THE LOST INDEX | INDIA BBC (Image credit: Drik/ Bengal Muslin) By Zaria Gorvett 16th March 2021 Nearly 200 years ago, Dhaka muslin was the most valuable fabric on the planet. Then it was lost altogether. How did this happen? And can we bring it back? I In late 18th-Century Europe, a new fashion led to an international
READ MORESoutik Biswas India correspondent BBC 16 March 2021 image copyright EPA Every year, some 1,000 interfaith couples get in touch with a Delhi-based support group and seek help. Hindu and Muslim couples usually approach Dhanak when their families deny them permission to marry. Aged between 20-30 years, the harried men and women want the group
READ MOREInspiring to watch: “Sirima Ratwatte Dias Bandaranaike, commonly known as Sirimavo Bandaranaike, was a Sri Lankan stateswoman. She was the world’s first female prime minister when she became Prime Minister of Sri Lanka in 1960. She served three terms: 1960–1965, 1970–1977 and 1994–2000.” BBC World Service “My mum was the world’s first woman prime minister.”
READ MOREBy Abid Hussain & Shruti Menon BBC Urdu & BBC Reality Check 10 December 2020 IMAGE COPYRIGHTREUTERSimage captionThe UN Human Rights Council meets at least three times a year and reviews UN member states’ rights records A dead professor and numerous defunct organisations were resurrected and used alongside at least 750 fake media outlets in
READ MOREBy Secunder Kermani BBC News 29 November 2020 IMAGE COPYRIGHTGETTY IMAGESimage captionA rehabilitation centre in Kabul is treating Afghans addicted to meth Underneath a busy bridge in Kabul, among piles of discarded rubbish and a stream of filthy water, lives a drug-ravaged community of homeless men. “It’s no place for a human being,” said Khudadad,
READ MOREBBC 20 November 2020 CLICK for video media caption Dr Rodger Shanahan speaks about the culture in the ranks There is “credible evidence” that Australian elite soldiers unlawfully killed 39 people during the Afghan war, a long-awaited report has found. The Australian Defence Force (ADF) has released findings from a four-year inquiry into misconduct by
READ MORE15 October 2020 BBC Published 2 days ago IMAGE COPYRIGHTTANISHQimage captionThe video has now been removed from the Tanishq site Popular Indian jewellery brand Tanishq has withdrawn an advertisement featuring an interfaith couple after a right-wing backlash on social media. It shows a baby shower organised for the Hindu bride by her Muslim
READ MOREBBC 29 September 2020 image copyrightAFPimage captionA social activist hold placards during a protest against rape in Delhi A 19-year-old Dalit (formerly untouchable) woman has died after she was allegedly gang raped by four upper-caste men, sparking outrage in India. The woman was admitted to a hospital in Delhi two weeks ago with several
READ MOREBBC.COM 22 September 2020 https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-54250075 Image copyright Reuters Image caption The charred remains of the abandoned factory are a reminder of what happened A court in Karachi has sentenced two men to death for arson after finding them guilty of starting Pakistan’s deadliest industrial fire, which killed some 260 people in 2012. The men were
READ MOREBBC By Joobin Bekhrad 24th June 2020 Sa’di’s remarkable poetry is perpetually modern and full of ‘benevolent wisdom’ on how to live. Joobin Bekhrad revisits the life and work of ‘the cheerer of men’s hearts’. I In the 13th Century AD, during one of the most turbulent periods in Iranian history, the poet Sa’di left
READ MOREBy Anna Jones BBC News 15 May 2020 Coronavirus pandemic Despite a long border with China and a population of 97 million people, Vietnam has recorded only just over 300 cases of Covid-19 on its soil and not a single death. Nearly a month has passed since its last community transmission and the country is
READ MOREAs Pakistan imposes greater social distancing measures to combat coronavirus, a Muslim law of generosity is helping to save those out of work. By Aysha Imtiaz 1 April 2020 Outside grocery stores in Karachi, a remarkable scene has been unfolding over the past two weeks. Instead of rushing home after shopping to avoid being exposed
READ MORE6 March 2020 BBC Former Indian prime minister Manmohan Singh has warned of “social disharmony, economic slowdown and a global health epidemic” facing the country. “The current situation is very grim and morose,” he wrote in a sharply critical op-ed in The Hindu newspaper. The article comes in the wake of the most violent riots
READ MORE21 February 2020 BBC Reality Check As controversy continues over India’s moves to restrict rights to citizenship, a row has erupted between India and its eastern neighbour, Bangladesh. Indian Minister of State for Home Affairs G Kishan Reddy recently claimed that Bangladesh would be half empty if India allowed everyone who entered the country illegally
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