Full Coverage: Civil rights

29.06.2007 Dozens of villages have been flooded; houses, fields and trees have disappeared under water and people have became landless, since the government of the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh closed the gates of the Omkareshwar dam in the Narmada valley. Support the demands of the people in the Narmada Valley by sending the letter to the Chief Minister of the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh for adequate compensation and rehabilitation for the people.

27.06.2007 The Supreme Court of Nepal has established a Commission of Inquiry to investigate the thousands of enforced disappearances in Nepal during civil conflict and ordered the government to comply with international human standards.

27.06.2007 The electronic media in Pakistan has come a long way, particularly after its run-ins with the political setup. Catapulted into a state of political turmoil, Pakistan stands, yet again, at a crossroads though its problems are receiving unprecedented publicity.

21.06.2007 WASHINGTON, Jun 21 (IPS) - Environmental campaigners are urging several heavyweight investment firms, including Credit Suisse, Barclays, Fortis Group and Merrill Lynch, to shoulder some responsibility for a catastrophic mud volcano on the Indonesian island of Java that resulted from a gas project the firms helped fund.

18.06.2007 India’s ‘Father of the Nation’, Mahatma Gandhi, has influenced many movements for freedom and civil rights across the world and inspired leaders like Nelson Mandela and Martin Luther King Jr. His birth anniversary will now be observed each year as the International Day of Non-Violence. The UN hopes Gandhi’s unique means of non-violent action will promote “a culture of peace, tolerance, understanding and non-violence.”

14.06.2007 SANTIAGO, Jun 14 (IPS) - Human rights groups in Chile described General Raul Iturriaga Neumann as "cowardly" for fleeing the justice system, which sentenced him to five years in prison for the 1974 forced disappearance of a leftwing activist.

14.06.2007 Villagers in the north Indian state of Bihar are now members of the National Rural Employment Guarantee (NREG) scheme thanks to a Korean biometric device. These smart cards will also double as ATM/debit cards and help track the NREG programme.

12.06.2007 In the aftermath of the Taliban rule, Afghanistan began reviving its education system. UNICEF is now supporting the government to develop a teacher-training system to enlarge the pool of female teachers who were barred previously.

12.06.2007 Pakistani President Gen. Pervez Musharraf's decree gives the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulation Authority (PEMRA) the unfettered power to halt broadcast transmissions and increases fines tenfold for violations. Asia director at Human Rights Watch Brad Adams criticises the Presidential Decree and calls it a disgraceful assault on the media.

11.06.2007 ActionAid and its partner organisations are coming together for a national Conclave in Hyderabad from 11 to 14 June, 2007. The objective is to provide a platform to the social groups and the marginalize people whose rights have been violated. The conclave will plan out strategies for intervention.

05.06.2007

05.06.2007 The Right to Information (RTI) Act is meant to reinforce the democratic rights of the citizens in India. Instead, people in Assam have been victims of hostile attacks for probing the truth behind various government schemes. Guwahati based North East Network (NEN) has helped many to seek their rights through the use of RTI.

04.06.2007 The Central Information Commission of India, the nodal agency for administering the Right to information (RTI) Act, proposes to accept online applications from people. Soon all sorts of government information that comes under the purview of the RTI Act will be put up on the worldwide web to extend the scope of e-governance.

04.06.2007 There have been a series of targeted attacks perpetrated against Papernas in recent times. Although a number of complaints have been filed against the perpetrators, there has been inadequate police investigations and action taken on these cases.

01.06.2007 Ram Puniyani, in his article, has highlighted the recent attacks on the Christian who are the new scapegoat in India's political battles. The consistent but low-key violence on grounds of conversion herald yet another unbecoming facet of contemporary Indian politics.