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Thursday, February 19, 2026
TopicOpen defecation

Topic: open defecation

On World Toilet Day, a look at India’s sanitation data and the ground realities

Kairvy Grewal -
Every year on 19 November, the UN celebrates World Toilet Day to create awareness about the 4.2 billion people who are living without ‘safely managed sanitation’.

Study finds Indian households with female children reduce practice of open defecation

Kairvy Grewal -
The study found a reduction in open defecation owing to a firstborn child being a girl far greater in poor urban households than richer ones.

More people in rural India defecate in open than what govt’s household survey shows: Study

Sangita Vyas -
India’s Demographic and Health Survey that asks household-level questions greatly underestimates open defecation among households with latrines.

Roshni, the Shivpuri Dalit girl killed for ‘open defecation’, wanted to become a doctor

Samyak Pandey -
Roshni, 12, and her minor nephew Avinash were beaten to death in MP for allegedly defecating in the open, triggering a wave of shame and anger in the country.

This Delhi village was declared open defecation-free by its BJP MP in 2018. Except it isn’t

Fatima Khan -
North-West Delhi MP Udit Raj had declared Jheemarpura ODF in May 2018, but residents still complain of a lack of toilets and other infrastructure.

Use of public toilets costs slum dwellers 104 times what those with own toilets spend

Fatima Khan -
Study suggests the high user charges are undermining the benefits of the Modi government’s flagship Swachh Bharat Abhiyan.

The Indian state where development is more on a par with Pakistan than India

Ratnadeep Choudhary -
Like Pakistan, Uttar Pradesh is home to about 200 million people, which it can’t seem to take care of very well.

Modi wants open defecation-free India but his own adopted village paints a dirty picture

Ruhi Tewari -
Rural Development Ministry data shows Modi's village Nagepur in Varanasi is not open defecation-free, scores zero out of three.

Gujarat ‘open defecation-free’, but CAG flushes Modi govt’s claim down the toilet

Nandita Singh -
The CAG report, tabled in Gujarat assembly, shows nearly 30% of the households in 120 gram panchayats do not have toilets. 

Bangladesh and Tanzania have a lesson or two for India on open defecation

Bloomberg View -
Like Bangladesh and Tanzania, India can adopt strategies that generate shame and disgust to trigger collective action.
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Opinion

India-Pakistan T20 World Cup match coverage shows it’s no longer cricket—politics & business

Shailaja Bajpai -
The ‘great rivalry’ angle was also blown out of proportion, given that India now holds a handsome record of wins against Pakistan in T20 World Cup matches—8-1.

‘Jo uchit samjho woh karo’—five words that exposed India’s civil-military ambiguity

India’s centre-state relations need reset—though not as radical as Stalin claims

Economy

In the West, there’s anxiety. In India, optimism—Rishi Sunak says India poised to be leader in AI

Vrinda Tulsian -
On Wednesday, the former UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak was speaking in New Delhi at a Carnegie & Observer Research Foundation event on AI.

Defence

US military commander, envoy Sergio Gor visit Indian Army Western Command, Bengaluru next

Snehesh Alex Philip -
At the Western Army Command, the American delegation was briefed on the capabilities of the formation, past operations and the path ahead.

National Interest

The new Great Game—Trump’s playing for time, China for leverage & India for wiggle room

Shekhar Gupta -
This is the game every nation is now learning to play. Some are finding new allies or seeing value among nations where they’d seen marginal interest. The starkest example is India & Europe.

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