Full Coverage: South Asia

14.05.2008 A photoessay including award-winning photographs depicts the lives of girls in Afghanistan, Ethiopia, and Nepal who marry as children.

14.05.2008 Lack of jobs and unpaid debts have led to a spate of suicides among traditional goldsmiths in southern India. The mechanised jewellery making industry has ruined practitioners of this traditional craft, leading to hundreds of thousands living in penury.

14.05.2008 The global food price rise is leading to further malnourishment among Indian children, UNICEF warns, as families reduce the number of meals in a day. India already has the worst indicators of child malnutrition in South Asia, along with 40% of the world’s underweight newborns.

14.05.2008 Recent military operations by US and NATO forces have displaced thousands of families in Helmand Province in southern Afghanistan, forcing them to live without shelter, food and medical assistance. UN agencies and other international aid groups have been asked to provide humanitarian relief to the unfortunate victims.

14.05.2008 With a view to reach out to the ‘unbanked’ people and to improve overall financial services, major Indian banks are likely to introduce M-banking in a huge way. The only concern delaying the project is the security aspect.

14.05.2008 A documentary film titled My Daughter the Terrorist chronicles the lives of two female Tamil Tigers, taking a close look at war and its tragic consequences. The film has been acclaimed globally but the Sri Lankan government is upset saying it glorifies the act.

13.05.2008 Across Bangladesh, poor rural women are building up their country's fragile democracy by methodically and discreetly eliminating the small inequities of their daily lives.
From: Ms. Magazine

13.05.2008 Allaying the fears of adverse environmental impact, Tata Power says its proposed 1,000 MW thermal power unit in eastern India will use the latest technology to keep the air, water and noise pollution well below the statutory limits. The company also intends to offer fair price to landowners.

13.05.2008 David Dickson, Director, SciDev.Net, presents the critique of a recent report on the future of modern agriculture. Even as we fight the current needs of a hungry world in an environmentally sustainable way, the contributions of science and technology deserve recognition and not merely blame, he asserts.

13.05.2008 It rains on an average 200-250 days in a year in India's north eastern state of Assam. Home to more than a hundred species of mosquitoes, a fifth of all malarial deaths in the country are reported from here. This season, however authorities claim they are prepared.

13.05.2008 Indian zoos will soon be globally connected thanks to an agreement with the US-based International Species Information System. The world's largest online database on zoo animals has historic data for several thousands of species, enables better collection and sharing of information and makes animal exchange easier.

13.05.2008 Indian zoos will soon be globally connected thanks to an agreement with the US-based International Species Information System. The world's largest online database on zoo animals has historic data for several thousands of species, enables better collection and sharing of information and makes animal exchange easier.

13.05.2008 The British government has been actively supporting plans by a British company to build an open-cast mine in Bangladesh that would destroy the homes of more than 40,000 people and threaten the water supplies of a further 100,000.

13.05.2008 Sri Lanka’s dismal human rights record has obstructed the country’s bid for a place in the UN Human Rights Council. In a letter to the UN, more than twenty national and international NGOs have criticised the country’s failure to meet the Council’s membership standards.

12.05.2008 World Environment Foundation in association with World Council for Corporate Governance is organising an international convention on climate change from May 30-June 1, 2008 at Palampur, India. The event will be a unique platform for business leaders, policy makers, NGOs and environmental experts to share ideas on developing clean technology.

12.05.2008 Twenty-two Nobel Prize winners have written a letter to Indian prime minister and president for the release of Dr Binayak Sen, a public health and civil rights activist. There will be protests in several cities of India and the world to mark the first anniversary of his detention on May 14.

12.05.2008 Lax enforcement and profitability have emboldened rhino poachers in India and Nepal. The situation has left WWF-India extremely worried about the protection of this endangered species of large mammals. It has suggested a slew of measures to take on the criminal gangs engaged in the trade.

12.05.2008 A small village in rural Kerala has successfully dealt with the onslaught of globalisation. Farmer groups and a distribution and retail network by the local community have helped producers get maximum returns for their farm produce and traditional products. The farmers are now happy with the elimination of middlemen.

12.05.2008 Experts warn that non-availability of fresh drinking water, tardy relief work and health care measures are pushing the cyclone-hit Myanmar towards a major public health catastrophe. Inflexibility of military in not allowing most foreign aid workers is only adding to the woes of affected people.

12.05.2008 Displaced by devastating floods more than two decades ago, residents of Bihar in eastern India have been forced to live on a century-old British constructed levee. Living in abject poverty and in fear of criminals, these landless farm workers have not seen any government official in the last 25 years.