World Press Freedom Index 2026 - India 157th

1 June 2026National

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) ranked India 157th of 180 countries in the 2026 World Press Freedom Index, a fall of six places from the previous year.

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WHO Releases 'State of Inequality' Report on Noncommunicable Diseases and Their Risk Factors

The World Health Organization released 'State of inequality: noncommunicable diseases and their risk factors' on 20 October 2026. Drawing on national data collected over the past decade, it examines four NCDs - cancer, cardiovascular disease, chronic respiratory disease and diabetes - alongside risk factors including tobacco and alcohol use, obesity, unhealthy diets, physical inactivity and air pollution. The report finds hypertension and diabetes more common among less-educated groups in low- and middle-income countries, rural populations less likely to be diagnosed and treated than urban ones, and poorer, less-educated women least likely to receive cervical cancer screening.

GK ByteThe WHO was established on 7 April 1948 and is headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland; its Director-General is Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus | NCDs kill about 43 million people a year, roughly three-quarters of all non-pandemic deaths worldwide | SDG target 3.4 aims to cut premature NCD mortality by one-third by 2030

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Henley Passport Index 2026: Singapore Retains Top Spot; India Climbs to 84th with 55 Visa-Free Destinations

The Henley Passport Index 2026, released on 17 October 2026 and built on exclusive IATA travel data, kept Singapore at number one with visa-free access to 193 of 227 destinations. Japan, South Korea and the UAE shared second place with 188, and Sweden was third with 187. India rose one place to 84th, tied with Algeria and Mauritania, even though its visa-free count slipped from 57 to 55 destinations, so the rank improved while actual access narrowed. Afghanistan remained last at 106th with 22 destinations, below Syria, Iraq and Pakistan. The index ranks 199 passports.

GK ByteThe Henley Passport Index is published by London-based Henley & Partners using exclusive International Air Transport Association (IATA) data; IATA was founded in 1945 and is headquartered in Montreal, Canada | Indian passports are issued under the Passports Act, 1967, administered by the Ministry of External Affairs | A rival ranking, the Global Passport Index, is published by Global Citizen Solutions

📅 17 Oct 2026EconomyRead complete →

India's Unemployment Rate Holds at 5.0% in September 2026, PLFS Bulletin Shows

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GK ByteThe Periodic Labour Force Survey was launched in April 2017 by the NSSO, replacing the quinquennial Employment-Unemployment Surveys | Unemployment rate is the unemployed share of the labour force; LFPR the share working or seeking work; WPR the employed share of population | MoSPI uses two approaches - Usual Status over 365 days and Current Weekly Status over seven days

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