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 A new independent analysis of the recently released results of the Swachh Survekshan 2019 has unearthed a number of anomalies in the way the survey was conducted and its results, thus threatening an otherwise excellent initiative. The analysis, done by Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), was released here today. “Swachh Survekshan has definitely led to a paradigm shift by increasing awareness and involving citizens in sanitation and waste management issues. However, this year, the programme has been further diluted instead of being strengthened because of political expediency,” said Chandra Bhushan, deputy director general, CSE. A survey compromised Swachh Survekshan was started in 2016 by the Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) to rank and recognise the perfo...

“For God’s sake conduct God out of our national frontiers” is an appeal I have long been longing to make to fellow citizens but, conscious of the morbid religiosity prevailing in the society, have been a bit ambivalent. Kaushik Basu’s article, ‘About divinity’ (IE, March7), comes as a shot in the arm and his so-called third hypothesis — “there is god but he is not that powerful” — is just the fillip I needed. The awkward question of whether God exists or not has been posing itself to mankind throughout history and nobody could ever give a decisive answer. There have always been all sorts of people in the world — firm believers, convinced unbelievers, fanatics, atheists, agnostics and nihilists. The sickening obsession with religion in general in the mid-19th century had prompted Kar...

सफल एवं सार्थक जीवन के लिये व्यक्ति और समाज दोनांे अपना विशेष अर्थ रखते हैं। व्यक्ति समाज से जुड़कर जीता है, इसलिए समाज की आंखों से वह अपने आप को देखता है। साथ ही उसमें यह विवेकबोध भी जागृत रहता है ‘मैं जो हूं, जैसा भी हूं’ इसका मैं स्वयं जिम्मेदार हूं। उसके अच्छे बुरे चरित्र का बिम्ब समाज के दर्पण में तो प्रतिबिम्बित होता ही है, उसका स्वयं का जीवन भी इसकी प्रस्तुति करता है। यह सही है कि हम सबकी एक सामाजिक जिंदगी भी है। हमें उसे भी जीना होता है। हम एक-दूसरे से मिलते हैं, आपस की कहते-सुनते हैं। हो सकता है कि आप बहुत समझदार हों। लोग आपकी सलाह को तवज्जो देते हों। पर यह जरूरी नहीं कि आप अपने आस-पास घट रही हर घटना पर सलाह देने में लगे रहें। हम सबकी एक अपनी अलग दुनिया भी होती है, जिसके लिए समय निकालना भी जरूरी होता है। क्योंकि आध्यात्मिकता जिंदगी जीने का तरीका है खुद के साथ-साथ दूसरों से उचित व्य...

In present era of austerity and national airliner already under heavy debt, Air India should curtail freebies to its Directors and staffers including free air-passes for family-members. Management and staff of public-sector Air India should get benefits according to rules of Union government and not at all in an arbitrarily manner decided by its own board-members who have a definite conflict of interest in such ant-public decisions for which they themselves are beneficiaries. Union government should also study facilities including of free air-tickets provided by private-sector national airliners for family-members of their staffers. It may be pointed out that facilities and benefits provided to staffers of national airliner can and must not be compared with those of international airliner...

Huge amount of public-money wasted in allowing those in legislature, judiciary, bureaucracy and officers of public-sector-undertakings to travel through super-costly Business-Class rather than Economy-Class in domestic flights. It is significant that all those travelling at public-expense if travelling through biggest domestic airliner Indigo have to travel in Economy-Class because fortunately Indigo does not have any Business-Class. If travel can be made in Economy-Class in Indigo flights, there is no reason that those travelling in Business Class of other airliners may not be able to travel in Economy-Class of other airliners having separate Business Class. However all airliners can be directed to reserve first two rows of Economy Class for those presently entitled for travel in Business...