Stories about Governance from February, 2010
China: A satirical guide for Fifty Cents Party members
C Custer from ChinaGeeks translated a satirical guide for Fifty Cents Party members (paid online commentators) on the many methods they can use to respond to criticism.
India: 3G Disaster
“We should have had 3G services in India 3-4 years ago. But we took a detour to giving more 2.5G licenses since that could enrich the powers that make decisions by a few billion dollars,” informs Indian blogger and entrepreneur Rajesh Jain.
Russia: Bloggers Discuss Utilization of Old Books
Libraries are throwing away old books due to old age and lack of readership, literary critic Alexander Zhitinski reported [RUS]. A library in Saint-Petersburg had to throw away all the books published before 1999. Mistreatment of books provoked a heated discussion online [RUS] while mainstream media ignored the subject.
China: Critical Masses and Shifting State-Society Relations in China
The China Beat has an essay based on the script of a talk Ying Zhu gave at Google’s New York offices on February 12, 2010, discussing the relation between the rise of critical mass and the shifting state-society relations in China.
Russia: Avatar & North Caucasus – Fiction vs Reality
LJ user burtin posts this comment (RUS) about Avatar: “Interesting that people cry [as they watch] Avatar – while reports from Chechnya and Ingushetia leave them totally indifferent. Even though archetypally the same is happening there – only the people are real, not [computer-generated]. […] If this were happening in...
Sri Lanka: World Bank And Web Censorship
“Will the World Bank indirectly support web censorship in Sri Lanka?” asks Sanjana Hattotuwa at ICT For Peacebuilding (ICT4Peace) blog.
Trinidad & Tobago: Saving Carnival
B.C. Pires links to a column by Mark Lyndersay, which, “if listened to, could rescue Trinidad Carnival for photographers; or at least stave off the death of yet another of its vital organs”, while other Trinidadian bloggers comment on the government's decision “to award sole rights to distribute coverage of...
Haiti: A Month Later
“The time has come for each Haitian wherever you are, and whoever you are to take a stand, and say ‘NO’ to the bureaucracy that worsens the situation in Haiti right now”: A month after the earthquake in Haiti, Wadner Pierre posts his impressions.
Pakistan: Let The Kites Fly
A Lahore Court banned kite flying in Punjab province of Pakistan in 2005 citing it as a dangerous game and deprived many residents of the joys of Basant festivities. Some bloggers felt that strong rules and regulations instead of outright ban could decrease the risks related to kite-flying.
China: The Party’s Policies are yakexi
C. Custer from ChinaGeeks blogs about a new buzz word, yakexi, in Chinese Internet community. It is an Uyghur word for good and recently used to praise Chinese policies in the Spring Gala. But the word has been re-iterated to mock at the political propaganda.
“SOS Internet Indonesia”
The Indonesian government plans to create a team which will regulate internet content in the country. The plan is to censor pornography, gambling, racism and other immoral content in cyberspace. But netizens are afraid that it might also stifle freedom of expression
Singapore: Military robotics
A blogger questions the decision of the Singapore Armed Forces to purchase hardware dealing with military robotics
Russia: When Politicians Go Online
When more and more Russian politicians become bloggers and seek the help of PR firms to develop and manage their blogs, people wonder about the future of the Russian blogosphere as an independent information platform and valuable public sphere.
Africa: Colonialism alive and well after 50 years of independence
2010 will mark the 50th year of francophone African countries' independence from Belgium and France. While official celebrations are under way, debate about colonialism, past and present, is simmering on blogs in North, Central and Western Africa.
India: Civic Sense And Liberty
Prerna at I Love Life.. So I Explore discusses about the phenomenon of the lack of civic sense of Indians inside the country as some make public nuisances completely ignoring the law.
China: What will shutting down Beijing's liaison offices do for petitioners?
A planned move to shut down most of Beijing's 'liaison offices', many of which run their own restaurants and hotels as part of lobbying efforts aimed at the central government, stands to help curb corruption. But what will it mean for petitioners, whom liaison offices are tasked with silencing?
Iran: Bus Drivers Union Calls for Green-Labor Unity
In Ahwaznews, an Iranian blog we read [fa]:”Starting March 6, We the Workers of Vahed Company [bus drivers] Will Wage Acts of Civil Disobedience (or white strike) to Protest the Condition of Mansoor Osanloo in Prison. We Appeal to the Iranian People and to the Democratic Green Movement–of which we...
Ghana: Constitution Review Meets Interesting Proposals
In 2008, during the presidential elections, candidates promised Ghanaians a review of the nation’s constitution. What made this pledge more appealing was the contenders’ - President John Atta Mills included - intention to involve Ghanaians in the review process. The president seems to have fulfilled that promise, and new proposals now fuel interesting debates.
Russia: Tracing City Buses in Real Time
The city administration of Ryazan [ENG] in the Central Russia became the first in the country to launch an interactive map of the public buses [RUS], gov-gov.ru reported. Equipped with GPS devices, the buses can now be traced online in real time.
Russia Liberilizes Rules For Wi-Fi
Russian President Dmitri Medvedev signed the law [RUS] liberalizing the installation of the Wi-Fi networks. Previously, the installation required tons of paperwork and a formal permission from the government.
Russia: Moscow Wants Its Own ‘Silicon Valley’
The Moscow Times writes [ENG] about the new Kremlin innovation center modeled after the American Silicon Valley. President Dmitry Medvedev signed a decree on creating a working group that would deal with the project.
