Full coverage: Poverty

28.02.2006 The National e-Governance Plan (NeGP) is part of the National Common Minimum Programme for bringing information and government services to the doorstep of the citizens.

28.02.2006 Focussing attention on bridging the urban and rural divide, the Indian Finance Minister P. Chidambaram announced plans to speed up the pace of building infrastructure, power and irrigation facilities in rural areas. This initiative has been given a filip by Indian President APJ Kalam under his much-talked about PURA scheme (Providing Urban Amerinities in Rural Areas).

28.02.2006 The Council for Defense of Human Rights and Freedoms – CDHRF, says that the Roma, Ashkalia and Egyptian IDP’s, which remain in camps in Northern Kosovo since the end of teh war in Kosovo in 1999, live in extremely difficult conditions, exposed to the high risks to their health presented by high lead presence in their blood. This is nothing new and at the same time known to everyone. But, so far nothing serious has been undertaken to rectify their issue”.

28.02.2006 India has increased its annual allocation for defence from Rs 830 billion to Rs 890 billion for the current financial year. Indian Finance Minister P Chidambaram said that the increased outlay for defence was for modernisation of the armed forces.

28.02.2006 KATHMANDU: The poverty alleviation agenda of the government is being well-supported by the Fair Trade Group Nepal (FTGN) providing employment opportunities to more than 7,000 marginalised people in 46 districts of the country.

28.02.2006 Farmers snatched 50 sacks of urea at Keshabpur upazila in Jessore on Sunday evening after failing to collect any from dealers.

28.02.2006 KABUL – The United Nations World Food Programme today called on donors urgently to provide funds to its Afghanistan operation, which is facing critical shortages in supplying food to 3.5 million vulnerable Afghans.

28.02.2006 WASHINGTON, D.C., Feb 27 (OneWorld) - The average American family has taken a financial tumble and millions in the country go hungry despite President George W. Bush's sunny assessment of the U.S. economy, say federal data and economists.

27.02.2006 International organization Oxfam has called upon EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson and his US counterpart Rob Portman to urgently make necessary concessions to ensure that the Doha Round of trade negotiations benefits the developing countries.

27.02.2006 The actual experience shows that the IT revolution can benefit rural areas too. Well known examples in India are the e-choupals of ITC, the Bhoomi land records programme of the Karnataka government, and the e-governance initiatives of many state governments. All these have greatly benefited farmers and other rural folk. Note that all these initiatives are based on computers. I believe that the cell phone, not the computer, will be the real bridge across the digital divide.

27.02.2006 Global efforts to combat bioterrorism are on a potential collision course with legitimate biotechnology activities that hold the promise of improving life for millions of poor people, the Canadian Program on Genomics and Global Health warns in a new report.

26.02.2006 Villagers in the western Indian state of Maharashtra, which is one of India's most prosperous states, are migrating to cities to look for work because of a severe drought. Many are working as casual labourers to eke out a living for themselves and their families back home in villages.

26.02.2006 In Bhutna has seen a substantial increase in honey production in Bumthang this year. The Beekeeper’s Association said that there had been an increase of almost 6000 kilograms compared to previous year. The association this time saw a total production of more than 12,000 kilograms of honey.

26.02.2006 Sri Lankans who are employed in foreign countries sent Rs. 197,967 million to their motherland in 2005. Deputy General Manager of the Sri Lanka Foreign Employment Bureau Mr. L.K. Ruhunage points out that this is a 25% increase compared to the foreign employment income of Rs. 158,290 million in 2004.

26.02.2006 THIMPHU: Established with an aim to promote and preserve the age old traditional weaving heritage of Bhutan the National Handloom Development Project (NHDP) is said to be doing a good business.

26.02.2006 We know how fishermen in Kerala had benefited greatly from cell phones, which enabled them to auction their catch while still at sea, and avoided tragedies where they might land their catch at a shore point where there were few buyers, leading to an unsold catch that rotted in the Kerala sun. There is more interesting story how cell phones enabled landless labourers to find out where daily jobs were available and go to those villages, instead of waiting in vain in the wrong villages.

24.02.2006 The publication Roms on Integration: Analyses and Recommendations, published by ECMI – European Centre for Minority Issues presents the initial findings on the needs of Roma population in Macedonia. The research was conducted the Roma Expert Group working under the ECMI, with financial support by SIDA.

24.02.2006 Concerned over the debt burden of small farmers, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said the Budget will tackle the issue even as he promised no hasty decisions on opening up the retail sector for FDI.

23.02.2006 KABUL, 4 Jul 2005 (IRIN) - Most of rural Afghanistan continues to suffer from food insecurity and a lack of government input. In an exclusive interview with IRIN, Mohammad Hanif Atmar, Afghan Minister of Rural Rehabilitation and Development, said that despite billions of dollars worth of reconstruction over three years, rural areas continue to face huge challenges.

23.02.2006 World Vision is hosting exhibition of an award-winning photojournalist Nick Danziger's photographs on MDGs and their impact on people especially children who are living in extreme poverty, suffering from hunger or who are victims of injustice and inequality. The focus of exhibition is to increase awareness on MDGs and their impact on Asia.