The Swachh Bharat Mission needs a broader vision of what constitutes cleanliness India’s Swachh Bharat Mission is receiving global praise for attempting to close the sanitation gap of nearly 60% of the rural population not having access to a toilet at home in 2014. The NDA government invoked Mahatma Gandhi’s …

Brazil votes this week in an election charged by an anti-establishment campaign The campaign for Sunday’s elections in Brazil is beset by an anti-establishment mood, as in several democracies. Legislators at the state and national levels are being elected, but it is the contest for the President’s post that has …

The government’s revised guidelines for conducting exams for persons with disabilities are unfair and regressive In an 1850 report, Samuel Gridley Howe, popularly considered the ‘father of the American blind’, emphatically wrote: “The blind as a class, are inferior to other persons in mental power and ability.” It is dismaying …

The progression from poor to bourgeois to elite is a welcome evolution in nation-building — the apex court missed it As citizens, we expect two certainties from any verdict on public policy by a constitution bench of the Supreme Court. One, it must hold whether the underlying principle(s) is/are consistent …

We need a clean environment for human empowerment Yesterday, the United Nations honoured me with the Champions of the Earth Award. While I was extremely humbled at receiving this honour, I do feel that this award is not for an individual. Instead, it is recognition of the Indian culture and …

Abolition of untouchability in all its forms, including scavenging, remains an unrealised constitutional right “The issue of the rights of sweepers and scavengers has never entered the mainstream legal consciousness in the country,” wrote Upendra Baxi in Law and Poverty: Critical Essays . “Nor have the Bar and the Bench, …

The Museum of Goa (MoG) Foundation will hold a “colourful flying exhibition” titled “Freedom is in the air” to celebrate the recent striking down of Section 377 of India Penal Code by the Supreme Court of India, from November 10 to 30. Celebrated Goan artist and sculptor Subodh Kerakar, Director …

UN agreement now expands to 70 countries The 28-nation European Union on Monday ratified the Marrakesh treaty to ease access to reading material for people who are print-disabled the world over. The coverage of the 2013 United Nations treaty now expands to 70 countries across the globe, according to a …

As politicians embark on their final days of campaigning for Bosnian elections on Sunday, there is one small corner of the country where they cannot pass: Podgora, a poor hamlet fed up with the government’s broken promises. “You’ve been lying to us for years. No party is welcome in Podgora,” …

UNESCO declared Sabratha to be at risk in 2016, mainly due to damage caused by armed groups Perched on the edge of Libya’s Mediterranean coast, the ancient city of Sabratha remains an awe-inspiring spectacle, the pink columns of its amphitheatre towering above turquoise waters. But the world heritage site is …

The German-French observation device is part of a mission to find clues to the solar system’s origins A Japanese probe launched a new observation robot towards an asteroid on Wednesday as it pursues a mission to shed light on the origins of the solar system. The Hayabusa2 probe launched the …

Tightening the norms for issuance of e-way bill, the GST Network has made it mandatory for businesses and transporters to mention PIN codes of places of loading and unloading of consignments. Quoting of PIN codes will help in calculating the correct distance and determine the validity of the e-way bill, …

Hindustan Oil Exploration Company Ltd. (HOEC) has signed a revenue sharing contract with the Government of India for the exploration block in Assam it won under the Open Acerage Licensing Policy (OALP) Bid Round I. The bid round-I of OALP was launched in January 2018 under the liberalised Hydrocarbon Exploration …

BoI has highest exposure with Rs. 2,388 cr., followed by SBI at Rs. 2,140 crore Lenders to the crisis-hit Infrastructure Leasing and Financial Services, which has dues of Rs. 34,480 crore are keeping their fingers crossed. Almost all the public sector banks have exposure to the group companies of IL&FS. …

With banks stopping refinancing and major shareholders not agreeing on fresh equity infusion, IL&FS started facing a liquidity crunch leading to loan defaults, according to a former board member. As long as banks were refinancing, there was no asset-liability mismatch. However, such refinancing started drying up since 2015, which forced …

Move will provide additional return of Rs. 62,635 crore to farmers: Centre In what should come as a boost to farmers, the Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved raising the minimum support prices of rabi crops such as wheat, barley, gram, masur, rapeseed and mustard, and safflower for 2018-19. “Giving a …

Firm had a non-functioning Risk Management Committee that met just once, says govt.Default by firm could have led to cancellation of licences of 1,500 smaller NBFCsConsolidated group loss of Rs. 2,670 cr. in2017-18 and a leveraging of 13 times equity Concerns of a “catastrophic” impact on the financial markets if …

Seeks to overcome differences, unite fractious parties Veteran Iraqi politician and now Prime Minister designate Adel Abdel Mahdi on Wednesday began the tough task of forming the next government, seeking to overcome sharp differences and unite fractious political parties. In a surprise move on Tuesday, new President Barham Saleh handed …

They harnessed the power of evolution to produce novel proteins Two Americans and a Briton won the 2018 Nobel Prize for Chemistry on Wednesday for harnessing the power of evolution to produce novel proteins used in everything from environmentally friendly detergents and biofuels to cancer drugs. The fruits of this …

Former President of the Maldives and exiled leader Mohamed Nasheed on Wednesday said he intends to return to the troubled island nation soon, “come what may”. Regarded a “fugitive” by the outgoing President Abdulla Yameen’s administration, Mr. Nasheed has been living in exile the last couple of years, largely in …