Bangladesh football fans

Goals Beyond Borders: Can Bangladesh Leverage its Football Craze as a Soft-power Tool?

Beyond the ambassadors of Brazil, Argentina, and Norway, the ambassadors of France, the United States, the United Kingdom, Morocco, and Egypt have also been drawing on their countries' football heritage to deepen cultural engagement with the football-crazy people of Bangladesh. 

Name Change and Memory Archives: Striking Divergence Between India and Pakistan

Ironically, while India continues to rename roads and institutions associated with its medieval and colonial past, Pakistan’s Punjab province has begun moving in the opposite direction.

Protective Parenting: Raising Safe Children or Fragile Adults?

Unfortunately, a growing number of parents appear apprehensive about their children becoming proficient in their mother tongue, believing that greater exposure to local languages may somehow hinder their command of English or other global languages. This perception is both unfortunate and unfounded. A strong foundation in one's mother tongue strengthens cognitive development, improves learning outcomes, and facilitates the acquisition of additional languages.

When Poison Enters the System: Impunity, Vigilantism and South Asia’s Internal Security Failure

Across South Asia, the difference between prejudice and collapse is not the existence of hate. Every society has it in varying shades.  The difference is whether the majoritarian state internalizes hate against the ‘other’,  whether FIRs get diluted, trials get delayed, mobs get garlanded  and impunity driven violence against minorities becomes low-cost. When that happens, the poison is not outside the system. It becomes the system.

More on Soft Power, Culture and Society

Bangladesh minister says hilsa fish production 'wonder of the world'

Bangladesh Fisheries and Livestock Minister SM Rezaul Karim on Friday said the country’s production of the delectable hilsa fish, "once on the brink of extinction", has marked a significant rise to 550,000 tonnes due to appropriate measures undertaken by the government

Indian teen's rousing Glasgow COP26 speech in Modi, Biden, Johnson's presence

A 14-year-old girl from India, speaking at the COP26 in Glasgow, told the world that her generation is "angry and frustrated at world leaders who've made empty promises" and made a direct call to action to save the planet

It is pathetic to attack people over religion, says Indian captain Virat Kohli in hitting out at Mohammed Shami's online abusers

Indian captain Virat Kohli hit back at targeted social media abuse against fast bowler Mohammed Shami following India's 10-wicket defeat to Pakistan in their T20 World Cup opener last Sunday, calling the abusers "spineless people" and saying that "attacking someone over their religion is the most, I would say, pathetic thing that a human being can do"

Kashmir girl wins gold in World Kickboxing Championship; celebrates with Indian flag

A 14-year-old girl, Tajamul Islam, from Jammu and Kashmir, has won the gold medal in the under 14 age category  in the World Kickboxing Championship held at Cairo, Egypt. after defeating Argentina’s Lalina in the final

US returns centuries-old stolen antiquities to India, Pakistan, Afghanistan

The US on Thursday returned 248 antiquities, including a 12th-century bronze Shiva Nataraja, valued at an estimated $15 million to India, the “largest” such transfer of antiquities to the country

Piercing the glass ceiling: 39 women officers get permanent commission in Indian Army after judicial victory

Thirty-nine Indian Army's women officers have got Permanent Commission after winning a protracted legal battle in the Supreme Court, which ordered the government to ensure their new service status is granted within seven working days, NDTV said

Indian medical students' viral dance video: Praise from UN; denunciation from fundamentalists

UN Special Rapporteur for Cultural Rights, Karima Bennoune, has praised a viral dance video of two Kerala medical students, but said the criticism of it shows the dangers to “cultural mixing.”

Monkeys being poisoned in Bangladesh to clear encroached forest land for cultivation

Villagers in one of Bangladesh’s districts are killing monkeys in the Cox Bazaar forest area to clear the land they have allegedly encroached upon for cultivation, environment activists alleged

India-Pakistan match tickets for the T20 cricket World Cup clash sold out within hours

In yet another indication of the huge fan following for cricketing contests between India and Pakistan – two neighbors whose 22-yard clashes have been largely limited by tense diplomatic relations and geopolitical tussles over the years – tickets for their coming encounter in the T20 World Cup has been sold out within hours

No honking, no beeping - only music now on Indian roads!

Indian roads, one of the world's noisiest, might soon become a symphony of Indian musical sounds - if Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari, has his way

Umer Sharif, Pakistan's 'King of Comedy', dies in Germany; Pakistan mourns

Pakistan's entertainment industry was in mourning over the death of Umer Sharif, one of the country's most popular comic actors and hailed by many as the "King of Comedy", who died in Germany on Saturday, Pakistani media reported

India favorites as South Asia's premier football tournament kicks off Friday

After two postponements, a shifting of venue and a withdrawal – all prompted by the raging Covid-19 pandemic – the 13th edition of the South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) championship kicks off on October 1 in the picturesque Maldivian capital Male, surrounded by the turquoise waters of the Indian Ocean

Two women Bangladeshi bravehearts risking their lives daily to reach oxygen to Covid patients

Two women - a former woman cricketer and a software engineer – have emerged as life saviours in Bangladesh for risking their lives to reach oxygen to Covid-19 patients

Bangladeshi man sets his bike on fire after being repeatedly fined

Shawkat Ali bought a motorbike two months ago for ride-sharing services to earn some money. However, he himself set the bike on fire on Monday when he was fined for violating traffic rules

Tennis aces, India's Rohan Boppana and Pakistan's Aisam ul Haq, to pair once again for ATP Sofia Cup

Pakistan and India may be at daggers drawn politically and diplomatically, but friendships and partnerships at a people to people level tell a different story