The heart-wrenching pictures of the amusement park in Khan Younis capture a devastating
contrast, where vibrant echoes of children’s laughter are replaced by screams of horror, a grim depiction of how Israeli bombardment has left Palestine, particularly Gaza, in ruins.
Despite the Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act (PEMSR Act, 2013) legally banning the dehumanizing practice of manual scavenging in India, the crisis persists. Deadly accidents during sewer and septic tank cleaning tragically demonstrate the failure of implementation, showing that this decades-old scourge remains a fatal reality.
Taking this matter into consideration, the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment (MoSJE) in convergence with the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) launched the National Action for Mechanised Sanitation Ecosystem (NAMASTE) scheme in July 2023. The scheme is to be implemented with an outlay of Rs. 349.70 crore, over the three-year period up to 2025-26, in all 4800+ Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) of the country.
The National Food Security Act (NFSA), 2013, was introduced by the Government of India to strengthen the Public Distribution System (PDS) in India, in order to provide food and nutritional security by ensuring access to food of sufficient quantity and quality to all beneficiaries. Before this Act, all households of India with a valid ration card received a fixed amount of commodities at a subsidised rate under the Targeted Public Distribution System.
India has been working on women’s and children’s health for over a decade now. It has not been in vain. Maternal deaths have dropped. More babies are born safely in hospitals. Vaccines reach even the remotest corners.
The North East Road Sector Development Scheme was launched during the Financial Year 2015-16, to take up rehabilitation, construction, and/or upgradation of the following categories of roads (including bridges on the roads) in the North Eastern Region (NER) in order of priority:
The India Maritime Week (IMW) 2025, inaugurated at the NESCO Exhibition Centre in Mumbai, marks one of the world’s largest maritime gatherings, bringing together over 100 nations, 1,00,000+ delegates, 500 exhibitors, and 350 global speakers. The week-long event thus conducted celebrates not only India’s deep maritime legacy but also its modern ambitions to become a global maritime leader by 2047.
The enactment of India’s Mental Healthcare Act (2017) by the Indian Parliament on April 7, 2017, heralded a transformative, rights-based paradigm shift in the delivery of mental healthcare. The act unequivocally asserts that access to high-quality mental healthcare is an inherent right of individuals living with mental health conditions. Throughout the drafting process and subsequent to its enactment, the act encountered considerable opposition from various stakeholders, notably mental healthcare professionals.