World heritage

The head of the World Council of Churches has written to Turkey’s President expressing his grief and dismay over Turkey’s decision to change the status of Istanbul’s landmark Hagia Sophia from a museum to a mosque. … [Read more...] about World Council of Churches ‘dismayed’ at Hagia Sophia shift

But since it reopened at the end of May, only 16,000 people have set foot in the UNESCO World Heritage site considered one of the most accomplished works of Moorish architecture -- the number of visitors it would normally receive in a week. … [Read more...] about Coronavirus pandemic leaves Spain’s interior a tourist desert

We may like to believe that we live in a tolerant and liberal society free from racial and cultural intolerance, but director Sandeep Varma, in the trailer of his latest short film ‘The Disguise’, turns the mirror onto this euphoric society. The trailer begins with an excerpt from T.S. Eliot’s ‘The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock’ that reads, “...There will be time to prepare a face to meet the faces that you meet.” It is this line that sets the tone for this trailer that follows two ladies and a fateful meeting at a bus stop that will forever alter their perspective of the world around them. Without letting us in on who these women are or their backgrounds, it is established in the opening shots that one of the two ladies is more rooted in her cultural identity and chooses to wear a burqua and accepts the unwelcoming glances that come her way. Her will is shaken, when two young boys squirt her with water guns. Things only get worse, when … [Read more...] about ‘The Disguise’ trailer: Deeply engaging and moving, the film throws light on intolerance and prejudice

Indira Gandhi, A Life in Nature was a good peg for Rediff.com's Nikhil Lakshman to quiz Jairam Ramesh about the state of the Congress party, Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Vadra, both of whom he has reportedly mentored, Narendra Modi for whose politics he has often expressed disdain, and, of course, Indira Gandhi and the founding fathers of the Republic who have been discussed with fervour these last three years. … [Read more...] about ‘The RSS is deeply uncomfortable about Gandhi’

The survival of this industry matters in Thailand, where wellness tourism generated expenditures of $12 billion in 2017, more than the combined amounts in Indonesia and Malaysia, according a report by the Global Wellness Institute. About 530,000 Thais are directly employed in the sector, according to the Miami-based group. Those totals equate to 1.4% of Thailand’s workforce and 2.6% of annual GDP. … [Read more...] about Life in the times of Covid-19: Thai massage loses its charm behind masks, social distancing