Category Archives: South and Central Asia

Ties with Myanmar military put pressure on western companies

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Activists criticise oil and gas companies that have set up highly profitable joint ventures with army chiefs to exploit mineral resources

Western companies are facing growing calls to break ties with businesses run by Myanmar’s military after last week’s coup threatened to cast the impoverished south-east Asian country back into full-blown dictatorship.

The Japanese drinks company Kirin Holdings has announced it will abandon its involvement with a Myanmar brewery after a six-year partnership because of its close links to the military.

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‘It’s as if there’s no Covid’: Nepal defies pandemic amid a broken economy

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Cases appear low and sports venues are packed, but protests are on the rise as jobs are lost and personal debt soars

Traffic jams and soaring pollution levels are back. Political leaders are organising mass rallies, far more focused on fighting each other than any virus. If poorer Nepalis are struggling with the dire economic fallout from Covid-19, on the surface, at least, it appears daily life in the capital, Kathmandu, is back to normal.

“It’s as if nothing has happened. The nightclubs are crowded. Schools and colleges are reopening. Sports venues are full. It doesn’t seem like there is any Covid,” says Sameer Mani Dixit, a public health specialist. “It defies logic.”

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Biden orders sanctions on Myanmar generals as key Aung San Suu Kyi aide detained

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US prevents generals from accessing $1bn in government funds as Kyaw Tint Swe held amid new wave of arrests

US President Joe Biden has approved an executive order for new sanctions on those responsible for the military coup in Myanmar, as the army detained another key aide to civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

Fresh protests took place on Thursday following days of demonstrations in major cities and towns inside Myanmar calling for the military to cede power following its 1 February coup.

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Family of girl, 12, forced to marry abductor condemn Pakistan authorities

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Criticism follows release of 29-year-old who kept girl chained in cattle pen, in latest case highlighting abuses of religious minorities

The family of a 12-year-old girl in Pakistan who was chained up in a cattle pen for more than six months, after allegedly being kidnapped and forced to marry her abductor, have attacked the authorities for refusing to act.

The case is among those now being examined by a government inquiry into the forced conversions of religious minority women and girls, after police released the man, saying they believed the girl had married him of her own free will.

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Myanmar protesters return to streets in huge numbers amid police defections

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Protests swell across country, with dozens of police officers choosing to join protesters in call for reversal of coup

Protesters have turned out in huge numbers across Myanmar, a day after police instigated the most violent scenes yet in demonstrations against a military coup that removed civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

An estimated 100,000 people gathered in the commercial capital Yangon on Wednesday, according to witnesses, with many more marching across the country.

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Myanmar: gunfire heard as police and protesters clash – video

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Police in Myanmar have fired water cannon into crowds protesting against the 1 February coup that overthrew the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi.  

It is the fourth consecutive day of mass protest, despite the military banning gatherings of more than five people

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Autism in India: how a pioneering jobs scheme is opening up opportunities

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Company says adapting recruitment processes for neurodiverse groups disproportionately affected by unemployment has led to increased innovation

Talking to people can be difficult for Rishabh Birla, but his last job demanded he did a lot of it. He has autism and finds making eye contact uncomfortable. For Birla, the rules of conversation are puzzling and he sometimes veers off course, alarming the other person.

A 25-year-old postgraduate, Birla had been working at a cosmetics startup in Thane, not far from Mumbai. “The job involved communicating with different clients to keep track of their orders. It was exhausting to interact with so people every day,” he says.

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Myanmar protests: woman shot in head as police response escalates

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Teargas and water cannon also deployed on fourth day of protests against last week’s coup

Police in Myanmar have responded with increasing violence to protests against last week’s military coup, using water cannons, rubber bullets and live ammunition in a crackdown that left a woman in a critical condition on Tuesday.

Tens of thousands of people marched in towns and cities across the country in defiance of a ban on gatherings in some areas to voice their opposition to the military takeover of the government.

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‘Fighting for life’: Bangladesh shrimp farmers destitute in wake of cyclone

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Natural disaster compounded by the collapse of a lucrative export during the pandemic has thrust people into poverty

This time last year the west coast of Bangladesh was a thriving place for shrimp farmers. It was a decent enough living and there was a healthy export market.

Majnu Sardar, who lives in Koyra upazila (administrative region) in Khulna district, used to earn enough to feed, clothe and educate his family of six. Now they are living in a small mud hut, with a canopy of leaves as a roof, on the banks of the Kapotaksha River after Cyclone Amphan buried his house and land in May.

