-Livemint.com Labour unions are reinventing their strategy to stay relevant in today’s world New Delhi: Ajitesh Pandey, a law student in Calcutta University, is excited about the 2 September strike called by labour unions. With almost child-like enthusiasm, the member of the Indian National Trade Union Congress (INTUC), has been sharing pictures, slogans, and details related to the protest with his friends and colleagues. Pandey’s excitement reflects a surprising vibrancy in how unions...

-The Hindu Most Dalits are not allowed entry into temples in villages; common crematoriums too are out of bounds to them, says activist. Ahmedabad: For the last three days, Gujarat’s Dalit community has been seething with anger over the public flogging of a group of Dalits who were skinning a dead cow in Mota Samadhiyala, a village near Una town in Saurashtra region on July 11. Four of them were brutally beaten with...

-PTI Vigilante groups target Dalits as they are "soft targets" while refraining from confronting those involved in cow slaughter: fact finding team. Ahmedabad: A fact finding team which visited Gujarat’s Una town in connection with the brutal assault of Dalits, has claimed to have found a new trend among ‘cow vigilantes’ to show bravado by making a particular Dalit community as their “soft target”. The incident of beating up of seven Dalit youths...

-The Hindu Widespread chewing, legendary paan shops and a ‘so-what’ attitude trump disease concerns. Chennai: Union Health Minister J. P. Nadda promised concerned members in the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday that he would advise all States to ban spitting in public. He was reassuring several MPs led by K.T.S Tulsi, who expressed worry that “the great Indian spit” was causing many communicable diseases. Yet, most municipal laws already prohibit spitting and prescribe penalties....

-The Times of India New Delhi: Only 16 districts in India have so far become open defecation free (ODF) - an indication of the formidable challenge ahead in achieving complete sanitation across 677 districts in the next three-and-half years. Government officials admit the deadline of October, 2019, is a tough one, though they have set year-wise goals. In the first phase, 163 districts have been identified and during the next financial year,...