Reviews of the latest books from and on Southasia

World-Watch
The first issue of this magazine, published by Worldwatch Institute of Washington DC, contains articles on AIDS in the Third World, the danger of future Chernobyls, and the increasing number of smokers in the developing world. The magazine hopes to address "the growing worldwide hunger for information on the fasi-changing relationship between five billion Earthlings and the natural support systems". A section on "Promising Initiatives" lauds enlightened policies while a section called "Wrong Turns" details wrong turns. Six issues a year at U$20. Contact: 1776 Massachusetts Avenue NW,    Washington DC, 20036.
 
In its second year, this bi-monthly is providing increasingly comprehensive coverage of voluntary efforts in rural India. The first issue of 1988, in an editorial, criticizes voluntary agencies for ignoring the local community. "It is essential to first accept the basic premise that not only do people know what is good for them but that they have a right
 
10 decide." Published by the Council for Advancement of People´s Action and Rural Technology, Guru Nanak Foundation Building, New Mehrauli Road, New Delhi 110 067. Annual subscription  is IRs30.
VOICE   OF CHILD WORKERS
This is a newsletter of Child Workers in Nepal, a group formed to protect the rights, welfare and dignity of working children in Nepal. The first issue (October 1987) presents a thorough report on Kathmandu´s street children and also describes the work of restaurant kids {hotel kanchas). Edited by Gauri Pradhan. Annual subscription is NRs80 for individuals. Write to PO Box 4374, Kathmandu. Frequency of publication is not specified,
NETWORKER
This publication is brought out three times a year by the Centre for Women and Development, one of Kathmandu´s respected research- consultancies. The inaugural number (November 1987) assesses the impact of "development" on "gender" and maintains that [he massive governmental investment on development since   1952  has  created  greater inequality
 
between the sexes, with women worse off. A writer states that alternative approaches to development can be supplemented by the private sector. "Room must be cleared for private autonomous organizations to evolve and emerge rather than leaving development solely to administrative decree," she says. Contact: PO Box 3637, Kathmandu. Annual rate; NRs 150 for institutions,  NRs75 for individuals.
WORLD   RIVERS REVIEW
The International Dams Newsletter is now
the the World Rivers Review. The
editorial says this shift reflects changes in
worldwide water polity and marks "the
beginning of the end of the big dam
era". The latest issue of this bimonthly,
published by the International Rivers
Network, reports on dam projects in
Tanzania, the Soviet Union, Brazil and
Malaysia, a cure for river blindness
(onchoccrciasis), a study of siltaiion in
reservoirs, and the call for "glasnost" at
the World Bank so that it will release
information on big dam projects.
Address: 300 Broadway Suite 28, San
Francisco, CA 94133, USA. U$40 for
institutions and U$15 for NGOs and
individuals.