Development

12.05.2006 Seven suspected child labourers, including six girls, were buried alive under the heap of soil in Rauna village in Chandauli district, a police official said.A group of alleged child labourers, hailing from Gaya district in Bihar, were digging soil near a brick kiln when the mound caved in burying nine of them, Mughalsarai police station in-charge Ratan Singh Yadav said here

11.05.2006 E' stata inaugurata ufficialmente oggi la nuova sede della filiale fiorentina di Banca Popolare Etica, in via dell'Agnolo 73 rosso. Il trasferimento in locali più ampi è conseguenza dell'accresciuta attività della filiale che in pochi anni ha consolidato la sua posizione nel territorio regionale. Con circa 20 milioni di euro di risparmio fra raccolta diretta e indiretta e 1300 clienti fra correntisti e sottoscrittori di certificati di deposito o di altre forme di investimento, Banca Popolare Etica, presente sul territorio da soli 3 anni e mezzo, si ritaglia uno spazio di tutto rispetto nel settore sempre in crescita del risparmio etico". Banca Etica sostiene il mondo non profit e l'economia solidale, finanzia la cooperazione sociale, la cooperazione internazionale, la tutela dell'ambiente, la società civile. Nell'ambito locale risultano particolarmente apprezzate le attività di cooperazione internazionale e microcredito, alle quali scelgono in maggioranza di indirizzare i propri investimenti i clienti - fiorentini e non solo - della filiale cittadina.

11.05.2006 Even as Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is seeking more private investment in higher education, educationists want privatisation to be restricted "to the minimum desirable level." Also, they have called for a tax on the industry to raise resources for higher education.

11.05.2006 The Supreme Court sought responses from the Centre and the telecom department on a PIL describing the communication towers — put up at prominent locations by mobile phone service providers — as health hazards, because they emit electromagnetic radiation.

11.05.2006 On UN World Water Day 2006, WaterAid has released a report exposing the international donor community for consistently failing to serve the needs of the world's poorest people.Who is doing their bit? reveals that in the years since world governments signed the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) to halve by 2015 the proportion of people without access to basic water and sanitation, the proportion of total international aid to these vital services has actually decreased.

10.05.2006 Sakina's husband was the youngest among three brothers in a family. While he still lies buried somewhere in the rocky rived bed of Chappar, one of the many villages rocked by the October-8 earthquake, his brothers have pocketed the relief that came from the government. Here is Aditi Tandon's story from The Tribune.

10.05.2006 Nepal's new multi-party cabinet scrapped several royal decrees on Tuesday, including easing media curbs that were imposed by King Gyanendra after he sacked the government and seized absolute power last year.

10.05.2006

Shivani Chaudhry

The NBA has criticized the Supreme Court of India for it’s “anti-people” decision to allow further construction of the dam, without a clear mandate over the rehabilitation of oustees from the Narmada Valley. Activists from the valley along with writers, film-makers, journalists, as well as leaders and members of peoples' movements, resolved to continue the struggle to hold the Indian government accountable for violation of human rights of the marginalised.

10.05.2006 When Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil reaches Dhaka to attend the meeting of the Home Ministers of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) on Wednesday, there will be too many things on his platter. He will have to use his persuasive skills to convince Bangladesh Prime Minister Begum Khaleda Zia to sign an Extradition Treaty with India.

10.05.2006

10.05.2006 The process of privatization of education, in the Indian context, has been full of ambiguity in terms of the yawning gap between policy and practice. The dilemma of expansion is being faced by countries like India, which in the wake of a fiscal resource crunch are confronted by a choice between limited public expansion, or expansion with a fall in the quality of education and skills.

09.05.2006 A serious attempt to make technologies for the masses and by the masses. Attempted by www.abcnewsnetwork.com

09.05.2006 At the launch of the World Banks country gender assessment in pakistan, speakers said that education is the only prescription for gender equality in the country.They said over the years female education had not been given due attention, due to which women despite having immense talent had failed to play their due role in the countrys development.

09.05.2006 European Commission delegation to Nepal has said that in the wake of the changed political context, the Commission is committed to enhance its level of assistance to Nepal, particularly in the area of poverty alleviation.
On the occasion of EU Day, he however urged the government of Nepal to spell out what kind of assistances it wants.

09.05.2006

poverty reduction study

Case studies from Bangladesh, India and the Philippines provide lessons for rural poverty reduction.

09.05.2006 Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera said India and the international community should tell the LTTE that the way forward was through dialogue and not violence.

09.05.2006 A general strike in Nepal, now in its 20th day, coupled with demonstrations and curfews, is starting to have a significant impact on some of the country’s poorest urban communities. Water shortages and injuries to children in these areas are among UNICEF’s major concerns.

09.05.2006 The policy is to transform Indian agriculture into large-scale corporate industrial farming; Farmers to be trained in low cost ecological organic farming and farm organisations planning countrywide movement.

08.05.2006

© Ecos do Sur

It is clear that women as well as men suffer from the ill-effects of badly planned and implemented development projects. However, in a scenario where adequate attention is not paid to the question of rehabilitation itself, it is not surprising that women as well as other poor, vulnerable people stand to lose the most and benefit the least from so called ‘development’ projects. How can we use knowledge and information technologies to ensure that human lives are not sacrificed at the altar of development?

08.05.2006 Bangladesh has made notable progress in both income and human poverty reduction since independence, with national poverty dropping by nine percent in the last decade. But the level of inequality has increased, widening the rich-poor gap every year, posing a threat to social coherence. The distribution of fruits of poverty reduction steps has not been equal across the country and the growing income inequality poses a challenge to poverty alleviation.