India, Oct. 23 -- The State of Global Air 2020 report, which was released on Wednesday, has two warnings for India. First, India recorded the highest annual average PM 2.5 concentration exposure in the world in 2019, and second, the country has had the worst levels of PM 2.5 levels in the world for the last decade. This runaway pollution is leading to a deleterious impact on the health of the people. In 2019, over 116,000 infants in India died within a month after birth due to exposure to severe air pollution, the report said. This finding is based on research that suggests exposure to polluted air during pregnancy is linked to low weight and premature birth. The report also suggested that long-term exposure to outdoor and household air pollution contributed to over 1.67 million annual deaths from stroke, heart attack, diabetes, lung cancer, chronic lung diseases, and neonatal diseases in India in 2019. Although the link between air pollution and Covid-19 is not yet fully proven, the report acknowledged that there is evidence linking air pollution with increased heart and lung disease. This means that exposure to high levels of air pollution during winter months could exacerbate the effects of the disease....