By M Martin

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, Kerala, Oct 1 (IPS) - Beatles star Sir Paul McCartney described his 2002 Kerala tour in one word – 'magical'. For thousands who throng the state's green villages, picturesque backwaters and beaches, the experience is no less than a 'Magical Mystery Tour’. But local fisherwomen say it means new and harsh realities for them.

By Praful Bidwai

NEW DELHI, Sep 24 (IPS) - India’s plans to dredge a navigable canal between the Gulf of Mannar (which separates India from Sri Lanka) in the face of strong economic and ecological objections have now run, of all things, into a religious obstacle.

By Feizal Samath

COLOMBO, Sep 21 (IPS) - Compared to the rest of South Asia, Sri Lanka has impressive sanitation statistics with 90 percent of the population having access to latrines. But what happens to human waste thereafter is another story.

By Feizal Samath

COLOMBO, Sep 19 (IPS) - A tsunami alert, last week, sent thousands of Sri Lankans living along the coasts of this island nation fleeing inland, but authorities were exultant that the early warning systems installed after the disastrous Dec. 26, 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami were working.

By Nitin Jugran Bahuguna

RAIPUR, Chattisgarh State, Sep 17 (IPS) - Like other women in this largely tribal, central Indian state, Draupati Bhosale was averse to the idea of having toilets built within homes, but went along because the government was building them at heavily subsidised costs. ‘’I thought it would give me extra storage space,’’ she said.

NEW YORK, Sep 15 — United States-based Blacksmith Institute, an independent environmental group, in partnership with Green Cross Switzerland, recently issues their Top 10 list of the world's most severely polluted places.

By Suvendrini Kakuchi

TOKYO, Sep 13 (IPS) - The evolution of the toilet in Japan, from the humble squat latrines of a few decades ago to today’s hi-tech, cockpit like contraptions, parallels the dramatic rise of this country from post-war ruination to global technological leadership.

Wash Awards