-Down to Earth Union ministry issues orders to all states to meet target of constructing 5.2 million toilets by end of August The Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation on Friday finalised its 100-day plan, under which it has decided to construct one toilet every second by the end of August this year. Sarswati Prasad, joint secretary for sanitation, issued an order to each state, giving them their respective targets for the next...

-The Indian Express Despite the bureaucratic mindset, there are also tremendous positive effects. As speculation mounts by the day that the Modi government is thinking of winding up the Planning Commission, this is an opportune moment to reflect on the relevance of the institution in the context of a rapidly changing Indian economy and society. One way of classifying institutions is in terms of the balance between their potential positive power (PPP) and...

-Down to Earth   The Badaun rape incident shows how vulnerable women are to sexual violence when there are no toilets in homes The shocking incident of gang rape and murder of two minor girls in Uttar Pradesh's Badaun district has drawn horrified reactions from leaders across the world. While most of the media attention has been on the apathy and insensitivity shown by the Akhilesh Yadav government and the police force, what...

-The Hindu   It is creditable that Narendra Modi seeks inspiration for his growth model from China and Japan rather than the U.S., which is a high-cost, specialist-driven model The old adage ‘health is wealth' was given legitimacy by no less a personage than Professor Jeffrey Sachs, who in 2000, chaired the World Health Organization's Commission on Macroeconomics and Health (CMH). The CMH report brought forth indisputable evidence of the link between health,...

-The Hindustan Times     On the first day on his job, rural development minister Gopinath Munde hinted that the Modi government could go for restructuring of the rural job scheme NREGA.   He also defended the land acquisition bill saying it was not against industrialisation and urbanization.   Talking to reporters after taking charge on Tuesday, he said he liked NREGA but it needed changes. "This scheme is best for villages. Basically, people get employment, but proper...