-The Times of India NEW DELHI: With the year 2015 drawing to a close, the Centre has proposed to give a new push to managing the country's water resources by prioritizing its activities for 2016 when it will look beyond Ganga to initiate new projects and complete the ongoing ones. Setting up of the National Bureau of Water Use Efficiency, modernization\expansion of flood forecasting network of the Central Water Commission (CWC), completion...

-The Hindu The National Democratic Alliance government has just introduced a cess of 0.5 per cent on all taxable services for the Swachh Bharat campaign. In February 2016, it will introduce a 2 per cent cess on airfares for all domestic flyers except those flying to remote locations, and international travellers. This cess is meant to fund losses that airlines may incur in connecting to hinterland locations. The Central government loves...

-The Times of India MUMBAI: Women have the right to have safe and decent toilets at all convenient places, observed the Bombay high court on Wednesday upholding the "right to pee" for women who are outdoors. "Women have the right to safe and clean toilets which in a way impacts their right to live with human dignity,'' said a bench of Justice Abhay Oka and Justice Revati Mohite-Dere in their judgment. "One...

-DNA Indian municipalities can adopt the European Union model to achieve zero landfill disposal Budapest: Today, streets and corners littered with garbage are a common sight in almost every Indian city. What’s more, when municipalities actually pick up the trash, they dump it directly in landfills. Until a few months ago when I moved to Budapest, the capital city of Hungary, I thought this situation was inevitable. Then, I travelled to...

-The Times of India A recent Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG ) report on the midday meal scheme highlights the major achievements and short falls in its implementation. Dubbed as the largest such scheme attempted anywhere in the world the midday meal scheme stands out for its inclusive approach, being available to each and every child up to the secondary school level, and its direct impact on improving nutrition levels and...