A man applies coats of glass powder to kite strings ahead of the Hindu festival “Uttarayan” in Ahmedabad on December 21, 2023. (Photo by Sam Panthaky/AFP Photo)

Goats covered with cloth are tied next to a hut on a cold winter morning in New Delhi on December 26, 2023. (Photo by Arun Sankar/AFP Photo)

A woman dressed in traditional attire participates in a procession to mark Gudi Padwa or the Marathi New Year in Mumbai, India, Tuesday, April 9, 2024. (Photo by Rajanish Kakade/AP Photo)

A rag picker carries recyclable materials amid cows and greater adjutant storks at a disposal site in Boragaon on the outskirts of Guwahati on June 5, 2024. (Photo by Biju Boro/AFP Photo)

Women labourers work at the construction site of a road in Kolkata January 8, 2015. Across towns and cities in India, it is not uncommon to see women cleaning building sites, carrying bricks and or shoveling gravel – helping construct the infrastructure necessary for the country's economic and social development. They help build roads, railway tracks, airports, and offices. They lay pipes for clean water supplies, cables for telecommunications, and dig the drains for sewage systems. But although women make up at least 20 percent of India's 40 million construction workers, they are less recognized than male workers with lower pay and often prone to safety hazards and sexual harassment. They are often unaware of their rights or scared to complain, say activists now trying to campaign for better treatment of women in the construction industry. (Photo by Rupak De Chowdhuri/Reuters)

Hindu devotees, their cheeks pierced with metal rods, wait to participate in a religious procession during Thaipusam festival in Chennai, India, Tuesday, February 3, 2015. Thaipusam, celebrated in honor of Hindu god Lord Murugan, is an annual procession by Hindu devotees seeking blessings, fulfilling vows and offering thanks. (Photo by Arun Sankar K./AP Photo)

Maharashtrian women dressed in traditional costumes attend celebrations to mark the Gudi Padwa festival in Mumbai March 21, 2015. The festival marks the beginning of the new year for Maharashtrians and is celebrated widely in Maharashtra and in the Konkan region. (Photo by Danish Siddiqui/Reuters)

Fishermen move a fishing boat to a safer place along the shore ahead of cyclone Hudhud at Ganjam district in Odisha October 11, 2014. The India Meteorological Department described Cyclone Hudhud as a “very severe” storm that could pack winds of 195 kilometers (120 miles) per hour and cause torrential rains when it makes landfall near the port city of Visakhapatnam around noon Sunday. (Photo by Reuters/Stringer)