Stories about Governance from February, 2010
Nigeria: Acting President yet to have access to classified information
“Nigeria's Acting President, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, is yet to have access to the cateory “A” classified Information vault located in the inner chamber of the President's office,” from Chidi Opara Reports.
Russia and US to Broaden Collaboration Online
Vesti.ru wrote [RUS] about the visit of the U.S. “innovation delegation” [EN] led by America's Chief Technology Officer Aneesh Chopra [EN]. The plans of the Russian-U.S. cooperation include launching e-government Web sites and visits of Twitter, Cisco and Mozilla representatives to Russia in June 2010.
Russia: Sakhalin Island Fails to Connect to Broadband
Blogger w7062c wrote [RUS] about two unsuccessful attempts to connect Sakhalin island [EN] (island in the Pacific north closer to Japan) to the broadband network of Russia. The third attempt is scheduled for 2011. Until then, 580,000 inhabitants of the island are able to go online via satellite only.
India, Bangladesh: Protest On Killings In Bangladesh
Musings Of A Chakma reports that “the members of Chakma ethnic community living in Delhi held a huge peaceful protest demonstration in front of Jantar Mantar, New Delhi from 11 AM to 3 PM on 25 February 2010 to protest against the attacks on Chakmas and other indigenous Jummas in...
Bermuda: Southlands
Bermudian bloggers discuss the issue of Southlands, which involves the government's plans to develop a green site.
Russia: Government Supports Blogger School
Gov-gov.ru blogs [RUS] about a new online initiative: government-sponsored blogger schools that emerge in Tomsk (Siberia) [RUS] and Dagestan [RUS]. The Dagestan region has one of the lowest Internet penetration rates in the country. The schools involve the most popular Kremlin-affiliated bloggers.
Barbados, St. Kitts & Nevis: Corruption Watch
Barbados Free Press has its eyes on St. Kitts and Nevis when it comes to transparency and government accountability.
Jamaica, Trinidad & Tobago: Flags, Water & Reggae
Jamaican Annie Paul blogs about everything from the regional drought to the recently concluded International Reggae Conference.
Greece: Bloggers respond fiercely to financial crisis
Greek bloggers react with uncommon drama, spirit and gravitas to the financial crisis facing Greece. The socialist government elected last October is battling currency speculators while trying to avoid defaulting on the country's debt.
Slovenia: Tribute to Janez Drnovšek
Two years after the death of former Slovenian president Janez Drnovšek, Sleeping With Pengovsky observes that “most of the nation is on the prowl against any sort of deviation from ‘normality’, be this deviation actual or imagined, personal or political”: “President Drnovšek rarely passed judgement. […] But when he spoke,...
Russia: Snow and the Gastarbeiter
Photos of some of the aftermath of a record-breaking snowfall in Moscow, as well as musings on whether the Russian capital needs its gastarbeiter or not – at Pictures of Moscow.
Russia: New Military Doctrine
Irina Filatova comments on Russia's new military doctrine at the Guardian's Comment is free.
Russia: “Merry Gnome”
IZO links to LJ user postoronniy-cb‘s post (RUS) and writes: “When prez Medvedev visited Omsk recently, a sign advertising a play for children called We Await You, Merry Gnome was removed from his route in great haste at the last moment.”
Russia: Online Media Competition Lacks Transparency
The Russian Federal Telecommunications Agency announced [RUS] a competition to support online media. Adindex.ru reports [RUS] that requirements for lack transparency and suggests the competition is a way to encourage new media loyal to the government.
Jordan: Taxed to Death?
Are Jordanians being ‘taxed to death'? Read Naseem Tarawnah's take here.
Bangladesh: Protecting The Pahari People
Faisal at The Spittoon highlights the recent violence against the Paharis (hill people) in Bangladesh and asks: “what good is having a secular liberal democracy if you don’t protect your minority communities?”
India: The Influence Of Local Language News Channels and Media
“The recent expansion in Indian language news channels and media, preceded by the expansion in the Indian language newspaper market has brought television to the fore, as a powerful new force in the evolving Indian society”, comments Vikram at An Academic View Of India.
Trinidad & Tobago: Being the PM
This Beach Called Life admonishes his fellow Trinidadians to “leave the Prime Minister alone”.
Haiti: Thoughts on Power
Following an incident in which children were reportedly taken from their legal guardians and placed in a UNICEF camp, Tara at The Livesay [Haiti] Weblog says: “I am so sad to have learned (as a result of the earthquake) that most everything in the world is based on money and...
Bermuda: Accountability
Bermuda's Vexed Bermoothes bemoans the fact that “government’s debt is scratching the ass of $1 billion dollars now”, but takes heart “that some of Bermuda’s institutions are doing their job to blow the whistle and put on the brakes.”
Ukraine, Russia: The Plight of Chekhov's Yalta Museum
Rosamund Bartlett, Anton Chekhov's English biographer and director of the Anton Chekhov Foundation, writes about the plight of Chekhov's house-museum in Yalta, Crimea, at OpenDemocracy.net.
