· June, 2011

Stories about South Asia from June, 2011

India: The Future of Wikipedia

  30 June 2011

Wikipedia celebrated its tenth anniversary this year, and almost 100 cities and towns in India registered to host celebrations, the highest number of any country. This year the Wikimedia Foundation will open its first office outside the United States, in an Indian city as yet to be announced. Global Voices has spoken to Tinu Cherian, an active Wikipedian, about Wikipedia in India.

India: Innocents Being Killed By BSF

  30 June 2011

Anshul Tewari at Youth Ki Awaaz highlights some examples which shows that innocents are being killed at will by Indian Border Security Force. The blogger opines that the Ministry of Home Affairs should intervene.

India: Shooting The Messenger?

  30 June 2011

The Prime Minister Of India Manmohan Singh has commented on the Indian media “the role of the media in many cases has become that of the accuser, the prosecutor and the judge”. Sans Serif asks “is he barking up the wrong tree by shooting the messenger?”

Sri Lanka: China Investing In Land

  27 June 2011

Indi.ca is concerned that Chinese investors are being allowed to reclaim and own 500 acres of Sri Lankan land from sea paying $700 million to the Sri Lankan government.

India: Feed A Kid Every Saturday

  23 June 2011

Debolina Raja Gupta shares her experience of creating a Facebook group called Feed A Kid Every Saturday which encourages citizens of Mumbai to feed poor and hungry children.

Slut Walk is Besharmi Morcha in India

  23 June 2011

Slut Walk, a fresh feminist movement that originated from Toronto Canada, and had been taking rounds of various western cities, is now coming to New Delhi, the Indian capital. Amidst criticism of the use of the word slut, which is uncommon in India, the event organizers attempted to contextualize the movement by renaming it 'Slut Walk Delhi Besharmi Morcha'.

Nepal: High Hopes For Youth Based Movement

  22 June 2011

Blogdai has high hopes for Nepal Unite, a recent youth based initiative which started online. According to the blogger it will help the average Nepali Citizen get involved in the political process and stimulate meaningful dialogue.

Bangladesh: Rumana Manzur – A Grim Reminder of Domestic Violence

  22 June 2011

On 5 June, 2011, Rumana Manzur, an Assistant Professor at the Dhaka University, became the victim of a horrific case of domestic violence when she was brutally attacked by her husband Hassan Syed. This incident has shocked the Bangladeshi society and bloggers too have lent their voice in this demand for justice, expressing anger, outrage and shock.

Bangladesh: Energy Politics and Selling Out National Interest

  21 June 2011

Last week police brutally cracked down on the members of the National Committee to Protect Oil, Gas, Mineral Resources, Power and Ports who were rallying against a recent production sharing contract between the Bangladesh government and US energy giant ConocoPhillips for deep sea gas exploration. Netizens react.

Bhutan: Citizenship For Fatherless Children

  21 June 2011

Sonam Ongmo at Dragon Tales argues that the citizenship of Bhutanese children should come automatically by virtue of the fact that one parent is a citizen. Presently for the citizenship of a child the Bhutanese mother have to prove the identity of the man who fathered the child.

Sri Lanka: Groundviews Briefly Blocked

  21 June 2011

Yesterday Groundviews, Vikalpa and even Transparency International’s sites were apparently blocked on Sri Lanka Telecom ADSL broadband Internet connections for a few hours. An update on the Groundviews site confirms that these sites are accessible again from Sri Lanka.

About our South Asia coverage

Rezwan
Rezwan is the South Asia editor. Email him story ideas or volunteer to write.