Full Coverage: South Asia

31.08.2007 “Whether you’re educated or employed, you’re regarded as untouchable. Whether you’re in London or India, you’re untouchable.” That is the reality of caste discrimination – it exists everywhere, explains Maria Dass, a member of the Dalit community in London.

31.08.2007 Professor at IIT Delhi's computer science and engineering department is designing an information sharing model to integrate the verification process of government departments.

31.08.2007 The Supreme Court of India dismissed review petitions by a number of state governments as having no merit. In doing this, the Court has upheld its directives handed down in the judgment delivered in a case last year (2006) where the Court ordered governments to comply with a set of 7 directives laying down practical mechanisms to kick-start reform.

31.08.2007

31.08.2007 In a major relief to mobile operators, the Telecom Disputes Settlement & Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) has excluded many revenue streams, including income from the sale of mobile handsets on a standalone basis, while calculating annual gross revenue (AGR).

31.08.2007 August 30 marks the International Day of the Disappeared; it an annual commemoration to draw attention for those who have been subjected to forced disappearances. The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) has shown concern for the rising number of missing people in the country.

31.08.2007 According a new study done by UNAIDS and the Asian Development Bank, the HIV/AIDS epidemic in South Asia is being fuelled by the sexual behaviour of wealthy men and not by poverty as is widely believed.

31.08.2007 The officials from the Nepal Red Cross Society says that the current political situation, strikes and violence in southern Nepal has greatly affected the work of the rescuers and hampering efforts by aid workers to distribute aid to flood victims.

31.08.2007 The issue of regional transport seems to be topping the agenda of South Asian governments. In a recent meeting of the SAARC transport ministers, Indian external affairs minister has emphasized on promoting greater connectivity in South Asia.

31.08.2007 The Prime Minister of India has lauded the spirit of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and urged entrepreneurs to be globally competitive, while underlining the importance of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and their contribution to the growth of new industries.

30.08.2007 India's 200m-strong middle class is the most economically dynamic group on the planet, but is largely uninterested in politics or social reform. Until it begins to engage politically, India will suffer from a lop-sided modernisation, says Chakravarthi Ram-Prasad.
From: Prospect magazine

30.08.2007 WASHINGTON, Aug 30 (OneWorld) - One of the most favorable yet systematically overlooked characteristics of solar, wind, biomass, and other types of organic energy is their universality.

30.08.2007 An Indian origin scientist at Purdue University has demonstrated a new technology to dramatically improve computer chip cooling.
The technology uses tiny "ionic wind engines" to increase the "heat-transfer coefficient," or the cooling rate, in chips by as much as 250 percent.

30.08.2007 Greenpeace activists staged a “shame-HCL” protest at the company’s headquarters in Noida, India, demanding that the company make clear and binding commitments to green its operations.

30.08.2007 The government of an Indian state, Rajasthan has started putting in place a plan to make Jaipur a WiFi city by providing wireless Internet access throughout the city, as was announced by the Chief Minister in the budget speech earlier this year.

30.08.2007 e-Krishi centre in an Indian state of Kerala is making people of Malappuram district more happy in Onam festival by offering them cheap goods than any other place.

30.08.2007 Cheap school uniforms sold in major UK supermarkets are being produced by women workers in Bangladesh and Sri Lanka earning as little as five pence (10 US cents) per hour and working over 70 hours per week, according to a new report.

30.08.2007 The government of Sri Lanka said that their troops are determined to crush the threat posed by the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).

29.08.2007 One of the largest providers of business application software, SAP AG a German software firm, has doubled the number of customers in India to 2,000 in the past year and reaffirmed plans to invest $1 billion in the country to boost growth.

29.08.2007 The report 'Strategy for Sustained Growth' says that Bangladesh could join the ranks of middle income countries by 2016. It has the necessary assets, much-improved economic fundamentals, rapidly growing labor force, an established entrepreneurial culture and an impressive record of achievement in harnessing sound economic and social policies to pioneering social entrepreneurship.