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This paper attempts to explore the connections between expanding female education and the participation of women in paid employment in Japan, China and India, three of Asia's largest economies. Analysis based on existing data and literature shows that despite the large expansion in educational access in these countries in the last half century, women have lacked egalitarian labour market opportunities. A combination of social discouragement and individual choice largely explains the withdrawal, non-participation or intermittent female presence in the labour force, notwithstanding increased educational access. In taking stock of these issues and debates across these countries, it is argued that the parallel experiences of women in these countries can be traced back to persistent gender norms which, amongst other things, imply the centrality of marriage and non-market unpaid labour for women. The paper argues that there is a need for gender-sensitive public policy in order for increased education to translate to labour market gains for women, leading to sustainable development outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Reports in the British media over the last 4 years have highlighted the schisms and contestations that have accompanied the reports of gender selective abortions amongst British Asian families. The position that sex-selection may be within the terms of the 1967 Abortion Act has particularly sparked controversy amongst abortion campaigners and politicians but equally among medical practitioners and the British Pregnancy Advisory Service who have hitherto tended to stay clear of such debates. In what ways has the controversy around gender-based abortion led to new framings of the entitlement to service provision and new ways of thinking about evidence in the context of reproductive rights? We reflect on these issues drawing on critiques of what constitutes best evidence, contested notions of reproductive rights and reproductive governance, comparative work in India and China as well as our involvement with different groups of campaigners including British South Asian NGOs. The aim of the paper is to situate the medical and legal provision of abortion services in Britain within current discursive practices around gender equality, ethnicity, reproductive autonomy, probable and plausible evidence, and policies of health reform. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In both its focus and conception, much of the research on tourism remains Anglo-Western centric. The ongoing growth of Non-Western forms of travel, most notably in Asia, renders this situation unsustainable. Our understandings of 'the tourist', 'the modern tourism industry' and the conceptual paraphernalia, which surrounds these two, are all firmly rooted in the empirical histories of Western Europe and North America. English language scholarship on tourism rarely rips up these 'Western' roots to interpret 'Non-Western' practices and industries. This paper focuses on the ongoing rise of Asian tourism to argue that in its current form the field of tourism studies is institutionally and intellectually ill equipped to understand and interpret the new era we are now entering. Accordingly, it is suggested that the core-periphery dynamics which characterizes the field today should give way to cultural and political pluralism. The rapid growth in Asian tourism provides ample evidence for this position. This paper concludes by considering the future development of tourism studies in Asia. It is argued that the cultivation of critical scholarship within the region itself will not only help overcome the field's Anglo-Western centrism, but also help us better comprehend the profound societal changes now occurring through Asian mobility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Eastern Karakoram is a remote and under studied region of Ladakh in the northwestern Himalaya. The geology of the area provides insight into the evolution of the south Asian margin since the Paleozoic and is dominated structurally by the Karakoram fault, an ∼800 km long dextral strike-slip fault that bounds western Tibet. In this paper, a 1:250,000 geological map is presented based upon fieldwork and interpretation of satellite imagery. An overview of the geology of the Eastern Karakoram is also presented and includes a discussion of the architecture and kinematics of the central segment of the Karakoram fault. The construction of the map has aided our understanding of the initiation and evolution of the Karakoram fault and of the geology of the south Asian margin in this region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We conducted an epidemiological study to identify the demographics and pre-operative characteristics of patients undergoing primary anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction in a multi-ethnic Asian population. A retrospective study was performed on 696 patients who registered in our ACL reconstruction registry from January 2013 to August 2016. Important inter-ethnic differences were found. Indian patients were significantly older compared to Malay and Chinese patients. Malay and Indian patients were more likely to be male, overweight, and obese compared to Chinese patients. Soccer was the predominant sport involved, although ethnic predominance in specific sports exists. Novel findings from this study include increased prevalence of concomitant chondral injuries in the Chinese population compared to Malays and Indians, and significantly higher rates of concomitant intra-articular injuries in soccer and basketball compared to netball. Identification of these high-risk subgroups would serve useful in guiding the formulation of prevention strategies within our multi-ethnic community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the military policies and capabilities of various Asian nations, and it mentions the deterrence-related impact that China's increasing maritime and air-warfare capabilities have on U.S. naval deployments. The Chinese military's development of advanced anti-ship cruise missiles is mentioned, along with India's national security concerns and Chinese-Japanese relations. China's defence economics and defence spending across Asia are also examined.

