Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

Indian politician toilet video goes viral

AN Indian ruling party politician has been left red-faced after a video of him urinating in public went viral on World Toilet Day, despite government efforts to stop people relieving themselves in the open.

Ram Shinde, a minister for water conservation in the western state of Maharashtra, was filmed answering the call of nature in a field by the side of a road Saturday.


The clip spread online the following day. November 19 marks the United Nations' official World Toilet Day, which aims to raise awareness about the health risks caused by a lack of lavatories.

Shinde, a member of India's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, defended his actions with an excuse familiar to many, effectively saying: "When you've got to go, you've got to go".

"I have been travelling continuously for the last one month reviewing the Jalyukta Shivar scheme," he told an international news source, referring to drought-prone Maharashtra's water conservation programme.

"Continuous travelling in high temperatures and dust made me ill. I was suffering from fever and when I couldn't find a toilet while travelling, I had to relieve myself in the open."

India is notorious for its lack of toilets. Some 70 percent of Indian households do not have them while around 600 million people, nearly half the population, defecate in the open, according to UNICEF.

Three years ago, Prime Minister Narendra Modi pledged to build toilets for everyone by 2019.

The government has so far helped install more than 50 million lavatories across the country of 1.25 billion people and has been encouraging citizens to break old habits and use them.

International news outlets said the incident occurred on a stretch of road between the cities of Barshi and Solapur in the south west of Maharashtra, of which Mumbai is the state capital.

(AFP)

More For You

ve-day-getty

VE Day 80 street parties, picnics and community get togethers are being encouraged to take place across the country as part of the Great British Food Festival. (Photo: Getty Images)

Public invited to attend VE Day 80 procession and flypast

THE 80th anniversary of Victory in Europe (VE) Day will be marked with a military procession in London on May 5.

The event will include over 1,300 members of the Armed Forces, youth groups, and uniformed services marching from Parliament Square to Buckingham Palace.

Keep ReadingShow less
Knife crimes

Knife-enabled crimes include cases where a blade or sharp instrument was used to injure or threaten, including where the weapon was not actually seen.

Getty Images/iStockphoto

Knife crime in London accounts for a third of national total: ONS

KNIFE-RELATED crime in London made up almost a third of all such offences recorded in England and Wales in 2024, with the Metropolitan Police logging 16,789 incidents, according to figures released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) on Thursday.

This amounts to one offence every 30 minutes in the capital and represents 31 per cent of the 54,587 knife-enabled crimes reported across England and Wales last year. The total number marks a two per cent rise from 53,413 offences in 2023.

Keep ReadingShow less
Starmer and Modi

Starmer and Modi shake hands during a bilateral meeting in the sidelines of the G20 summit at the Museum of Modern Art in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Brazil, on November 18, 2024.

Getty Images

Starmer calls Modi over Kashmir attack; expresses condolences

PRIME MINISER Keir Starmer spoke to Indian prime minister Narendra Modi on Friday morning following the deadly attack in Kashmir’s Pahalgam region that killed 26 people on Tuesday.

According to a readout from 10 Downing Street, Starmer said he was horrified by the devastating terrorist attack and expressed deep condolences on behalf of the British people to those affected, their loved ones, and the people of India. The two leaders agreed to stay in touch.

Keep ReadingShow less
 Post Office Horizon

A Post Office van parked outside the venue for the Post Office Horizon IT inquiry at Aldwych House on January 11, 2024 in London, England. (Photo: Getty Images)

Getty Images

Post Office spent £600m to keep Horizon despite plans to replace it: Report

THE POST OFFICE has spent more than £600 million of public funds to continue using the Horizon IT system, according to a news report.

Despite deciding over a decade ago to move away from the software, the original 1999 contract with Fujitsu prevented the Post Office from doing so, as it did not own the core software code, a BBC investigation shows.

Keep ReadingShow less
Pahalgam attack: Prayer meet held at Indian mission in London

The prayer meet was led by Indian High Commissioner to the UK Vikram Doraiswami

Pahalgam attack: Prayer meet held at Indian mission in London

Mahesh Liloriya

A PRAYER meet was held at the Gandhi Hall in the High Commission of India in London on Thursday (24) to pay respects to the victims of the Pahalgam terrorist attack.

Chants of ‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai’ rang out at the event which was led by Indian High Commissioner to the UK Vikram Doraiswami.

Keep ReadingShow less