South Asia

Director Kedare resigns from IIT Bombay following students' demands for an independent inquiry into the death of a 19-year-old classmate amid allegations regarding the institute’s complicity in caste-based discrimination. A similar incident was reported in August at IIT Delhi.

Despite the measures introduced in 2012 following the Nirbhaya case, the killing of a teenage girl found this week in a rubbish tip raises questions about the effectiveness of legislation alone. Sr Lovenia Almeida to AsiaNews: “We need a society that refuses to normalise violence against women and children”.

In a landmark ruling, Uttar Pradesh’s High Court ruled against revoking the privileges guaranteed to members of tribal groups in the event of religious conversion or interfaith marriage. The case arose from a land dispute. For Archbishop Thakur, this is “an objective and true observation”.

The University of Oxford has approved the repatriation to Nagaland of ancestral remains held at the Pitt Rivers Museum, which were brought to England between 1910 and 1940. The repatriation follows six years of dialogue with representatives of the Naga communities, who plan to mark the return with traditional rituals and a burial in Kohima.

Six Indian states have signed an agreement for the Kishau Multipurpose Project, a dam project on hold since 2017, designed to irrigate 97,000 hectares and generate hydroelectric power. However, experts and environmentalists are calling for new studies on the risks involved, given the area's high seismic vulnerability.

Damage to infrastructure and the disruption of links with Tibet come on top of the heavy reliance on remittances from the more than 2.6 million Nepalis living abroad. A still-fragile economy and youth unemployment exceeding 20 per cent are fuelling an exodus of young people that has been strongly encouraged in recent years.

The state’s Sentence Review Board has rejected Dara Singh’s application for remission of his sentence after more than 26 years in prison. The decision follows directives from the Supreme Court and takes into account the potential risks to public order associated with the release of the man convicted of killing the Australian missionary and his two children in 1999.

Around 20.5 km² of land in the northern and eastern regions, ravaged by the conflict that ended in 2009, still needs to be cleared. To date, over 2.8 million explosive devices have been recovered. Two thousand people, including 500 former soldiers, have been involved in the operation.

In the last few days, horrific killings have occurred in Manipur, an Indian state torn by violence over the past three years. Yet, at the St Francis de Sales parish in Kangpokpi, Catholics from the two different ethnic groups continue to celebrate the Eucharist together.

Many of the victims of the Himalayan catastrophe are Hindu. Professor Chinmay Pandya spoke to AsiaNews about the relief efforts of Gayatri Pariwar, a social organisation that brings together 150 million Hindus. For him, “Relief work therefore becomes a bridge between inner awakening and social responsibility.”

The summit that yesterday in New Delhi brought together 11 countries that are in open conflict with one another on many issues. The final declaration is a 140-point document that makes no mention of Ukraine or Washington, nor does it propose a common currency. Beneath the surface, the divisions between India and China remain irreconcilable.

In a statement released at the conclusion of its plenary session, the Catholic Bishops’ Conference called for genuine and impartial investigations into the remains found in the largest mass grave from the conflict with the Tamils. Concerns were also raised regarding environmental issues in Mannar.