After captivating India’s globally popular film industry and its entertainment-craving public, Sri Lanka’s chartbuster song Manike Mage Hithe (In my Heart) has now made its appearance in an Indian election campaign
The Political Biography of a Former Chief Minister: A Life That Mirrors Mizoram
The enduring lesson of Mizoram is not that the state won and the insurgents lost. It is that both sides eventually found a political space in which neither needed to win everything. That is the essence of accommodation and perhaps the most enduring lesson Lal Thanhawla’s life offers India.
The Empty Chair at Islamabad: When Taliban Saw Women's Rights Subordinated by Islamic Law
The Taliban, therefore, is not challenging whether Islam should shape women’s rights. Both the OIC and the Taliban begin from that premise. The disagreement is over what Islamic rights mean and, more importantly, who has the authority to define them.
Who Defines Where Home is? Confronting Partition Trauma and its Aftermath Eight Decades Later
As of January this year, at least 296 Bangladeshis have died in border areas over the past decade, as India’s Border Security Forces (BSF) pushes “illegal Bangladeshis” across the border in the dead of night.
'The Election Commission Expose': A Seminal Moment for Indian Journalism
It is true that only a handful of newspapers have the resources and persistence to pursue big stories of the kind that came alive in the EC exposé. Nevertheless, to the extent that it inspires others to pursue even smaller news stories with steadfastness this could potentially redeem the otherwise sordid state of affairs in the Indian media.
More on Soft Power, Culture, Society and Gender
Bangladeshi girl wins award from Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation for raising mental health awareness
Bangladeshi girl Fairooz Faizah Beether, the co-founder of an organization that aims at enlightening the youth about the importance of mental health care, has won the 2021 Goalkeepers Global Goals Changemaker Award, announced by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
Pakistani actor Mahira Khan joins Commonwealth campaign against domestic, sexual violence
Renowned Pakistani actor and National Goodwill Ambassador for United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Mahira Khan, has joined a Commonwealth campaign against domestic abuse and sexual assault
Two more Indian beaches get coveted international Blue Flag certification, total now 10
In yet another recognition of India’s commitment to protect and conserve its coastal and marine ecosystems through holistic management of the resources the globally recognized and the coveted global eco-label Blue Flag has accorded the Blue Flag certification for two new beaches this year –Kovalam in Kerala and Eden in Puducherry beaches, both in southern India
Unifying power of music: Sri Lankan hit song captures Indian hearts, Bollywood bewitched
Politics divides, but music unites. This is nowhere more illustrative than in South Asia where a superhit Sri Lankan song “Manake Mage Hithe” is making waves in India
Renowned Indian astrophysicist and science populariser Thanu Padmanabhan dead
Eminent Indian theoretical physicist and cosmologist Thanu Padmanabhan died in Pune, aged 64, on Friday after a massive heart attack, The Hindu reported
New Zealand abandons Pakistan tour; big blow to Pakistan and PM Imran Khan
In what is seen as a big blow to Pakistan's bid to show the world that it was capable of providing a safe and secure environment for international sports, New Zealand’s first cricket tour to the country in 18 years was abandoned Friday following a “government security alert”
Adelaide Festival Centre, Australia, to celebrate Mahatma Gandhi’s 150th birth anniversary
Adelaide Festival Centre, Australia will celebrate the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi with a presentation on October 28 titled "Ahimsa: Meditations on Gandhi" featuring original pieces from one of Australia’s finest jazz composers Sandy Evans, inspired by the Indian freedom fighter’s writings and philosophy of non-violence
Afghanistan’s girl footballers escape to Pakistan
Afghanistan’s national junior girls' football team members along with their families have crossed over to Pakistan after Islamabad issued emergency humanitarian visas to evacuate them from their country following the Taliban takeover
Pakistan has much to prove as New Zealand cricket team begin tour
In what is seen as a litmus test of Pakistan's ability to provide a safe and secure environment for international sports, a New Zealand cricket team has arrived in Islamabad after a 18-year hiatus and will play One-Day International and Twenty20 games amidst a promise of “extraordinary” security
Taliban allows women in universities with gender segregation; mixed response to announcement
In what comes as a big relief to Afghan girls and women, the Taliban announced that women will be allowed to study in universities in the country but with gender-segregated classrooms
Former captain Ramiz Raza becomes head of Pakistan Cricket Board
Ramiz Raja, former captain of the Pakistan Cricket team, was on Monday elected “unanimously and unopposed” the new chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), the PCB said in a statement
Indian success story: Para-athletes got a level playing field with able-bodied athletes with government, private support
A level playing field for para and able-bodied athletes, encouraging support from the government, timely hand-holding by private players, mushrooming of exclusive arenas and incentives contributed to the impressive showing by in Tokyo Paralympics for the disabled where it had its best-ever showing of 19 medals, including five golds, The Indian Express said in a despatch
India registers Its best showing at Paralympics with a 19-medal haul In Tokyo
India registered its best showing to date at the Paralympic Games for athletes with disabilities, finishing with five gold, eight silver and six bronze medals in Tokyo
Bollywood veteran Naseeruddin Shah condemns Indian Muslims celebrating Taliban's return; says Hindustani Islam is different
Veteran Indian actor Naseeruddin Shah has condemned what he says are "sections of Indian Muslims celebrating the Taliban's return to power in Afghanistan", calling it dangerous
