Tutti i temi: Asia e Pacifico

31.10.2006 Il presidente della Banca Mondiale Paul Wolfowitz fa marcia indietro e dopo aver denunciato il fenomeno dell’espansione politica ed economica della Repubblica Popolare Cinese in Africa afferma che "non intendeva attaccare la Cina per la sua politica verso i Paesi africani". In un'intervista rilasciata al quotidiano francese Les Echos - ripresa dal Financial Times e da diversi quotidiani italiani - Wolfowitz avrebbe accusato la Cina di ignorare sistematicamente gli “Equador Principles”, le linee di condotta a cui dovrebbero attenersi gli istituti che operano nel campo dei finanziamenti di progetti internazionali, pur di vincere gli appalti, assicurarsi l’accesso alle materie prime e l’esportazione della propria merce. Sono intanto in arrivo a Pechino i leader degli stati africani che parteciperanno al terzo forum per la cooperazione Cina - Africa, previsto per il 4 ed il 5 novembre prossimo.

31.10.2006 Bangladeshissä t-paitatehtaan työläinen ansaitsee kolme euroa täydeltä työviikolta. Runsaat ylityöt voivat nostaa viikkoansion 4,5 euroon. Näin kerrotaan uutistoimisto IPS:n raportissa lähes 150 miljoonan asukkaan maasta Etelä-Aasiassa. Bangladeshin teva-yrityksissä työskentelee noin kaksi miljoonaa työläistä.

30.10.2006 YK:n avustusjärjestöt lopettavat hätäavun toimittamisen Libanoniin ja keskittyvät nyt YK:n kehitysohjelman UNDP:n johdolla maan jälleenrakentamiseen. Sota aiheutti hallituksen arvion mukaan 3,6 miljardin dollarin vahingot, mutta jälleenrakennus nähdään myös mahdollisuutena vahvistaa maan demokratiaa, vakautta ja kehitystä.

30.10.2006 Pienessä Xiangchengin tiibetiläiskaupungissa Kiinan Sichuanin maakunnan lounaiskolkassa on meneillään rakennusbuumi. Tämä on tavallista Yunnanin ja Sichuanin maakuntien tiibetiläisalueilla. Vanhoista tiibetiläisistä karavaanipaikoista on tullut kiinalaisen paikallishallinnon keskuksia. Alueille on muuttanut paljon kiinalaisia siirtolaisia.

30.10.2006 Valtion keskeinen rooli Kiinan pienluottojärjestelmässä vaikuttaa samoin kuin jalan katkaiseminen juoksijalta, sanoo mikroluottojen isä, Muhammad Yunus. Hänen kotimaassaan Bangladeshissa pienlainoitus on kokonaan kansalaisjärjestöjen hoidossa.

30.10.2006 Suunnittelija Jarno Tiainen loi Amnestylle Lost Letters -vaatemalliston, joka muistuttaa internet-sananvapauden loukkauksista Kiinassa. Malliston t-paitojen ja huppareiden printeissä esiintyy muun muassa kiinalainen toimittaja Shi Tao, joka tuomittiin keväällä 2005 kymmeneksi vuodeksi vankeuteen. Malliston vaatteet on tehty Reilun kaupan merkin saaneesta puuvillasta.

30.10.2006 On an average, more than 400 infants below the age of one die in Bihar on any given day. According to Unicef, nearly two-thirds of infant deaths occur during the first month of the child’s life. Timely intervention could help save these lives, thus reducing the state’s abysmal infant mortality rate, reveals a survey conducted by the UN children’s aid body.

30.10.2006 The Sachar Committee report, which explored the socio-economic and educational condition of Indian Muslims, had chilling figures to display multiple disadvantages they face, particularly in higher education.

27.10.2006 RAWALPINDI, Pakistan, Oct 27 (IPS) - Sitting on a red plastic stool behind the iron bars that form a caged courtyard outside Cell 74, Mirza Tahir Hussain, though only 36, looks like an old man. His white untrimmed beard, the long salt-and-pepper hair and a slight shuffle in his gait expose a life of constant worry.

27.10.2006 While Britain belatedly introduces a watered-down Climate Bill and other countries tinker and talk about Climate Change, Kiribati is sinking beneath the waves.
From: Oil Change

27.10.2006 WASHINGTON, Oct 27 (OneWorld) - NATO military operations in Afghanistan have come under renewed humanitarian scrutiny following new revelations that civilians have been killed.

27.10.2006 Sri Lankassa valmistaudutaan rauhanneuvotteluihin samalla kun väkivaltaisuudet eri puolilla maata jatkuvat. Ihmisoikeusjärjestöt ovat huolissaan siviiliväestöön kohdistuneista ihmisoikeusrikoksista, joista monet olisi voitu välttää ennaltaehkäisevän toiminnan avulla, kertoo Human Rights Watch. Järjestö vaatii konfliktin molempia osapuolia vastuuseen teoistaan.

27.10.2006 The National Knowledge Commission will recommend setting up web portals on 10 topics and GIS mapping of the country for E-governance

27.10.2006 Dr.Anjana Maitra explores ways in which Information Communication Technology tools can be used to facilitate behavioural change communication for safe motherhood. This paper was presented at a Consultation and Experience Sharing on Safe Motherhood at BITS, Pilani on September 8-9 2006.

27.10.2006 Even as Imrana receives justice from the court after being raped by her father-in-law in an Uttar Pradesh village, another woman in Bihar awaits the court's verdict.

27.10.2006 More than a year after Imrana, a Muslim woman from a western UP village, defied clerics and village elders and complained that she had been raped by her father-in-law, a Muzaffarnagar district court today sentenced the accused, Ali Mohammed, to ten years in prison, holding him guilty of rape and criminal intimidation.

27.10.2006 LIFE for the Sahariya tribal people in Madhya Pradesh (India) is an unending struggle against hunger, malnutrition, disease and, above all, neglect. In tribal villages, children continue to slide into the dark folds of hunger, and disappear, reflects Annie Zaidi.

27.10.2006 India moved up one place and neighbouring Pakistan went down seven places among 168 nations in the Press Freedom Index complied by global media watchdog Reporters Without Borders.

27.10.2006 Canadian Maher Arar was recently given a human rights award for his struggle against U.S. authorities who sent him to Syria to face nearly a year of torture. Arar, who has since been completely vindicated of any links to terrorism, vividly recounts the ordeal in his video acceptance.

27.10.2006 from Oil Change:
Whilst Britain belatedly introduces a watered-down Climate Bill and other countries tinker and talk about Climate Change, Kiribati is sinking beneath the waves.