-The Indian Express Swachh Bharat needs everyone to want a toilet and use it all the time. How can rural sanitation really take off? The stories of missing and badly constructed toilets, of toilets not being used or used as stores, and some only being used by some in the family or some of the time, of people preferring open defecation and considering it healthier, are endless. Political priority, increased subsidy...

Recently meat sale and consumption was banned in five BJP-ruled states of Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Haryana and Gujarat on the pretext of not hurting the religious sentiments of Jain community during Paryushan festival. Earlier this year, beef consumption and sale was banned in Maharashtra with the passage of Maharashtra Animal Preservation (Amendment) Bill, 1995. A few days back, a Muslim man named Mohammad Akhlaq was lynched by a Hindu mob...

-The Hindu The Compensatory Afforestation Bill has raised significant money, which must be used to restore existing forests rather than on artificial plantations On Parliament’s wooden desks, a Bill is knocking. The Compensatory Afforestation Fund Bill seeks to govern how forests will be raised, cut, and resurrected across India. It will be looking at how a fund of Rs. 38,000 crore, collected from cutting down forests, is to be used. Meant initially just...

-Livemint.com Arguments against the initiative, such as violation of net neutrality, splintering the Internet and compromising security and privacy, remain unchanged Mumbai: Is it better for the poor to access a bit of the Internet for free with a few strings attached rather than have no access to it at all? On the face of it, most of us will find it hard to disagree with this proposition. After all, no one...

-Down to Earth India’s public spending on health is among the lowest in South East Asia and BRIC countries The burden of aspirations and expectations seems to be taking a toll on young India, especially males who succumb to suicidal deaths more than their female counterparts, according to the data published by the Central Bureau of Health Intelligence (CBHI). The data showed that over 67 per cent cases of suicidal deaths in...