Stories about South Asia from January, 2020
Hope for dying Nepali language wanes as one of the last fluent speakers passes away at 85
Gyani Maiya was one of two fluent speakers of Kusunda. With her passing, the language has suffered an irreparable loss.
In Kerala, millions form human chain to protest India's ‘anti-muslim’ citizenship laws
The crowd included politicians, cultural activists, religious leaders, artists and concerned citizens.
In Dhaka's mayoral election, environmental promises undermined by plastic campaign posters
City Corporation elections will be held in Dhaka on February 1, 2020. Netizens are concerned about the use of laminated posters in the election campaign which poses a threat to the environment.
Conservationists decry Sri Lankan decision to arm local groups against elephants
"Will Sri Lanka, where magnificent elephants have now been demoted from National Treasure to vermin, be the paradise isle that modern tourists dream of?"
For the first time, clouded leopards have been found high up in Nepal's Himalayas. But can they survive climate change?
Clouded leopards, one of the most elusive cats, were found for the first time at an altitude of 3498 meters (11476 feet) above sea level in the Langtang National Park of Nepal.
Pakistani director halts release of award-winning film after receiving threats
"They are holding a film hostage for all the wrong reasons and there is nothing we can do about it."
Baul singer Shariat Sarkar arrested in Bangladesh for ‘insulting’ Islam
Baul singer Shariat Sarkar is accused of making comments which hurt the “religious sentiment” of Muslims. He says that there is no evidence forbidding music in Islam.
CGNet Swara is using Bluetooth to source content and share news with Indian villages
CGNet Swara is helping groups that have been largely ignored by mainstream media use Bluetooth to create content and share CGNet-produced news, music and other programmes with their communities.
‘An interplay between Western and Eastern Cultures': Two art exhibitions on cultural collisions
In October 2019 in Brooklyn, New York, two women artists from Iran and Pakistan exhibited new bodies of work in which they portrayed the interplay between Western and Eastern cultures
Supreme Court of India declares internet ban in Jammu and Kashmir unconstitutional
The blockout, imposed since August 2019, has affected the lives of millions of people in Jammu and Kashmir, depriving them of the basic right to access the internet.
In Modi’s India, anti-Bangladeshi-immigrant rhetoric is used to justify changes in citizenship laws
The implementation of the Citizenship Amendment Act and the National Register of Citizens in India and the rhetoric of deportation of "illegal Bangladeshis" have put the India-Bangladesh relation on stress.
Interfaith harmony disturbed after Sikh holy site attacked in Pakistan
Sikh holy sIte Gurdwara Janam Ashtam at Nankana Sahib city near Lahore Pakistan was attacked by violent mobs and communal and hateful slogans against the Sikh minority community were raised.
‘A disturbing crackdown on press freedom’: Pakistan arbitrarily blocking Slate.com
This is the second time that the website has been blocked in Pakistan in 2019, and the third time since 2018.