Category Archives: South and Central Asia

Bindeshwar Pathak, ‘toilet man’ who revolutionised sanitation in India, dies at 80

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Sociologist made it his mission to install more than 1m toilets after being horrified by the work of manual scavengers

From the moment he reached adulthood until his death on Tuesday at 80, Bindeshwar Pathak poured his life and energy into making India a cleaner place by building public toilets and enabling Indians from across the social spectrum to have access to clean sanitation.

Over the years, he earned himself the name “Toilet Man”, horrifying his family and fellow Brahmins, the caste to which he belonged. His community was aghast at his obsession with setting up public toilets; for many, toilets were considered something unclean, never to be touched.

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Mob attacks churches in eastern Pakistan after blasphemy claim

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Christian family accused of desecrating copy of Qur’an, setting off rampage in Faisalabad

Hundreds of Muslim men have attacked a Christian community in eastern Pakistan, vandalising several churches and a cemetery and setting scores of houses on fire, after accusing its members of desecrating a copy of the Qur’an.

Hundreds of people armed with sticks and rocks stormed a predominantly Christian area in Faisalabad on Wednesday. Images on social media showed smoke rising from church buildings and people setting fire to furniture.

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Indian doctors rebel over diktat to prescribe cheaper drugs

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Indian Medical Association says that testing is substandard in the manufacture of generic medicines with ‘no guarantee of quality’

Indian doctors have been told they can no longer prescribe branded drugs for their patients, provoking vehement protest from the Indian Medical Association [IMA].

New government guidelines demand a wider use of generic drugs, which are 30%-80% cheaper, reducing the cost of medicines for millions. When doctors prescribe a medicine for fever, for example, they will have to give paracetamol, not drugs such as Panadol or Calpol. Doctors liken this to “running trains without tracks” because the quality of generic drugs cannot be guaranteed.

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Pakistan’s outgoing PM denies vendetta against Imran Khan

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Exclusive: Shehbaz Sharif accuses jailed predecessor of ‘shabby treatment’ of political rivals in final interview as leader

Pakistan’s prime minister, Shehbaz Sharif, has denied pursuing a personal vendetta against Imran Khan, his political rival and immediate predecessor, who was jailed and barred from politics on corruption charges earlier this month.

Speaking to the Guardian in his last interview before handing over to a caretaker leader, Sharif said that “victimisation is not in [his] dictionary” and accused Khan of “shabby treatment of opposition leaders and putting them behind bars” when he was in power from 2018 to April last year.

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Floods and landslides kill at least 49 people in northern India

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Dozens missing after days of heavy rain wash away vehicles and destroy buildings in Himalayan region

At least 49 people have been killed and dozens are thought to be missing after intense rain caused floods and landslides in the Indian Himalayan region.

Days of torrential downpours have washed away vehicles, demolished buildings and destroyed bridges in the northern states of Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh. Flooding and landslides are common and cause widespread devastation during India’s monsoon season but experts say the climate crisis is increasing their frequency and severity.

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Thousands of Afghan judges and legal staff remain at risk post-Taliban takeover

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Two years on, people who worked in the country’s now-defunct legal system remain in grave danger from reprisals for their work

Nearly 4,000 prosecutors and legal staff members face the threat of violence from the Taliban in Afghanistan, where at least 28 prosecutors and their families have reportedly been killed.

When the Taliban seized back power in the country in August 2021, Sara*, who was 28 at the time, was just a few weeks shy of completing three years serving as a prosecutor in the Afghan attorney general’s office.

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India to revise colonial-era penal code and toughen laws protecting women

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Home minister promises widespread reforms but some experts suggest the new laws are more a repackaging of existing measures than real change

More than 160 years after Lord Macaulay laid down a penal code for what was then a colony of the British crown, India is poised to supplant it with new laws free of colonial vestiges and designed to speed up the judicial process.

The government has introduced three bills in parliament that it says will provide a special focus on crimes against women and address the intolerable delays in the system which can leave people waiting 15-30 years for a verdict.

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Pakistan appoints little-known senator as caretaker PM

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Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar to navigate economic and political turmoil after Imran Khan conviction

A little-known senator from Pakistan’s least populous province has been announced as caretaker prime minister to see the country through to the next election, the leader of the opposition said.

The Pakistani prime minister, Shehbaz Sharif, and opposition leader, Raja Riaz, agreed on Saturday to name senator Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar as caretaker premier.

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Teenage girl dies after being forced to stay in a ‘period hut’ in Nepal

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Campaigners say efforts to stamp out custom of banishing girls and women during menstruation have been set back by Covid

A 16-year-old girl from Nepal has died as a result of the illegal practice of chhaupadi, where menstruating women are forced to stay in huts outside their homes.

Anita Chand, from Baitadi district, in the west of the country, bordering India, is understood to have died on Wednesday from a snake bite while she was sleeping. Her death is the first reported fatality from chhaupadi since 2019 and campaigners fear progress to eliminate the practice is being eroded.

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Youth say they need education and job skills to thrive in the modern world

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The pandemic, cost-of-living crisis and the climate emergency are influencing responses to the largest-ever survey of young people

Getting a good education and a job are the top priorities for 10 to 24-year-olds, according to the preliminary results of the largest-ever global survey of young people.

