-The Indian Express Urban areas require a different approach to end open defecation. The Swachh Bharat Mission is being executed by two different ministries — the Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation for rural areas and the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs for urban areas. In the rural areas, the major challenge was to change the mindset of the populace so that they would start using household Toilets rather than...

-The Hindu The campaign to end open defecation can succeed only if it takes communities with it India’s declaration on the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi that its rural areas are now open defecation-free will be acknowledged around the world as a milestone in its developmental journey. Cleanliness and sanitation were central to Gandhi’s concerns for his vast number of impoverished countrymen, and should ideally have been pursued zealously by governments...

-Hindustan Times More than one-third of police personnel would be willing to give up their profession if they were given a chance to join another job with the same salaries and perks, the survey found. A survey conducted across 21 Indian states by non-governmental organisations Common Cause and Lokniti – Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS), has found police personnel to be under stress due to workload, poor work-life balance,...

-The Hindu General Manager sends SOS to Ministry, warns that onboard housekeeping services will have to be terminated Chennai: Amid an unprecedented cash crunch, the Southern Railway has sent an SOS to the Ministry of Railways that if adequate funds are not allotted by August-end, it would have no option but to terminate onboard housekeeping services (OBHS), pest control and supply of linen contracts on all 110 long-distance trains. While officials prepare to...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: About 100 district court complexes in the country out of 665 have no Toilets for women. And those which have washrooms, only 40% are fully functional, according to a latest survey of all the district courts across the country. Half of the district courts in the country had no designated waiting areas while only 39% were full service court complexes with post office, bank branch,...