India has been recording an increase in PM 2.5 pollution since 2010 according to the State of Global Air 2020, released on 21 Oct 2020 Out of the 20 most populous countries, 14 have recorded a gradual improvement in air quality but India, Bangladesh, Niger, Pakistan and Japan are among those that have recorded a modest increase in air pollution levels. 

The first-ever comprehensive analysis of air pollution’s global impact on newborns finds that outdoor and household particulate matter pollution contributed to the deaths of nearly 500,000 infants in their first month of life, according to a new global study, State of Global Air 2020 (SoGA 2020). Nearly two-thirds of those deaths were linked to use of solid fuels such as charcoal, wood, and animal dung for cooking. [2]