-The Times of India NEW DELHI: In one-fourth of nearly two lakh villages, which have been declared open defecation free (ODF), all houses don't have toilets, according to the integrated data that the Centre maintains. Finding this difference, the drinking water and sanitation ministry has asked states to update the data so that there is no MISmatch. Villages can become open-defecation free only when each household has an individual latrine. The government...
More »SEARCH RESULT
Burden of farming outweighs rewards: Is India staring at another Nandigram moment? - Rajesh Mahapatra
-Hindustan Times Interventions such as loan waivers or MSP revisions can at best offer temporary succour. At worst, they deflect attention from the real issues behind the crisis that has been in the making for long On March 14, 2007, when 14 farmers died in a clash between villagers and police forces in Nandigram of West Bengal over acquisition of land for an industrial project, few had imagined it would mark a...
More »3 killed in Meghalaya landslide, 30,000 hit by floods in Assam -Manosh Das & Anup Dutta
-The Times of India SHILLONG/ JORHAT: At least three people, including a minor, were killed and two women reported MISsing following a massive landslide in Meghalaya's Ri-Bhoi district on Saturday morning. "The landslide occurred inside an industrial area of the Meghalaya Industrial Development Corporation in Umiam," said Ramesh Singh, Ri-Bhoi SP. The disaster was triggered by incessant rain in the region for the past few days. With more people feared trapped under...
More »Waiving farm loans is not only bad for the economy but also detrimental to interests of the farmer -Ram Singh
-The Economic Times blog Farmers, from Punjab in the north to Tamil Nadu in the south, have started agitations demanding farm loans be waived. The Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra governments have already considered it politically expedient to write them off. Some other states may follow the suit. However, such decisions are as MISguided as they are MISleading. Nonetheless, it will be a MIStake to treat the agitations as a domino effect of...
More »Government targets 146 districts to accelerate India's population control drive -Sushmi Dey
-The Times of India NEW DELHI:To achieve the country's population control target faster, the government has decided to accelerate family planning measures by identifying 146 districts where the total fertility rate (TFR, the number of children born per woman) is more than three and which add up to 28% of the population. The health ministry is set to roll out "MISsion Parivar Vikas" in these districts to improve access to family planning...
More »