Full Coverage: South Asia

30.10.2006 On an average, more than 400 infants below the age of one die in Bihar on any given day. According to Unicef, nearly two-thirds of infant deaths occur during the first month of the child’s life. Timely intervention could help save these lives, thus reducing the state’s abysmal infant mortality rate, reveals a survey conducted by the UN children’s aid body.

30.10.2006 The Sachar Committee report, which explored the socio-economic and educational condition of Indian Muslims, had chilling figures to display multiple disadvantages they face, particularly in higher education.

27.10.2006 RAWALPINDI, Pakistan, Oct 27 (IPS) - Sitting on a red plastic stool behind the iron bars that form a caged courtyard outside Cell 74, Mirza Tahir Hussain, though only 36, looks like an old man. His white untrimmed beard, the long salt-and-pepper hair and a slight shuffle in his gait expose a life of constant worry.

27.10.2006 The National Knowledge Commission will recommend setting up web portals on 10 topics and GIS mapping of the country for E-governance

27.10.2006 Dr.Anjana Maitra explores ways in which Information Communication Technology tools can be used to facilitate behavioural change communication for safe motherhood. This paper was presented at a Consultation and Experience Sharing on Safe Motherhood at BITS, Pilani on September 8-9 2006.

27.10.2006 Even as Imrana receives justice from the court after being raped by her father-in-law in an Uttar Pradesh village, another woman in Bihar awaits the court's verdict.

27.10.2006 More than a year after Imrana, a Muslim woman from a western UP village, defied clerics and village elders and complained that she had been raped by her father-in-law, a Muzaffarnagar district court today sentenced the accused, Ali Mohammed, to ten years in prison, holding him guilty of rape and criminal intimidation.

27.10.2006 LIFE for the Sahariya tribal people in Madhya Pradesh (India) is an unending struggle against hunger, malnutrition, disease and, above all, neglect. In tribal villages, children continue to slide into the dark folds of hunger, and disappear, reflects Annie Zaidi.

27.10.2006 India moved up one place and neighbouring Pakistan went down seven places among 168 nations in the Press Freedom Index complied by global media watchdog Reporters Without Borders.

26.10.2006 The much-awaited law against domestic violence comes into force on October 26, 2006. Touted as a “landmark” pro-women legislation, the Protection of Women Against Domestic Violence Act, 2005 seeks to address issues linked to status of women within their homes that often gets pushed under the carpet.

26.10.2006 India ranks low once again on the Global Hunger Index, confirming what development experts have been saying all along -- that the country’s economic boom is not being matched by corresponding levels of progress in the human development indices

24.10.2006 The pathology of power structure in the Indian caste system curtails the freedom of Dalits to choose to live as they desire. In other words, the hierarchal and unequal ordering powers in respects to different castes implies that every caste, except those at the top of caste order, suffers in varing degree and the Dalits (or Schedule Castes) who are placed at the bottom of caste hierarchy are denied any power. They depend and serve the higher castes. As a result, this seriously impacts on their ability to fulfil the freedoms they value. Assessing the power structure of the caste system is important to understand the dynamics of well-being of Dalits.

24.10.2006 NEW YORK, Oct 24 (OneWorld) - A majority of people around the world reject the use of torture even if it is supposed to extract information that could save lives from terrorism, pollsters say. The finding suggests there is little support at home and abroad for President George W. Bush's defense of the abuse of terror suspects.

24.10.2006 The first comprehensive global study by the United Nations on "Violence Against Children" says around 275 million children worldwide face domestic violence within the "safe" confines of their homes. The study, which look at the the South Asia regional context — finds that India as the country with the “largest number of working children in the world.”

23.10.2006 Even though local authorities have been asked to prepare to accommodate thousands of Indian children expected to be freed from their jobs by raids conducted on homes and restaurants, activists say scant attention has been paid to how they will be rehabilitated.

20.10.2006 The run up to Diwali festivities has seen the launch of a unique campaign in Bangalore, as anti-poverty campaigners ask consumers to spare a thought for India's underprivileged when they splurge on their Diwali shopping this year.
From: NDTV (India)

20.10.2006 Noted environmentalist Ravi Agarwal is holding an exhibition of photographs - ‘Alien Waters’ - at the India International Centre on October 23 at 6.30 pm. Also be part of the launch the book Immersion.Emersion.

20.10.2006 A report released by a US-based group says South Asia continues to face "critical" levels of hunger.

20.10.2006 In the three decades since secession from Pakistan, Bangladesh has surged way ahead of it in providing essential services to its citizens, according to an Oxfam International report on South Asia

19.10.2006 As an outcome of the "Women's Summit against Poverty" held in New Delhi on October 17, 2006, the Wada Na Todo Abhiyan (WNTA) Campaign Steering Group has expanded itself to include 3 more women members, thus ensuring 50% representation of women in this body.