Pashmina queen Shaheena Akhtar

Kashmiri women entrepreneurs have made a mark for themselves in a region which has been riddled with conflict, death and destruction for over two decades.

40 women, most of them from India’s most downtrodden regions, tell their stories every week through Khabar Lahariya, which literally means, “waves of news.”

A mother and her child in Chitral district, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

As I started to write this blog today, a fellow journalist back in Pakistan tweeted about an attack on his cousin, a school headmistress in the Charsadda city of the northern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province.

Lack of toilets are also one big reason why Indian women are vulnerable to rapes. Read about more women’s themes that made it to the headlines.

Paridhi Singh wanted to figure out how it would feel to meet a ‘phenomenal’ author like Maya Angelou. So she created this mock interview with the renowned women’s rights activist and poet, who passed away recently at the ripe old age of 86.

Oscar winning documentary filmmaker Megan Mylan (left) with Monika Barman, the protagonist of her latest short film, “After My Garden Grows.”

The black screen comes to life. A young girl dressed in a rust-coloured salwar-kurta (indian shirt with drawstring pants) is expertly clambering on top of a wooden structure amidst dense green foliage. As the camera follows her, the youngster turns slowly to reveal her serene, pretty face.

Scandinavian air hostess Gen Permet has been a flight attendant with a Scandinavian airline for more than 20 years. A few years ago, she began singing on board as a way to calm passengers’ nerves.