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Three-finger salute: Hunger Games symbol adopted by Myanmar protesters

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The gesture was first used after a coup in Thailand in 2014 and has since come to stand for solidarity and resistance across the region

From Thailand to Myanmar, pro-democracy protesters are raising the three finger salute in opposition to military dictatorships. Adopted from the Hunger Games films, the gesture has become a symbol of resistance and solidarity for democracy movements in south-east Asia.

The salute was first used in Myanmar last week by medical workers, then youth protesters started raising it in opposition to the military coup. On Monday, one week after the takeover, the hand gesture could be seen during huge protests on the streets of Yangon.

On 1 February Myanmar’s army took power in a coup against the democratically elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi. She and other senior party figures were detained in a morning raid. In response, tens of thousands have protested in the streets of Yangon and other cities as part of a growing campaign of civil disobedience. The military have blocked social media platforms in an attempt to stamp out dissent. The United Nations Security Council has called for the release of Aung San Suu Kyi and other ministers detained.

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Rescuers search for 171 missing people after Indian glacier causes devastating flood

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Twenty six confirmed dead as military look for survivors in Himalayan state of Uttarakhand

Twenty six bodies have been recovered in the Indian Himalayas and scores more people are still missing after a second day of rescue efforts after a glacier break that caused an avalanche of water and debris to engulf a river valley and demolish two dams.

A surge of water, thought to be triggered when a glacier broke off from Nanda Devi mountain in the state of Uttarakhand, left a trail of devastation when it hit on Sunday morning.

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Protests swell in Myanmar one week after military coup

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Water cannon used on demonstrators in the capital as marches take place in cities and towns across the country

Massive crowds of anti-coup protesters have marched in towns and cities across Myanmar on the third day of street demonstrations against a coup a week ago in which the army detained elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

From the Himalayan town of Putao to cities on the shore of the Andaman Sea, demonstrators came out in the biggest numbers so far since the coup.

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Scores feared dead after glacier causes dam burst in India – video

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As many as 150 people are feared dead in northern India after a Himalayan glacier broke and crashed into a dam, with floods forcing the evacuation of villages downstream. Videos from the scene show water surging through the dam site, washing away equipment

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Helicopters search for three climbers missing in K2 winter attempt

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Ali Sadpara of Pakistan, John Snorri of Iceland, and Juan Pablo Mohr of Chile lost contact with base camp

An aerial search to find three experienced climbers who lost contact with base camp during a winter ascent of K2, the world’s second highest mountain, will resume on Monday morning officials have said.

celebrated Pakistani mountaineer Ali Sadpara and his two companions, John Snorri of Iceland and Juan Pablo Mohr of Chile lost contact with base camp late Friday and were reported missing on Saturday after their support team stopped receiving reports from them during their ascent.

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Myanmar: tens of thousands march against military coup for second day

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Large demonstrations across country despite junta blocking internet access and restricting phone lines

Demonstrators in Myanmar have vowed to continue their protests until their elected leaders are released and democracy returns, as tens of thousands of people poured on to the streets of towns and cities across the country for a second day.

Large crowds gathered in the main city of Yangon and elsewhere, condemning the military for ousting the democratically elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi in a coup.

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150 feared dead as glacier crashes into dam in northern India

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Floods force evacuation of villages and witnesses report avalanche creating wall of dust, rock and water

As many as 150 people were feared dead in northern India after a Himalayan glacier broke and crashed into a dam early on Sunday, with floods forcing the evacuation of villages downstream.

“The actual number has not been confirmed yet,” but 100 to 150 people were feared dead, Om Prakash, the chief secretary of Uttarakhand state where the incident occurred, said.

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Farmers block roads across India in protest over agriculture law

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Protesters use tractors, lorries and boulders to create blockades and press for repeal of legislation

Thousands of farmers blockaded main roads across India for several hours on Saturday to press their demand for the repeal of new agricultural laws that have led to months of major protests.

The protesters used tractors, lorries and boulders to blockade the roads. They carried banners and flags denouncing the laws, which they say will leave them poorer and at the mercy of corporations.

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Myanmar: tens of thousands protest against coup despite internet blackout

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Demonstrators in standoff with police amid demands for release of elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi

Tens of thousands of people took to the streets in Myanmar on Saturday in the first major demonstration since the military seized power, despite a nationwide internet blackout imposed to stifle dissent.

In the main city Yangon, protesters chanted “down with the military dictatorship” and carried images of the ousted leaders Aung San Suu Kyi and Win Myint, whose party won a landslide election in November. The military detained both in raids early on Monday morning and they have not been seen in public since.

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