TOKYO -- Dramatic changes of government took place in South Asia in 2024, and those attracted a lot of reader attention.
Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who had been in power for 15 years, was frozen out in August after student-led protests developed into the country's worst political violence in decades. Protesters demanded, and got, her resignation. The following month, Sri Lankans elected antiestablishment lawmaker Anura Kumara Dissanayake as their president, and gave his party two-thirds of the seats in the parliamentary election in November.
India, the world's most populous country and its largest democracy, also held a general election. Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) lost its outright majority, surprising many analysts who predicted a big BJP victory. Many readers also took an interest in the economic struggles of India's neighbor Pakistan.
Stories dealing with companies and the executives who run them also drew attention. A growing number of multinational companies, including Google, are stepping up manufacturing in India to diversify their supply chains and meet local demand. The death of Ratan Tata, a prominent Indian industrialist, and the indictment in the U.S. of Indian billionaire Gautam Adani both made global headlines.
A list of our most read stories from South Asia in 2024:
- Google plans to begin Pixel phone production in India in Q2
- Mumbai becomes Asia's billionaire capital, topped by Mukesh Ambani
- Kubota's path to global expansion goes through India
- Pakistan moves to sell national airline in test case for privatization drive
- How Modi's BJP lost its majority in Indian elections: 5 things to know
- Pakistan's rooftop solar boom shines spotlight on power crisis
- Pakistan Olympic winner trades homemade javelins for superstardom
- Bangladesh PM Hasina's dramatic fall from grace: 5 things to know
- India edges warily toward accepting more Chinese investment
- Ratan Tata, titan of Indian industry, dies at 86
- Sri Lanka turns to untried leftists to lead break from poverty, strife
- Indian billionaire Gautam Adani indicted in U.S. on bribery charges
Take a look back with our most read stories of the year here.
