Stories about Development from May, 2008
Kyrgyzstan: Talas Tripping
Azamat posts some pictures from his trip to Talas, a town in the east of Kyrgyzstan, featuring the mausoleum of Manas (the epic hero), new nomads and traffic accidents.
Mexico: Announcement of the Launch of ALAS
Mexico Reporter [es] posts a video of the press conference held in Mexico City with singer Shakira and the announcement ofthe launching of ALAS, an initiative aimed at helping child development.
Russia, Lithuania: Knight News Challenge Winners
Oleksandr Demchenko writes about the Russian and Lithuanian winners of the Knight News Challenge 2008.
Russia: Migrant Labor Quotas Exhausted
Window on Eurasia writes that Russian companies need more foreign workers than the number allowed by the current quotas.
Bangladesh: Microfinance as panacea
Words and Bites on microfinance being offered as a panacea for all development issues.
Trinidad & Tobago: Crash and Burn?
This Beach Called Life is worried about the direction Trinidad & Tobago is taking: “I am certain the economy will soon crash. I am basing my economic prediction, not on a feeling, but on newspaper commentaries, comments by the Governor of the Central Bank and the imbecilic looks on the...
Armenia: HIV Awareness
Armenia and Me reports and posts photographs from Sunday's annual HIV Awareness event held in Yerevan. The blog says that over 60 Red Cross youth volunteers marched through the center of the capital with candles. The event ended by creating an illuminated HIV ribbon by one of the city's most...
Videos: Creativity in facing the water crisis
With two very recent natural disasters in mind: the cyclone in Myanmar and the Earthquake in Sichuan, China, the topic of getting pure and drinkable water to needy populations has come back into the conversation. Following, several videos which propose different solutions to supply clean water or at least make it easier for people to have a healthful liquid to drink.
Masdar: A Carbon Neutral City Planned in Jordan
Arab Environment Watch posts on news about Masdar, saying “This is exciting news emerging from the planners of Masdar city, the first zero carbon city in the world.”
China: Be Humble
In reflection upon the earthquake, Huyong said that Chinese people should learn to be more humble and fearful of the nature in its developmental model [zh].
Russia: Foreign Investment
Two-Zero writes about Russia's foreign investment.
Trinidad & Tobago: Failed State?
Jumbie's Watch links to an article in the Trinidad Guardian which makes reference to the twin island republic as one of 96 countries “in danger of becoming a failed state”, adding: “Much work is needed in 4 areas…security, health, education, and in the judicial system.”
Trinidad & Tobago: Masquerade
“There is so much to do in Trinidad and Tobago, not just to make it a “developed” nation…but to keep it civilised, to protect what is left of its humanist traditions. And so little of the work is being done: crassness, violence, corruption and neglect are slowly but surely eating...
China and Taiwan: Cement Board Partition
In the Sichuan earthquake, many new school buildings had fallen apart. Thousands of school kids lost their lives. Hsueh, a taiwanese blogger, explained in details, the danger of cement board partition in modern construction [zh].
Trinidad & Tobago: Hijacked for Water
“With cutlasses at their necks, truck drivers are being hijacked by desperate villagers to deliver water to certain parts of the country…”: Blogging from Trinidad & Tobago, KnowProSE.com thinks that perhaps the government is “just not speaking the same language as the people around them.”
Bahrain: Leaving Home
Life in Bahrain is not impressed with a new increase in housing lending – as real estate prices in Bahrain hit the ceiling – and announces that he has found a job abroad and is leaving the country soon.
Trinidad & Tobago: Press Conference Gone Awry
“Anyone who saw today's Urban Development Corporation of Trinidad and Tobago press conference…must now be clear of one thing…this country is in serious trouble”: Trinidad and Tobago girls, politics, sports, technology, carnival, and lifestyle is unimpressed with the behaviour of a Senator, while Jumbie's Watch adds: “Here is a man...
Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan: Shake Down, Shake Up
Patrick Frost tells that the Tajikistan government tries to impose a voluntary tax on its citizens to raise $10 million dollars to finance the Rogun project, while the Kyrgyz government has given a compensation payment to 72 children, who were accidentally infected with the AIDS in hospitals.
Tajikistan: Poor country's most expensive trial
The poorest country in Central Asia, Tajikistan initiated the most expensive trial in the history of British legal proceedings. Tajikistan will pay 120 million USD for the legal fees which represents 5,2 percent of the country’s entire GDP. A bone of contention is the Tajik Aluminum Company (Talco), fully owned...
Lithuania, Spain: “Sevilnius”
Babel in Vilnius compares the Lithuanian capital with Seville.
Kyrgyzstan: A Slow Time
The May month traditionally comes to Kyrgyzstan with the holiday days. 1st May is the Labor Day, 5th May is the Constitution’s Day and on 9th May Kyrgyzstan celebrates Victory’s day. These day the life of Kyrgyzstan is rather quiet and slow. On 1st May, the Communist’s party held the...
