-The Business Standard But urban homelessness has increased As part of the 2011 census operations the government took a count of homeless people across the country on the night of February 28, 2011. The numbers of India's homeless population emerging from that survey were made public a few days ago. Although a single-day exercise has many advantages, some people have also contested it - at least one non-governmental organisation working in the...

-The United Nations Sustainable cities are an aspiration as the number of slum dwellers continues to rise and the rate of urbanization skyrockets, a senior United Nations official today said, ahead of an upcoming UN forum that will focus on creating cities and towns more economically, socially and politically accessible. "One of the main aspects in urbanization is to diminish the level of inequality because it presents a new set of social...

-Governance Now Data on ‘missing' or ‘dead' toilets - that is, toilets that exist on paper but not in reality - is a wake-up call for policymakers, says study 3,75,76,324 is the number of missing toilets in rural and urban India, according to a report collated by the Right to Sanitation Campaign based on government figures in the report titled ‘In Deep Shit'. What is a ‘missing toilet'? As the phrase suggests, it is...

-The Business Standard Berhampur (Odisha): The expert team of the World Bank and Asian Development Bank (ADB) on Wednesday visited different areas of the cyclone Phailin-hit Ganjam district in Odisha to assess the damage caused due to the calamity. Divided in groups, the 14-member team along with the government officers visited different areas including slum pockets in Berhampur, fishermen and coastal villages in Ganjam, Chhatrapur and Rangeilunda blocks. The team led by the...

-Live Mint/ Bloomberg As much as better policies and better tax system, it's the humble toilet that can be an engine of future Indian growth On Tuesday, the United Nations marked its inaugural World Toilet Day, designed to draw attention to the fact that more than one-sixth of humanity still lacks indoor sanitation, and that the world needs new ideas and technologies to deal with one of the most basic...