A Tomb Stone of a Jewish serviceman served in Ceylon

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

Songs behind the veil, poetry on Twitter - Afghans go virtual in challenging Taliban’s tyranny

“We are keeping our Kabul alive, at least virtually,” Habib Khan, an Afghan journalist, now in exile, tweeted, asking people to join him in a Twitter Space to listen to "live music from Afghan artists, enjoy Afghan poetry and Afghan talks".

Pakistan's cricket isolation to end; Australia to tour with full squad

The shunning of Pakistan as an international cricketing destination because of security fears is about to end with Australia announcing a tour of Pakistan, possibly in March, with a full-strength squad

Justice Ayesha Malik becomes Pakistan's first woman judge in apex court

Justice Ayesha Malik on Monday took oath as a judge in the Supreme Court of Pakistan, becoming the first female judge in the country’s judicial history to reach the top court

Sri Lankan hit song adapted for poll campaign in local Indian elections

The peppy beat of Sri Lankan singer Yohani de Silva’s “Menike Maga Hithe”, which had taken the Indian music scene by storm, has been adapted by the ruling BJP in important local elections in the country's most populous state of Uttar Pradesh as its campaign song

India to open campaign against Pakistan once again in Melbourne in men's T20 Cricket World Cup 2022

The Covid-19 pandemic is having a positive spinoff for cricket lovers, at least.  Australia will host the ICC Men's T20 World Cup in 2022 as reigning champions in October-November

Sri Lanka’s zoo workers threaten to starve animals over allowance demand

Sri Lanka’s economic crisis is having its fallout in unexpected areas. Employees in Sri Lanka’s National Zoological Gardens in capital Colombo have threatened to stop feeding the zoo animals there, demanding payments of their allowances and removal of officials who are accused of misappropriation of funds

Daughters have right to inherit father's property if no will, says India's Supreme Court

In a significant verdict for gender equity, India's Supreme Court has said the daughters of a male Hindu, dying intestate, would be entitled to inherit the self-acquired and other properties obtained in the partition by the father and get preference over other collateral members of the family

Ten-year salary plus generous compensation: Pakistani business community rises in support of lynched Sri Lankan manager's family

In a laudable gesture of restitution for a heinous act of their compatriots, Pakistan’s business community has come forward to assist the widow of the Sri Lankan manager who was lynched last year in Sialkot's industrial area

In emotional reunion, Indian and Pakistani brothers meet after 74 years

Some India-Pakistan stories do have a happy ending. Two brothers, one Indian and one Pakistani, who were separated during the India-Pakistan partition of the subcontinent in 1947, were reunited after 74 years in Kartarpur, the Sikh pilgrim center in Pakistan, local media reported

Murals in the dead of night: Afghan women resist Taliban’s imposition of dark days

For Kabul, murals aren’t just paintings. It is also a general expression of protest, resentment against both their past and present rulers

Kashmiri girl turns reporter to highlight poor road conditions

An undated video of a little girl from Jammu and Kashmir who turned reporter to show the poor condition of roads, especially those leading to her home, has created a storm on the internet, with people complimenting her for her coverage

Indian Army provides food to migrant labourers in Jammu and Kashmir amid heavy snowfall; evacuates pregnant women

In a widely appreciated gesture, hundreds of migrant labourers were provided cooked food and winter clothing by the Indian Army amid biting cold and heavy snowfall in the Poonch district of Jammu and Kashmir

Supreme Court of Pakistan to get its first female judge

The Judicial Commission of Pakistan (JCP) has confirmed the appointment of Justice Ayesha Malik to the country’s top court amid strong protest by lawyers who have been opposing her elevation as it supersedes several senior judges

Sri Lanka to cultivate more rubber plantations to enhance forest cover to 30 percent

Sri Lanka plans to increase forest cover from currently 29.3 percent to 30 percent by 2025 by cultivating rubber plants over an area of 500 hectares

South Asia’s first hybrid school with online classes and on-ground sports

Since the pandemic began in early 2020, much has changed in the education sector across the world