"The latest tiger population in Nepal is nearly three times compared to figures we had in 2009-2010, which is nothing short of historical," said Chiranjibi P. Pokharel, a tiger expert at the National Trust for Nature Conservation (NTNC)
Jewish Footprints and Connections that Shaped Sri Lanka’s History
Today, the Chabad Houses in Colombo and on Sri Lanka's southern coast have attracted considerable attention amid a rise in anti-Semitic incidents and rhetoric. It is noteworthy that Colombo once had an active synagogue, which served as a regular place of worship for British Jewish servicemen World War II
Repositioning India as the Capital of Buddhist Tourism: A Blueprint for a Global Destination
Buddhist tourism as an important tool of India’s soft power. The shared Buddhist heritage can help develop cultural ties with Japan, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Myanmar, Vietnam, Mongolia, South Korea, Bhutan, Cambodia, Laos, Singapore, and several other Buddhist-majority nations through cooperation in archaeology, monk-to-monk dialogues, youth programs, academic exchanges, and cultural festivals
Mohenjo-daro’s ‘Dancing Girl’: The Silence Surrounding Women in Public History
Mohenjo-daro offers South Asia an opportunity to look backwards without dividing the past into national possessions, and to recognise that the region’s cultural memory is older and more interconnected than its modern inheritors.
How a Film by a Boston-Based Immigrant is Dismantling the Model-Minority Concept
Jam Boy represents a much-needed question for the South Asia diaspora, about why it takes a third aggressor for us to see the common struggles that we share, and why it is only in these situations that we remember that our ideas of home are the same.
More on Soft Power, Culture and Society
Scientists in Pakistan develop low-cost anti-bacterial fabric with multiple uses
Speaking on the motivation behind the development, Majeed said the pandemic disrupted many imports, including medical supplies; so his team started exploring medical fabric with a focus on anti-bacterial material which could be sourced locally
In a first for Bangladesh, women outnumber men; literacy rate jumps
Significantly, the literacy rate jumped to 74.66 per cent— 81.28 per cent in the urban areas and 71.56 per cent in the rural areas—against 51.77 per cent recorded in the 2011 census
Scaling the world’s 14 highest peak twice, Nepali sherpa sets a new record
Sanu Sherpa came to Kathmandu, Nepal’s capital, in 2015 to make a simple living. Little did he know at the time that seventeen years later he would break a world record, scaling the world’s 14 highest peaks twice
Cheetahs to make a comeback to India after seven decades
The cheetahs will be relocated to Kuno, a wildlife sanctuary in the central state of Madhya Pradesh, spread across 133 sq miles. Forests in the sanctuary had earlier been home to hundreds of these Asiatic cheetahs before their extinction in India
Taliban’s new insidious plan to replace female government employees
However, replacement by men isn’t possible for every job, especially in cases where women hold higher professional skills and qualifications
Bangladesh cracks down on health officials who conducted fake Covid tests
A district court in Bangladesh has sentenced eight health officials to eleven years of rigorous imprisonment for issuing fake Covid-19 test reports
Courageous Afghan girls defy Taliban’s ban to study in secret schools
One of these secret schools is operated by a 21-year-old girl Nazanin from a house on the outskirts of Kabul. Her students, around ten in number, are almost of the same age as her.
For Pakistanis, residential housing is the safest investment option, find survey
Only 3 per cent of those aged 15 years and above in Pakistan report being able to rely on savings for emergency funds, while 49 per cent report it is not possible to come up with emergency funds, according to Findex, a global financial consultancy firm
Carpooling app comes up in Sri Lanka as fuel scarcity grows
Available both in Sinhala and Tamil, the app will allow people to publish their rides by selecting pick-up and drop locations
First in Indian military history: father-daughter fly fighter jet trainers in same formation
“The biggest, proudest moment in my life, was when flew in the Hawk formation at Bidar on May 30,” Air Commodore Sharma said, adding, “Ananya always used to say, ‘Papa, I want to be a fighter pilot like you.’”
Pakistan deploying shooters at Lahore airport to shoo away birds
In the first six months of this year, around three dozen incidents —eleven at Lahore’s Allama Iqbal Airport—of birds colliding with aircraft and risking their safety were recorded, an official told Express Tribune
Female health workers sans male guardians fired by Taliban in Afghanistan
Since coming to power in August last year, the Taliban regime has announced several measures—including barring women’s presence in the public without a male companion, ban on girls' education, and ban on women from driving among others—restricting the rights and freedom of women
Pani Puri, South Asia’s popular snack, banned in Nepal’s capital
For those fond of street food in the valley, the blanket ban on the sale of pani puri on the streets hasn’t gone down well, with many people taking to social media to question the move.
India’s first Mango Heritage Village comes up in Kerala
The journey to conserve these local fruit variants began almost six years ago with Shyju Mechathi, a civil police officer by profession, who along with his neighbours started documenting and marking every tree in each house with signboards based on their variants.
