Stories about Development from March, 2008
Tajikistan: Tajikistan in the New Central Asia
Kayumars Turkistani reviews a book titled “Tajikistan in the New Central Asia: Geopolitics, Great Power Rivalry and Radical Islam” by Swedish political scientist Lena Jonson, who analyzes the 5 years of Tajikistan’s foreign policy after 9/11.
Kyrgyzstan: Where the Tourists Are
The Azamat Report finds out from the World Economic Forum's Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Report that Kyrgyzstan – in spite of officially declared priority of developing tourism sector – is on the 113th place, lagging behind almost all of the CIS countries.
Hong Kong: Picnic at Time Square
Local artists have a picnic at Time Square to reclaim the public space at the city centre [zh]. The spot is outside a giant shopping mall at Causeway Bay.
Taiwan: Hunter Action
Peopo.org puts up a video on the weekend music concert organized by indigenous groups in Taiwan. The ethnic minorities are claiming their land right [zh].
Morocco: Peace Corps
Connie in Morocco gives an insider's perspective into her work as a Peace Corps volunteer in Morocco.
Dubai: Leave Our Islands Alone!
Dubai Sunshine appeals to developers to leave islands alone. “I noticed that many islands had a “no trespassing allowed” sign on them…While others were littered with construction machinery. Some islands already have some private resorts built on them,” writes the blogger.
China: Thoughts on bankruptcy of the last ‘Animal Farm’
Nanjie Village, the last “Animal Farm” in China, has been known by the Chinese as the ‘red billionaire village’ and ‘communism village’ until the recent revealment by newspapers that it has arrears around 1 billion yuan although it gradually changed its economic system years ago in light of some ‘capitalistic...
Russia, Venezuela: “Exxon Strikes Back”
White Sun of the Desert writes about how “international oil and gas companies are not as completely helpless in the face of politically contrived domestic disputes as most would think”: “ExxonMobil is currently demonstrating rather effectively how an international oil company can remove the dispute from the domestic arena into...
Azerbaijan: Death Star Hotel
It looks quite impressive and futuristic on first glance -- a hotel that bears an uncanny resemblance to the Death Star from the Star Wars films. Remarkably, however, the hotel will not be built in Las Vegas or Dubai. It is instead planned for Baku, capital of the Republic of Azerbaijan.
Laos: Lao Fashion Show Video
Lao Voices has posted a video of a fashion show in the rapidly developing South East Asian country.
Lithuania: Stats on Women
Lituanica writes about Lithuanian women: “more educated, earn less but their role is increasing.”
Nepal: Development and Politics
Nepal Monitor on donors to the country raising questions on political issues as they do affect development choices.
Kazakhstan: Second-Life Astana
Lena B-va tells about an ambitious project in the Kazakhstani segment of Internet – Second Astana, part of global Second Life social service.
Poland: Victories, Poverty, Food and Drink
Polandian writes about Polish victories and defeats, dispels the myth of Poland's poverty – here and here – and the myth of excessive drinking in Poland, and posts a non-vegetarian roundup of Polish cuisine.
Turkmenistan: Presidential Program Speech
Lunaric comes up with the translation of the Abdulgamid's post that analyzes Turkmenistan President's speech outlining the agenda to reorganize national economy, modification of the country’s investment policy and stabilization of the country’s geopolitical situation.
China: PX moves to Zhangzhou
The Xiamen chemical factory project has moved to Zhangzhou because of citizen protest. Wang Ning finds out[zh] that there are also protests in Zhangzhou, but the information has been repressed. So far he only managed to find one blog [zh] and an overseas report [zh] on the anti PX protest.
Rio de Janeiro is not one of the 25 world's dirtiest cities, yet.
Luiz Antonio Ryff comments[pt] on the list of the 25 World's Dirtiest Cities published by Forbes.com, and says he is quite impressed Rio de Janeiro doesn't figure on the list: “Rio de Janeiro is not on the list, despite the huge efforts made by some of it's inhabitants to grime...
Tanzania: The spirit of Nyerere
Sokari discusses Mwalimu Nyerere, the first president of Tanzania and the Arusha Declaration: “I had never read the Arusha Declaration and only have superficial knowledge of Julius “Mwalimu” Nyerere in terms of his role in the struggle for independence in Africa and as a Pan Africanist along with Nkrumah. But...
Lova Rakotomalala: Putting Madagascar on the map
Coming from Madagascar, a country that doesn't make the world's headlines often and sometimes doesn't even make it to the African map, Lova Rakotomalala has played an extremely important role in making this unique island better known and heard through blogging and his reports for Global Voices Online.
Central Asia: European Parliament drafts resolution on Central Asia
Adam Kesher reviews the European Parliament’s draft resolution on the EU Strategy in Central Asia, which was adopted last summer emphasising that EU aid and cooperation must build on concrete benchmarks for each country developed within the framework of future dialogues on human rights and democracy.
Kazakhstan: Blood Donor Center Opening
Kamneed provides an extensive and informative photo-post on the opening of the City Blood Donor Center in Almaty, the largest city of Kazakhstan.
