Full Coverage: South Asia

06/28/2006 KATHMANDU, Jun 28 (IPS) - At least tens of thousands of Nepalis have fled their homes during a Maoist uprising and now that peace has come, many are pondering a return. But it is not easy: no government programmes pave their way, many of their homes need repairs while long-neglected fields require work before planting, and locals must first assuage Maoist gatekeepers.

06/28/2006 At least tens of thousands of Nepalese led their homes during the Maoist uprising and, now that peace has come, many are facing a difficult return due to a lack of government programs, long-neglected fields and homes, and local Maoist gatekeepers.

06/28/2006 "Youth take charge!" This was the clarion call given by the Indian government as Vice-President Bhairon Singh Shekhawat launched YUVA (Youth Unite for Victory on AIDS) in Delhi. The HIV/AIDS epidemic has been the "most serious public health problem faced by the country since independence."

06/28/2006 The Pakistan government has announced setting up of a joint Steering Committee to monitor and check the prevention and control of avian and pandemic influenza in the country.

06/28/2006 Chikungunya, a relatively rare form of mosquito-transmitted viral fever, has claimed two lives in Madhya Pradesh and hundreds are suffering from the disease, health officials said.

06/28/2006 Activists have criticised the Nepali government and army for continuing to billet soldiers and security force personnel in school premises around the country, despite the current ceasefire.
+ Maoist leaders meet Indian Ambassador

06/28/2006 The United Progress Alliance (UPA) government that has completed two years of its term as the ruling party is still falling short of its targets that were set for itself under the Common Minimum Program (CMP).

06/28/2006 With the first phase of the AIDS vaccine human trial being kicked off in the city, scientists involved in the trial are looking at absorbing more volunteers for the second such vaccine trial in the country.

06/28/2006 Bangladesh is increasingly tornbetween economic progress and insecurity, law and impunity, Islamism and secular politics, violence and democracy. Liz Philipson portrays a troubled country approaching its next major electoral test.

06/27/2006 Four months after the launch of the landmark job guarantee scheme, a nationwide study reveals that only 30% of those registering for the scheme have received job cards. Women, minorities, the elderly and the physically-challenged are not even being allowed to register

06/27/2006

education

Students in India’s northeast will soon have satellite-based educational facilities to enhance their knowledge base.

06/27/2006 Deepening income inequalities in South Asian countries may impede the recent strong economic growth witnessed in the region, a new World Bank report cautioned.

06/27/2006 South Asia could cut poverty much further in the coming decade if it grows at a faster pace than in the past 10 years and ensures prosperity is more evenly distributed, a World Bank report said.

06/27/2006 The Lahore Police Department has shifted its recently established Domestic Violence Counter (DVC) at Police Rescue 15 to the Women’s Police Station, Racecourse Road, to ensure that women would feel awkward about voicing their grievances in detail

06/27/2006 A woman in the Patna village of Baikunthpur district invited a hefty penalty on June 23, 2006, after she got on to the roof of her clay-made hut to lay tiles. Residents believe that such an act will lead to scanty rainfall during the monsoon.

06/27/2006 "Mari chori thi maine mar di. Tane kya?" (She was my daughter and I killed her. What's it to you?) Muzaffarnagar, which is fast acquiring the nickname 'Muhhabatnagar', is a hub of honour killings.

06/26/2006 The Ministry of Women’s Development and Youth Affairs has decided to train approximately 28,000 women councillors. The ministry is executing the task under a $4.5 million Norway-funded project titled Women’s Political School (WPS) in collaboration with the UN Development Programme.

06/26/2006 Proshanta Karmakar Buddha's exhibition of photographs tracing a day in the life of at Gallery Chitrak. This display marks the poet and women's rights activist's 95th birthday on June 20.

06/26/2006 Mandi village, six kilometres from the district town, is now buzzing with working women. About one hundred and twenty non-literate, poor women coming from faraway areas produce garments in a tin-shed room. Today they are self-reliant, earning Tk 150 to Tk 200 a day by working for six to eight hours.

06/26/2006 One of the most awkward - and yet, strangely compelling - things about journalism is that sometimes your work makes you hold a mirror to your own life. This past week, a quiet, but determined 16-year-old became an unexpected reflection of my education. Barkha Dutt reflects.