The World Meteorological Organization’s State of the Climate in Asia 2024 report warns that the region is warming nearly twice as fast as the global average, driving more extreme weather and posing serious threats to lives, ecosystems, and economies. In 2024, Asia experienced its warmest or second warmest year on …
the world is changing rapidly. People have talked about globalisation mainly in economic terms. But the 21st century may see a form of political globalisation which could pose a serious threat to the 20th century concept of sovereignty. Political globalisation will be pushed by the same technological change which is …
A PEOPLE'S march demanding the right to information will be taken out from Pune in Maharashtra to Delhi, according to Gandhian activist Anna Hazare. This is for the first time that such a march is being held. Speaking in Ahmedabad, Anna Hazare said an anti-corruption movement should be connected with …
Gujarat government, Trumac Engineering Company and the labour commissioner have been issued notices by the Gujarat high court regarding the unhygenic working conditions of the company's sweep- ers. The sweepers in a petition had contended that they were being forced to clear a cesspool where human excreta from company's 600-strong …
XENOTRANSPLANTATION, the practice of transplanting animal organs in human patients, has been challenged by British human rights group. The report, co-authored by the British Union for Abolition of Vivisection (BUAV) and Compassion in World Farming (CWF), challenging the usefulness and safety of the practice, says that there was little evidence …
THE United Nations (UN) initiative to grant indigenous people the right to self-government has come under severe criticism from the leader of Australia's One Nation Party, Pauline Hanson. Hanson's speech stating that the declaration supporting "self-determination" for indigenous people would destroy Australia's sovereignty has forced the Australian government to review …
The International Seabed Authority (ISA), the United Nations' agency responsible for administering the Law of Sea Treaty, has started discussions on a code to govern the recovery of minerals from the international seabed. Delegates from 138 countries are meeting at the ISA's headquarters in Jamaica over the next three weeks, …
It seemed absurd. The naxalite People's War Group (PWG) forced a non-government organisation (NGO), Samata, to move out of the hill tracts of Visakhapatnam. The absurdity was not so much in the forced eviction, as in the fact that the PWG does not operate in this part of Andhra Pradesh. …
From a hide-out in Bangladesh, Paresh Barua, the chief of the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA), issued a whip on July 29, 1997: Henceforth no NGO can work in Assam without the permission of ULFA. The first casualty was the AVARD-NE, which closed its Majuli office the same day, …
Tribals and farmers in Wladhya Pradesh have taken to the streets against atrocities by the police and the mafia at the behest of politicians. They held demonstrations in Betul, Hoshangabad Indore, Jabalpur, Khargone and Khandwa districts. On February 5,1998, about 24 groups assembled in Bhopal to declare a "peoples manifesto". …
The government gives benefits to certain private bodies like hospitals, charitable institutions, research organisations and NGOs. These benefits come in the form of very cheap land and income tax exemptions, among others. This is done in the hope that the work of these organisations will benefit the public. Does this …
BUILDING TENSIONS NGOs have raised issues that hurt political and business interests, inevitably creating tensions "It is the reformer who is anxious for the reform, and not society, from which he should expect nothing better than opposition, abhorrence and even mortal persecution." M K Gandhi "The Story of my Experiments …
Twenty women of the Adivasi Shakti Sangathan went on a hunger strike in Madhya Pradesh (MP) protesting the atmosphere of terror created by the local administration against its activists and supporters. The strike, which started on June 2, ended eight days later, with the National Human Rights Commission's (NHRC's) assurance …
among the most tragic consequences of the drug war in South America is the destruction of the Andean jungle. A recent move to use a granular herbicide, called tebuthiuron or "spike', to put an end to coca cultivation has ignited a degree of opposition from environmental groups. us activists point …
several horrors from South Africa's apartheid era are gradually coming to light. During a recent testimony before the country's Truth and Reconciliation Commission (trc), several witnesses revealed how undetectable ways of murdering political opponents figured high on the priority of chemical and biological warfare campaigns. Millions of dollars were spent …
about a million Australians have apologised to the nation's 300,000 aborigines over a policy which saw generations of children forcibly separated for their parents. Up to one million people are estimated to have signed the 'sorry books'. The Aboriginal flag flew from the National Parliament building in Canberra. However, John …
social activist Sanjoy Ghose's abduction and subsequent disappearance from Majuli, a riverine island in Assam, on July 4, 1997, raises questions about the interface between ngo s and militants. Many believe Ghose was murdered. To mark the first anniversary of his abduction, Ghose's friends are scheduled to hold protest demonstrations …
The National Human Rights Com-mission (NHRC) has asked the Andhra Pradesh government to submit a report regarding mass suicides by cotton farmers in the state. Recently, P Pullarao, a resident of Polavaram, Andhra Pradesh, and also an agriculturist, had lodged a complaint to NHRC about suffering of farmers in the …
kalahandi contributes one-fourth of the total foodgrain procurement from Orissa. Despite this, nearly 200 people die of starvation every year, according to local people's representatives. About 90 per cent children are malnourished. This is an irony because Kalahandi's average per capita foodgrain production is higher than the per capita average …
On why he refused to accept the Pew Foundation fellowship: Although the award is a recognition to our movement, the implications to the money associated with the award are different. The Philadelphia-based Pew Foundation is sponsored by the oil company, Sun, which has over the years contributed to marine pollution. …
amnesty International, the London-based human rights organisation released a report in Tokyo on November 10 that says that foreigners in Japan are subject to violence, racism and even sexual assault by immigration officials, police and prison guards. The report says that Japanese officials have tried to ignore or cover up …
