Already the poorest country in Asia, Afghanistan’s economic base has long been too small to support its population of 40 million. Annual per capita income had declined from US$650 in 2012 to US$508 in 2020 and is expected to drop precipitously to US$350 next year. The report indicates that the …
World Bank has released a new report -- On Thin Ice: How Cutting Pollution can Slow Warming and Save Lives. The report that talks about ways to mitigate the effects of climate change says fast action to cut common pollutants like soot (also known as black carbon) and methane will …
In a startling revelation, a report made public during the fifth South Asian Conference on Sanitation (Sacosan) on Tuesday says more than 675 million people in South Asia still practice open defecation. It shows that around half of the total 2.5 billion people without access to improved sanitation across the …
The fifth South Asian conference on Sanitation (SACOSAN-V) has been inaugurated in Bhaktapur on Monday, with the declaration of Bhaktapur as an open-defecation free (ODF) district. President Ram Baran Yadav inaugurated the regional conference in presence of senior officials from South Asian nations. President Ram Baran Yadav receives a token …
The South Asian Conference on Sanitation (SACOSAN) to be held for the first time in Nepal will begin on Tuesday with the declaration of Bhaktapur as an “open defecation free (ODF) district”. President Ram Baran Yadav will formally declare Bhaktapur as the first ODF district in Kathmandu Valley, amid an …
Over the last two years, the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI), a private-public partnership that has reduced polio worldwide by 99% since its launch in 1988, has greatly expanded the coverage of polio vaccination in Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Nigeria—the three countries where polio is still endemic and the success of …
Seeks answers from Petroleum Ministry on IPI, TAPI and India-Bangladesh-Myanmar gas pipeline. The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) has sought answers from the Petroleum and Natural Gas Ministry over the inadequate progress made in execution of transnational pipeline projects including the Iran-Pakistan-India (IPI) pipeline, the TAPI gas pipeline and the …
Pakistan and Afghanistan are moving towards joint management of common rivers starting with construction of a 1,500MW hydropower project on Kunar River — a major tributary of Kabul River contributing almost 13 million acres feet (MAF) annually to Pakistan. The two sides decided at a meeting on Sunday to pursue …
A cholera outbreak at a village in north-east Afghanistan has infected 1,492 people, killed a young woman and left another 100 in critical condition, a provincial official said today. Mr Abdul Marouf Rasekh, a spokesman for the governor of Badakhshan province, said the outbreak began three days ago and was …
At least 22 people in Afghanistan were killed and farmland was damaged when flash floods hit a plain near the capital, officials said on Sunday. Normally arid Afghanistan can get heavy rain in its summer and more than 60 people were killed early this month in flooding east of the …
Islamabad Heavy rains that caused flash floods and collapsed houses in different parts of Pakistan have killed 53 people over the past three days, a senior disaster management official said Monday. Civil and military authorities have launched rescue and relief efforts to deal with the crisis, said Brig. Kamran Zia, …
This report analyzes comprehensive 2009 data on government social protection programs in 35 countries in Asia and the Pacific. The Asian Development Bank (ADB) used its Social Protection Index to help assess the nature and the effectiveness of these programs, as well as to facilitate cross-country comparisons. This project based …
Health groups said on Thursday they could rid the world of polio by 2018 with a $5.5 billion (3.5 billion pounds) vaccination and monitoring plan to stop the disease taking hold once more now there are only a handful of cases worldwide. Experts say the plan offers the best chance …
An earthquake in Afghanistan's east and flash floods in the north killed at least 33 people on Wednesday as hundreds of traditional mud-brick homes collapsed, officials said. The epicentre of the 5.7-magnitude quake was 11 km from Mehtar Lam, capital of the eastern province of Laghman, according to the US …
A 25-year, US$10-billion global effort has taken the number of polio cases from hundreds of thousands per year to just hundreds, but it is now struggling to stamp the virus out of its final strongholds in Pakistan, Afghanistan and Nigeria, where transmission has never been interrupted. Of these, Nigeria was …
40 feared dead in Iran, 20 in Pakistan; shockwaves felt in North India Pakistan, specifically Balochistan, appears to have borne the brunt of the 7.8 magnitude earthquake that rocked the Iranian border province of Sistan-Baluchestan on Tuesday afternoon. While Pakistan confirmed the death of at least 20 people following the …
A moderate earthquake hit the Kashmir valley around noon today, while there were no reports of any damage due to it. Officials sources said an earthquake measuring 5.8 on the Richter scale hit the Valley and its adjoining areas. Its epicentre is stated to have been in Hindukush area of …
Afghanistan has vast mineral deposits which on paper are worth trillions of dollars The UK is to fund a £10m programme to help Afghanistan exploit its huge natural resources, the prime minister has revealed. Estimates of what lies underground in Afghanistan range from $1-3tn worth of gold, gems, iron ore, …
Five-nation line may pass through Afghanistan and Pakistan India has broached the idea of a hydrocarbon pipeline with Kazakhstan that would bring fuel through a five-nation route. India unveiled the concept of the pipeline, which in future could be extended to Russia, during a meeting between External Affairs Minister Salman …
New Delhi has requested Turkmenistan to give equity in the exploration and production blocks to Gail India wants a share in gas fields in Turkmenistan from where the proposed $9-billion transnational gas pipeline will cross terrorist-infested regions of Afghanistan and Pakistan to deliver gas across the Punjab border. “India is …
Aiming to speed up implementation of the ambitious Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) natural gas pipeline, the Union Cabinet today approved the setting up of a special purpose vehicle to build the 1,680-km pipeline that terminates at Fazilka in Punjab. Tapi Ltd, the Dubai-based SPV, would undertake the feasibility study and design work …
