· September, 2012

Stories about LANGUAGES from September, 2012

Sri Lanka: The New Displaced Peoples

Dilrukshi Handunnetti reports in Groundviews that Sri Lanka’s largest internment facility was officially closed last week and its 346 interns were relocated to other confinement(s) instead of being resettled.

30 September 2012

Vietnam: Government Jails Three ‘Dissident’ Bloggers

Three Vietnamese bloggers have been convicted by a local court for allegedly spreading anti-government propaganda. One of them will serve a prison term of 12 years. Human rights groups immediately condemned the verdict and warned against the creeping online repression in the country.

30 September 2012

Cambodia: Human Rights Situation

The Special Rapporteur also noted the use of the criminal justice system against human rights defenders and those peacefully exercising their right to express opinion freely This was part of...

30 September 2012

Nepal: New Media Gufa – A New Experiment

Blogdai reports: Dharma Adhikari's Media Foundation held a “New Media Gufa” or “cave” where 5 of Nepal's top tech-savvy journalists chained themselves to their computers for three days in a...

29 September 2012

Sri Lanka: The Rights Of The Homosexuals

Sri Lanka and India, despite our pre-colonial religious and social accommodation of differing sexuality, have remained Victorian in attitude long after the colonial powers have changed. In terms of gay rights, we really need to catch up, and be more honest to ourselves and each other.

29 September 2012

India: Build Your Own Map to Improve Your City

Transparent Chennai is a platform for citizen engagement to help the citizens of Chennai counter inaccurate or incomplete government data with crowdsourced maps, and make better claims on the government for their rights and entitlements.

29 September 2012

Armenia: Government Pressure on NGO

The Washington Post blog features an entry by David Ignatius detailing pressure on an Armenian NGO particularly active online. Founded by former Foreign Minister of Armenia Vartan Oskanian, government pressure...

29 September 2012

Russia: Nation's Top Blogger Headed to Prison?

RuNet Echo

The criminal investigation targeting Russia's most prominent oppositionist blogger, Alexey Navalny, is heating up. Viacheslav Opalev, the former director of a logging firm in Kirov, has confessed [ru] to participating in...

29 September 2012

Russia: Ridiculing the Winter Olympics Slogan

RuNet Echo

The just-announced slogan of the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics (“Hot. Cool. Yours.”) has spurred a brief episode of merrymaking on the RuNet. At first that may seem surprising, while the English version of the slogan may sound slightly confusing and a bit corny, it isn't particularly rich fodder for jokes or double entendres.

29 September 2012

35 Million Escape Poverty – But Can Brazil Overcome Inequality?

The United Nations campaign to end poverty in 2015 is finding results in Brazil, home to 194 million people. Some 35 million Brazilians have escaped poverty over the last decade, but questions are nevertheless being raised concerning the government's effort to overcome inequality.

29 September 2012

Nepal: Another Plane Crash Dips Optimism

Lex Limbu used to share his optimism and hope for the domestic airlines industry of Nepal. But the recent Sita Air crash, and the death of 19 people on board,...

29 September 2012

Ukraine: Protesting the Controversial Defamation Bill

A bill that calls for penalties of up to five years in jail for defamation passed a first reading in the Ukrainian Parliament on Sep. 18. Following the online campaign against the adoption of the bill, its author submitted a request to recall it. The bill isn't history yet, however, and the protest continues.

29 September 2012

Panama: Controversial 510 Copyright Bill Approved

The 510 Bill that would regulate copyrights in Panamá was approved on September 26, 2012, by the National Assembly. The outrage against this bill is coming to a boiling point on social networks and Panamá's mainstream media since, among other things, it establishes unprecedented liberties to the legislative body charged with enforcing it.

28 September 2012