In the last decade, Bangladesh has witnessed many industrial disasters including factory fires, the most recent being the collapse of various garment factories housed in a multi-storeyed building named Rana Plaza on April 24, 2013. The collapse killed over 400 workers, with 2500 people injured and missing. A large majority of the workers who perished [...]
May 20, 2013
Increase in consumerism, rapid urbanization and greater population densities have resulted in high proportions of waste being generated in Asian cities. Dhaka alone generates about 5800 tons per day of waste. Bangalore, which generates 3500 tons of waste per day, hosts close to 10 million citizens – more than double the population that it had [...]
April 19, 2013
After a slew of scams and controversies for India’s ruling UPA (United Progressive Alliance) coalition, the newly unveiled 2013-2014 budget signals a return to the UPA’s primary agenda of economic growth. At various points in his speech, Finance Minister P. Chidambaram assured investors and voters that the UPA government was firmly committed to the “Indian [...]
April 19, 2013
Slum redevelopment and rehabilitation projects are often in a state of deadlock: any significant change requires more resources and land. However, availing of more resources and land requires significant change on the ground. Reflecting the magnitude of the challenge, several ambitious slum redevelopment projects have either been ineffective or have become notorious non-starters. For example [...]
April 19, 2013
Sharadha, aged 14, lives in one of Hyderabad’s slums. Her mother works as domestic help in local housing complexes. Sharadha likes going to school and aspires to be a teacher someday. However, because she has a poor attendance record, she may not be able to move onto the next grade. She has invariably been skipping [...]
March 20, 2013
Over the last decade, India has seen extraordinary growth in the number of its domestic workers. In 2009-2010, the National Sample Survey Organization (NSSO) estimates the total number of domestic workers at 2.52 million, up from 1.62 million in 1999-2000. Of this, nearly two-thirds reside in urban India, and nearly 57% are women. As in [...]
May 20, 2013
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