Go to any of China’s major cities and you’re likely to find an underground metro system either up and running or nearing completion. The expense of building or expanding subway lines has often been the cause of political controversy in the West, but subways have found new enthusiastic advocates in […]

  For a small nation of 700,000 people, Bhutan is a country of big aspirations – its people aim at nothing less than spearheading a new development paradigm that balances material wellbeing with the spiritual, emotional and cultural needs of society. This balancing act is not an easy one; when […]

  While its much affluent neighbour, India, is busy squabbling over a Right to Food Bill, Bangladesh has been busy. Bangladesh has just launched the world’s first zinc-enriched rice variety. With a country that’s fighting acute malnourishment, and which has one of the highest rates in the world with 41% of children […]

Global scrutiny of the substandard working conditions of textile workers in Bangladesh’s garment factories intensified significantly following the collapse of the Rana Plaza textile factory, which is now considered to be one of the world’s worst industrial accidents. Much discussion has centred upon the industry’s exploitative practices that particularly impact […]

  A conundrum of modern times, the debate on growth versus sustainability is like the age-old question of the chicken and the egg — which came first? Or in this case it is a question of priorities. Should we prioritise growth over sustainability or vice versa? Or why can’t be […]