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Asia

Myanmar: now what!

The people of Myanmar (Burma) March 30, 2016, were witness to the swearing in of its first democratically-elected leader after more than 50 years of military rule. Htin Kyaw, 70, took the oath of office in the country’s parliament, and…

An Indian author’s love for the mother tongue

Guwahati: Celebrated Kannada writer Santeshivara Lingannaiah Bhyrappa, who is widely regarded as one of modern India’s foremost novelists, opines that children in schools across India should be taught in their mother tongue. Professor Bhyrappa, who was recently at Guwahati Press…

Bikes to enhance high school education for girls in Lahore

As long ago as 2006, the government of the Indian state of Bihar introduced an innovative programme that aimed to improve school access and reduce the gender gap in secondary school enrollment by providing girls who continued to secondary school with…

Remaking Hong Kong – from the bottom up!

In Hong Kong the entire territory is sectioned into district councils but these have limited powers over local affairs, with residents only able to vote into office councillors with very limited briefs which results in local attitudes of uncaring as…

Japanese Calligraphy: an interview with Chikako Fukami-Thomsen

Calligraphy, the key to express Japanese culture; thoughts put into ink. Chikako Fukami-Thomsen swas born in Kyoto, Japan, and now lives in Zurich. She has been working with calligraphy and painting (Nihonga) since childhood, and has taught calligraphy in Japan,…

Bangladesh – Sundarbans: coal-laden coaster capsize warning

A coal-laden coaster capsized in the Shelah River in the thick of the Sundarban mangrove forests of Bangladesh. The forestry department has filed for compensation in a case claiming five-billion-taka as the coaster has polluted to a large extent the…

The Great Game & the partition of Syria

Russia’s decision to greatly reduce its military presence in Syria, coming as it did with little warning, has left the world struggling for explanations. Russia is to maintain a military presence at its naval base in Tartous and at the…

Young voice of dissent about the current state of affairs in Hong Kong

 Hong Kong: Rita Kwan Wing-yee delivered a tirade against Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying’s government during a special meeting on retirement protection held by the Panel on Welfare Services March 14 2016, identifying herself as “a citizen who loves Hong Kong”. The following is extracted from…

Yunus as nonviolent revolutionary activist

Worldwide, Microcredit is associated with the name of charismatic Muhammad Yunus, 2006 Nobel Peace laureate together with Bangladesh’s Grameen Bank: “for their efforts to create economic and social development from below… Lasting peace cannot be achieved if large populations cannot…

Bangladesh: too many ‘disappeared’; too little accountability

Bangladesh needs to develop an active human rights attitude within government and its political parties, which state of affairs is far from what it should be in today’s  Bangladesh as citizens disappear with some regularity, telling of the impunity enjoyed by…

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