Stories about South Asia from February, 2011
India: Discovering International Mother Language Day
Sunshine discovers the International Mother Language Day and she has finally learnt to take pride in her roots and her mother language.
Video: Learning a New Language Through Online Video
February 21st is the International Mother Language Day and this year's theme is Linguistic Diversity and New Technologies. With that in mind, we bring you a series of examples of how people are helping others to learn their mother languages using videos and websites.
Pakistan: Ruling Party Under Pressure
Faheem Haider at Pakistan Foreign Policy Blog explains how a strong and ever stronger opposition in Pakistan is pressuring the ruling party.
Nepal: More On Bryan Adams
Pradeep Kumar Singh describes how international rock star Bryan Adams kept Nepal captivated for a few days.
South Asia: Explaining Cricket And Cricket World Cup
Vivek at Sepia Mutiny explains the rules of the game of cricket and what the cricket world cup 2011 means for South Asia.
India: Savita Bhabhi Blocked Again
Soumyadip at Cutting the Chai informs that Savita Bhabhi, an infamous popular adult online comic, is being censored in India again.
Bangladesh: Observing International Mother Language Day
For Bangladesh, 21st February - the International Mother Language Day has a different symbolization. It is a national day of Bangladesh to commemorate protests and sacrifices to protect Bangla (Bengali) as a national language during Bengali Language Movement of 1952.
Bangladesh: One Of The Oldest Mosques In The World
Bangladesh Unlocked reports about one of the oldest mosques in the world (701 CE), the lost mosque of Lalmonirhat, Bangladesh.
Nepal: Welcoming Brian Adams
Brian Adams recently toured Nepal and became the first world renowned music icon to play in the country. Ujjwal Acharya expresses his gratitude.
Pakistan: Two Great Online Initiatives
Kalsoom at CHUP -Changing Up Pakistan informs about two great efforts – 1) ThinkChange Pakistan, a blog that aims to track the social entrepreneurship and innovation space in Pakistan and 2) Gawaahi, a new online initiative aiming to archive digital stories of abuse, survival and resistance.
Bhutan: More On Tobacco Ban
“Now smoking has become one fear and guilt -ridden expensive habit,” thus explains Penstar the impact of the tobacco ban in Bhutan.
Sri Lanka: The Future of the Tamil Struggle
Nirmanusan Balasundaram at Groundviews writes about the present state of the Tamil diaspora and how they will shape up the future of the Tamil struggle.
Pakistan: Save The Railway Before Its Too Late
Ahmed Jamal Pirzada at All Things Pakistan opines that the way to save the troubled Pakistan railway by giving up its monopoly and opening up tracks to the private sector.
India And Pakistan: Ideological Enemies?
“Are India and Pakistan ideological enemies?” asks Dr. Niaz Murtaza at Pak Tea House. Murtaza thinks that both the countries should resolve their differences maturely by dialogue, not by other means.
India: Indusladies Blog Contest
Phoenixritu informs about the Indusladies 2nd annual international women's day Blog contest which offers a cash prize of Rs.10,000.
Bangladesh: Cricket World Cup 2011 Launched Today
Pakistani blogger Nabeel Arshed at Guppu.com comments on the launching of the Cricket World Cup 2011 in Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh : “no opening ceremony for a cricket world cup has been filled with such colour, joy and passion as the one held at Bangabandhu National Stadium earlier today.”
Bhutan: Amend The Tobacco Control Act
Tshering Tobgay calls all the concerned Bhutanese citizens to lead a movement to amend the draconian Tobacco Control Act, which can penalize 23 year old Sonam Tshering, a jail-term for minimum 3 years for smuggling Rs. 96 (approx US$2) worth of chewing tobacco.
Bhutan: Arrested Development And Obsession With Tobacco Law
I am Drukpa is irked by the fact that Bhutan is obsessed with the newly introduced tobacco ban law and is ignoring the other facets of development.
Bangladesh: Dhaka On Valentine's Day
Photo blogger Monirul Alam captures some moments of love during this year's valentine's day celebrations in Dhaka, Bangladesh.
Bangladesh: Widespread Protests Force Government To Back Down On Airport Project
A recent venture by the Bangladesh government to takeover 25000acres of wetlands (Arial Beel) 60km South of the capital city of Dhaka, for a proposed International airport and satellite city led to protests and violence in the area. Netizens too, reacted strongly to the government debating the need for a new airport and the government was forced to back down on the airport project.
India: More Awareness Required To Fix The Education system
Himanshu Rai advocates for more awareness of the complexity of the problem in the Indian education system. The blogger opines that “the education model needs to be transformed from teacher-centric to a learning-centric.”