Full Coverage: Governance

26.02.2008 India is going to announce its annual budget for the financial year 2008-09 on February 29. Centre for Budget and Governance Accountability is organising a panel discussion on March 1 in New Delhi, where eminent panellists will present a common man’s perspective on it.

25.02.2008 On a recent visit to Mumbai, transport economist Stuart Cole spoke on options for improving India’s ailing urban transport system. A city and its traffic provide the best answers for effective management, which can be single-mode focused or a mix of bus, train and tube on different routes, recommends Cole.

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.

20.02.2008 A new service launched by the Romanian Ministry of Communication and Information Technology will enable self-employed and family businesses to register and carry out other procedures online. The service will also improve relations between local administrations and private entrepreneurs across rural areas and small cities.

19.02.2008 Western Indian state of Goa is embarking on an ambitious project to promote knowledge of information technology. It is going to set up centres to impart training and establish IT parks to address the problem of growing unemployment in the state, especially among the youth.

19.02.2008 In a step taken to protect rights of sexual minorities, the state of Tamil Nadu in southern India has announced the establishment of a welfare board for transgenders. The move followed a public hearing by NGOs on the plight of the community and recommendations by a citizens’ jury.

19.02.2008 Commonwealth Telecommunications Organisations is organising the Second Connecting Rural Communities Asia Forum (CRC) 2008 in Kerala from April 15-18, 2008. The event hosted by the Indian government’s Department of Telecommunications will focus on the salient issues within rural ICT connectivity.

18.02.2008 DENVER, Feb 18 (OneWorld) - Whatever today's election tallies show, the period of instability and government restrictions leading up to the vote in Pakistan ensure that the results will not reflect the will of the country's people, said human rights groups in the United States and Asia this weekend.

18.02.2008 The ILO and Ministry of Labour and Employment will hold a national consultation on the development of training policy in India during February 20-21 at the capital. This meeting is expected to lay out a roadmap towards developing an employment policy that adresses India's skills challenges.

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 NAIROBI, Feb 11 (IPS) - Negotiations to bring an end to the political chaos in Kenya that was sparked by disputed presidential elections entered their third week Monday in the capital of Nairobi, amidst reports that an agreement may finally be in sight.

11.02.2008 Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka have agreed to work together to crack down on illegal wildlife trade in the region. South Asia, home to rare and prized species, is one of the prime operating areas of international organised wildlife crime networks.

08.02.2008 NEW YORK, Feb 8 (OneWorld) - A much-delayed U.S. government report has been obtained by journalists, raising allegations that officials may be suppressing politically inconvenient data that, if released, could help protect the health of millions living in the Great Lakes region of the country.

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.

05.02.2008 SAN FRANCISCO, Feb 4 (OneWorld) - Tuesday's election contests across the United States will offer voters some clear choices on controversial issues like water boarding, secret trials of terrorism suspects, and the future of the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, say analysts.

01.02.2008 SAN FRANCISCO, Jan 31 (OneWorld) - State legislators in Vermont introduced legislation Wednesday demanding the state's National Guard troops return from Iraq. Lawmakers in Minnesota, New Hampshire, and Pennsylvania are poised to push similar legislation.

01.02.2008 When Right to Information Act was passed in India, it was flaunted as a revolutionary step towards ensuring good and accountable governance. But people in rural India are not just finding it difficult to access information but also facing retribution for demanding it, says a report.