Stories about Governance from April, 2010
Trinidad & Tobago: More UDeCOTT Lessons
“No time for distractions, in this election season”: Afra Raymond continues his quest to learn the lessons of Trinidad and Tobago's UDeCOTT fiasco.
US, Russia: A Pro-Russian Lobby
Eugene Ivanov of The Ivanov Report believes that the US-Russian “‘reset’ needs a charger, and the pro-Russian lobby should play the role of this charger.”
Sri Lanka: The Idea Of Citizenship
Sanjana Hattotuwa comments on the idea of citizenship in Sri Lankan context: “Citizenship is (thus) anchored not to a secular, liberal ideal larger than the sum of its constituent peoples and communities, but to reductionist fault-lines and groupings, based on and fuelled by communal hagiography and the chauvinism of majoritarian...
Bhutan: Perils Of The Smoking Ban
Penstar writes about the perils of the recent ban on smoking in Bhutan as it has proliferated black markets, which led to cancellation of licenses of some shop owners. “I think the ban helps no one,” – says the blogger.
Russia: Authorities Inspect Major Social Network
Russia authorities started inspection of the country's major social network Vkontakte.ru, rbcdaily.ru reported. The authorities claim the social network became popular with neo-Nazi, xenophobic and extremist groups. But the inspection can also be an attempt to extract users’ private data.
China: Shutting down of NGOCN's website
ngochina blogs about the shutting down of ngo.cn earlier in April. The website was established in 2005 and it offered capacity building training to NGOs, mainly those located in southwestern China (Yunnan, Sichuan, Guizhou).
Costa Rica: Clashes Over Autonomy on UCR Campus
On April 12, 2010, Costa Rican police officers arrived to the University of Costa Rica to detain a campus transit officer, accused of corruption. However, members of the university community said that this attempted arrest goes against the university's status of autonomy, which led to clashes.
Trinidad & Tobago: Making it Happen
“How dare you squander the resources by giving so much lip service and not doing much of anything…Shucks, did you think I was talking about the PNM/ UNC/COP?”: 5am at Mango Media Caribbean has a message for the voting population of Trinidad and Tobago.
Bangladesh: National HR Policy for White Collars
Bangladesh Corporate Blog advocates for a ‘National HR Policy for White Collars’ in Bangladesh because, there is no specific Law for employees in the private sector.
China: Myths and truths about Chinese criminal law
Chinese Law Prof discusses various characteristics of Chinese criminal law and its implementation by looking into an interesting criminal court case.
Egypt: Let's Shoot those Protesters!
In a debate on recurrent demonstrations, Egyptian ruling National Democratic Party (NDP) members of Parliament lashed out during a verbal battle with Muslim Brotherhood MPs over protesters in the country and said Egyptian pro-democracy demonstrators “should be shot” by police. Bloggers react in this post by Marwa Rakha.
Azerbaijan: Act of revenge against bloggers
Following news that imprisoned video blogging youth activists Adnan Hajizade and Emin Milli have been moved to separate prisons, Flying Carpets and Broken Pipelines says that one media outlet reports that the two prisons are among the worst in the country and alleges the move is nothing more than an...
Sri Lanka: Heading For An Internet Dark Age?
“Given the bent of the Defence Secretary, post-war Sri Lanka is set to head into an Internet dark age,” comments Sanjana Hattotuwa while discussing about the inclination of the Sri Lankan government on internet censorship.
India: Citizens debate government policy and the Maoist response
Dealing a severe blow to the Indian government’s ongoing offensive against the Naxalite-Maoist insurgency, 76 policemen were ambushed and killed by Maoist rebels in Dantewada, Chattisgarh on April 6, 2010. Indian bloggers discuss how to tackle the problem.
Russia: The ‘Little Blue Buckets’ Protest
The Little Blue Buckets mock protest, initiated (RUS) by LJ user cook, took place in Moscow Sunday, as drivers fitted their cars with blue plastic buckets (siniye vedyorki) to protest the impunity of state officials who routinely use blue flashing lights (migalki) on their vehicles to violate traffic rules and...
Philippines: Veteran Journalists Receives Death Threats
Durianburgdavao reports on the death threats received by veteran Filipino journalist Marites Vitug after the publication of her book, Shadow of Doubt: Probing the Supreme Court which is critical of the inner workings of the Philippine judiciary.
Madagascar: A Flurry of Alleged Coups as Mediation Resumes
After the Minister of the Armed forces was fired on April 7th under allegation of a Coup attempt, Achille52 wonders what the April 18th allegation of another Coup and the ensuing arrests really mean (fr). He is especially suspicious of the timing of these arrests because they happened just before international mediations including Rajoelina...
Senegal: Growth of Citizen Movements
Yakhya Massaly wonders whether the rapid growth of citizen movements is due to the failure of political parties or a genuine need for citizen participation as advocated by famed musician Youssou Ndour (fr).
Maldives: Bring Back The Bikes
Rehendhi supports the recent decision of the Maldivian government to “arm the police with bicycles” and advocates for more use of bicycles.
Bhutan: South Asian Leaders Meet For SAARC Summit
Bhutan is in a flurry of activity, gearing up for the upcoming SAARC (South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation) Summit. Here the South Asian leaders will discuss about issues like climate change, poverty alleviation, economic cooperation and curbing terrorism and will try to find a common ground.
Lebanon: Marching for Secularism
Lebanese Laïque Pride will hold a rally for secularism on April 25. They are a group of citizens who are calling for the full implementation of article (c) of the Lebanese Constitution's preamble: “Respect for the freedom of opinion and belief,” “social justice,” and “equality of rights and duties between...
