· December, 2009

Stories about Governance from December, 2009

Copenhagen summit: Nepalese Ministers Miss The Point

  22 December 2009

The Nepalese cabinet held a meeting near Everest base camp days before Copenhagen summit to emphasize that effects of global warming on Nepal. However, bloggers are criticizing the bulky Nepalese ministers delegation to Copenhagen and questioning their effectiveness.

China: White-listing the Internet

  22 December 2009

DANWEI has translated the Beijing News’ report on the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT)'s plan to white list websites on the Internet. More background can be found in GV advocacy: Online protest against CNNIC and White-listing the Internet.

Australia pushes internet censorship; Twitter erupts

  21 December 2009

Australia's Communications Minister Stephen Conroy declared his determination last week to push through mandatory internet censorship of a government-defined blacklist of websites, sparking an online frenzy in blogs and on Twitter. News of the proposed internet censorship propelled the issue to a “trending topic” on Twitter for several hours, under...

Russia: Yegor Gaidar, Russia's Economic Reformer, Dies at 53

RuNet Echo  19 December 2009

Yegor Gaidar, a Russian economist and politician who initiated the 1992 "shock therapy" reforms, died in Moscow on Dec. 16 at the age of 53. Russian bloggers' responses serve as a vivid reflection of how divided people still are on Gaidar's legacy and on the direction the country has taken since the demise of the Soviet Union.

American Petitioner in China

  19 December 2009

Julie Harms, an American and a Harvard graduate, hit the news as she becomes one of the few, or perhaps the first, foreign petitioner in China. Her case was a grievance against the government that her fiancé, Liu Shiliang, was jailed on a charge which she says is not true....

Haiti: Marching for Aristide

  18 December 2009

Repeating Islands reports that “supporters of former Haitian President and liberation theologian Jean-Bertrand Aristide marched through Port-au-Prince…this week calling for his return from exile and protesting his [Fanmi Lavalas] party’s exclusion from upcoming elections.”

Trinidad & Tobago: Climate Responsibility

  18 December 2009

Blogging from Trinidad, Coffeewallah says of the climate change talks: “In Copenhagen world leaders debate over what they will and will not sign, but truthfully, it is all about commerce and making money…we are given the gift of life and the loan of the earth but we have yet to...

Trinidad & Tobago: Poor Packaging

  18 December 2009

Trinidad and Tobago's This Beach Called Life is livid that a brand of silicone is being sold in bottles best known for packaging a popular children's soft drink: “I have no idea if the OHS Act in Trinidad and Tobago covers household chemicals and food but Act or no Act,...

Sri Lanka: Evidence Of War Crimes

  18 December 2009

A new debate on the war crime allegations against Sri Lankan army has surfaced as the former army chief and presidential candidate Sarath Fonseka had mentioned that he knew that unarmed people were shot dead, in cold blood, “pursuant to a premeditated decision by government leaders.” Kumar David at Groundviews...

Bermuda: Of Crime & Injunctions

  17 December 2009

As the spate of violence continues in Bermuda, bloggers are further troubled by news of the government taking out an injunction against a newspaper, allegedly to prevent the publication of a news story.

India: Federalism

  17 December 2009

Hari at India First-Hand comments on the proposal of the Indian government to separate Telangana region from Andhra Pradesh and form a new state: “the answer definitely is not forming more states and thereby increasing the overhead.”