Category: South Asia

As India’s seemingly unstoppable ascent in the global economic market continues, luxury goods manufacturers target its burgeoning middle classes. After televisions and cars, luxury watches are now available on zero per cent finance now in India. Tag Heuer, a premium Swiss watch brand has launched a new scheme that offers its customers interest free loans […]

Enthusiastic, and fresh-faced on the way in, they are bitter, disillusioned and unsure of their identities when they leave. Is India’s call centre industry killing the country? Shilpi leaves for work at 11. Not in the morning as you might assume, but at night. At a time when the rest of the country is getting […]

European tourists are once again romancing the breathtaking Sri Lankan beach of Nilaveli on the Bay of Bengal. Only two years ago, the scene here was of a bloody battleground. Nilaveli beach on Sri Lanka’s east coast is full of European tourists – the Germans, French, Dutch and the English. A rash of kids are […]

Pakistan’s President General Pervez Musharraf has called on the world’s Islamic states to form a co-ordinated attack against terrorism and extremism. Speaking to journalists in the capital, Islamabad, President Musharraf addressed the organisation of an Islamic conference, the Middle East, Pakistan-India relations and domestic issues. He underlined the need for the re-restructuring of the Organisation […]

Monday’s lunchtime bomb blasts marked the 10th anniversary of a bombing campaign that demolished Mumbai’s image as the New York of India in 1993. The implications are many… The most recent attacks killed up to 50 people and injured 140 others. Both bombs were placed in the trunks of taxi cabs. The blasts are the […]

A poignant portrayal of the travails of India’s eunuchs. Revati, clad in a yellow sari with long black tresses left untied and standing tall at five foot eight inches, is like any other woman. “I want to have my family, I want to give birth to a child but…” her voice falters, and her eyes […]

A key election pledge by Kashmir’s ruling party to stop "disappearances" and trace thousands of missing persons has been denounced as little more than a "hoodwinking" process. Indian-administered Kashmir has been a flashpoint between India and Pakistan for more than 50 years. Many people have vanished, presumed dead or imprisoned without trial or record. Chief […]

India’s erstwhile colonial laws outlawing homosexuality are out of touch with a changing society, Chinmayee Manjunath discovers. “Homophobia, and not homosexuality, is new to Indian culture,” says Vinay Chandran of Bangalore-based charitable trust, Swabhava, which works with gender and sexual minorities in the country. His argument has a sound basis considering homosexual acts have been […]