Nita Bhalla
Nita Bhalla covers South Asia for AlertNet. She is based in New Delhi.
INTERVIEW-Vedanta says India bauxite mine will benefit poor tribes
NEW DELHI AlertNet) - The chief executive of the mining group Vedanta Resources on Thursday said a planned bauxite mine in India would benefit thousands of poor tribespeople, refuting regular accusations by rights groups. Vedanta wants to mine bauxite for its alumina refinery in Orissa state, but the project has been mired in controversy since 2005. Activists say it will rob some of India's most vulnerable people of their ancestral home and traditional way of life. ...
For fast and flexible disaster relief housing - try bamboo
NEW DELHI (AlertNet)- When the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami devastated India's Andaman Islands, some 4,000 prefabricated bamboo houses provided a quick and effective way to give shelter to thousands made homeless by the disaster. Dubbed the "fastest-growing plant on earth", bamboo provides structures that are durable, cost-efficient and easy to construct and transport and could revolutionise the provision of shelter for millions of people displaced by natural disasters and conflict, manufacturers say. ...
India's planned assault on Maoists troubles European aid body
NEW DELHI (AlertNet) - India's plans to launch a major offensive against Maoist rebels in the country's heartlands could jeopardise much-needed humanitarian operations in the impoverished area, the European Commission said on Thursday. The government has signalled that an assault against insurgents is imminent in the central state of Chhattisgarh -- the epicentre of violence between Maoist fighters, security forces and pro-government militias since 2005. ...
Afghans say "more effective aid" needed to halt decades of violence - Oxfam
NEW DELHI (AlertNet) - Afghans say foreign donors must commit and deliver "more effective aid" if the country is to pull itself out of poverty and end more than three decades of violence, Oxfam International said in a report on Wednesday. "The Cost of War" - a survey based on interviews with over 700 people across 14 of Afghanistan's 34 provinces - found that most Afghans felt poverty, unemployment and corruption were the main drivers of conflict in the country since 1978. ...
South Asia told to fight dire toddler malnutrition
By Nita Bhalla NEW DELHI (AlertNet) - South Asian nations must promote breastfeeding and focus on better nutrition for under two-year-olds in order to reverse the worst rates of chronically undernourished children in the world, the U.N. said on Wednesday. According to a new report by the U.N. Children's Fund (UNICEF), more than half of the world's 155 million chronically undernourished under fives are in South Asia. ...
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