-The Hindu While sanitation schemes in India date back to the British Raj, Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM) is the latest and by far most ambitious iteration. Launched by India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the end of 2014, the Rs.9,000-crore scheme aims to achieve an Open Defecation-Free (ODF) India by constructing 12 million rural household toilets across the country before October 2, 2019 — to coincide with Mahatma Gandhi’s 150th birthday. But...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: The Centre has asked PSUs and government entities to pick up the tab for functions to mark three years of the Modi government across 543 districts where events called "Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas Sammelan" are being held from May 27 to June 18. According to an official communication to 45 such entities, the objectives of these programmes have been set out as informing the public about...

-The Telegraph New Delhi: The government's ban on cattle and buffalo sales for slaughter in animal markets will hurt not just meat sellers but also farmers across communities and could spark a milk shortage, meat dealers today said. "This is a very impractical move. It is totally anti-farmer," said Yusuf Quraishi, president of the Uttar Pradesh unit of the All India Jamiat-ul-Quraish. Most of those engaged in slaughtering animals are Muslims from...

-The Telegraph New Delhi: The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh's labour arm has accused the Niti Aayog of being committed to a powerful corporate lobby, said it was responsible for giving the Narendra Modi government an anti-labour face and called for revamping the think tank. The Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh's scathing criticism of the think tank - that has replaced the Congress-era Planning Commission - coincided with celebrations by the BJP and the government to...

-GoIMonitor.com Unemployment, irregular jobs and low salaries continue to hurt India while it continues to embrace labour reforms PRIME MINISTER Narendra Modi pitched for greater use of technology through an unusual equation ‘IT+IT= IT’ which had Internet in splits and Twitterartis trending #pinksliprevolution to underscore the impending layoffs in India’s famed IT sector. But the country’s unemployment saga lies far beyond the glass towers and high figure pay cheques. Around 77 per...