South Asia

Photo: Outstanding achievements of Sri Lankan Americans are recognized at the Sri Lanka Foundation Award Ceremony held at the Baltimore Hotel in Los Angeles. Credit: Sri Lanka Foundation.

Sri Lankan Americans’ IMPACT ON Life in America

By Nandasiri Jasentuliyana

The writer is former Deputy Director-General of the United Nations.

LOS ANGELES (IDN) — The earliest Sri Lankans to enter the United States were classified as "other Asians." Immigration records show that between 1881 and 1890, 1,910 "other Asians" were admitted to the United States. It is unlikely that many of these were from Sri Lanka. In 1975, immigration records classified Sri Lankans as a separate category for the first time. That year, 432 Sri Lankans immigrated to the United States.

: Opinion Editor; OPINION; 25 January 2023

Photo: A Pakistani trader. Source: News Click

India Going Down Path of Pakistan, Sri Lanka

Viewpoint by Dr Ram Puniyani*

NEW DELHI (IDN) — Pakistan is in the grip of a massive economic crisis. Wheat flour costs Rs (PKR) 150 per kg. Staple diet roti (type of bread) costs Rs 30 in a country where the average daily earning is Rs 500 with an average household needing around 10 rotis daily. The US dollar is close to PKR 230.

: Asia Editor; OPINION; 23 January 2023

Photo: Malalasekera Foundation chairman Ashan Malalasekera presenting schoolbooks to a student at a function in Kataragama recently. Credit: Manoj Divithuragama.

Economic Crisis Threatens Sri Lanka’s Education Gains

By Hemali Wijerathne

COLOMBO (IDN) — Sri Lanka’s free education system, which was judged to have achieved the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) for education and is considered a post-independence success story, is now under threat due to the present economic crisis in the country of 22 million people.

: Asia Editor; SUSTAINABILITY; Quality Education; 22 January 2023

Photo: Afghan women protest against recent decrees limiting women’s and girls’ rights. Credit: UNAMA.

UN Criticizes Taliban Decrees But Urges Not to Abandon Afghans

By Caroline Mawanga

NEW YORK | KABUL (IDN) — While calling on Afghanistan’s de facto Taliban authorities to reverse course on recent decrees limiting women’s and girls’ rights, a high-level UN delegation has urged the international community not to abandon Afghans. UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed led the delegation. UN Women's Executive Director Sima Bahous, and the Assistant Secretary-General of the Department of Political, Peacebuilding Affairs and Peace Operations, Khaled Khiari, joined the delegation.

: Caroline Mwanga; UN INSIDER; 20 January 2023

Photo: President Abdel Fattah al Sisi of Egypt. Source: Observer Research Foundation

India Seeks to Rekindle Old Ties with Egypt

By Navdeep Suri

Observer Research Foundation published this article. The writer has had a 36-year-long career in the Indian Foreign Service. He served, among others, in India’s diplomatic missions in Cairo, Damascus, Washington, Dar es Salaam and London.

NEW DELHI (IDN) — The decision to invite President Abdel Fattah al Sisi of Egypt as the Chief Guest on Republic Day (January 26) is an important gesture and should go a long way in imparting fresh momentum to India’s ties with the largest country in the Arab world. Egypt matters.

: Asia Editor; THE WORLD; South Asia; 15 January 2023

Photo: Prince Harry in the cockpit of an Apache attack helicopter at Camp Bastion, Afghanistan. Credit: UK Ministry of Defence.

Prince Harry's Controversial Revelation of 25 Killings in Afghanistan

Viewpoint by Binoy Kampmark*

MELBOURNE (IDN) — What to make of it? History is filled with the deeds of blood-thirsty princes bold in ambition and feeble of mind. Massacres make the man, though there is often little to merit the person behind it. The Duke of Sussex seemingly wishes to add his name to that list.

: Opinion Editor; OPINION; 08 January 2023

Photo: Lula da Silva’s supporters cheer as he arrives for his inauguration ceremony as Brazil’s new president, Brasilia, Jan. 1, 2023. Source: Indian Punchline

Behind India Ignoring Lula's Inauguration as Brazil's President

Viewpoint by M.K. Bhadrakumar

This article was issued by Indian Punchline.

NEW DELHI (IDN) — The Brazilian news agency reported that Lula da Silva’s inauguration as the new president on January 1 for a historic third term amidst a carnival-like backdrop was attended by over five dozen foreign delegations, composed of heads of government, vice presidents, foreign ministers, special envoys and representatives of international organisations. It was the largest event with high-level international figures in Brazil since the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.

: Asia Editor; THE WORLD; South Asia; 07 January 2023

Photo: Sri Lanka President Ranil Wickremesinghe. Credit: Asian Affairs London.

Sri Lanka: A Year of Turmoil and Suffering—And No End in Sight

By Neville de Silva*

This article was issued by Asian Affairs (London).

LONDON (IDN) — Not since the British left in 1948, handing over power to its former colony then known as Ceylon, has Sri Lanka suffered such economic calamity and political turmoil as in the year just ended.

Struggling to survive under ever weightier burdens heaped on them in the budget for 2023 by a mandate-less new president propelled to—curiously—by his long-time political rivals, the people know only too well that last year’s dark days will spill over into 2023 and very probably well beyond, as the country continues to flounder amidst economic and political uncertainty.

: Asia Editor; OPINION; 02 January 2023

Photo: Frail Dalai Lama being supported by two monks. Credit: Kalinga Seneviratne

Ageing Dalai Lama Attracts Huge Crowds to Buddhist Sacred Site

By Kalinga Seneviratne

This article is the 51st in a series of joint productions of Lotus News Features and IDN-InDepthNews, the flagship agency of the Non-profit International Press Syndicate.

BODHGAYA, India (IDN) — The Dalai Lama, Tibet's spiritual leader, has just concluded a three-day speaking engagement here at Bodhgaya, known as the 'land of enlightenment' that has attracted over 100,000 mainly Tibetans from across the world. This huge response surprised the organizers, as the event coincided with the Indian media talking about a new wave of Covid sweeping the country.

: Kalinga Seneviratne; SUSTAINABILITY; Peace & Justice; 01 January 2023

Photo: Australian PM Anthony Albanese (left) and Indian PM Narendra Modi. Credit: WION Web Team

India and Australia to Boost Ties Through Unity Agreement

By Shastri Ramachandaran

MELBOURNE (IDN) — The unprecedented benefits expected to flow both ways from the India-Australia Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement (ECTA), which came into force on December 30, are by now well-known in the two countries.

Both India and Australia are upbeat about the ECTA, called the Unity Agreement, as a ground-breaking measure for intensifying bilateral commerce across a range of sectors and taking economic cooperation to an altogether new level.