The SAU aims to bring together peacebuilders and particularly women from the region to work towards a political and economic South Asian Union, along the lines of the European Union, by 2030
Can India's Election Commission Pass the Gandhian Test of Public Integrity?
The Election Commission belongs neither to the government of the day nor to the Opposition. It belongs to the people of India. Its first duty is to protect the citizens' vote. That is the standard by which the CEC, the two ECs should be examined.
Manipur’s Displaced Still Waiting for Home: Crisis Resolution Needs to Move From Relief to Restoration
Manipur therefore needs to move beyond the language of relief and towards the language of restoration. The ultimate measure of recovery will not be how many camps have closed. It will be how many families can safely return, rebuild their livelihoods, educate their children, access justice and live without fear.
Capital Crime - and the Anatomy of Impunity in India
The Chopra siblings' murder in 1978, the Nirbhaya case of 2012, R.G. Kar Kolkata in 2024 and Kalkaji in 2026 belong to different historical contexts. Yet they reveal a recurring difficulty in Indian governance: we are capable of extraordinary mobilisation after extraordinary violence, yet less consistent at converting that mobilisation into permanent institutional practice.
The Indian Government Should not Pick Sides in Tata Conflict
The Tata group is a national icon, a picture of enterprise, growth and service packed in a business model that many Indians cherish and hold as an exemplar. That model, in which the bulk of a great enterprise’s profits flows to charitable trusts for the public good, is rare anywhere in the world.
More on Governance, Public Policy and Law
Which has a 'better behaved' media - US or India?
Trump also gave the Indian media backhanded compliments when he met with Modi in 2019
Taliban’s IPL ban shows media and entertainment industry won’t be able to survive for long in Afghanistan
The Taliban, the new rulers of Afghanistan, earlier this week announced a ban on the broadcast of the Indian Premium League (IPL), the hugely popular and monetarily lucrative Indian cricket league, which is widely watched in Afghanistan as their star player, Rashid Khan, is part of it
'Infiltrators' who get royal treatment on both sides of India-Pakistan LoC
They “violate” the otherwise volatile Line of Control (LoC) at their own sweet will, but far from being challenged for their “infiltration”, they are treated as guests of honor on both sides of a disputed frontier – India and Pakistan
Rights of the incarcerated: Plight of pre- and under-trial detainees overcrowding prisons in South Asian nations
Prisons in South Asian countries are overcrowded-- with some countries like Bangladesh and Sri Lanka having almost double their official capacities-- as most people spend years there as pre-trial detainees in the absence of speedy justice, according to data presented at a conference titled "The Rights of The Incarcerated in South Asia", organized by the South Asia Peace Action Network (SAPAN)
Academic Freedom in South Asia: SAI Heidelberg seminar attracts renowned scholars
Concerned by reliable reports of harassment of academics in India, the South Asia Institute (SAI), Heidelberg University, Germany hosted the webinar "Academic Freedom in South Asia" on 2 August, 2021 in which the following, internationally renowned scholars took part
The little-known Chinese Kali temple in Kolkata - a testament to cross-cultural bonding in challenging times
Kolkata is home to more than 2,000 Chinese, a close-knit community that has made the city its home for decades and arduously hung on to their culture and heritage through generations while making their mark in the tannery, beauty salons, shoe and restaurant businesses in the teeming eastern metropolis
South Asian countries scramble to vaccinate outbound workers to safeguard remittances
The pandemic has been a blow to countries like Bangladesh, Nepal, and Pakistan as all of them receive billions of dollars annually through remittances of migrant workers abroad
From cleaning plates to featuring on Forbes – the fairy tale rise of a Bangladeshi American
Beginning as a teenager clearing tables and plates at an eatery, 30-year-old Bangladeshi American Nabeel Alamgir has featured on a Forbes list running an online delivery service that saw revenues grow seven times higher in 2020 despite the killer Covid-19 pandemic
The tale of the obscure takin, Bhutan’s national animal
Have you ever seen a takin? Chances are an overwhelming majority of people will meet the poser with a baffled look
An American petroleum engineer in love with his adopted home Bangladesh
If you chance to visit Meherpur – a remote village in Bangladesh – you may come across a lanky American national in local attire who has made the country his home for the past 12 years
Modi, Afghan envoy and the 'fragrance' of 'brotherly' India-Afghanistan ties
It is common for doctors and surgeons working in India’s National Capital Region to get Afghan patients
Maldives beckons India’s glamour and affluent set once more
Ending a two-month ban on travelers from South Asian nations following the surge in coronavirus infection in the region, Maldives is to open its borders to these countries from July 15
Law must be tempered by justice: CJI Ramana’s observations will restore Indians’ faith in higher judiciary
The Chief Justice of India (CJI), N.V. Ramana, struck a resounding note about the interpretation of the understanding of law per se, when he observed that “It can be used not only to render justice, it can also be used to justify oppression.”
Female genital mutilation: Controversial tweet reignites debate in the Maldives
A tweet by a university professor in the Maldives, detailing the benefits (sic) of female genital mutilation (FGM) - a regressive socio-religious practice where the clitoris of a female is removed physically for non-medical reasons-- has sparked controversy in the Indian Ocean archipelago, with many calling for banning the professor from using social media platform
