Stories about South Asia from August, 2009
India: A wave of suicides among farmers
Increasingly, Indian farmers are resorting to extreme measures, including suicide, to escape complex problems of poverty, crop failure and growing debt. Indian bloggers analyze the situation.
India: Power Struggle Inside BJP
Retribution blog says that the latest debates and conflicts inside BJP, a major political party in India, should not to be confused with ideological battles. “It is simply a power struggle between two factions within the party” – the blogger thinks.
Sri Lanka: TEDx Colombo
The Ultimate Change posts videos and links of the TEDx Colombo event, which was held last month.
Maldives: Ramadan Rule And Expats
Abdullah Waheed writes about relaxation of a rule in Maldives regarding the ban of restaurants in daytime during the month of Ramadan: “trade Ministry has licensed certain designated restaurants in Male to remain open during the daytime hours of the fasting month in order to feed the large number of...
Sri Lanka: The Role Of Astrologers
Cerno tells that the social utility of astrologers in Sri Lanka extends beyond predicting the future: “They provide a system of managing one’s destiny amidst the amplified uncertainties of living in a third world country. Be it for avoiding suicide bombers, securing a promotion, overcoming mental/physical illness, entering your child...
Pakistan: The Sugar Crisis
Kalsoom at CHUP! – Changing Up Pakistan discusses about the recent sugar crisis in Pakistan.
Bangladesh: Facebook Developer Garage
The first ever “Facebook Developer Garage” took place in Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh. Emran attended the event and writes about it and posts the slide he presented in his blog.
Nepal: Sadhus – The Mystic Men
Dhiraj Shrestha posts pictures and writes about the Sadhus (Babas) or the mystic men of Nepal.
India, Pakistan: The Reluctant Fundamentalist
Raza Rumi at Jahane Rumi comments on the former Indian foreign minister’s remarks on Pakistan's founding father Mohammad Ali Jinnah: “Jaswant Singh's right-wing worldview can be partially pardoned for he has made an attempt to set the record straight. The vilification of Jinnah to the extent of presenting him as...
India: The Wall Project
IdeaSmith at Desicritics writes about the wall project, which had invited the citizens of Mumbai to express themselves in color on the city’s walls. The blogger also posts some pictures of the painted walls from Mahim to Dadar (about 4 kms), which was made available by the Municipal Corporation to...
Bangladesh: What Farmers Say About Microfinance
Duncan Green spent spent some time with a group of 20 Bangladeshi small farmers (13 men, 7 women) and shared their views about Micro-finance in his blog.
Nepal: Nothing Is Going Right
For a Democratic Republic Nepal is unhappy with the current politics and governance in Nepal and lists the reasons.
Pakistan: 100Pakistanis
“100Pakistanis is an initiative (and blog) started with the aim of sifting through existing information on Pakistan and presenting it in a concise and revealing way, ranging from simple lists and slide-shows to animated infographics,” informs All Things Pakistan.
Bangladesh: Child Beating
Bangladeshi blogger Mahadi754 is sad and can't tolerate the sounds of a little child being abused by her mother: “Most of the days at the evening I can hear that a little child beside my house being beaten mercilessly.”
India, Pakistan: Reopening The Wounds
V. Krishna Ananth at Permanent Revolution discusses about the media hype on the recent book by former Indian foreign minister Jaswant Sing. In this book he challenged the theory that it was Mohammad Ali Jinnah, the founder of Pakistan, who insisted on a separate homeland for Muslims that forced the...
Bangladesh: On Food Security
Duncan Chowdhury informs that the food supply situation of Bangladesh is more or less quite secure as the country never had to import food grains more than 15% of the total domestic production. The only concern is proper management of the food production and supply during natural calamities like droughts,...
India: Religious Profiling
Sidhusaaheb writes about a case of religious profiling he faced while staying in a hotel in Indore of Madhya Pradesh state in India: “they had specific instructions to inform the police, whenever a Sikh, Muslim or Tamil came to stay.”
Cricket: Pakistan Hits A Snag
In last June, when Pakistan won the world Twenty20 cup championship beating Sri Lanka in the final, the fans were overwhelmed with joy. However, their recent tour in Sri Lanka proved a disaster irking many cricket loving bloggers.
Nepal: Protest About Protests
Ujjwal Acharya at The Radiant Star protests the destructive nature of the street demonstrations in Nepal: “Protests are necessary at times – when the state leaves no other options – but the aching fact of protests in my country is: they begin with blocking traffic.”
Bhutan: Starting Over in America
At Dal Bhat Tarkari photographer and documentary film maker Anya Vaverko writes about her recent documentary about the Bhutanese refugees of cultural repression and their new life in USA as a part of their resettlement efforts. The Documentary is titled “Big Buildings: Starting Over in America” and you can watch...
Pakistan: Say No To Drone Attacks
Ziyad Faisal at Pak Tea House builds his logic against the US drone attacks on Pakistani civilians: “Isn’t it abundantly clear that US drone attacks are merely providing the Al-Qaeda militants and Taliban with a wonderful propaganda opportunity, to recruit yet more people using the destruction from US attacks as...
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