Full Coverage: South Asia

06/30/2007 India’s water man and Magsaysay Award winner Rajinder Singh is busy rallying people on the banks of river Yamuna that flows through Agra -- the city of the Taj Mahal -- to stand up for their water rights by protecting river Yamuna from pollution and “from being handed over” to multinational corporations.

06/30/2007 Youth Action Nepal is organising a rally and a concert at New Baneshwar in Nepal on July 2, 2007 for making governments accountable to people and achieving the MDGs.

06/29/2007 A recent study by a consultancy firm in India notes a drop in English language online browsing to 41% among its 30 million net users. More than half the Indians who use the net live outside its metropolitan cities, in Tier II and Tier III cities. The use of Open Source Software has helped internet and telecom penetration into smaller towns.

06/29/2007 Greenpeace has proved that faulty designs, inadequate insulating material and poor maintenance in prominent buildings in India - the Mumbai Stock Exchange, the National Stock Exchange, the American Centre in New Delhi and some iconic hotels - are resulting in excessive energy leakages. From: Greenpeace India

06/29/2007 Dozens of villages have been flooded; houses, fields and trees have disappeared under water and people have became landless, since the government of the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh closed the gates of the Omkareshwar dam in the Narmada valley. Support the demands of the people in the Narmada Valley by sending the letter to the Chief Minister of the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh for adequate compensation and rehabilitation for the people.

06/29/2007 Sri Lankan journalists are worried about their safety as authorities have been hostile to them and are creating a climate of self-censorship. The International Press Freedom and Freedom of Expression Mission to Sri Lanka has found that even ministers threaten scribes.

06/29/2007 The mid-point to the 2015 deadline, 07.07.07, for meeting the Millennium Development Goals is just around the corner. NGOs worldwide are gearing up to press governments for faster action. In India, the UN Millennium Campaign and other civil society organizations are pushing the ruling UPA government to meet the MDG targets.

06/28/2007 The Bangladesh NGOs Network for Radio and Communication (BNNRC) has provided recommendations to the Bangladesh government to make the budget of the Ministry of Science and Information and Communication Technology (ICT) more pro-poor.

06/28/2007 The Bangladesh NGOs Network for Radio and Communication (BNNRC) has provided recommendations to the Bangladesh government to make the budget of the Ministry of Science and Information and Communication Technology (ICT) more pro-poor.

06/28/2007 The Strengthening Rural Credit Cooperatives Project of the World Bank supports the Indian Government programme to reform and revitalise the country's rural Credit Cooperative Banks (CCBs) by making them efficient and commercially-viable institutions that also are responsive to the financial needs of the Indian farmers.

06/28/2007 The government of the south Indian state of Kerala has made it clear that discrimination against people living with HIV/AIDS will not be tolerated and has readmitted HIV-positive children who were dismissed from a school in December 2006.

06/28/2007 Concerned over the massive industrialisation planned for Indian state Orissa, environmental campaigner Greenpeace is alarmed over an Indian steel major's move to set up a mega port in Dhamra in Orissa's coastal Bhardrak district, saying it would be an 'ecological destruction' in the state's coastal areas.

06/28/2007 An online magazine created by five friends in Boston brings news and networking to their community.

06/27/2007 Recipient of this year’s Nirmal Gram Puruskar for 100% sanitation coverage, this village in Rajasthan’s Alwar region is paving the way for achieving the Millennium Development Goals

06/27/2007 The electronic media in Pakistan has come a long way, particularly after its run-ins with the political setup. Catapulted into a state of political turmoil, Pakistan stands, yet again, at a crossroads though its problems are receiving unprecedented publicity.

06/27/2007 Delhi based NGO Toxics Link has urged the Indian government to phase out the usage of mercury in the country after the European Union Parliament banned mercury trade. India being the second largest user and importer of the heavy metal, at the same time time it has serious public health implications in the country.

06/27/2007 Pakistan Perspectives features three playreadings of new plays from writers who live and work in Pakistan at London's Soho Theatre on 9, 10 and 11 July. The event was inspired by a desire to dramatise the experience of being Pakistani now.

06/27/2007 A conference of Nepalese Dalit ("Untouchables") has rejected a government offer to give them 6 percent of the seats in the new Constituent Assembly, putting them on a collision course with Nepal's main political parties.

06/26/2007 This anthology, edited by Rehana Ghadially, throws light on the contextual realities of urban Indian women in a most comprehensive manner. It presents a view of the Indian women's movement – past and present – as it responds to a range of issues (including those related to identity, globalisation, media, ICTs and political participation) in the pre and post liberalization eras. It is recommended for students and academics in women's studies, political science, sociology, psychology, ICTs, media studies and development.

06/26/2007 Street vendors in India have been protesting against corporates entering retailing of fruits and vegetables as they fear this will deprive them of their livelihood. The protests, which turned violent in many cities, are against the government as vendors find it more sympathetic to the corporates than them.