As droves of people flocked to Ramlila Maidan to voice their support for Anna Hazare, lack of water and sanitation facilities at the venue tested the resolve of quite a few supporters.
Money allocated for rural India has increased, but expenditure of panchayats is not adequate and inconsistent
Extending support to agitating sanitation workers in the city, Rahul Gandhi on Friday attacked the Centre and the Delhi government.
Looking under the hood, I see India on the terrible, but commonplace, road to prosperity failure, warns Rathin Roy.
Bringing relief to residents in localities swamped with garbage, the sanitation workers of East Delhi Municipal Corporation on Friday called off their strike on a day when Delhi Lt Governor cleared the release of Rs 493 crore for the civic bodies.
The announcement to end the stir, which began on January 27 to press for payment of their dues, was made by the Swatantra Mazdoor Vikas Sanyukt Morcha -- an umbrella body of 38 unions of sanitation workers and class IV employees of East and North Delhi Municipal corporations.
Pakistan is far ahead of India in improving access to water, sanitation and in eroding inequalities for its citizens, according to a US university study.
Estimates show more than half of the country's rural population still defecates in the open, along roadsides, railway tracks and fields.
They also threatened to suspend work for an "indefinite" period if their demands are not met.
Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla recognised Rahul Gandhi as the leader of opposition on Wednesday, a day after the Congress communicated its decision to name him for the position to the Lok Sabha Secretariat.
The Maharashtra government has become the owner of iconic Air India building with the Union government approving transfer of the asset on Thursday. The Maharashtra government bought the Air India building at Nariman Point in Mumbai for Rs 1,601 crore. "GoI has approved transfer of Air India building, Mumbai of AI Assets Holding Company Ltd (AIAHL) to Government of Maharashtra (GoM) at consideration of Rs.1601 cr. GoM has agreed to waive dues of Rs. 298.42 cr, which would have been otherwise payable by AIAHL to GoM for this transaction," DIPAM secretary Tuhin Kanta Pandey said in a post on X.
Among the fatalities recorded on Friday, the maximum 17 were from Uttar Pradesh, 14 from Bihar, five from Odisha and four from Jharkhand, where officials said more than 1,300 people are hospitalised with heatstroke conditions.
Rediff's data journalists bring you data about toilet/bathroom and sanitation facilities across India from the 69th round (2012) of National Sample Survey.
Ahead of the upcoming elections, political parties have started announcing incentives to benefit women, but what do women truly seek for genuine gender parity, asks Nivedita Mookerji.
A massive search operation is underway to flush out the terrorists, who are believed to have recently infiltrated from Pakistan, they said.
Manoj Tiwari is the only sitting MP whom the BJP has retained.
The plea, filed by Delhi's water minister Atishi, has made the Centre, Bharatiya Janata Party-governed Haryana and Congress-ruled Himachal Pradesh parties to the petition and said access to water is essential for survival and one of the basic human rights.
If we as citizens, do not take ownership of public places, public facilities and public conveniences, Swachh Bharat will remain just a hollow slogan, notes Biswajit Dasgupta.
The Indian Navy's specialist team had protected them from nine armed pirates, and completed sanitization and seaworthiness checks of fishing vessel Al-Kambar.
Preventive measures are in place and the forecast suggests further improvement, said the statutory body responsible for forming air pollution reduction strategies for the region and their implementation.
Along with Modi, senior BJP leaders including Rajnath Singh, Amit Shah, Nitin Gadkari, Nirmala Sitharaman and S Jaishankar, all ministers in Modi 2.0 Cabinet, took oath as cabinet ministers at the Rashtrapati Bhavan. In all, 71 ministers were sworn-in along with Modi, taking the strength of the Union council to 72.
'The response from the government using words like malicious, deliberate, etc is diverting from the real issue.' 'The indicators related to young children such as stunting or child mortality are a reflection of the social development in the country.' 'That's how we have to look at it and not ignore the issue by denying the data.'
The cause of the death was cardiac arrest, t aide said
The hapless voters fervently hope that they get to make a more equal choice in the next election and political discourse in the country becomes positive and more enlightened. One wonders if the masses would become more politically aware to discern good intent and performance from gimmickry, notes Biswajit Dasgupta.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath appeared to make a pitch in the assembly for a temple where a mosque stands now in Mathura, saying that Krishna Kanhaiya wouldn't have it any other way.
With water receding from most areas in Chennai and its suburbs, sanitation and conservancy workers face the mammoth task of removing one lakh tons of stinking garbage littering the streets as bright sunshine further eased the situation.
Maharashtra government on Wednesday decided to acquire the iconic Air India building at Nariman Point in Mumbai for Rs 1,601 crore. The decision was taken at a meeting of the state cabinet in Mumbai. The meeting, chaired by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, also decided to waive off around Rs 250 crore unrealised income and interest on the property, an official said.
Municipal corporations penalise late property tax payments. 'Penalties can include attachment of properties, bank accounts, rent and other movable assets," says Anand Moorthy, co-founder, Square Yards.
Aadujeevitham marks a new direction for Malayalam cinema, where ambition meets resources and the right people, all in favour of stories that deserve to be told on the biggest stage of them all, notes Arjun Menon.
The sanitation workers of the three municipal corporations of Delhi on Monday agreed before the high court to call off their strike and resume work immediately after MCDs said they have released their wages which would be received by all within two days.
'Not sorry to any politician. Ever. No one. Any party. FIR kar lo (register an FIR). Case kar lo (register a case). Koi farak nahi padta (it doesn't make any difference) - I am not a pushover - won't be bullied. Don't make an issue where there is none. It might be an election year - but people are smart. Indori people - super smart. I'll come to Indore when I wish, as many times I wish - and am confident of Indori mehmaan nawazi (good hospitality)'
Terming this occasion as special, CM Yogi said that liquor shops should be kept closed in the state on January 22.
Which entrepreneur would willingly part with her or his hard-earned money for grasping, self-serving politicians? asks Debashis Basu.
India ranked 111th out of 125 countries in the Global Hunger Index-2023, which was rejected by the government as erroneous and having malafide intent. The index, released on Thursday, also stated that India has the highest child wasting rate in the world at 18.7 per cent, reflecting acute undernutrition. India ranked 107th out of 121 countries in the 2022 edition of the Global Hunger Index (GHI), a tool for comprehensively measuring and tracking hunger at global, regional, and national levels.
'If people don't see you, they might be hesitant, but once they see you, they are confident that this is the person they will vote for,' says political debutant Shambhavi Choudhury, 25, alumnus of the Lady Sriram College and the Delhi School of Economics.
'Sweden removed the inheritance tax because many of the rich were fleeing. For example, the owner of IKEA had migrated out of Sweden'
More lives in Gaza are at risk from diseases than bombings, warns the World Health Organisation (WHO) amid the ongoing Israeli siege, Al Jazeera reported.
The Yatri Niwas Bhagwati Nagar in Jammu serves as the main base camp for the pilgrims from across the country.
Researchers found that India, along with China and Japan, were the three leading countries in Asia in terms of number of new cases and deaths, where they say cancer has become a more significant public health threat with 94 lakh new cases and 56 lakh deaths in 2019.
Commuters had a harrowing time as traffic came to a standstill in various parts of the city as sanitation workers blocked major thoroughfares such as NH 24 and Vikas Marg.
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