Delhi Gymkhana

Erasing Colonial Symbols Won't Feed India's Families: A Call for Economic Pragmatism

But tearing down a clubhouse will not lower a family's grocery bill or write a line of exportable code. India's chance to close the gap with the economies that outran it will not wait for a hearing date in September, and neither should the country's attention.

Taslima Nasrin’s Return and the Politics of Selective Protection

Taslima Nasrin’s homecoming deserves to be welcomed. A writer should be able to return to a city she considers home without fearing violence. The harder test will come when the symbolism fades. Will the government protect her if her criticism becomes inconvenient to the people now celebrating her return?

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

More on Soft Power, Culture and Society

Indian cricket star Virat Kohli makes a specially-abled Pakistani fan's day in Dubai

Noor’s patience paid off as Kohli, after he got to know about her, came to see her after India’s training session got over. Kohil met Noor and her family and clicked pictures with them

Nepal’s honey hunters find traditional livelihood under threat from 'development'

Overharvesting is not the only threat to the Himalayan giant honeybee. Across the Nepal Himalayas, earth-blasting and the construction of roads and dams is impacting the fragile mountain ecosystem

Tiger, tiger burning bright in Nepal; tiger numbers tripled as PM Deuba commends human-tiger coexistence

"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)

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