"'India lives in her villages', a maxim attributed to Mahatma Gandhi, rings true when we see rural India retaining its old domination of the national population and economy. Close to 69% of Indians live in rural areas, generating 56% of the national income. This disproportion expectedly plays out at the individual level. What's more, a significant proportion of salaried (38.7%) and non-agricultural self-employed households (46.1%) are located in rural areas.

While an overwhelming share of illiterate households are based in rural areas (88.5%), there are also 36.1% households whose chief earners are graduates. The average household income of the large farm-owning households is about four times that of the landless households. Landless households end up spending more on medical expenses (28.7% of all non-routine expenditure) and less on education (4.5%) compared to their richer counterparts who spend 15% and 8%, respectively."

"Asia is still unable as a region to absorb the excess supply generated by its own economies. Most economies in the region still rely on demand from outside the region -- mainly the United States -- to absorb these surpluses. East Asia has become increasingly reliant on intraregional trade. But it must not be forgotten that the region still lacks self-sufficiency. A region needs to be self-sufficient if it is to maintain a community without relying on other markets.

A regional economic community needs a core currency as well as open financial and capital markets. Tokyo's market can provide these functions. However, gaps among East Asian economies remain too wide, and the idea of creating a euro-style currency basket for the ASEAN plus three economies does not seem realistic yet. Unless these hurdles are cleared, East Asia will continue to rely on other markets."

"Moves are afoot to link Bangladesh with Pakistan by rail through India, 63 years after the subcontinent was partitioned. India agreed last week to allow Bangladeshi truckers to pass through its territory on their way to Nepal and Bhutan, and promised Dhaka railway links with these land-locked nations.

Bangladesh foreign minister Dipu Moni is also in favor of the Asian Highway connectivity plans. The Asian Highway is a co-operative project among countries in Asia and Europe, supported by the UN and global banks such as the Asian Development Bank. It seeks to link countries in Asia, including India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, China and Japan, with Europe through a 7,000km trans-continental highway and railway system. The gaps in the railway and highway networks lie mostly in Pakistan, Bangladesh and Myanmar."

"Vietnam may accelerate plans to privatize and break up state-owned companies after the nation's largest shipbuilder almost collapsed under $4.5 billion of debts. Many experts see the collapse of Vinashin as a good example of why the equitization process needs to progress more quickly. This year Vietnam has focused privatizations on smaller companies.

The government delayed plans to sell stakes in Bank for Investment & Development, Vietnam Airlines and other state-owned companies in the last two years as global stock markets plunged during the worldwide recession. Hastening the privatization push may boost management standards at local companies and help Vietnam pare a budget deficit that contributed to it being downgraded by Fitch Ratings last month."

"China's National Development and Reform Commission on Friday approved a batch of inter-city rail transit networks, spanning more than 2,000 kilometers, to accelerate regional integration. The nation's economic planner said that it has cleared the plan to build the network across central China, mainly in Henan province. The network is expected to link nine cities and has an total length of 496 kms.

It also includes amendments on plans of the networks across the Pearl River Delta region, with a length of 1,478 kms, as well as metro lines in Xi'an, the capital city of Northwest China's Shaanxi province. The average cost of a railway transit system ranges from 100 million yuan to 200 million yuan per km. The cost is even higher for metro lines, with an average cost of 600 million yuan per km."

"There is a serious apprehension that Sri Lanka is unlikely to achieve the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) of poverty reduction by 2015. A UN background briefing prepared for the World Summit on the Millennium targets at the United Nations in New York next month said 11 Asian countries with poverty rates above five percent were 'likely to miss the income-poverty target'. These included Bangladesh, Georgia, India, the Philippines, Sri Lanka and Uzbekistan.

There are indications that poverty in Sri Lanka has grown more recently. Some of this growing poverty is not documented but one that is evident owing to the increased urban unemployment and the rise in the costs of basic commodities that have reduced the real incomes of the poor. The issue of poverty in the North and East is an additional serious concern."

"Independent India's greatest failing must be its inability to feed its people. With 42 percent of all children malnourished, 56 percent of women anaemic, and the country ranked 65th out of 84 countries on the Global Hunger Index, the report card of the state on nutrition must have an F.

Most disturbing is the fact that things have got worse over time. In the first half of the last decade, the number of undernourished persons in India decreased by around 13 million, but the second half witnessed a reversal with the number of undernourished increasing substantially. The per capita daily availability of cereals in India has declined to 1957 levels."

"Malaysia has been one of the top-performing economies since the end of the World War II and has enjoyed an extraordinary trajectory from poverty to prosperity. In 1970, about 50 percent of Malaysians lived in absolute poverty; that number is down to below 4 percent.

Like its other Asian neighbors, Malaysia is often overlooked by the behemoth of China, but this southeastern Asia country has delivered extraordinary economic growth this year. Although demand conditions in major trading partners, the U.S., Europe and China, may weigh on Malaysia's exports and industrial output, an increased focus on trade with other Asian nations could limit the downside, while domestic demand is likely to stay strong as well."

"As China looses its cost advantages due to recent labor unrest and rising wages, Vietnam has a big opportunity to become a low-cost alternative for manufacturing. But, it is also in fierce competition with other South East Asian nations. Vietnam lags behind China and more developed South East Asian nations like Thailand and Indonesia in terms of infrastructure and supporting industries.

Enterprises operating in Vietnam are now seriously impacted on by electricity shortages, while the lack of large seaports is pushing transportation costs from the country to export markets. A Jetro survey pointed out that Vietnam ranked first, among eight Asian countries including China, Thailand, India, Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore, in terms of lacking clustering or development of related industries and second in terms of inadequate infrastructure after India."

"Bhutan faces shortage of health workers as many doctors and nurses leave for higher studies abroad. There are around two health workers assigned to a population of 2500, whereas in remote areas the ratio is 1:2500. With 56 doctors and nurses away for studies, applications for additional health workers have poured into the health ministry from all 20 districts.

Every year, the health ministry sees about 12 to 15 health workers, especially doctors and nurses leaving for studies abroad. Shortages get further compounded when the remaining health workers do not get distributed equally across the health facilities. Health officials said that some districts closer to Thimphu like Paro, Punakha and Wangduephodrang have excess people, while some in remote places have to be manned by a single health worker."

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