Sanjoy Hazarika’s Lal Thanhawla: The Boy from Zarkawt, and the Making of Mizoram

The Political Biography of a Former Chief Minister: A Life That Mirrors Mizoram

The enduring lesson of Mizoram is not that the state won and the insurgents lost. It is that both sides eventually found a political space in which neither needed to win everything. That is the essence of accommodation and perhaps the most enduring lesson Lal Thanhawla’s life offers India.

The Empty Chair at Islamabad: When Taliban Saw Women's Rights Subordinated by Islamic Law

The Taliban, therefore, is not challenging whether Islam should shape women’s rights. Both the OIC and the Taliban begin from that premise. The disagreement is over what Islamic rights mean and, more importantly, who has the authority to define them. 

Who Defines Where Home is? Confronting Partition Trauma and its Aftermath Eight Decades Later

As of January this year, at least 296 Bangladeshis have died in border areas over the past decade, as India’s Border Security Forces (BSF) pushes “illegal Bangladeshis” across the border in the dead of night.

'The Election Commission Expose': A Seminal Moment for Indian Journalism

It is true that only a handful of newspapers have the resources and persistence to pursue big stories of the kind that came alive in the EC exposé. Nevertheless, to the extent that it inspires others to pursue even smaller news stories with steadfastness this could potentially redeem the otherwise sordid state of affairs in the Indian media.

More on Soft Power, Culture, Society and Gender

Yohani, Sri Lanka’s 28-year-old music sensation, to be gifted land in Colombo by the government

The Sri Lankan government is gifting a plot of land to Yohani, the 28-year old singing sensation who rose to international fame - particularly in South Asia and in the Arab world - with her super hit Manike Mange Hithe song

Kashmiri paper mache products are much in demand in Christmas

If it is Christmas, it has to be Kashmir's famed paper mache products made by Iqbal Hussain Khan.  National Award winner Iqbal Khan, 60, is busy dispatching thousands of paper mache art and craft items for customers in India and Europe ahead of December 25

India overtakes China as largest source country for international students

India has overtaken China as the world's largest source country of international students

Neena Gupta of Kolkata wins Ramanujan Prize 2021: 'More women are now pursuing maths'

Neena Gupta, a mathematician and professor at the Indian Statistical Institute in Kolkata, has been awarded the 2021 Ramanujan Prize for young mathematicians from developing countries

Durga Puja in Kolkata now on UNESCO's Intangible Heritage List

Durga Puja festival in Kolkata was is now inscribed on UNESCO’s Intangible Heritage list—a development that Prime Minister Narendra Modi said is a matter of great pride and joy for every Indian

India’s award-winning film ‘Chhichhore‘ to be shown in China

India’s National Award-winning film Chhichhore, which starred late actor Sushant Singh Rajput who had committed suicide, and Shraddha Kapoor in leading roles, is going to be shown in China where Bollywood films enjoy great popularity

Women to the fore: Over 177,000 women apply for admission into India's National Defence Academy

More than 177,000 applications from women candidates were received for entry into India's National Defence Academy (NDA), the government informed Parliament on Monday

Word of the day: Shashi Tharoor takes swipe at India's ruling BJP

India's opposition Congress party MP Shashi Tharoor, known for his mastery of the English language and his use of big words whose meanings are not commonly understood, took aim at the ruling BJP for allegedly charging people with sedition as “its leadership suffers from allodoxaphobia.”

Miss India is Miss Universe 2021 - after 21 years

"I believed in myself and that is why I am standing here today." With this winning answer,  Harnaaz Sandhu, 21, representing India at the 70th Miss Universe 2021, held in Eilat, Israel, became Miss Universe 2021, 21 years after a Miss India won the last Miss Universe title in 2000

Indian doctors do 'breathing lung transplant' in Hyderabad

India has become one of a handful of nations where a "breathing lung transplant" can be conducted

World’s largest sapphire found in Sri Lanka; owner ready to sell

The world’s largest single natural blue sapphire has been found in Sri Lanka, according to the National Gem and Jewellery Authority

One-minute Bhutanese film on climate change wins Best Documentary Award

A one-minute Bhutanese film “Snow Lion and The Glaciologist”  has won the Best Documentary Award at the International Mobile Film Festival during the awards ceremony on World Climate Day in Paris on December 8

Much ado over a water bottle: Pakistan opposition politician Bilawal Bhutto under fire for not opening bottle himself

Pakistan Peoples Party Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has come under fire from the public for asking Sindh Information Minister Saeed Ghani, a man much senior to him in politics, to open a water bottle for him at a press conference

College principal among 40 people indicted in Pakistan over 'objectionable gesture and vulgar dance'

At least 40 people in Pakistan, including a college principal, have been indicted over 'objectionable gesture and vulgar dance' at a college festival after video clips of these events went viral on social media

Malala urges US for more support to Afghan women; says Afghanistan will suffer if girls don’t learn

The United States should do more to support Afghan women and their right to education and work, Pakistani Nobel Peace Prize awardee and human rights activist Malala Yousafzai told US Secretary of State Antony Blinken