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<title>Panos Radio South Asia Daily RSS: 03/11/2010</title>
<link>http://www.panosradiosouthasia.org</link>
<description>The latest stories from Panos Radio South Asia for 03/11/2010.</description>
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<copyright>&#x2117; &amp; &#xA9; 2010, Panos Radio South Asia</copyright>
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<managingEditor>prsa@panosradiosouthasia.org</managingEditor>
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<date>03-11-2010</date><item>
<title>Widows of Bangladesh                                </title>
<link>http://www.panosradiosouthasia.org/prsa/news.php?getnewsfordate=1&amp;mm=03&amp;dd=06&amp;yyyy=2010#86</link>
<description><![CDATA[In this episode of Panoscope, we will take you to Bangladesh to have a closer look into the lives of the widows, especially those from the Hindu community. Social discrimination against the widows is a serious concern. They are deprived of their economic rights. They have no right to the family property and remain mostly in social isolation in the male dominated society and have no choice but to depend on their male relatives.  The widows live a highly vulnerable life. Despite all the hardship and social injustic, the situation of widows remains under reported and unaddressed by the government. The NGOs are also not doing enough to help these widows. Journalist Debobroto Chakraborty from Bangladesh prepared this report.]]></description>
<pubDate>Sat, 06 Mar 2010 00:00:00 +0545</pubDate>
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<title>Radio for the voiceless                        </title>
<link>http://www.panosradiosouthasia.org/prsa/news.php?getnewsfordate=1&amp;mm=02&amp;dd=16&amp;yyyy=2010#85</link>
<description><![CDATA[Community radio has gradually grown up to become the best form of journalism in addressing the most neglected social and development issues in the country. Today there are more than 130 community radios operating in most of the country\&apos;s 75 districts -reaching out to a majority of the rural population which make up nearly 80 percent of the country\&apos;s 28 million population. Over the years, Nepal has become an international model for community radio broadcasting. But despite the success, community radio broadcasters are faced with lot of challenges to run their day-to-day operation due to financial constraints and lack of enough skilled manpower in their work.  Naresh Newar from Panos Radio South Asia travelled outside the capital city to prepare this report.]]></description>
<pubDate>Tue, 16 Feb 2010 00:00:00 +0545</pubDate>
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<title>Twice Condemned                         </title>
<link>http://www.panosradiosouthasia.org/prsa/news.php?getnewsfordate=1&amp;mm=01&amp;dd=28&amp;yyyy=2010#84</link>
<description><![CDATA[Pakistan is home to a majority Muslim population but the country has its own Hindu population, which constitutes about less than two percent of the total population. They live primarily in the urban areas of the province of Sindh in the lower Indus valley. Over half are concentrated in the south-eastern district of Tharparkar. Those who chose to stay in Pakistan after the partition of the sub-continent were faced with constitutional and other limitations-generally imposed generally on all non-Muslims. But the lower-caste Hindus within the broad cluster of religious Hindu minority suffered the most. Pakistan\&apos;s attitude towards scheduled caste Hindus has long been a case of double standards coupled with denial. They are hit by double discrimination as non-Muslims in a Muslim majority country and Dalits within Hindu community. Since this discrimination is not officially recognized, therefore, there is no legislation against it. Journalist Asadullah Khan visits different cities of Sindh province to tell the story.]]></description>
<pubDate>Thu, 28 Jan 2010 00:00:00 +0545</pubDate>
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<title>Afghan refugees in India        </title>
<link>http://www.panosradiosouthasia.org/prsa/news.php?getnewsfordate=1&amp;mm=01&amp;dd=22&amp;yyyy=2010#83</link>
<description><![CDATA[India is home to thousands of Afghan refugees taking shelter in India. They had been fleeing their country since the late seventies following the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. More Afghans fled their country after the Taliban regime was established in the nineties fearing for their lives and more escaped to India after the war on terrorism. Most of these refugees are of Hindu and Sikh origin and many continue to struggle to survive in India. A large number of these Afghan refugees are appealing for Indian citizenship with the hope of living a better life. Our reporter Sibi Arasu met the refugees in New Delhi to cover the story]]></description>
<pubDate>Fri, 22 Jan 2010 00:00:00 +0545</pubDate>
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<title>No more soldiers                </title>
<link>http://www.panosradiosouthasia.org/prsa/news.php?getnewsfordate=1&amp;mm=01&amp;dd=13&amp;yyyy=2010#82</link>
<description><![CDATA[More than three years have passed since the decade long armed conflict ended in the Himalayan nation, but the peace process is far from over. One of the biggest obstacles has been to complete the management of People\&apos;s Liberation Army- the military outfit of the Maoists. Since 2006, thousands of Maoist combatants have been living in the seven main camps monitored by the UN. One of the contentious issues has been to release the 4,000 Maoist cadres who were disqualified as combatants following the UN verification. Among them, 3,000 were minors at the time of the verification in May 2006. It was only a month ago that the Maoists finally agreed to let them go. Naresh Newar from Panos Radio South Asia went to the Maoist cantonment in Sindhuli to cover the story.]]></description>
<pubDate>Wed, 13 Jan 2010 00:00:00 +0545</pubDate>
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<title>How the talks failed in Copehagen        </title>
<link>http://www.panosradiosouthasia.org/prsa/news.php?getnewsfordate=1&amp;mm=12&amp;dd=28&amp;yyyy=2009#81</link>
