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 …
Economic liberalisation is forcing East Asians to drugs, says the United Nations Drug Control Programme (UNCDP). In Vienna on March 15, the Commission on Narcotic Drugs, UNCDP's executive, revealed that countries like Thailand, China and Hong Kong were emerging as narcotics markets. This region -- which produces 80 per cent …
ONLY the pathologically optimistic expected the recently-concluded un World Summit for Social Development to trumpet to a momentous, pathbreaking climax. "Anything that we developing countries wanted, they (the industrialised nations) voted as a bloc against us," said a disgusted Mercedes Arzu Wilson, a Guatemalan government delegate, at the end of …
THE trappings of power were all there, and so were the traps. The United Nation's World Summit on Social Development, held in Copenhagen between March 6-12, had been projected as a potential washout. The preparatory committees and rounds of meetings, the charting of highly charged agenda, the government delegations and …
In the face of severe criticism by Union environment minister Kamal Nath, among others, the Madhya Pradesh government has agreed to defer implementation of its new "nistar policy." The controversial move by the Madhya Pradesh government to limit villagers' access to nistar -- concessional supply of forest produce -- rights …
ROWS and rows of men and women are shown marching ahead to fight for their rights, the right to have a say in their future. These people are the centre point of Ali Kazimi's film Narmada: A valley rises (87 mins). He documents the sequence of events that led to …
COLONIAL forest administration, which didn"t give a damn about the fecund land it was so easily reducing to cinders and stumps, lasted almost a century. The sad thing is that even after Independence, the imperial order of green decimation refused to come unstuck and is now almost pathologically entrenched in …
One fine morning in 1990, forest officials informed tribals in Thakkarwari in the Pune district of Maharashtra that they had no right to plant trees in the forest they inhabited. The baffled tribals, of course, had no clue to the fact that the MEF had just issued guidelines for joint …
MARXISTS hold that a capitalist state cannot promote radical reforms in favour of the poor. The nature of state power depends upon the mode of production, and the owners of the means of production, and it is in the interest of these classes that state power is exercised. If this …
GREEN barriers loom menacingly large on the horizon. On March 28, while addressing the leaders of the G-15 nations, Prime Minister P V Narasimha Rao expressed his apprehensions over the introduction of fresh trade barriers in the garb of non-economic concerns. Then, speaking at the business forum of the G-15 …
MEDICAL research aims at producing technologies for the human good. But in pursuit of this objective, should we allow medical research to violate basic human rights? The violence of a male-dominated scientific establishment is being directed against the weaker members of society: women, the poor, and the illiterate. This exploitation …
Although about 4.5 per cent of Australia's population is of Asian origin, local whites know little about Asia's economy or culture. But today, growing economic ties with southeast Asian countries have made it imperative for Australians to understand the East. Changing Times, a series of film clips, examines Australian assumptions …
SOUTH Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) chairperson Khaleda Zia called for a movement for the empowerment of women. At a SAARC ministerial conference in Kathmandu, she said non-governmental organisations could play an important role by coming up with "innovative programmes". Zia also urged legislation to ensure equality for women …
CHINA, Malaysia and Indonesia are adamantly opposed to the creation of the post of a UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, fearing it may be used against them. They point out Western countries opposed a proposal requiring the UN to report annually on human rights in developed as well as …
A PROPOSED Australian law that allows aborigines to claim land has been criticised by the country's business community, which fears it could curb mining. The proposed native land-title legislation arose from a 1992 high court ruling that recognised the native title to land under the country's common law. The ruling, …
THE TRUE test of a development video is whether it informs and motivates its viewers or sends them to sleep. And this is where many of the entries for the 'Women in Development' video competition, organised recently in New Delhi by the British Council, failed miserably, for this viewer was …
THE WORLD'S first certification system for "sustainably produced timber" has been set up. At an early October meeting in Toronto, environmentalists, businesspersons and human rights groups launched the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), which will verify claims that wood products and wood pulp come from sustainable forests. Producer countries have treated …
LAST MONTH, 40 Aztec Indians led a march from downtown Vienna to the Austria Centre, venue of the World Conference on Human Rights, to highlight the plight of the world's 300 million indigenous people. Lobbying for the rights of indigenous people at the conference was appropriate, 1993 being the Year …
The Union government has made yet another feeble attempt at a dialogue with opponents of the Rs 13,000-crore Sardar Sarovar Project (SSP). Union water resources minister V C Shukla was forced to heed the demands of the Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA) for a comprehensive review of the project after its …
I heard in Baroda on June 2 that the authorities were planning to demolish Keshubhai's hut. That night, some of us sneaked past the police cordon around Manibeli and entered the hut. Around 11 am on June 3, some 100 police surrounded the hut to demolish it. But when we …
The Narmada Bachao Andolan, which wants a revaluation of the Sardar Sarovar Project (SSP), says the review team should consist of pro-dam and anti-dam groups. The Prime Minister or the minister for water resources should lead the pro-dam group, which should include officials from the states concerned with the project …
