Full Coverage: South Asia

05/31/2007 The Indian Government's plans to prohibit women under 30 from migrating to work as domestics in an effort to tackle trafficking for sexual exploitation hits women rather than traffickers, warns an anti-slavery organisation.

05/30/2007 Hundreds of thousands of slum-dwellers could paralyse air and rail links to one of Asia's most populous cities - Mumbai, India - unless they are involved in plans for their resettlement.

05/29/2007 Girls in Rajasthan, India’s dry western state, lack the fruits of higher education. There is a strong need for a changeover in the attitude of people toward education of girls, feels Jaipur based activist Kalyan Singh Kothari.

05/29/2007 The Indian government will invest INR 23,000 million to promote e-Governance in rural areas. The National e-Governance Plan (NeGP) will cyber link even the remotest villages through one lakh Internet Common Service Centres (CSCs) spread across the country.

05/29/2007 National Conference of Dalit Organisations (NACDOR) is organising a Panel Discussion on Millennium Development Goals and Dalits on May 30, 2007 at Conference Hall-II, India International Centre, Lodi Estate, Delhi, India.

05/29/2007 Transparency International's recent global survey on corruption in judicial systems says 77% Indians believe the judiciary is corrupt. Widespread bribery and denial of fair and impartial trials have heightened people's perception of corruption.

05/29/2007 India's 93% workforce comprises the unorganised sector and drives one of the fastest growing economy in the world. A first ever study on the working conditions of this sector reveals 44% of its urban migrant workers are in construction and in desperate need for social security.

05/28/2007 Orissa has initiated e-Pragati, a project that would connect even the remotest Anganwadi workers in the state and publish information on their work profiles and children under their care. The venture will complement the existing e-Shishu plan that cyber connects lakhs of children in state.

05/28/2007 Female health care volunteers are giving a new lease of life to mothers in Nepal. Child mortality rates have fallen enormously as similar community based approaches are gaining ground in health care.

05/28/2007 Orissa has initiated e-Pragati, a project that would connect even the remotest Anganwadi workers in the state and publish information on their work profiles and children under their care. The venture will complement the existing e-Shishu plan that cyber connects lakhs of children in state.

05/28/2007 India's Information and Technology Department will provide computer training to children belonging to socially deprived and minority groups. The first initiative has been taken by the city of Chandigarh in association with United Progressive Muslim Front to teach a basic course to the students of Manimajra Madarsa.

05/28/2007 India's Information and Technology Department will provide computer training to children belonging to socially deprived and minority groups. The first initiative has been taken by the city of Chandigarh in association with United Progressive Muslim Front to teach a basic course to the students of Manimajra Madarsa.

05/28/2007 Colonel John Wakefield, popular as ‘John Papa’, is fighting commercial forces in wildlife tourism in the southern state of Karnataka. Hunter turned naturalist, John Papa speaks and acts in favour of retaining nature's fragile eco-system, writes journalist Naren Karunakaran.

05/28/2007 Delhi based Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), in association with Development and Research Organisation for Nature, Arts and Heritage (DRONAH), held a public meeting in the Indian capital’s neighbouring city Gurgaon, to discuss various ways to clean up the sewage infested Yamuna.

05/27/2007 "in my broken voice/i also want to sing,/love-filled songs of sorrow," wrote the Tamil journalist and poet S.Bose, who was recently shot and killed in his own home by armed men speaking Sinhala.

05/25/2007 Lähes sata orjuuden kaltaisissa oloissa työskennellyttä lasta pelastettiin Intian pääkaupungissa Delhissä. Lapsityöläiset tekivät töitä maan huippuluokan jalokivikauppiaille. Pelastetut lapset ovat kuitenkin valitettavasti vain pisara meressä.

05/25/2007 Ninety-three children working as slave laborers for India’s top jewelry manufacturers were rescued Saturday. Some 3,000 more are believed to still be working in horrifying conditions.

05/25/2007 A group of about 400 women’s organizations in India has called for noteworthy changes in the draft bill against sexual harassment at the workplace. They have suggested that the bill should be gender-neutral and want to expand the definition of sexual harassment

05/25/2007 During the last two decades the urban slum population of India has increased drastically. According to estimates by the Town and Country Planning Organisation the number of urban slum-dwellers rose from 27.9 million in 1981 to 46.2 million in 1991 and
61.8 million in 2001.

05/25/2007 An Indian NGO, Sahayog, in partnership with other concerned organisations, is holding a round table discussion on maternal health on the International Day of Action for Women's Health on May 28 at Lucknow in northern state of UP.