In the past 60 years, India-China relations have oscillated between friendship, hostility and indifference. In recent times, both countries have started competing for global economic gains and political status. In light of these events, the objective of this article is to analyze various strategies used by China against India, and India's policy response to these strategies. The article evaluates the process of foreign policy decision making in India, and traces the historical evolution of India's foreign policy towards China. It then deconstructs China's foreign policy towards India, and provides the rationale behind its strategies. The article suggests that after initial engagement with India on the question of boundary disputes, Chinese foreign policy has undergone a dramatic shift since 2007. It specifically evaluates the twin Chinese tactics of military incursions and denial of legitimacy to the Indian territories of Arunachal Pradesh and Ladakh. Based on an analysis of China's previous boundary disputes resolution record with neighbors, these tactics are identified as an extension of China's new strategy for resolving such disputes. The article concludes by suggesting various policy options available to India to counter China's new strategy on the Sino-Indian border. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The author analyses the balance of political power in Asia in the 1970s from an Indian perspective and discusses the growing nationalism among the Asian societies. Extrapolation of expenditure in China on military forces from 1967-1968 is estimated to be 6.0 to 6.5 billion Chinese yuan. One study suggests that the size of allocation for the defence effort by China in the 1970s can be between 12 to 18 billion Chinese yuan. India widened its armed forces consequent on the Chinese attack in 1962.

Asia's rising powers are developing indigenous space programmes at a startling pace. Though some hedging behaviour is apparent, most are designed to bolster technological autonomy and augment national prestige. Nevertheless, China and India are both pursuing anti-satellite capabilities. Not yet a full-blown race, both competition and cooperation is possible between Asia's giants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When the subprime-induced financial crisis broke out in the U.S. housing sector in the summer of 2007 and mushroomed into a global financial crisis by September 2008, it was widely believed that the Asian economies, especially the 'big four'-Japan, China, South Korea, and India-would remain largely immune from the worst of the crisis. However, this assumption has proven to be false. All four countries have felt the negative impact of the financial contagion-albeit differently. Whereas China and India have been moderately impacted, Japan and South Korea have experienced heightened financial instability, sharp economic contraction, and a deep recession. What explains the big four's vulnerability to the crisis, and why have Japan and South Korea been affected more negatively than China and India? How have the four countries responded to the crisis, and what can they do to further insulate their economies from the vagaries of the global financial markets? In this article, the author addresses these interrelated issues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Because of Asia's remarkable economic performance since the 1980s, some observers have predicted Asia's rise and the coming of a Pacific Century. We doubt this optimistic view. In the knowledge-based economy, ways of amassing wealth have changed, and better criteria for evaluating economic development are needed. This study compares research and development activities of four Asian developing countries - China, India, South Korea and Taiwan - with those of two advanced economies - the USA and Japan - to emphasise a neglected trend. The Asian cases do succeed in the information technology industry, a typical sector in the knowledge-based economy. None the less, Asia may be lagging further behind in relative terms. We show that this may not be the Asian century. In addition, it is possible that the battlefield between multinationals will switch from markets to intellectual property courts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chinese military modernization and its resulting aggressive posturing have serious implications for Asian stability and Indian security. This article is an attempt to understand the main security challenges from a Chinese perspective; the kind of responses, especially military, that China has undertaken; and the way Chinese military strategy has evolved from Mao' s People's War days to a modern hi-tech military force today. In the short run Chinese military objectives appear focused on finding ways to defeat the United States in the event of a conflict between the two countries, possibly over Taiwan. But the long-term consequences of Chinese strategy remain uncertain, at least partly because the rise of China, on which that military power will depend, is itself difficult to predict with certainty. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article argues that an increasingly sea-power-minded China will neither shelter passively in coastal waters, nor throw itself into competition with the United States in the Pacific Ocean. Rather, Beijing will direct its energies toward South and Southeast Asia, where supplies of oil, natural gas, and other commodities critical to China's economic development must pass. There China will encounter an equally sea-power-minded India that enjoys marked geostrategic advantages. Beijing will likely content itself with 'soft power' diplomacy in these regions until it can settle the dispute with Taiwan, freeing up resources for maritime endeavors farther from China's coasts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the demographic characteristics of Old Macao from 1555 to 1640. It states that nearly 400 Portuguese and undetermined number of Indians, Malays, Timorese and Africans lived on Lang-pai-kang around 1555. It mentions that these people, who are mostly merchants, seamen, craftsmen and servants, made up the majority of Macao's founding generation. It notes that due to the absence of European women, the racial composition of Macao started to shift in favour of the Chinese. However, although the city underwent a major change in terms of its ethnic ratio, many people continued to relocate from India, Southeast Asia and Africa.