Asia

A humanist work camp is scheduled to start October 10, 2011, organised in Panauti, Nepal, as the initial efforts to establish Nepal’s Park of Study & Reflection. This is a small town 32km south east of Nepal’s capital Kathmandu. Panauti is renowned for its rich history, cultural activities, artistic buildings and year-round festivals.

Hazare, 74, embarked on a public fast in New Delhi to pressure the government into backing tough anti-corruption legislation, and attracted huge nationwide support for his cause. His doctor Naresh Trehan said that “there is a 30 percent improvement in his condition, which is quite satisfactory”.

Twenty-eighth August 2011 an eighteen member group headed by Mawlavi Abdul Hadi joined the peace process in Dareim District of Badakhshan Province, according to South Asian Media Net. Abdul Raouf Rasikh spokesman for the Badakhshan governor told the news agency that with the joining of this group the total number of armed men of Mawlavi Abdul Hadi had upped from 110 to 138.

Shahzad Chaudhry – “In India, we have a 74-year-old, feeble man, à la Gandhian mould, leading a popular anti-corruption movement against a corrupt political and business culture and within that challenging an unyielding political system. While in Pakistan, we only cry out the advent of a transformational moment but remain mired in introspective idealism.”

Hong Kong residents originally from the Indian sub-continent gathered on Sunday past to support Anna Hazare and the actions surrounding the Jan Lokpal Bill, for the fourth week in a row. The event took place at the India Club, Jordan, Hong Kong. The initiators were the volunteer international wing of India Against Corruption (IAC).

India’s prime minister appealed Monday for a more reasoned approach to combating corruption, as huge crowds turned out to support a hunger-striking activist on the seventh day of his anti-corruption fast.

The Philippines on Monday offered Muslim rebels waging a decades-long insurgency the prospect of autonomy, but warned they must first lay down their arms and a peace pact was likely years away. The offer was contained in government proposals for peace with the 12,000-strong Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) at the start of three days of talks in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Indian activist Anna Hazare’s anti-corruption hunger strike drew thousands of supporters to central New Delhi on Saturday as his populist campaign sought to face down the government. The 74-year-old spoke briefly to the crowds from a high podium before he reclined on cushions to be feted with speeches, chanting and live music during the second day of his public fast.

Without decent roads people cannot go about daily life with ease, children cannot get to schools easily and farmers cannot get their crops to market. Also, vehicles quickly deteriorate and break down and the cumulative effect is one of dis-communication, heavy costs for repairs on local economies already under stress and a disabling of people’s lives generally.

North Korea vowed Wednesday to bolster its nuclear deterrent, describing an exercise by United States and South Korean troops as preparation for a “war of aggression” against the communist state.