Thomson Reuters Foundation | The Global Fund

The reporting grant led to the cohort’s only cross-border multimedia investigation, co-reported with a Nepali journalist, examining HIV interventions for long-distance truck drivers and transgender sex workers across India and Nepal. The investigation found Nepali truck drivers being denied antiretroviral therapy in India for lacking a ration card or Aadhaar despite national guidelines, severe economic pressures faced by some transgender sex workers living with HIV, declining HIV awareness among younger truck drivers, and no ART centre at the Sunauli border despite trucks waiting there for two to three days. The investigation was published by the Nepal Investigative Multimedia Journalism Network (NIMJN) and republished by Asian Dispatch, Shilapatra, INS, NepalClicks, NewsPolar and NepaliPatro. 

Earth Journalism Network

The fellowship supported an in-depth investigation into Varaha ClimateAg’s carbon-removal project in the Banni grasslands of Kachchh, where the invasive Prosopis juliflora is cleared and converted into biochar. Varaha, Asia’s largest carbon-removal project developer, secured a deal with Google to purchase 100,000 tonnes of carbon-removal credits from the project, one of the largest biochar carbon-removal deals to date. The investigation went beyond the carbon-credit claims to examine what happens on the ground: the large quantities of water required to produce biochar in an arid landscape, the rapid regrowth of the invasive tree, questions over whether biochar is actually being applied to soil for long-term carbon storage, its impact on native grasslands, the economics and benefits for local communities, and concerns around transparency and carbon-credit auditing. The reporting also examined a larger question facing the voluntary carbon market: whether a model designed to fund ecological restoration could instead create an economic incentive to repeatedly harvest an invasive species as it regrows. The story was published by Mongabay India and republished by Scroll. 

Climate Narrative Hub | Dasra | The Migration Story

The reporting grant supported a cross-state investigation into wildlife mitigation structures along NH44 in the Pench Tiger Reserve landscape. Co-reported with a journalist from Maharashtra, the investigation examined India’s first dedicated wildlife underpasses on the highway, using forest-guard records and camera-trap data to verify whether wildlife was actually using the structures. It found that securing the underpasses took nearly a decade of litigation, with the National Highway Authority of India using a piecemeal project-clearance loophole that made mitigation appear disproportionately expensive. The investigation also examined the gap between officially recognised tiger corridors and those identified by independent researchers, and used Datawrapper to visualise the impact of the projects on habitat connectivity. Published by Sanctuary Asia, the investigation was also adapted for the offline Sanctuary Cub edition for younger readers. 

Thomson Reuters Foundation

The fellowship selected journalists from India, Bangladesh and Brazil, with the resulting story being the only fellowship story picked up by the Thomson Reuters Foundation itself for publication. Reporting from Jayakwadi Dam in Maharashtra, the investigation examined the proposed floating solar project and its potential impact on the marginalised Kahar fishing community, who had received no clarity on what would happen to their livelihoods if the project went ahead. The reporting also examined risks to the reservoir’s bird sanctuary and an idle, unmaintained hydroelectric plant nearby. After pursuing the Union Minister for more than six months, the reporting secured his response and was published by Context, TRF’s news platform. The story was republished in five countries and recommended by the Thomson Reuters Foundation for the Ramnath Goenka Excellence in Journalism Award in the Environment category.

Earth Journalism Network

The grant selected seven journalists from India to produce coverage of the country’s renewable energy journey. The documentary reported from Shelkewadi, a village in Maharashtra that now runs entirely on solar power and biogas, examining the practical challenges of the transition, the collaboration between the community and government, and the possibilities for replicating this model across the Global South. The film was published by Down To Earth and screened at Makhanlal Chaturvedi National University of Journalism and Communication, Asia’s first and India’s largest media university. The documentary also received first prize at Gossner Cine Fest 5.0.