Hundreds of children are still being born with birth defects as a result of the world’s worst industrial disaster 23 years ago in the central Indian town of Bhopal, say campaigners. They are demanding that the Indian government provide immediate medical care and conduct research into the "hidden" health impacts.
Former communist rebels in Nepal appear to be on the brink of a historic sweep in elections that will decide the political future of the Himalayan nation and end the rule of its 239-year-old royal dynasty. The Maoists’ party has won 42 seats and is leading in 58 constituencies, the election commission said in a statement on its website.
Quiet and unassuming, the Indian business baron drives himself to work in an unremarkable Tata sedan. His beachfront bachelor pad is found in the hippest tip of south Mumbai, but Ratan has only CDs, books and his dogs for company. He does not drink or smoke. His vices revolve around speed.
When the Dalai Lama sat down on Saturday with Richard Gere and Robert Thurman, father of actor Uma and a United States professor of Buddhism, it was supposed to be for a few hours contemplating sacred art and silent meditation. But like almost everything the 72-year-old does, who he meets and what he says are picked over and pulled apart.
Violent protests in Tibet have emphasised the growing divide within the exiled community over how to win the propaganda war with China. The spiritual leader of the Tibetans, the Dalai Lama, abjures all violence and considers even hunger strikes and economic sanctions as illegitimate means of political protest.
Last Monday, the Indian government announced a scheme to pay poor families to give birth to and bring up girl children. The government has also moved to end the practice of suicides in bankrupted rural communities. Randeep Ramesh looks at the ways in which the Indian government is providing relief and incentives for the poor.
No image available
/ 19 January 2008
In the same way as commentators refer to the 1900s as the ”American century”, the 21st century is forecast to be Asian. If the scale and speed of growth can be maintained on both sides of the Himalayas, by 2050 Beijing and Delhi will be the capitals of the world’s two richest nations.
No image available
/ 11 January 2008
When Baldev Singh arrived to open his car parts showroom last September he found not customers but officials from Delhi’s municipal council at his doorstep. Part of a drive to clean up Delhi in advance of the 2010 Commonwealth Games, Singh was forced to close his business — sacking 12 of his staff. Officials told him that zoning laws, previously ignored, were now to be zealously enforced.
No image available
/ 11 January 2008
When Baldev Singh arrived to open his car parts showroom last September he found not customers but officials from Delhi’s municipal council at his doorstep. Part of a drive to clean up Delhi in advance of the 2010 Commonwealth Games, Singh was forced to close his business — sacking 12 of his staff. Officials told him that zoning laws, previously ignored, were now to be zealously enforced.
No image available
/ 29 October 2007
About 25 000 of India’s poorest people — tribal peoples, "untouchables" and landless labourers — have stopped traffic for nearly three weeks on the road that links Delhi and Agra, home to the Taj Mahal. Headed by a group of chanting Buddhist monks, the marchers say they aim to shame government into keeping its promise to redistribute land.