-The Times of India In the cleaning of nearly 13 lakh insanitary dry toilets across the country, human beings and animals play an almost equal role, the Supreme Court was told on Monday. In what could deal a severe blow to the sanitation claims of successive governments, petitioner NGO 'Safai Karmachari Andolan' culled out data from the 2011 census report to inform the court that 4.97 lakh dry toilets were "serviced by...

-People's Democracy IT seems the Sheila Dixit government of Delhi, backed by powerful elements in the UPA-2 central government, will let nothing stand in the way of water privatisation in the capital. Several earlier attempts going back many years to fully or partially privatise distribution of water, especially the big loan application to the World Bank in 2005, were foiled by vigilant community organisations, public interest groups, trade unions and political...

-The Hindu An important bill that seeks to protect women, including domestic workers, from sexual harassment at workplace was passed in the Lok Sabha on Monday, even as the House witnessed din and disruption over coal blocks allocation for the ninth day. The Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Bill, 2010, was passed without discussion, as BJP members stood in the well, shouting slogans demanding the resignation of...

-The Times of India The government may be standing firm against scrapping coal block allotments to private companies but a high-level official panel for monitoring progress in these mines is pitching for largescale de-allocation to "defuse the current crisis" over Coalgate. "Out of the 90 coal blocks allocated to private players since 1993, 60 coal blocks with 6.7 billion tonnes (estimated reserves) valued at nearly Rs 2 lakh crore can be cancelled...

-The Hindu A campaign launched by a community service institution to make selected villages in Bharatpur district of Rajasthan shed the below poverty line (BPL) tag has immensely benefited the poor families in the region and facilitated creation of new employment opportunities, small entrepreneurships and income-generating ventures. The youth and women are especially getting involved in new enterprises in large numbers. Kheria Purohit village in Deeg tehsil of Bharatpur district, where 15...