-Al Jazeera The Internet and mobile communication are doing the most unexpected - resurrecting hoary languages given up for lost. In the language of the Bhatu Kolhati, a remote nomadic tribe in India's western Maharashtra state, tatti means tea and gulle is meat. But, Kuldeep Musale, 30, who belongs to this tribe barely remembers his mother tongue. Well educated and having studied in boarding schools since he was six, Musale instead uses...

-The Telegraph The Centre has announced sweeping changes in rural employment scheme NREGA ahead of next summer's elections, promising family members of job cardholders more benefits and faster payments besides including new projects. Most changes are aimed at reducing payment delays, described by beneficiaries and activists as the bane of the UPA's showcase welfare plan. A highlight of the revamp is a plan to engage a family member of an NREGA worker as...

A new report from Right to Sanitation Campaign in India entitled: In Deep Shit paints a gloomy picture about the position of India's sanitation, and simultaneously draws our attention to the case of ‘missing' and ‘dead' toilets. The report has questioned the claims made by the Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation (MDWS) that India is making great strides in availing toilets to its rural population through the Nirmal Bharat...

-The Hindu New data on the status of drinking water and sanitation released by the National Sample Survey Organisation on Tuesday indicated a far better state of affairs than that detailed in the 2011 Census. Conducted just a year after the Census, the 69th round of the National Sample Survey found significantly better levels of access to drinking water and toilets. Over 46 per cent of households in rural India and...

-The Hindustan Times Two leaders on opposite sides of the political spectrum have expressed similar views on this. Both minister for rural development Jairam Ramesh and the BJP's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi have spoken about the need for toilets above temples. And they could not be more right. More than 620 million people - over 50% of the population - have to conduct their ablutions in the open. Madhya Pradesh, where more...