Stories about Governance from November, 2009
Trinidad & Tobago: Waste of Time?
“Most citizens still think CHOGM is a few-hundred-million dollar joke and will not benefit citizens in any way”: Trinidad and Tobago's This Beach Called Life weighs in on the upcoming Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting.
Russia Begins Registering Domains in Cyrillic
November 2009 will take a special place in the history of the Russian Internet. It is the month when a Cyrillic domain zone was born - .РФ (Russian Federation). Russia became the first country that allows top-level domains in non-Latin characters. Up until now, governments, companies and individuals could register domain names based on different languages only in Latin transliteration. The current Internet domains system will go much further allowing to use Cyrillic characters in a URL.
UAE bans Talk Show On Request From Pakistan
Teeth Maestro informs that on request from Pakistan UAE has imposed a ban on the airing of Geo TV program ‘Meray Mutabiq’ by Dr. Shahid Masood. The blogger comments: “I’m sure he may have been touching on some sensitive topics which more-or-less will most likely have to do with the...
Sri Lanka: Potentials Of Fishing Industry
Serendipity comments that after the devastation of the 2004 Tsunami and the restrictions during the war against the LTTE, the Sri Lankan fishing industry is poised to take off provided there is necessary support from the government.
Egypt: President Mubarak and the Egyptian Dignity
Egyptian Facebook users continue to discuss the ramifications of the aftermath of the Algeria vs Egypt football final, which saw Algeria qualifying to the World Cup finals in South Africa next year. Marwa Rakha has the story.
Russia: Mansion of The President Has A Lot To Offer
The Russian president's mansion became a topic of discussions on the Internet when people found a bidding offers invitation for services at the government Web site [RUS] dealing with different types of tenders. Giving the coordinates identical with the ones of the most important residency in the country, the government...
India: Wither The Thoughts Of Mumbai Attack?
Indian author and veteran journalist M. J. Akbar thinks that India has lost the plot on taking action against the Mumbai terror attacks and warns that: “Amnesia is an invitation to the next terrorist assault.”
Turkmenistan: Influenzastan
Has Turkmenistan come down with a bad case of the swine flu? Annasoltan investigates that in a series of post on Turkmen healthcare.
Kazakhstan: A Beacon of Anticorruption Activity?
Alexander_Visotzky reflects on the recently released Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index, in which Kazakhstan leaped 25 spots from 145th to 120th.
Kyrgyzstan: President consolidates his rule
Kyrgyz President Bakiyev promoted his son to lead the Central Agency on Development, Investment, and Innovation, which controls both all FDIs and major national companies, thus consolidating his patronage network, Elina Galperin writes.
Afghanistan: Corruption, corruption
Peter Marton reacts to the news that the US could start holding Afghanistan’s government accountable for corruption by withholding money for projects, and says that corruption in this country often is a consequence of the US policies.
Egypt: Alaa Mubarak for President?
Several names have been thrown in the pool of candidates for Egypt's 2011 presidential elections. Now a new name is being floated. Find out why Alaa Mubarak, the Egyptian President's eldest son, is a current favorite among some Egyptians...or maybe not.
Philippines: TV Ads of Presidential Candidates
Election season has started in the Philippines. Check out the TV ads of presidential candidates which have been uploaded on YouTube.
Malaysia-Singapore Water Agreements Under Review
Singapore sources about half of its water supply from its neighbor, Malaysia. It has two major water agreements with Malaysia. One of these agreements will expire two years from now. Malaysia’s former Prime Minister, through his blog, asks if the current government will negotiate for a better deal.
Malaysia: Selling sand to Singapore
A Malaysian blogger asks if the ban on selling sand to Singapore is still in effect.
Taiwan: Science park expansion dispute
Recently, the Executive Yuan in Taiwan has passed a bill in favor of Central Taiwan Science Park (CTSP) fourth stage expansion. The construction plan has drawn the attention of ecologists and caused heated discussion in the Taiwan blogosphere. Jeremy explains the problem of the construction plan in a blog post...
Haiti: Elections Coming
“The new Provisional Electoral Council (CEP), reconstituted in October, has set nationwide elections for 99 deputies and 11 senators for Feb. 28, 2010″: HaitiAnalysis.com reports.
Poland: Catholics Propose Adding Cross to National Emblem
Sylwia Presley reviews the reactions of Polish bloggers to a recent proposal by a Polish Catholic group to include the symbol of the cross in the national coat of arms.
Russia: Local Authorities Slow Broadband Development
On November 10, activists held a rally calling for broadband Internet and protesting against Internet provider monopoly in the township of Kraskovo (Moscow region, 10 km from the Moscow beltroad). This is the first known case of a protest dedicated to the defense of the Internet rights in Russia. The event also raised the issue of the overregulatedness of the process of Internet providing in the country.
Pakistan: Not Eliminated
Kalsoom at CHUP! – Changing Up Pakistan posts a roundup of the latest news and information on the South Waziristan war against the Taliban.
Sri Lanka: What Is Your Race?
Mahesan Niranjan at Groundviews shares a personal story depicting how race & nationality is perceived in Sri Lanka leading to further divide.