नीलामी में पश्चिम बंगाल सरकार की कंपनी की अनुपस्थिति से आरपी संजीव गोयनका समूह को 83 मिलियन टन का सरिसाटोली कोयला ब्लॉक हासिल करने में मदद मिली।

The state-owned company’s absence in auction helped RP Sanjiv Goenka Group collude to win 83-million-tonne Sarisatolli coal block.

आयकर विभाग ने डोनर्स से नकद, चेक या किसी भी अन्य माध्यम से राजनैतिक दलों को दिए गए हर डोनेशन का विवरण देने को कहा है। प्रवर्तन एजेंसियों के पास जल्द ही यह डेटा होगा, लेकिन अंधेरे में रहेंगे नागरिक।

The Income Tax department has asked donors to divulge details of all contributions made to political parties through cash, cheque, or any other mode. Enforcement agencies will soon have this data, but the citizens will stay in the dark.

नीति आयोग के सीईओ बीवीआर सुब्रमण्यम ने खुलासा किया कि मोदी ने राज्यों को आवंटित कर निधि में कटौती के लिए वित्त आयोग के साथ अनौपचारिक बातचीत की, और कहा कि सरकार का वित्त इतना खराब है कि उन पर 'हिंडनबर्ग' जैसा आघात पड़ सकता है।

1996 में SC ने केंद्र और राज्यों से कहा कि भारत की सभी वनों की पहचान कर उन्हें संरक्षित किया जाए। 27 साल गुजरने के बावजूद उन्होंने यह काम पूरा नहीं किया। अब, केंद्र के नए वन कानून ने उन वनों के संरक्षण को खत्म कर दिया है जिन्हें कागजों पर मान्यता प्राप्त नहीं है।

In 1996, the Supreme Court asked the Union government and states to identify and protect all of India’s forests. For 27 years, they did not complete the job. Now, the Centre’s new forest law has removed protection for forests not recognised on paper.

दस्तावेज़ों से पता चलता है कि मोदी सरकार ने जंगलों को व्यावसायिक पौधारोपण के लिए खोलने की योजना पर काम कार्यभार संभालने के तुरंत बाद ही शुरू कर दिया था। हालाँकि इसे आदिवासी अधिकारों और जंगलों को नुकसान पहुँचाने के लिए विरोध का सामना करना पड़ा, लेकिन हाल ही में वन (संरक्षण) अधिनियम संशोधन के माध्यम से यह योजना सफल हुई।

Modi govt's dogged pursuit of a plan to open forests for commercial plantation began shortly after taking office, documents show. Though it faced pushback for hurting tribal rights and forests, the plan reached a fruition through the recent Forest (Conservation)Act amendment.

केंद्र सरकार ने नई वन नीति लाने का अपना वादा नहीं निभाया। यह वादा निभाने की बजाए वन संरक्षण कानूनों में ऐसा बदलाव किया जैसा वह चाहती थी।

Centre abandoned promise of a new forest policy. Instead chose to cut the laws on conservation down to the size it desired.

Will India allow industries to sell carbon credits in the international market at a cost to the country? The upcoming national carbon market postpones answering this fundamental question.