Gruesome and horrific tales of butchery and cannibalism that these so-called ‘Islamic State’ actors: what will the UN or the US do to rid the world of this scourge? The Islamic State terror group has now outlawed the burka at its security centers in northern Iraq! The reversal comes after several IS commanders were killed at […]
Hong Kong completed its elections, and the results are out. Some say that the outcome of last Sunday’s election for Hong Kong’s legislature has been a political blow to the Chinese regime, because six political activists who were prominent in the protests in 2014 against Beijing’s anti-democratic strictures have been elected. Anyway, this shows that […]
India, said Hilary Clinton in one of her election speeches, is ‘indispensable’ in South Asia. Why does that statement scare some Americans (and a lot of the Chinese)? Read on. Peter Lee runs the China Matters blog. He writes on the intersection of US policy with Asian and world affairs. An extract of his analytical […]
India said on Saturday (Sept 3) it is lending Vietnam some US$500 million (Indian Rs 38,500 million) to boost defence ties. The latest security deal between the two nations seeks to counter Beijing’s muscle-flexing in the South China Sea, say observers. Prime Minister Narendra Modi made the announcement during a visit to Hanoi, which has […]
DANG (Nepal), Around 100 churches in Dang district rely heavily on money collected from followers, most of whom are from poor economic backgrounds. The believers have been paying 10 percent of their income ‘willingly’ on a monthly basis as a religious duty. When they are not able to give cash to the churches, they offer […]
The International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) and the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) held a Conference on Enforced and Involuntary Disappearances in South Asia on the eve of the International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances (30 August). Lawyers and activists who attended the conference called on South Asian States to immediately criminalize […]
The Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA)’s Council of Complaints Saturday recommended Rs 5 Lakhs (Pakistan currency) fine each on as many as 13 television channels for running a report on wedding of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan without evidence. The council has also recommended that these channels would air apology and also recommended […]
To defeat ISIS, South Asian countries must look beyond their selfish and myopic interests The so-called Islamic State (IS) in appeared around 2014. Since then, policymakers and the strategic community in South Asia remain divided on whether the terrorist group poses a threat to the region or not. These differences can be attributed to two […]
Is the rise of Political Islam destroying South Asia’s pluralism? A couple of Pakistani historians indicate so. Read on: Feminists and the liberals are divided on whether the burqa, a garment that covers the entire body, or the niqab, the facial veil, represent personal freedom or suppression. While most experts agree that women, like men, […]
Khyentse Norbu is an iconic figure in Bhutan. Bhutanese Lama and internationally acclaimed film director’s latest film ‘Hema Hema: Sing me a song while I wait, premiered in Switzerland recently. It is Norbu’s fourth feature. The monk’s association with film began during the Bhutan shoot for Bernardo Bertolucci’s 1993 film “Little Buddha.” Norbu at the […]
Patna: Come September, and the fifth annual Washington DC South Asian Film Festival will kick off. Indo-Canadian director-scriptwriter Deepa Mehta is expected to inaugurate the event. Other eminent film personalities expected to attend are director Jeffrey Brown, actress Seema Biswas, actor Rajit Kapur, Rati Agnihotri, Palomi Ghosh, and Pakistani actress Amna Ilyas and Pakistani director […]
The recent bout of terrorist attacks in Pakistan reminds us once again that it is one of the worst victims of terrorism perpetrated by religious extremist groups claiming their adherence to what they call the puritan Islam. According to Global Terrorism Index the top 5 countries affected by terrorism include Iraq, Afghanistan, Nigeria, Pakistan and […]
