Regional cooperation can improve food security

Bhutan Bank's Dil Bahadur Rahut and P A Samaratunga from Colombo's Institute of Policy Studies were in New Delhi recently to discuss food security at a conference of South Asian countries. They spoke to Savvy Soumya Misra on the food crisis in their respective countries On food security Farmland in Bhutan is fragmented. We cannot use heavy machinery like tractors as farms are on hilly terrain. Most

Bhutan's CD-ROM stamps

Bhutan has launched an innovative postage stamp to support its economic development and to preserve its pristine Himalayan environment at the same time. The stamps are actually mini- cd roms. When affixed to a large envelope, the cd stamp can be used as postage.

South Asia

No littering in bhutan:

South Asia

power failure Bangladesh's shrimp industry in the south of the country is facing severe power shortages. Work in 39 shrimp processing factories in Bagerhat, Khulna and Satkhira districts has been hampered and they have incurred losses amounting to Rs 2 crore per day.

South Asia

Refugees clash For the first time in 16 years, a violent confrontation took place in the third week of February between Bhutanese refugees and villagers in Pathari, 600 km east of Nepal's capital Kathmandu. The clash happened when the latter tried to stop the Bhutanese refugees from taking wood from a forest near the Sanischare refugee camp. One refugee was killed and several others injured during the clash. Following this, the villagers called for an indefinite strike and demanded the authorities close the camp and refugees no longer

SOUTH ASIA

Environmental court: Pakistan's Sindh High Court has recently directed the ministry of environment to establish environment tribunals, as required by the Pakistan Environment Protection Act, 1997, within two months so that environment issues can be decided expeditiously. The direction was in response to a petition filed by an NGO that challenged a decision of the Sindh Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) related to the construction and operation of a 94-MW natural gas-fired power plant and desalination plant in the Defence Housing Authority.

How is South Asia faring on energy?

South Asia, home to a quarter of the world's population, is a major energy consumer. According to the us Energy Information Administration, the region's primary energy consumption increased by 58 per between 1991 and 2000, and is expected to increase by another 40 per cent in the next three decades.

Outbreak

the Assam government has sounded a health alert across the state following an outbreak of malaria that has claimed at least 35 lives and affected more than 20,000 people over the past month. Unofficial estimates put the toll at around 80. Behind the outbreak is the laxity of the administration and a spectacular scam. People in affected areas have also risen in protest.

South Asia

lankan labour: The Wages Board of the Sri Lankan labour department is promoting child labour, if a government notice published in Sri Lankan newspaper is to be believed. The notice, which relates the wages of labourers who come under the Wages Board Act, was taken out under the name of labour commissioner Mahinda Madihahewa. The notice specifies the wages of male and female workers between 14 to 16 years of age working in the cocoa, cardamom and pepper sectors as Rs 163.22 a day while in coconut cultivation it is Rs 144.50 a day.

South Asia

what a waste: For the past two months, 11-year-old Tsheten Dorji is being treated for third-degree burns he received from chemical waste dumped by factories in Balujhora in Bhutan's Pasakha town. The town residents complain that factories dumped waste very near residential areas. "Children are always playing about the site. The substances eats into the skin," said Tshering Zam, a resident. Other residents of the area, including three children, suffered burns from the waste.