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
Nepal’s Unemployment Crisis: Needed Transformational Leadership to Utilize Available Resources
Nepal's greatest shortage is not simply money or infrastructure; it is leaders who can use them well. Without the right leadership, resources remain locked in inefficiency, corruption, and bureaucratic gridlock.
Proxy Village Governance: The Pradhan Pati Problem in India's Democracy
It has been formally recognised in the Report of the Advisory Committee on Women Pradhans, Transforming Women’s Representation and Role in Panchayati Raj Institutions: Efforts to Eliminate Proxy Participation, which recorded that elected women representatives are often “represented by their husbands or male relatives” and recommended the imposition of stringent and exemplary penalties to curb such practices.
India's Student Revolt: South Asia Has Seen This Before
When economic transformation outpaces institutional renewal anywhere in South Asia, the gap between aspiration and opportunity becomes fertile ground for frustration, alienation, and political discontent. The leaked papers in India were only the trigger
India's Youth Eruption and Ham-Handed Governmental Response: Demeaning Student Power Can Prove Costly
The youth eruption is a consequence of pent-up anger and frustration of the government's indifference to the repeated leaks of exam question papers for which millions of doctor, engineer, police and civil service aspirants prepare for years. Over 20 students have reportedly committed suicide after the NEET exam paper leak for which they had toiled for over a year
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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
Pakistan's culture wars: Liberal-conservative faceoff over PM Imran Khan's alleged sexist remarks
Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan, once known as a "ladies' man", continues to draw flak over comments perceived as sexist, but party’s women leaders have sprung to his defense calling him a "symbol of women's empowerment"
Sad plight of Afghan refugee children in Pakistan
Pakistan hosts around 2.8 million Afghan refugees, the second biggest refugee population after Syrians in Turkey
Bright Bangladeshi business graduates now head multinationals, leading big brands
There was a time when multinational companies and big brands used to only employ foreign nationals to lead the organization in Bangladesh
Nepali Army Inc. - from catering to education
The Nepali Army’s foray into the education sector for running a course in agriculture for the public has drawn criticism with observers saying there has to be a line drawn on what the defense forces should and should not do
Containing Covid: Need for global vaccination effort
Even as the Covid pandemic numbers are declining in India, there is growing concern that new mutations of the virus – particularly the Delta variant, with its super-spreader qualities, could soon pose a global challenge later in the year
'Hidden agenda' behind low Christian and miniority numbers in Pakistan?
Pakistan’s Christian community leaders have voiced their doubt about the results of the sixth population and housing census-2017 about the population of minorities in the country
Lockdown woes: Child marriage, sexual violence on rise in Nepal
The Covid-19 pandemic has impacted the lives of humans in unprecedented ways
An environmental disaster off Colombo: Possible lapses in shipping protocols need investigation
The slow sinking of the fire-stricken Singapore-registered container ship X-Press Pearl off Colombo port, almost on the eve of World Environment Day June 5, has the potential to turn into a major environmental disaster for Sri Lanka and neighbouring India
Children had quarrel with neighbors; Christian parents in Pakistan spend eight years in prison for blasphemy
Having spent eight years in prison for a crime they never committed, for this Pakistani Christian couple justice has finally was served, but after a long, grueling wait, and at a heavy cost
