Data centres in India

India’s A.I. Future Requires a New Approach to Groundwater Governance

The implications of mismanagement extend far beyond groundwater depletion. Foreign investors have withdrawn a record $30 billion from Indian equities so far in 2026. Regional data suggests investors have relocated their withdrawals across Taiwan and South Korea’s AI and semiconductor ecosystems. 

Erasing Colonial Symbols Won't Feed India's Families: A Call for Economic Pragmatism

But tearing down a clubhouse will not lower a family's grocery bill or write a line of exportable code. India's chance to close the gap with the economies that outran it will not wait for a hearing date in September, and neither should the country's attention.

Taslima Nasrin’s Return and the Politics of Selective Protection

Taslima Nasrin’s homecoming deserves to be welcomed. A writer should be able to return to a city she considers home without fearing violence. The harder test will come when the symbolism fades. Will the government protect her if her criticism becomes inconvenient to the people now celebrating her return?

Jewish Footprints and Connections that Shaped Sri Lanka’s History

Today, the Chabad Houses in Colombo and on Sri Lanka's southern coast have attracted considerable attention amid a rise in anti-Semitic incidents and rhetoric. It is noteworthy that Colombo once had an active synagogue, which served as a regular place of worship for British Jewish servicemen World War II

More on Soft Power, Culture and Society

Karachi has the best food in South Asia: Bollywood actor Pooja Bhatt

Bollywood actor and producer Pooja Bhatt has rated Karachi, Pakistan's largest city, as having the best food in South Asia

Pakistani politician Maulana Salahuddin Ayubi marries 14-year-old girl

A Pakistani politician, who is believed to be aged in his mid-fifties, has married a 14-year-old Chitrali girl, triggering a row, media reports said

'World's largest' cricket stadium named after Indian PM Narendra Modi

The Sardar Patel Stadium in Motera near Ahmedabad, which has been dubbed the " world's largest cricket stadium" with a capacity of 110,000 people, was Wednesday renamed as the Narendra Modi Stadium

25 Indian priests in Kathmandu for 'Kshama Puja'

At least 25 special priests from various sacred temples of South India have reached Kathmandu to perform 'Kshama Puja' (forgiveness worship) at Pashupatinath temple in Kathmandu as the authorities have started work to replace the existing silver jalhari of the temple with gold-plated jalhari

Digital concerts to the aid of folk musicians of Rajasthan

While the COVID-19 pandemic has left no sectors unscathed, not many are aware how it has affected the people practicing folk arts and crafts

Preserving and promoting Kashmiri language and culture

Kashmiri poets, young artists and language activists have gone hi-tech to preserve and promote Kashmiri language and also “sing songs of their own”

Hindi play depicts layered India-Nepal bonds

As a playwright and director, Chiranjit went beyond the usual entertainment quotient

Pakistani universities ban fitted jeans, impose strict dress codes

Two universities  in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan - the northwestern province bordering Afghanistan that is ruled by Prime Minister Imran Khan's PTI  party -   have issued strict dress code policies by banning tight-fitted jeans, tee-shirts, and makeup among other things for its students, faculty as well as for its other staff members

Delhi's Nizamuddin Dargah preserving 'tradition of spring' for 800 years

When the golden yellow colour envelopes the entire country on the occasion of Basant Panchami every year, sunflowers mesmerise people, new crops of wheat and oat spread happiness everywhere and butterflies sprinkle joy and smile, a silent tradition being followed at the Hazrat Nizamuddin Aullia Dargah in the Indian capital

Pakistani influencer of viral Pawri video over the moon after Bollywood recognition

Pakistani influencer Dananeer Mobeen's viral ‘Pawri Ho Rahi Hai’ video has taken over Bollywood too

First international Holi conference in Trinidad

The National Council of Indian Culture (NCIC) will host its first international virtual Phagwa or Holi conference in Trinidad on March 13 and 14

Preserving India's world-famous Ajanta Cave art for posterity

Images of the rock sculptures and restored paintings of the Ajanta Caves,  30 rock-cut Buddhist cave monuments dating from the 2nd century BCE to about 480 CE in Aurangabad district of Maharashtra, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site in western India,  is being digitized and restored for future generations

Manipur's 500-year-old all-women's market reopens after eleven months

Ima Keithal or Mother's Market,  dubbed as the world's largest all-women-run market located in the Manipur state capital Imphal, was formally reopened on Monday after 11 months, bringing smiles on the faces of over 3,600 women traders

Pakistan’s continued love, hate for all things Bollywood

Pakistan’s entertainment industry, going by media reports, is increasingly conscious that political relations with India are unlikely to improve anytime soon, lengthening any prospects of collaborating with Bollywood

Celebrated Pakistani designer highlights anti-dowry campaign through fashion

Celebrated Pakistani designer Ali Xeeshan, in a powerful fashion campaign, highlighted the age-old tradition of dowry practiced mostly in South Asia and rampant in Pakistan. The fashion campaign was supported by the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women Pakistan