Full Coverage: Development

25.02.2008 Struggles against Special Economic Zones are labeled as ‘anti-development’ by middle class India. Yet Goa’s recent anti-SEZ campaign was led by educated professionals, activists, the church and media, forcing the state government to backtrack. The SEZ is an independent foreign territory with no local or government control, say Goa’s champion campaigners.

24.02.2008 NEW YORK, Feb 24 (OneWorld) - While in Africa this week, George W. Bush drew fire for his plans to expand the United States' military presence on the resource-rich but economically strapped continent.

22.02.2008 Decades of warring guns may have turned Afghanistan into a ‘collapsed state’, but the country is now on the road to recovery, says Ehsan Zia, the Afghan Minister of Rural Rehabilitation and Development. Community Development Councils help villagers decide their own projects while microfinance initiatives have benefited women in rural areas.

21.02.2008 A meeting of the members of the Indian Ocean Commission in Addis Ababa last week decided to give the go-ahead to connect their island-members by fibre to each other and the rest of the world. The connecting cable would be available on non-discriminatory terms and under a low-cost, high volume regime.

20.02.2008 The 2008 Global Development Marketplace Competition invites proposals on the theme - Sustainable Agriculture for Development. The programme offers grants to innovative ideas for development and serves as an excellent launchpad for social entrepreneurship.

15.02.2008 An international seminar by UNCTAD will focus on gender concerns in trade in India and other developing countries from 25-27 February at New Delhi. The forum aims to sensitise trade experts, policy makers and stakeholders, and seek ways to integrate women into the international trade system.

14.02.2008 The India’s north-east is a picture of diversity with multiple religions, cultures and tribes. But beneath its charming veneer lies a region simmering with discord and anarchy, says Economics professor Kaushik Basu. The government needs to address law and order issues to control extortions by the insurgents, adds Basu.

11.02.2008 A report by the UN body UNCTAD says the use of mobiles and the Internet in businesses, schools and homes help people prosper and drive long-term economic growth in developing countries. At the same time the report draws attention to the widening gap between rich and poor countries in broadband use.

05.02.2008 Pathways to Green Publishing, an event organised by the Delhi based Tata Energy and Research Institute on April 5, 2008, invites stakeholders to a dialogue on sustainable publishing practices. The conference aims at find innovative solutions to the environmental hazards that are linked with the printing, paper and printing industry in India.

05.02.2008 When it comes to investing in girls, actions must speak louder than words. A new report Why Girls Count says governments and multilateral agencies in developing countries must invest in the welfare of girls for better social and economic outcomes; countries that do not do so risk perpetuating poverty.

04.02.2008 With global urban population expecting to rise to over five billion by 2025, there is a need to evolve sustainable urbanisation processes, says architect Dr. Nizamuddin Ahmed. In his vivid description of the city of Dhaka, he speaks of using architecture beyond the purely commercial to create better living environments.

01.02.2008 Tatulia is one of the many villages in Bangladesh where residents are forced to drink arsenic-contaminated water. A project implemented by the Department of Public Health Engineering along with UNICEF hopes to reach proper water and sanitation resources to 30 million people in the country.