Alessandra De Poli

Print newspaper readership in India rose until 2019. The country remains the world’s second largest market with a circulation of 240 million copies. With the pandemic, digital content is up, but so is repression against journalists, a paradoxical situation in a country where the press was born to oppose British colonialism.

In 2012, Delhi and Islamabad struck a deal to let seniors reunite with family members left on the other side of the border during the violence of 1947. In fact, it was never implemented and getting a visa to meet loved ones still takes months. However, over the past year, a YouTube channel and an open crossing for religious pilgrimages have given some hope to the people of Punjab.

During an online conference, local groups highlight their capacity to rebuild the country, listing the services they are trying to provide to the population despite the civil war. Doing this will not be easy. Unity of purpose can be maintained with international aid, but above all, with the defeat of the military junta.

Farmers selling abroad were benefiting from higher global prices. Critics say the government is not serving the interests of the poorest. China defends India against G7 criticism.

The future of the Islamic Emirate will depend on the Taliban’s ability to pacify the country, says Prof Diego Abenante. However, anti-Taliban groups have few chances and any conflict would not benefit the population. The Islamic State group is still a major cause for concern. The only hope is that the less hard-line faction prevails over the radical Haqqani group.

The small Pacific archipelago, so called because it was thought to be home to King Solomon's mines, actually lacks everything: hospitals, infrastructure, airports. China, which has offered to bring a certain degree of development, is welcomed as a liberator. But taking sides is not the solution, comments Monsignor Luciano Capelli to AsiaNews.

This year heatwaves began in March. Extreme heat makes working in the middle of the day impossible. Deaths are on the rise, but the government has little data to deal with the situation. In cities, the effects are mitigated by air conditioning, but the latter is part of the problem.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi made the announcement at a recent Ayush summit. The market for traditional medicines is booming, in part thanks to the recommendations of the Indian government at the start of the pandemic. Exports may soon reach Africa.

In the monastery of Gabriel Danbo, a patrimony of Syriac manuscripts is being catalogued and digitised by five monks together with some young students. A sign of hope for a community where there is still much suffering. The bishop of Erbil, Bashar Warda, says: "We try not only to survive but also to have a voice in society". Today a hospital that bears the name of Mary.

Born 131 years ago, the Indian jurist fought for social equity for Dalits, Adivasi and women. Indian politicians like to cite him, but in practice nothing is being done to improve the situation of the poorest, who, according to the latest studies, are still discriminated with respect to the economy, healthcare and law. An award to honour him has not been given for years.

The typhoon devastated the state of West Bengal in May last year. Indian insurance companies are among the worst in the world when it comes to covering extreme weather events, even though they reimbursed record expenses between 2020 and 2021. Intensity and frequency of typhoons are set to increase in India.

India’s best known food delivery company sparks online negative reaction over riders’ safety in a country that tops the world in road-related fatalities.