Development

03.05.2006 Pakistan’s reported willingness to consider expanding the list of items that can be imported from India comes as a breath of fresh air. For too long has bilateral trade been hostage to political compulsions. And on Pakistan’s side, to fear of MFN, that stands for ‘most favoured nation.’

03.05.2006 E’ iniziato a Buenos Aires (2-12 maggio 2006) il primo workshop regionale della Università Popolare “Urbana” (UPU) promosso tra gli altri dall’Alleanza Internazionale degli Abitanti (IAI) per rispondere al bisogno di ricerca e riflessione riguardo una strategia globale di giustizia per la costruzione sociale dell’habitat e che si occupi delle tematiche relative alla casa. Rivolto ai leader dei quartieri popolari, alle associazioni delle piccole imprese e a dirigenti di attività economiche locali dell’Argentina, del Perù e del Brasile, il workshop è organizzato in associazione con i ricercatori in campo sociale e Ong locali. Nell’ultimo decennio le attività in rete promosse nei Forum Sociali regionali e mondiali hanno attirato l’attenzione sul bisogno di convogliare la dimensione di ricerca e educazione e verso una consistente strategia di azione. E dal 4 al 6 maggio a Niterói (Stato di Rio de Janeiro) si terrà il decimo incontro del Fronte Continentale delle Organizzazioni Comunitarie – FCOC per l’articolazione e il rafforzamento del movimento comunitario.

03.05.2006 On the recommendation of an international jury of media professionals, UNESCO Director-General Koïchiro Matsuura today designated Lebanese journalist May Chidiac, winner of the UNESCO/Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize 2006.

02.05.2006 Al pie del pozo de San Alberto ubicado en el municipio de Caraparí, departamento de Tarija, Evo Morales estampó su firma en el Decreto Supremo 28701, “Héroes del Chaco” que nacionaliza los hidrocarburos.

02.05.2006 May Day is traditionally recognised as a day of celebrations for workers. But do workers in Africa have much to celebrate?

02.05.2006 Presidential and parliamentary elections, the first in nearly 40 years since independence in the Democratic Republic of Congo, will be held on 30 July, Independent Electoral Commission Chairman Apollinaire Muholongo Malumalu has announced

01.05.2006

photo: Shivani Chaudhry

On 30th May, 2006, at the end of a sultry day, about 200 activists gathered for a candlelight vigil at Jantar Mantar, the spot where NBA (Narmada Bachao Aandolan) activists had staged a fast unto death protesting the raising of the Sardar Sarovar Dam across the Narmada and submerging approximately 226 villages without ensuring adequate rehabilitation for approximately 35,000 families as claimed by the NBA.

01.05.2006 Defying a government ban on May Day rallies owing to security concerns, the Public Sector Salary Review Trade Unions Committee (PSSRTUC) have said they will go ahead with their planned march in Colombo today, using the occasion to protest against the new salary circular.

01.05.2006 JAGORI & SANGAT, in collaboration with India Habitat Centre, are organizing a lecture by well known economist and feminist, Devaki Jain on Women, Public Policy & the New World Order at 6.30 pm on Tuesday, May 2, 2006, at Gulmohar Hall, India Habitat Centre, New Delhi.

01.05.2006 Displacement is a planned calamity that befalls certain sections of society at different points in time. In a scenario where the attention devoted to rehabilitation itself is limited, it is not surprising that women stand to lose the most and benefit the least from so called ‘development’ projects. Displacement usually results in deteriorating gender relations in a framework of increasing poverty and disempowerment of poor and vulnerable communities.

01.05.2006 It is closure time for Open Schools in the State. The State Urdu Academy's popular scheme to impart education through Open Schools is in for a decent burial. Authorities in the Minorities Welfare Department are believed to have decided against continuing the scheme as it is felt the Open Schools are not serving the purpose.

01.05.2006 Dr. Lindiwe N. Sisulu, daughter of African National Congress veterans Walter and Albertina Sisulu, has been South Africa's Housing Minister since 2004. She has been actively involved in her country's politics for at least three decades including working with the underground in exile. Her belief that the poorest of the poor have the right to own a house was evident as she spent a day in Mumbai visiting the homes of pavement dwellers and then handing them keys to the houses that they can call their own. Kalpana Sharma shares excerpts from a recent interview in Mumbai in The Hindu.

01.05.2006 The House of Representatives in Nepal unanimously passed a resolution calling for elections to a constituent assembly, effectively placing the fate of the country's monarchy in the hands of its people for the first time in its history.

01.05.2006 Doon School is known as the alma mater of many a celebrity and counted among the best residential schools of the country but villagers of Fatehgram will remember its students and teachers for entirely different reasons.

01.05.2006 A movement of the Tamils that began in the early 1970s against discrimination evolved into a violent armed struggle for independence by the mid 1980s, led by Velupillai PrabhakaranÂ’s Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. The nationalists among the Sinhalese majority were vehemently opposed to any kind of federalism and sought to put down the Tamil insurgency through force.

01.05.2006 An unending number of woes is plaguing National Rural Employment Guarantee (NREG) scheme, the most ambitious project of United Progressive Alliance (UPA). The discrepancy between the daily wage fixed by the various State Governments and Rs 60 fixed as the daily wage under NREG is taking the toll on the programme.