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

Man from Mizoram with 38 wives, 89 children dies at 76

Ziona Chana, believed to be the head of the world’s largest family with 38 wives, 89 children and 33 grandchildren from Mizoram state in northeastern India, died in state capital Aizawl on Sunday

Pride Parade to be held virtually this year in Nepal

Nepal Pride Parade this year will be organized virtually, organizers announced in the wake of the Covid-19 situation and the travel restriction in the capital, Kathmandu

Bangladesh ace cricketer Shakib Al Hasan suspended for three DPL matches, fined TK 500,000

Bangladesh star cricketer Shakib Al Hasan has been suspended for three games and fined Tk 500,000 for abusing the match officials and damaging equipment during the Dhaka Premier League Twenty20 outing between Mohammedan Sporting Club and Abahani

Ace Bangladesh cricketer Shakib Al Hasan apologizes on Facebook for his unruly behavior

Bangladesh’s star cricketer Shakib Al Hasan has apologized on Facebook for his repeated unruly behavior during a Dhaka Premier League T20 match between arch-rivals Mohamedan Sporting Club and Abahani at the  Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium

Aping western styles, is Pakistani music losing its identity?

Once known for its rich cultural notes, Pakistani music is now veering dangerously towards western styles, raising questions about whether it is losing its identity

Pakistan Cricket Board’s grandiose plans to host ICC events may crash into Indian wall

The Pakistan Cricket Board’s (PCB) plans to bid for five major ICC events to be held from 2024 to 2031, some of them jointly with Asian countries minus India, could come unstuck due to the enormously resourceful Indian cricket board’s influence and the huge advertising reach and market that it commands

Doordarshan brings a new show featuring legendary artists for Hindustani classical music lovers

Hindustani lassical music lovers are in for a treat with the telecast of Doordarshan Delhi Kendra’s new show "My Favourite Raaga" on DD Bharati

National Award-winning Bengali filmmaker Buddhadeb Dasgupta dead

National Award-winning Bengali filmmaker Buddhadeb Dasgupta, known for delving into magic realism through his works, passed away on Thursday

FGC Bhutanese awarded prestigious motivation trophy at Indian Military Academy; FGC Afghanistan also gets award

In an immaculately conducted award ceremony at the Indian Military Academy (IMA), Dehradun, Junior Under Officer (JUO) Kinley Norbu, a Foreign Gentlemen Cadet (FGC) from Bhutan, was awarded the prestigious motivational trophy for his excellent all-round performance during his training at the IMA

SB John, famed Pakistani ghazal singer, dead

Pakistan’s famous ghazal singer, Sunny Benjamin John, 87, better known as SB John, passed away on Monday in Karachi after a prolonged illness

Bollywood actor Dilip Kumar on oxygen support, stable

Veteran Indian actor Dilip Kumar, who is currently hospitalised, is on oxygen support, his official Twitter handle confirmed

Three-year-old girl from Srinagar plants a tree each month; felicitated on World Environment Day

Recognizing her efforts to protect the ecology on World Environment day, Filza was awarded by the South Asian Voluntary Association of Environmentalists (SAVAE), a Kashmir-based organisation that focuses on environmental policy in South Asia

Thespian Dilip Kumar admitted to Mumbai hospital

Legendary actor Dilip Kumar has been admitted to Mumbai's Hinduja hospital on Sunday morning after complaining of breathlessness, media reports said

Learned a lot from Irrfan Khan on sets of 'Hindi Medium': Pakistani actress Saba Qamar

Pakistani actress Saba Qamar, who starred in the super grosser Bollywood comedy-drama Hindi Medium opposite late Irrfan Khan, says she learned a lot from the Indian actor

Pakistan Super League matches in Abu Dhabi from June 9

The uncertainty dogging the remaining matches of the Pakistan Super League (PSL) has finally come to an end, with the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) announcing on Thursday that the games will be played from June 9-24 in Abu Dhabi