-Economic and Political Weekly The Indian weaver is dismissed in high places as an embarrassing anachronism, despite demand for his or her skills and products. In the new millennium, globalisation and a mindless acquiescence to imported notions of a good life threaten to take over, even as the West looks East for better concepts of sustainable living. Analysing today's crisis in the handloom sector, plagued by low-cost imitations from power looms,...

-NDTV New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi's pet project, the Swachh Bharat Abhiyaan, has cost thrown up an ad bill of nearly Rs. 100 crore, according to information revealed through a Right to Information or RTI application.   The government has spent 94 crore only on print, radio and television ads to promote the cleanliness mission that PM Modi launched on Mahatma Gandhi's birth anniversary October 2 last year. The BJP-led government's bill matches...

There is some positive news about national progress in sanitation and drinking water. A newly released report from UNICEF and WHO informs us that the country has witnessed 31 percent reduction in open defecation since 1990. This means 394 million Indians no more defecate in the open. The bad news, however, is that the progress in ‘population not practising open defecation’ among the poorest has been slower during the last 20...

-NDTV Raisen, Madhya Pradesh:  A toilet scam has apparently been flourishing in Madhya Pradesh's Raisen district. This was the conclusion the state government came to, after disbursing nearly 1 crore over the last three years under the State's Samagra Swachta Abhiyaan, sources told NDTV. On paper the district has 4000 toilets -- only a fraction of them can be found on the ground. "The Sub Divisional Magistrate has served notices to 44 sarpanchs,...

-NDTV Gholgagon, Madhya Pradesh: Twenty protestors, from Gholgagon village along the Narmada river in Madhya Pradesh, have been standing in waist-deep water for the last 25 days. The soles of their feet are completely stripped of skin and are infected with fungal sores. "Our health condition is deteriorating, epidermal skin from the soles of our feet is peeling. This has made standing and walking very difficult," says 63-year-old Sakku Bai, who's been...