Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday asserted that access to proper toilets plays a crucial role in reducing infant and child mortality, as he shared a research that highlighted the impact of efforts like the Swachh Bharat Mission.

In a post on X, the Prime Minister said improved sanitation has become a game-changer for public health in India.

“Happy to see research highlighting the impact of efforts like the Swachh Bharat Mission. Access to proper toilets plays a crucial role in reducing infant and child mortality,” PM Modi said on X.

“Clean, safe sanitation has become a game-changer for public health. And, I am glad India has taken the lead in this,” he added.

He shared a link to a research paper on “Toilet construction under the Swachh Bharat Mission and infant mortality in India”, published in the British weekly scientific journal ‘Nature’.

The report said toilet construction increased dramatically across India following the implementation of the Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM) in 2014. The post-SBM period in India exhibited accelerated reductions in infant and child mortality compared to the pre-SBM years, it said.

The Swachh Bharat Mission is a country-wide campaign initiated by the central government on October 2, 2014, to eliminate open defecation and improve solid waste management.

The report also said that based on regression estimates, the provision of toilets at scale may have contributed to averting approximately 60,000 to 70,000 infant deaths annually.

It added that the implementation of transformative sanitation programmes can deliver population health benefits in low and middle-income countries. 

According to a research report cited by PM Modi, the districts with over 30% SBM coverage experienced a reduction of 5.3 fewer infant deaths and 6.7 fewer child deaths per 1,000 live births. This underscores the critical link between improved sanitation and enhanced child health outcomes.

The findings contribute to a growing body of evidence that national sanitation campaigns can lead to substantial public health benefits. They emphasise the necessity for similar interventions in other low and middle-income countries, where sanitation remains a pressing issue.

In the first list released of 67 candidates for the Haryana Assembly elections, the BJP has denied tickets to nine of its sitting MLAs and two Ministers, while fielding Jail officer Sunil Sangwan, who granted Dera Sacha Sauda chief and rape convict Ram Rahim parole six times.

Jail officer Sangwan has been fielded from Charkhi Dadri seat the former BJP leader Somveer Sangwan won as an independent in 2019. Somveer may join Congress if the party gives him a ticket for the seat.

After being displeased with the BJP’s decision to select wrestler Babita Phogat over him for the seat, former BJP leader Somveer ran as an Independent candidate in 2019.

Releasing its first list on Wednesday, the BJP declared names for 67 out of the state’s 90 constituencies. The list included the names of Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini, who will be contesting from the Ladwa constituency, and former Minister Anil Vij from the Ambala Cantonment constituency.

In an attempt to address concerns about anti-incumbency after a decade in power, the saffron party has made significant changes for the upcoming elections. This includes dropping nine sitting MLAs, including Sudhir Singhla from Gurugram.

The party did not name two Cabinet Ministers, Ranjit Chautala and Sitaram Yadav. Additionally, it gave tickets to eight sitting ministers, while the list named 25 new faces. There are also 8 female candidates on the list.

Among the dropped MLAs are Deepak Mangla from Palwal and Narendra Gupta from Faridabad. Two MLAs, Laxman Napa, and Haryana BJP Kisan Morcha State President Sukhwinder Mandi, have resigned from their posts in anger over the situation. Napa has been replaced by former MP Sunita Duggal for the state polls.

Shruti Choudhry, who left the Congress and joined the BJP along with her mother Rajya Sabha MP Kiran Choudhry in June, has been nominated as a candidate from Tosham.

Additionally, three former legislators from the Jannayak Janata Party, which was previously allied with the BJP, have also been selected. These candidates are Devender Singh Babli from Tohana, Ram Kumar Gautam from Safidon, and Anoop Dhanak from Uklana.

Other notable candidates include Deepak Hooda, the former captain of the Indian Kabaddi team, who will be contesting from Meham, and Union Minister Om Prakash Dhankar, who will be running from Badli.

The list of candidates includes eight women, 13 leaders from the Scheduled Castes, and nine from other backward communities (OBCs).

India and Singapore strengthened their ties on Thursday by exchanging four significant Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the island nation. The agreements cover collaboration in digital technologies, the semiconductor sector, health and medicine, and education and skills development.

The agreements were signed at Singapore’s Parliament House by India’s External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar and Singapore’s Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan in the presence of PM Modi and Singapore counterpart Lawrence Wong.

In a post on X, PM Modi said semiconductors and technology are important facets of India-Singapore cooperation. This is also a sector where India is increasing its presence, he added.

“Today, PM Wong and I visited AEM Holdings Ltd. We look forward to working together in this sector and giving our youth more opportunities,” PM Modi said.

The first agreement, signed between India’s Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology and Singapore’s Ministry of Digital Development and Information, focuses on cooperation in digital technologies. This includes digital public infrastructure, cyber-security, 5G, super-computing, quantum computing, artificial intelligence, and upskilling workers in the digital domain.

The second agreement establishes a partnership for the India-Singapore semiconductor ecosystem, facilitating cooperation in semiconductor cluster development and talent cultivation. Singaporean companies, integral to the global semiconductor value chain, are keen to invest in India, and the dialogue mechanisms under this MoU will facilitate these investments.

The third between the health ministries of both nations focuses on cooperation in health and medicine, promoting joint research, innovation, and human resource development in healthcare and pharmaceuticals.

The final MoU, signed between the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship of India and Singapore’s Ministry of Education, aims to enhance collaboration in technical and vocational education, complementing ongoing skill development initiatives between the two countries.

Prime Minister Modi and PM Wong also visited the semiconductor facility of AEM Holdings Ltd in Singapore, where they explored synergies in semiconductor manufacturing.

During his visit, PM Modi also met former Prime Minister of Singapore Lee Hsien Loong and discussed how both nations can work together in futuristic areas such as green energy, FinTech, etc.

Expressing his gladdening, PM Modi said, “Loong has always been a strong votary of close India-Singapore ties. His insights on various matters are also very enriching.”

Singapore’s semiconductor industry spans the entire value chain, including IC design (MediaTek, Qualcomm, AMD), assembly and testing (ASE Group, UTAC), wafer fabrication (GlobalFoundries, Micron), and equipment manufacturing (Soitec, Applied Materials). The visit highlights India’s potential role in expanding this industry, with opportunities in talent development, knowledge sharing, and possible investment by Singaporean companies in India.