More than 700,000 were asked what would improve their wellbeing. About 40% cited education and work, while 21% said safety and 16% good health and nutrition.

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Manipur conflict drags ‘messiah of the poor’ Narendra Modi down to earth

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Indian opposition hope to open voters’ minds to idea that PM is actually responsible for societal problems

During his near-decade in power, as India has convulsed with sectarian riots, mass protests at government policies, or popular rage at heinous crimes, Narendra Modi has hewed closely to playbook: say nothing, and stay above the fray.

The Indian prime minister has never taken questions at a press conference in the country, declines interviews with critical journalists, and leaves daily commentary to his lieutenants or an army of online trolls. The grubby cut-and-thrust of electoral politics is for others; Modi instead is cast in loftier terms as the “messiah of the poor”.

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Indian opposition walks out as Narendra Modi refuses to discuss Manipur conflict

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PM attacks opposition parties during no-confidence motion called to force him to address ethnic violence in far-east

Opposition parties have walked out of the Indian parliament in protest at the refusal of the prime minister, Narendra Modi, to address ethnic violence in the state of Manipur – a situation that has been described as being close to civil war.

The opposition had tabled a no-confidence vote in Modi largely to force him to appear and speak about the three-month-long crisis, about which he had refused to say more than a few words.

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At least 17 people dead after boat carrying Rohingya refugees capsizes off coast of Myanmar

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Search for survivors continues in latest tragedy as persecuted Muslims make perilous sea journeys in search of better lives

At least 17 people have drowned and 33 are missing after a boat carrying Rohingya refugees from Myanmar to Malaysia capsized on Monday.

The bodies of 10 women and seven men have been recovered after being washed up on the coast of Myanmar, said Bya Latt, a spokesperson for the rescue group Shwe Yaung Matta Foundation. Eight people who were rescued are being held at a local police station, Latt said.

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Gordon Brown calls for Taliban to face crimes against humanity charges

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Ex-PM urges UK and allies to impose sanctions on Afghan regime over its ‘brutalisation’ of women and girls

Gordon Brown has called for the Taliban to be prosecuted for crimes against humanity, as he urged the UK government and its allies to impose sanctions against the Afghan regime.

The former Labour prime minister appealed to the international criminal court to prosecute those responsible for the “systematic brutalisation of women and girls”.

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Imran Khan barred from politics for five years by Pakistan election commission

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Former prime minister appealing against conviction and three-year jail term for corruption in high court

Imran Khan, Pakistan’s former prime minister, has been barred from politics for five years by the country’s election commission after his conviction on corruption charges, local media reported.

Several local TV news channels said the election commission of Pakistan issued the notification on Tuesday in line with the guilty ruling.

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Dozens die in train crash in southern Pakistan after 10 carriages derail

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Thirty people reported dead and more than 90 injured after Rawalpindi-bound express overturns

A train has derailed in southern Pakistan, killing 30 people and injuring more than 90.

Ten carriages of a Rawalpindi-bound train derailed and some overturned near the Pakistani town of Nawabshah on Sunday, trapping many passengers, said senior railway officer Mahmoodur Rehman Lakho. Officials said rescue operations had been completed by early evening.

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Fears grow Pakistani government will delay general election due this year

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Law minister claims new census needed for vote but supporters of Imran Khan, who is facing jail, believe his popularity is a factor

Concerns are mounting in Pakistan that a general election due later this year could be delayed after the government announced that the vote could take place only after a new census was completed and new constituency boundaries drawn.

The announcement from the nation’s law minister that it could take four months to complete the process came on the same day that the former prime minister Imran Khan was arrested after a court sentenced him to three years in prison for “corrupt practices”, involving the sale of state gifts, and disqualified him from politics.

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Imran Khan: former Pakistan prime minister sentenced to three years in jail

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Khan arrested in Lahore after court ruling bans him from politics for five years for corruption

Pakistan’s former prime minister Imran Khan has been arrested after a court in Islamabad sentenced him to three years in jail and disqualified him from politics for “corrupt practices” involving the sale of state gifts.

Khan, 70, was picked up by police from his home in Lahore on Saturday after a court ruled on the Toshakhana case, in which he was accused of illegally selling gifts from heads of state worth hundreds of millions of rupees.

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A year on, the devastating long-term effects of Pakistan’s floods are revealed

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Country’s health and economy ruined as Islamic charity says rich nations must compensate those suffering worst of climate crisis

A year after Pakistan’s worst floods in living memory, a report by Islamic Relief Worldwide has revealed the devastating long-term impact on people, especially children, and argued that rich nations must compensate those countries most affected by the climate emergency.

Researchers from Islamic Relief who talked to people in the flood-affected areas found 40% of the children they surveyed had stunted growth and 25% were underweight as families struggle to access food and healthcare. About 80% of mothers reported sickness among children, with outbreaks of diarrhoea, malaria and dengue fever increasing.

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India’s supreme court suspends Rahul Gandhi’s two-year defamation jail term

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Ruling allows leader of Congress party to return to parliament and contest national elections

India’s supreme court has suspended Rahul Gandhi’s two-year prison sentence for defamation, paving the way for him to return as an MP and to run in next year’s general election.

Gandhi, the leading face of India’s opposition Congress party, was given a two-year jail sentence for defamation in March, in a case he alleged was politically motivated.

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