South Asian Digests
19-year-old Shehroze Kashif becomes youngest...
May 12, 2021
Myanmar junta goes big on giant Buddha statue...
May 12, 2021
Bangladesh hits back after China envoy warns...
May 12, 2021
Nepal President asks parties to stake claim a...
May 11, 2021
Covid panic in Bihar town as over 40 bodies w...
May 11, 2021
At least 11 killed as roadside bomb hits bus...
May 11, 2021
Maldives to receive vaccines from AstraZeneca...
May 3, 2021
Bhutan prepares to supply oxygen to India
April 28, 2021
Top News
China on the horizon as ‘world’s pharmacy’
May 11, 2021
| By: M. K. Bhadrakumar
The World Health Organisation’s approval Friday for China’s Covid-19 vaccine known as Sinopharm dramatically transforms the ecosystem of the pandemic. In immediate terms, this has potential to boost global vaccine supply, as China’s overall yearly production capacity is approaching five billion doses.
The western pharmaceutical industry’s monopoly has been breached, as Sinopharm’s is the first COVID-19 vaccine developed by a developing country to be validated by the WHO and only the sixth approved for emergency...
Morning Brief
MORNING NEWS BRIEF: 29 APRIL
PICTURE OF THE DAY
PETERSBURG, RUSSIA
A worker paints over a mural of the jailed opposition leader Alexei Navalny. Russia's government has ordered opposition leader Alexey Navalny's political organization to shut down, at least for now....
Reports
Thai PM and Myanmar junta chief stay engaged via...
May 12, 2021
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By: Marwaan Macan-Markar
Thailand's pro-military government has tapped its back-channel contacts with Myanmar's armed forces to shape Bangkok's diplomatic options following the turmoil and bloodshed in its neighbor since the February coup in Naypyitaw.
Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha tipped this element of Bangkok's approach by skipping the recent...
PM Imran says will not hold talks with India til...
May 12, 2021
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By: SAM Staff
Prime Minister Imran Khan on Tuesday said Pakistan will not engage in dialogue with India unless New Delhi retreats from its August 5 decision on Indian Illegaly Occupied Jammu and Kashmir.
The premier's remarks came as he addressed a live broadcast session to respond to...
Indian Covid-19 variant found in 44 countries, a...
May 12, 2021
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By: SAM Staff
The World Health Organization said Wednesday that a variant of Covid-19 behind the acceleration of India's explosive outbreak has been found in dozens of countries all over the world.
The UN health agency said the B.1.617 variant of Covid-19, first found in India in October,...
Embattled Nepal PM loses vote of confidence
May 11, 2021
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By: SAM Staff
Nepal's prime minister KP Sharma Oli lost a confidence vote on 10 May, triggering fresh political uncertainty just as the Himalayan nation reels from the pandemic.
Oli, 69, decided to seek a vote of confidence following months of feuding within his ruling communist party and...
SAM Special
Islam’s salience in Maldivian society and politics
May 11, 2021
| By: P.K. Balachandran
The three arrests made thus far in the case relating to the bid on the life of the Maldivian Parliament Speaker and former President Mohamed Nasheed in Male on May 6, show that Islamic radicalism is alive, kicking and deep-rooted in the Maldives. According to the Commissioner of Police, Mohamed Hameed, the three suspects arrested, Adhuham Ahmed Rasheed (25), Mujaaz Ahmed (21) and Thahumeen Ahmed (32), belong to a “dangerous extremist ideology”. Hameed stopped short...
Issues
Bangladesh must maintain its strategic neutralit...
May 12, 2021
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By: ANM Muniruzzaman
There are signs of a strategic polarisation emerging in the Indo-Pacific region. The long-standing adversity between the US and China is deepening further. The strategic competition between the two will intensify in the days to come. It is evident that the US is unwilling to...
Bangladesh wants to know the reason behind China...
May 12, 2021
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By: Raheed Ejaz
Bangladesh was taken aback by the Chinese ambassador’s remark that Dhaka-Beijing relations would be damaged if Bangladesh joined Quad, the US-led four-nation informal security dialogue that included India. Bangladesh said that while Dhaka has not shown any interest in joining Quad so far, the Chinese...
Myanmar’s failed mutinies in history
May 12, 2021
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By: SAM Staff
After Myanmar’s military coup on Feb. 1, some military personnel have joined the civil disobedience movement and left the armed forces.
The National Union Government (NUG), a shadow cabinet formed to rival the military regime, has urged personnel to mutiny and join the NUG’s People’s...
Myanmar junta declares National Unity Government...
May 11, 2021
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By: SAM Staff
The Myanmar military regime has branded the parallel National Unity Government (NUG), its parliamentary committee and their offshoot civilian defense forces as “terrorist groups” for alleged acts of incitement against the junta.
The declaration means that anyone arrested on suspicion of affiliation with the groups...
Interview
Interview: Russia’s blank cheque to Pakistan –...
May 8, 2021
| By: Andrew Korybko
Defence
‘Inconsistent with facts’ -China on Gen Rawat’...
April 30, 2021
| By: SAM Staff
JF-17 fighter jet gets J-20’s combat missile:...
April 30, 2021
| By: Liu Xuanzun
Editor`s Choice
India’s Covid-19 tsunami
By: Shashi Tharoor
It is humbling when a columnist must retract his words soon after penning them. Just two months ago, after India rushed millions of doses of...
Quad lacks moral authority in South China Sea
By: Bhim Bhurtel
At the virtual summit of the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue held on March 12, the Quad leaders reiterated their firm commitment that the rules-based international order...
Indonesia seeks to broker Taliban peace deal...
By: Randy Mulyanto
Former Indonesian Vice President Jusuf Kalla said he has traveled to Afghanistan and Qatar several times in recent months to help broker a peace deal...
Focus
India
It's not enough to say the govt has failed. We are witnessing a crime against humanity.
April 30, 2021
| By: Arundhati Roy
During a particularly polarising election campaign in the state of Uttar Pradesh in 2017, India’s prime minister, Narendra Modi, waded into the fray to stir things up even further. From a public podium, he accused the state government – which was led by an opposition party – of pandering to the Muslim community by spending more on Muslim graveyards (kabristans) than on Hindu cremation grounds (shamshans). With his customary braying sneer, in which every taunt...
Pakistan is an essential partner in any peace process in Afghanistan. Pakistan will play an important role in any political settlement in Afghanistan.
Lloyd Austin, Defence Secretary at his US Senate confirmation hearing.
Video
Mother throws children to safety from burning building in Is... February 26, 2021
Audio
JAISHANKAR AND BLINKEN DISCUSS MYANMAR SITUATION AND ISSUES... February 10, 2021
Goel’s visit indicates RAW’s bid to revive past links with O... October 26, 2020
Why Abdullah Abdullah visited Pakistan and India? November 4, 2020
Mystery over origins of Howard Hodgkin’s Indi...
April 12, 2021
How dangerous is India’s ‘double mutant’ COVI...
April 6, 2021
From kala bhuna to shatkora curry – let's all...
March 22, 2021
In Nepal and across the world, child marriage...
March 9, 2021
India: BJP’s rise in former communist bastion...
February 27, 2021
For H.M. Naqvi, COVID-19 is a creative spur
February 27, 2021
Young, creative and angry: Myanmar's youth pu...
February 22, 2021
How an ethnic Chinese teacher piqued Indian s...
February 22, 2021
