Sushmita Pathak

Female community health care workers protest in New Delhi, India, in August 2020. The women are part of a government program called Accredited Social Health Activists — and are demanding higher pay and better working conditions. In May, the program won an award from the World Health Organization.

These female health-care workers won a huge WHO honor. They'd like a raise, too

Sushmita Pathak

India's all-female task force of community health-care workers won the World Health Organization's Global Health Leaders Awards. But instead of recognition, some want a better salary and benefits.

Workers pound the steaming mixture of meat, lentils, wheat and spices with long wooden paddles to give the haleem its signature smooth texture.

This goat and lentil stew is a beloved Ramadan tradition in Hyderabad, India

Sushmita Pathak

The Ramadan fast is usually followed by a feast. In Hyderabad, India, that feast is dominated by haleem, a meat and lentil stew pounded into paste and flavored with rose petals, cinnamon and cardamom.

People watch a laser show on the banks of the river Sarayu during Deepotsav celebrations on the eve of the Hindu festival of Diwali in Ayodhya on Wednesday. The five-day festival celebrates the victory of light over darkness.

Here's how India is celebrating Diwali

Sushmita Pathak

Hindus in India and across the world are celebrating Diwali, the five-day festival of lights. Here's what celebrations look like across India.

Vinisha Umashankar and her solar ironing cart. She came up with the idea when she was 12 — then worked with engineers to create a prototype. Now she's in Glasgow, Scotland, to speak at the COP26 climate change conference.

A 15-year-old girl invented a solar ironing cart that's winning global respect

Sushmita Pathak

Vinisha Umashankar came up with the idea of solar power instead of charcoal to heat street irons. "Iron-Max" was a finalist for Prince William's Earthshot Prize, and this week, she spoke at COP26.

A bride in India. There's a movement to get the government to raise the legal age of marriage for women from 18 to 21.

India may raise the age of marriage for girls. Not everyone thinks that's a good idea

Sushmita Pathak

There's a campaign for the government to set the legal age of marriage at 21 instead of 18. A lot of young women are in favor. But there's also concern that it could backfire.

The last Quad meeting, in March, was virtual. President Biden, Yoshihide Suga, Japan's prime minister (top right), Scott Morrison, Australia's prime minister (bottom left), and Narendra Modi, India's prime minister, will meet in person in the U.S. on Friday.

5 Things To Know About Biden's Quad Summit With Leaders Of India, Australia And Japan

Lauren Frayer

President Biden will meet on Friday with the leaders of Japan, Australia and India. Their agenda includes the pandemic and climate change. But analysts say the Quad group is mainly about China.

Jyoti Kumari, when she was 15, pedaled more than 700 miles with her father seated behind her on a $20 bicycle to bring him from New Delhi, where he'd been injured, to the family's village.

Whatever Happened To ... The Teen Hailed For Cycling 700 Miles With Her Injured Dad?

Sushmita Pathak

The 17-year-old wanted to bring her father home to his village after he was injured in the city where he worked. She was praised as a national hero and given honors and prizes. How is she doing now?

Menstrual exile is practiced in some villages in the western Indian state of Maharashtra, including where Chetana Madavi lives. Every month when she gets her period, the 29-year-old makes her way to this mud hut with no toilet and a broken door.

A Controversial Solution To Menstrual Exile: Building Better Menstrual Huts

Sushmita Pathak

There's long been opposition to the practice of forcing a woman on her period to menstrual exile in a hut, which can be unsafe and unsanitary. One charity has a new interim response: upgrade the huts.

A man assists a patient with difficulty breathing at the Medical College Hospital in Rajshahi, Bangladesh, on June 16, as the delta variant of the coronavirus quickly spread.

Bangladesh Locks Down As Daily COVID Cases Quintuple

Sushmita Pathak

Bangladeshi soldiers are enforcing a seven-day lockdown. As the West opens up, poorer countries with low vaccination rates are being hit by wave after wave of COVID-19.

Rains have washed away the top layer of sand of shallow graves at a cremation ground on the banks of the Ganges River in Shringverpur, northwest of Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh, India. Coronavirus testing is limited in parts of rural India, but some of the people buried there are believed to have died of COVID-19.

In Rural India, Less COVID-19 Testing, More Fear — And A Few Ventilators For Millions

Sushmita Pathak

Hospitals are full. Testing is scant. Illiteracy is high. Most deaths are never registered. COVID-19's wrath in rural India is difficult to measure but public health experts are worried.