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The 2021 edition of ‘Analysis of Accidental Deaths and Suicides in India’ brings out the overall trend in road accident deaths and some intriguing deviations at the State-level
On September 4, former Tata Sons chairman Cyrus Mistry, 54, died in a car accident while he was on his way to Mumbai from Ahmedabad. The incident occurred in the afternoon when the car he was travelling in ran into a divider on the Charoti bridge in Kasa village, about 150 km from Mumbai. The industrialist’s death has brought attention to the rising number of road accident-related fatalities in India. Last year, despite a significant reduction in road accidents from pre-pandemic levels, there were more than 1.5 lakh deaths across India. This was the highest in at least a decade. Read more about this recent trend here:
In 2021, across India, a median road accident victim was a male aged between 18 and 44 who drove a two-wheeler, was speeding, driving carelessly or hastily overtaking other vehicles. Road accidents peaked late evening. The number increased in winter and declined during peak summer in almost all the States. Of the victims, 86% were men.
Road accidents constituted about 40% of the total accidental deaths in the country. About 56% of those who died in accidents (including road accidents) were aged between 18 and 45. The NCRB did not provide an age-wise list of road accident data for all States. However, the age-wise split of accident victims and road accident victims mimic each other when the country-wide numbers are considered, and can be used as a proxy.
Persons travelling on two-wheelers formed the largest share of road accident deaths (44%). Speeding constituted 56% of all road-accident deaths, while 28% were caused by driving or overtaking carelessly.
About 20% of road accidents took place between 6 p.m. and 9 p.m. Close to 40,000 road accidents occurred each in December and January. Accidents dipped to 20,000 in the peak summer month of May.
While the aggregate figures for India show the overall trend, State-level and city-level data reveal some surprising exceptions.
Among the States, Tamil Nadu (55,682), and among cities, Chennai (5,034) had the highest number of road accidents across the country in 2021. Yet, Uttar Pradesh (21,792) and Delhi (1,172) recorded the highest number of deaths, among States and cities, respectively.
The overall trend suggests that 56% of the accident victims were aged between 18 and 44 and 33% over 45. But in Kerala, over 62% of victims were aged above 45 and in Tamil Nadu, 47% of accident victims were aged over 45.
Overall, 44% of road accident victims were travelling in a two-wheeler, the highest share among all types of vehicles. This trend was seen in most States except in parts of the Northeast. In Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram, Nagaland and Meghalaya, the share of people killed in road accidents was the highest among those who used “cars, SUV or jeep”. Such a deviation from the overall trend was also recorded in Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir, where most victims were involved in a car/SUV/jeep accident.
The overall trend suggests that speeding contributed to 56% of road accident deaths and “dangerous or careless driving/over-taking” contributed to 28%. Put together, over 84% were due to improper driving. Most States showed this pattern, but there were deviations in some. Over 15% of road accident deaths in Meghalaya and Sikkim were due to drunken driving. Over 20% of deaths in Nagaland and Manipur were due to defects in the vehicle. In Mizoram and Nagaland, over 13% of deaths were due to the lack of proper road infrastructure. In Assam, Punjab and Bihar, over 10% of deaths were due to bad weather conditions such as poor visibility. Interestingly, in Puducherry and West Bengal (46% and 23%, respectively), the cause of death did not have any of the above-mentioned reasons and was listed under “other reasons”.
In general, a higher share of accidents (60%) took place during the day time across the country in nearly all the States. However, if only metropolitan cities (>2 million population) were considered, in general, most accidents occurred at night. This was especially seen in all the cities of Kerala and Tamil Nadu. In Srinagar, 97% of road accidents took place at night. Thus, we can conclude that outside city limits, an overwhelming share of accidents take place during the daytime, while the opposite is true within city limits.
Fortnightly figures
$28.68 billion is the amount by which the trade deficit in India widened in August owing to increased crude oil imports, while the country’s exports contracted by 1.15% to $3 billion for the first time in over 20 months. According to preliminary data released by the Commerce Ministry, imports rose by 37% to $61.68 billion in August this year.
₹1.44 lakh crore was collected as Goods and Services Tax (GST) in India in August, crossing the ₹1.4 lakh crore mark for the sixth successive month. Yet, on a sequential basis, the gross GST revenue in August was at a three-month low.
$3.5 trillion is India’s GDP as per the latest estimates, making it the 5th largest economy in the world. According to IMF projections, India has overtaken the U.K. and is now behind only the U.S., China, Japan and Germany. Yet, the country’s population is 20 times that of the U.K., making its GDP per capita much lower.
2.39 million Indian accounts were banned by Whatsapp in July, according to the Meta-owned popular instant messaging app’s monthly report. The Information Technology Rules, 2021 of India made it mandatory for large digital platforms to aid in identifying the “originator” of “unlawful” messages, taking down such digital messages within a specific time frame, setting up grievance redressal mechanisms and assisting government agencies in the investigation. Digital platforms are also required to publish compliance reports every month. Of the accounts barred, 1.42 million were "proactively banned" before they were reported by any user.
9% more rainfall than the Long Period Average is likely in September, according to the India Meteorological Department. Uneven distribution of rain could trim yields of summer-sown crops in a country that relies on farming to boost growth and generate jobs. Cotton, soybean and pulses-growing regions in central and western India could get significantly more rainfall than the average, while rice growing in the eastern and north-eastern regions could get below-normal rainfalls
Flashback: a look back at how we got here
In 2021, there was an increase in violent crimes such as rape, kidnapping, crimes against children, and robberies across India, surpassing pre-pandemic levels. The pandemic-related restrictions had led to a decline in these severe offences in 2020. Murders, which did not come down even in 2020, continued to increase during this period. While 1.48 lakh grave offences were registered in the country in 2019, the number jumped to 1.49 lakh in 2021.
In 2021, there was an increase in violent crimes such as rape, kidnapping, crimes against children and robberies across India compared to 2020. In 2020, due to severe movement restrictions owing to the pandemic, the number of violent crimes recorded a steep decline. However, the overall cognisable crimes were still high in 2020, as pandemic-related violations were at a peak. Read more about the crime trends in 2020 here:
According to the Association of Democratic Reforms’ (ADR) analysis of the income tax returns and donation statements of select national and regional political parties, in FY21, 36% of total political donations were from anonymous sources. National and regional parties received ₹427 crore and ₹264 crore worth of funds, respectively, from unknown sources. The Congress secured ₹178.8 crore as income from unknown sources, the highest among all national parties, closely followed by the BJP at around ₹100 crore. On the other hand, in FY20, with ₹720 crore, BJP was the highest recipient of corporate donations, followed by the Congress and the NCP. Corporate donations constituted 91% of the total contribution to political parties from known sources during this period. A break-up of the donations made to political parties in the last few years shows that the implementation of the electoral bonds scheme has coincided with a reduction in the proportion of donations that are declared contributions (that are above ₹20,000 and where the donors are known), providing anonymity to large contributors. Read more about corporate donations to political parties here:
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