<description><![CDATA[Weeks have passed since the historic climate conference ended in Copenhagen, and there is still a lot of analysis going on how it concluded with a very weak deal. Experts continue to point their fingers mostly at two countries - the United States and China. While both of these world\&apos;s most powerful nations continue to defend that they did their best, everyone is saying that their best was not good enough. Panos Radio South Asia will take you on a journey of the conference in Copenhagen which started with full of hope and ended in total disappointment especially for the climate change vulnerable nations who left Copenhagen totally betrayed by the developed world and emerging economies.]]></description>
<pubDate>Mon, 28 Dec 2009 00:00:00 +0545</pubDate>
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<title>Gorkhas&apos;s Last Battle                                        </title>
<link>http://www.panosradiosouthasia.org/prsa/news.php?getnewsfordate=1&amp;mm=12&amp;dd=05&amp;yyyy=2009#80</link>
<description><![CDATA[In late 2007, the hills of Darjeeling in India renewed their demand for a separate statehood of Gorkhaland with a movement led by Bimal Gurung under the banner of the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha or G-J-M-M. The demand for a separate homeland for the Nepali-speaking people of the region is over a century old, first articulated around 1907. Since then, the movement then led by Gorkha National Liberation Front or G-N-L-F turned widely violent in the 1980-ies and managed to earn a semi-autonomous administrative arrangement called the Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council or D-G-H-C within the West Bengal government of India. But the G-N-L-F later started loosing its support base with its leader being charged of compromising its demand for a separate statehood. Today, the political opposition in the hills is almost non existent and there is widespread support for the G-J-M-M with power base shifting from the G-N-L-F to Bimal Gurung&apos;s G-J-M-M. This is often being referred to by the current leadership as the “final battle for Gorkhaland&quot;.]]></description>
<pubDate>Sat, 05 Dec 2009 00:00:00 +0545</pubDate>
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<title>Climate Catastrophe                </title>
<link>http://www.panosradiosouthasia.org/prsa/news.php?getnewsfordate=1&amp;mm=11&amp;dd=09&amp;yyyy=2009#78</link>
<description><![CDATA[Pakistan is one of those countries, which make comparatively insignificant contribution to the causes of climate change but are extremely vulnerable to its effects. From coastal populations in the south to those relying on snow-fed rivers for agriculture in the north have become vulnerable communities. Agricultural productivity has been hit hard by the changes in land and water regimes. According to the officials, dry lands areas in arid and semi-arid regions are most vulnerable and affected agriculture productivity, putting the country&apos;s food security at risk. The country intends to develop efficient water management systems, create mass awareness campaign and change cropping patterns. However these measures need additional financial resources that are already scarce. Tragic part of the story is that the country&apos;s vulnerability to climate change is inflamed by apparent failures in governance, non-sustainable use of resources and ignorance.]]></description>
<pubDate>Mon, 09 Nov 2009 00:00:00 +0545</pubDate>
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<title>After the Aila</title>
<link>http://www.panosradiosouthasia.org/prsa/news.php?getnewsfordate=1&amp;mm=10&amp;dd=29&amp;yyyy=2009#77</link>
<description><![CDATA[More than five months have passed since the Cyclone Aila struck Bangladesh affecting more than 3.4 million people in 15 coastal districts. It was a deadly scene with the tidal waves rising thirteen feet high, accompanied by heavy showers. In addition, the winds were blowing at 100 kilometers per hour. All of this gave anyone hardly a chance to move fast to escape. An estimated 200 people were dead and over 1,100 more who have gone missing. People lost their homes and all their sources of income and livelihood. More than 100,000 families in Khulna and Satkheera districts of Bangladesh are surviving with severe shortage of food and water. Most of the land is still submerged under the water. There is little chance of regaining their lands and rebuilding their homes. It seems quite impossible for the humanitarian situation to improve. Debobroto Chakraborty reports for Panos Radio South Asia from Bangladesh.]]></description>
<pubDate>Thu, 29 Oct 2009 00:00:00 +0545</pubDate>
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<title>War for Homeland        </title>
<link>http://www.panosradiosouthasia.org/prsa/news.php?getnewsfordate=1&amp;mm=10&amp;dd=14&amp;yyyy=2009#76</link>
<description><![CDATA[In this edition of Panoscope, we will take you to India to report on the situation of territorial autonomous districts in the Northeast region of India, which has witnessed one of Asia&apos;s longest running civil wars. One of them was the Bodoland movement launched in 1987 by a group of youth from All Bodo Students Union. They were demanding for their own homeland for the Bodo speaking ethnic group and separate from the State of Assam. They created their political organization called Bodo People&apos;s Action Committee to spearhead the movement with the slogan &quot;Divide Assam 50-50&quot;. In 1993, the Bodo leaders signed a Memorandum of Settlement and the Government of Assam constituting a 40-member Bodoland Autonomous Council. But dissatisfied with the council, the students launched another agitation denouncing the accord and demanding for a separate state. A new group Bodo Liberation Tigers, also known as BLT, was formed and launched their armed rebellion, which led to many acts of violence. A peace accord was finally signed in 2003 and led to the formation of autonomous Bodoland Territorial Areas District, now administered by the former members of BLT. The question is, however, will there be lasting peace in Bodoland as hoped?]]></description>
<pubDate>Wed, 14 Oct 2009 00:00:00 +0545</pubDate>
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