Even Discussion » Asia

LATIN AMERICA: Ties with China Based on Commodity Exports, Manufactured Imports

Moterator — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 05:00:05 +0000

Exports from Latin America and the Caribbean will grow again this year, driven largely by demand from China. But the high proportion of commodities may increase dependency on China, and Asia as a region, warns a new report by ECLAC, the regional United Nations agency.

SOUTH ASIA: Fishers’ Release A Good Catch for India-Pakistan Ties

Moterator — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 05:00:05 +0000

It took almost two hours before Jeenti Deva, 16, could board the bus that would
bring him home to India, but the long wait did not stop him from smiling.

INDIA: Handicrafts Give Rural Women A Helping Hand

Moterator — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 05:00:05 +0000

With her arms loaded with flowers and leaves, Mohini Indrawan
negotiates the dusty village track leading up to her house in
this northern Indian state, pausing now and then to exchange
pleasantries with a passing acquaintance. Her spending a few
hours away from home each day was once labelled “immoral”, but
Indrawan is now hailed as a role model for other women.

INDIA: Fears of Privacy Loss Pursue Ambitious ID Project

Moterator — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 05:00:05 +0000

Fears about loss of privacy are being voiced as India gears up to launch an
ambitious scheme to biometrically identify and number each of its 1.2 billion
inhabitants.

RIGHTS-JAPAN: Death Penalty Still Hangs In The Balance

Moterator — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 05:00:05 +0000

It has been a long and exhausting wait for anti-death penalty
campaigners like Akiko Takada, but there are few signs that
capital punishment will be taken off Japan’s law books any
time soon.

BAHRAIN: No Change Seen in Ban on Entry of People with HIV

Moterator — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 05:00:05 +0000

Bahrain may be dependent on expatriate labour, but that has
not stopped it from deporting migrant workers who are found to
be HIV-positive.

PAKISTAN: Floods Leave Afghan Refugees Down and Out

Moterator — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 05:00:05 +0000

When they are not looking forlornly over what used to be their
homes or trying to find help for relatives who have fallen
ill, many Afghan refugees chase after vehicles that pass
through the Great Trunk Road connecting Peshawar to Islamabad,
the Pakistani capital.

CHINA: Bigger Bite Needed into Appetite for Shark Fin Soup

Moterator — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 05:00:04 +0000

Campaigns featuring some of China’s biggest celebrities,
including basketball star Yao Ming and actor Jackie Chan, have
persuaded some Chinese to think twice about eating shark fin
soup. But changing attitudes about the centuries-old delicacy,
a large contributor to decimated shark populations, continues
to be a challenge.

SRI LANKA: War-weary Civilians Dream of New Homes

Moterator — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 05:00:05 +0000

Ramaih Sathdiyapillai has had enough of life on the run. A native of Kilinochchi
district – which was until not too long ago the stronghold of the separatist Tamil
Tigers in Sri Lanka’s north – she bore the brunt of the war along with tens of
thousands of others.

500,000 Pregnant Women at Risk in Pakistan Floods

Moterator — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 05:00:05 +0000

Aid groups and U.N. agencies are raising the alarm over the vulnerability of
pregnant women and babies in flood ravaged Pakistan.