Clockwise from top left: Iqbalunnisa Hussain’s memoir; cricket diplomacy; Andy Burnham; Manchester Museum’s South Asia Gallery; SAARC Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Islamabad. Open source images.

The Power, Potential, and Unrealised Promise, of South Asia

South Asia, for all its faults and constraints, is the fastest-growing economic region in the world this year. It is also home to the Commonwealth’s largest three countries in terms of population, India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh, representing just under two billion citizens, the majority under 30-years old.

From Remittances to Investments: Why Every State Should Build a Stronger Partnership with Overseas Indians

Overseas Indians possess both the financial capacity and the desire to invest, yet many promising projects are abandoned because of fragmented procedures, multiple government approvals and the absence of a single accountable institution to guide investors from concept to completion.

Bangladesh's Expatriate Card: A New Chapter in Migrant Financial Security

The Expatriate Card will be a source of recognition to millions of Bangladeshi remittance warriors and a sign of gratitude from the State for their support to the nation's development.

In Search of Dharma in the Indian Diaspora

We have become an aggressive and divisive society which is becoming intolerant of others' ideas and points of view. For a pluralistic society like India, all the people who live there are important and we need to work together to take the country forward and to great heights. Unless we change our present thinking, we have the danger of becoming an extremist state

More on South Asia Diaspora and Global Indians

Interpol seizes 1,000 Afghan relics

The Interpol has seized 971 ancient relics belonging to Afghanistan

60% additional data for e-learning in Bhutan

Studying online could become cheaper for students in Bhutan with the government approving an additional 60 percent data on the existing package. This means a student would receive 60 percent extra data for the same price

Pak TV show host apologises after joking about Irrfan, Sridevi's demise

Pakistani television personality Aamir Liaquat Husain has apologised for making extremely insensitive remarks about the deaths of iconic Bollywood stars Sridevi and Irrfan Khan

Rishi Kapoor and Irrfan Khan: They bookended the craft of acting for Hindi cinema

Rishi Kapoor faced the camera longer than Irrfan Khan’s total age and yet the two supremely talented actors, who died within a day of each other in Mumbai, and that too due to cancer, defined the essential character of Hindi cinema, popularly known globally as Bollywood

Bollywood mourns Irrfan Khan's untimely demise on social media

One of Bollywood's finest actors is no more. He was just 54. The film industry on Wednesday took to social media to express sorrow as well as disbelief, and to express condolence to the bereaved family and to pray for his soul

India's international actor Irrfan Khan is no more

Bollywood’s versatile actor Irrfan Khan, who won over millions of fans in India and South Asia and among the South Asian diaspora globally with his roles in numerous international and Indian films, is no more

Today is World Dance Day: Dancers celebrate from home

April 29 is World Dance Day. Every year, dancers celebrate this occasion with great enthusiasm and fervour. Although this time everyone is confined to their homes due to the coronavirus pandemic

Nearly 250,000 Indians, including 100,000 students, stranded in Australia: Indian envoy

More than 250,000 Indian nationals, including about 100,000 students, are stranded in Australia amid the coronavirus pandemic. But their families back home have nothing to worry about

Bangladesh educational institutions to remain closed till September: PM

All educational institutions in Bangladesh will remain closed till September in view of the COVID-19 outbreak across the country, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said on Monday

School unlikely to open soon in Bhutan

Nepal's Minister for Education, Science and Technology Giriraj Mani Pokharel said that alternative teaching methods should be adopted to continue learning activities, considering the impact of COVID-19

Bhutan football aiming for new highs

Do you know which domestic league is played at the highest altitude? The answer is the Bhutan Premier League, the national competition of the mountainous kingdom of 740,000 inhabitants with an average elevation of 10,760 feet

A Ramadan sans haleem in Hyderabad

This Ramadan, Hyderabad will miss 'haleem', the season's flavour,  as hotels have decided not to make or sell the lip-smacking delicacy in view of the ongoing lockdown to check the spread of coronavirus

SIM to cover Bhutanese students without access to television or internet

To engage students without access to television or internet, Bhutan's education ministry is now working on Self Instructional Materials (SIM), a printed version of the tele-education that has been broadcast since March 27

Bhutan considering several options on school closure

There is no definite duration on how long schools and institutions will remain closed although all the education institutions closed since March 5 following Covid-19 pandemic, according to  Bhutanese Prime Minister Dr Lotay Tshering

Famous Banarasi saree industry struggling amid corona crisis

The Banarasi saree industry, renowned for its production of beautiful and some of the finest sarees in India, is struggling to cope with the dip in the business it is facing due to the nationwide lockdown owing to the coronavirus pandemic that has claimed over 450 lives in the country so far