New York Mayor declares April 14 as Bindeshwar Pathak Day

In recognition of Indian activist Bindeshwar Pathak's contribution to improve people's health and hygiene, New York Mayor Bill de Blasio declared this year's April 14th as Bindeshwar Pathak Day. He was honoured for advocating human rights in India and developing novel and eco-friendly sanitation technologies. 

He is the founder of Sulabh International, an Indian social outfit that works to improve sanitation across the country.Earlier this week, the 73-year-old Pathak was also conferred with the New York Global Leaders Dialogue Humanitarian Award. Sulabh, which comprises nearly 50,000 people, has constructed around 1.3 million household toilets and 54 million government toilets based on an inventive design. 

Besides, the organisation is spearheading a movement to stop manual cleaning of human waste. Mahesh Iyer named COO of Thomas Cook Thomas Cook has promoted Foreign Exchange Division head Mahesh Iyer to the post of Chief Operating Officer (COO). Iyer will steer the firm's day-to-day business management.

In addition, Iyer will also be in charge of managing the visa and foreign exchange business in India, Sri Lanka and Mauritius.