-The Telegraph The CSE alleges that the surveyors did not visit all the cities they ranked Calcutta: The recently released annual survey report on the Swachh Bharat mission, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s pet project, paints an “over-exaggerated” picture of its success and is riddled with “anomalies”, an environment think tank has claimed. The Delhi-based Centre for Science and Environment has said the Swachh Survekshan 2019 was a rushed job, sped up to allow...

-PTI Southern states continue to lead the pack on the crucial measure, where the country is ranked 130th globally, but are staring at a different trouble, the report notes. Mumbai: Uttar Pradesh and Bihar continue to languish on the human development index (HDI) front, while others, including Haryana and Himachal, have shown an improvement in the past 27 years, says a report. The industrially progressive Gujarat and Maharashtra have slipped in the HDI...

-The Indian Express A recent Democracy Index confirms the paradox of India being the world’s largest electoral wonder, but an increasingly flawed democracy. The Economist Intelligence Unit recently published its 11th report on the “State of Democracy in the World in 2018” titled “Me Too? Political participation, protest and democracy”. The EIU has over seven decades of experience in studying the spectrum of democracies in the world. The index made news...

-The Hindu Ill fares the land where wealth accumulates, and the social and natural environment suffer As the general elections approach, it would be politic to take stock of the progress made by the incumbent party and look out for the areas that call for particular attention by the one that gains power. Without anticipating complete agreement on the indicators that ought to be used, I look at the changes since 2014...

-The Hindu Business Line NITI Aayog Vice-Chairman Rajiv Kumar on Friday indicated that there has been progress in the efforts to empower States to compete and improve on the basis of governance. “If States have to derive democratic dividends, the only way is to facilitate them to compete with each on the basis of good governance. There is good news that States in the country are beginning to take NITI Aayog’s Rankings...