Full Coverage: Asia and the Pacific

31.08.2005 WASHINGTON, D.C., Aug 31 (OneWorld) - It costs the United States more per month to prosecute its war in Iraq than it did to fight in Vietnam in the 1960s and 1970s, according to a report released Wednesday.

31.08.2005 The UN has reported that an increasing number of people are disappearing in Nepal and this is being done by both - the government as well as the Maoist rebels. In another report, UNICEF has said that an estimated 2.4 million children and women are trafficked every year for prostitution, forced labour and mining work.

31.08.2005 After the hue and cry by relatives of prisoner Sarabjit Singh, an Indian facing death penalty in Pakistan, the governments of India and Pakistan have taken a decision to release all fishermen and civilian prisoners. There are more than 400 Indians and 700 Pakistanis in prisons in Pakistan and India respectively.

31.08.2005 Uzbekmilitary personnel are set to receive a substantial pay rise starting 1 September as President Islam Karimov tries to shore up his government’s chief pillar of support in advance of what an opposition activist describes as the "upcoming storm."

31.08.2005 China's plans to attract "overseas Chinese" researchers to help drive its scientific progress are being undermined by the "irresponsibility" of those being hired, a senior US-based Chinese mathematician has warned.

31.08.2005 Indonesia has launched its largest-ever immunization campaign to combat a polio epidemic that threatens a swathe of countries across Asia.

31.08.2005 With an aim to popularise rail ticket booking through the Internet, a Parliamentary Committee has asked the Railways to make available more payment options such as cash cards across a well spread out network.

31.08.2005 In a meeting with the Hon’ble President of India, Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, Motorola demonstrated e-education project at Rashtrapai Bhavan through its wireless broadband solution.

31.08.2005 While US and Japan are preparing to equip the WTO’s Trade Related Intellectual Property Rights (Trips) Agreement with provisions to safeguard national biodiversity and associated traditional knowledge, developing countries are lagging behind in their entrepreneurship in this regard.

31.08.2005 Dumping of second hand IT devices is in the agenda of the upcoming Indo-EU summit, going to be held on September 7 in New Delhi.

31.08.2005 Over three lakh students of 1,000 government high schools across Karnataka have learnt the basics of computer education under a project called "Mahiti Sindhu."

31.08.2005 A 15 months long “e-Health & Learning” (e-HL) project was deployed in January 2003 by Sustainable Development Networking Programme(SNDP), which was funded by the European Commission under the Asia IT&C programme.

31.08.2005 A Unesco sponsored three day workshop entitled “Writing Skills in a Pluralistic and Updated Approach” gathered correspondents of the Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) in Damascus from 23 to 25 August 2005.

31.08.2005 Farmers in Cambodia still live in fear. Not of the Khmer Rouge but of the millions of landmines buried in the land they farm, that their children or livestock could unintentionally set off. Michael Haddigan explores how non-profit organizations, Cambodia Mine Action Centre and Heifer International, are helping farmers regain the rich agricultural land from the deadly mines.

30.08.2005 Launched in January 2005, BIOTIK is an initiative in biodiversity informatics looks at developing two knowledge bases of the tree species of Western Ghats, India and Northern Annamites of Lao PDR.

30.08.2005 Launched in January 2004, OSCAR looks at developing an open source weed identification software for the major weed species of Rice-Wheat crop systems which can be deployed on Simputers. The application will address extension workers, farmers/farmer groups, students in the Indo-Gangetic plains.

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30.08.2005 The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) expects the foundation for the information technology park in Coimbatore to be laid by the year-end.

30.08.2005 In just two months, each of the 12 municipalities, 37 mandals, 705 gram panchayats and 1,200 revenue villages in Ranga Reddy district of Andhra Pradesh will boast of broadband connectivity, with optical fibre cables (OFC) carrying voice, data and video signals at high speeds.

30.08.2005 Here is a list of publications - that deal with development issues, Churches, health and funding - from UK-based funding agency Tearfund. These can be obtained from the Christian Medical Association of India (CMAI).