In autumn 2009, Himal will activate its plan to start up the Southasia Research Unit (SaRU), which will conduct social-science research on arenas of regional importance as selected by the editors of Himal. For a long time, the editors have felt that the journalistic approach alone is inadequate for so many issues and trends that impact on the population. There is a need to conduct social scientific research over a longer time frame, in order to publish 'tracts' or monographs that will be placed before scholars and policy-makers even as Himal's pages also carry the result of such research.

Girija Prasad Koirala, 85, four-time prime minister of Nepal, died just after noon on 20 March after a protracted illness. Credited with sculpting the peace deal that ended the decade-long Maoist insurgency, GP Koirala’s political career spanning more than 60 years is also a history of the movement for democracy in Nepal. Read Kanak Mani Dixit's Obit Southasian democrat dies at the helm
Plus: Read 'GP: Man of the Moment', the introduction to Koirala's Simple Convictions: My Struggle for Peace and Democracy on the life, politics and legacy of GP Koirala
Sophia Furber shines a light on the phenomenon of suicides by migrant workers in West Asia and probes the abuse and exploitation behind it.
PLUS in the story: Clips from Kesang Tseten's work-in-progress documentary Saving Dolma about Nepali migrant workers in the Gulf.
More
TWAS Fellowships: Call for applications
CALL FOR APPLICATIONS,UN HABITAT