There are a lot of people out there who believe that there are way too many celebrations that showcase South Asian heritage, culture and traditions. And although May is officially designated the South Asian Heritage Month, celebrations now spill over into June and even the rest of the year.

The number of South Asian film festivals has seen a growth in recent years, spanning from Goa to as far as New York City. But the oldest festival, Film South Asia (FSA)—now in its 16th running year—is held biennially in Kathmandu. This year, the festival expects more submissions than previous years as filmmakers prepare to gather in Kathmandu in October.

Maharaja Ranjit Singh’s shamshir (curved sword) is one of the prize items in a social history project about the Sikh community that has got under way at the UK’s National Army Museum in London.

The Pakistan National Museum of Ethnology here at Shakarparian, known as Heritage Museum nicely projects the country's living culture at home and abroad as it is not only frequently visited by Pakistani nationals but also foreign delegates and diplomats.
 

Nepal has celebrated the 60th anniversary of the first conquest of Mount Everest by New Zealander Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay of Nepal. A colorful parade on Wednesday in the capital, Kathmandu, honored Hillary and Norgay, as well as other climbers who have set records scaling the world's tallest peak.

Nature lovers in Bangladesh can tune in to 89.6 FM for their daily dose of green awakening courtesy a 45-minute programme which aims at bridging the gap between environmentalists and laymen by keeping them abreast of burning topics related to the sector.

With a hoot and a honk, meandering through Dhaka's famed traffic snarls, the legion of psychedelic rickshaws that are an essential part of  Bangladesh's capital have a new claim to fame - they ferried protestors for free from parts of the city to the site of the revolutionary Shahbag movement during its peak in February and March.

The death of veteran scholar, indefatigable champion of reform, secularism and communal harmony, Dr Asghar Ali Engineer ((born March 10, 1939 — died May 14, 2013) in Mumbai would be mourned by his admirers and friends in the subcontinent and all over the world.

Celluloid power: Bollywood turns 100 this year and it has broken many barriers that dog the world. Democracy and cinema may have nothing in common. But the world's largest democracy's being the largest filmmaker denotes diversity and assimilation of faiths, cultures and languages.

Shamshad Begum was born in Lahore, not in Amritsar, Usha Ratra, the only daughter of the subcontinent's legendary singer, has clarified, also opening up about her mother's shy nature, personal struggles and professional achievements. "She was born in Lahore but on each website they say she was born in Amritsar. But please rectify she was born in Lahore. She comes from a Muslim family and her father was a 'mistry' (mechanic). They were seven to eight siblings and her family was very conservative," Ratra told IANS in an interview.