Stories from Quick Reads from April, 2009
India: TEDIndia Fellows program
The TED Conference is now accepting applications for 100 TEDIndia Fellows to participate in the TEDIndia Conference in Mysore, India. Approximately 75% of the Fellows will represent the South Asian region, and 25% will represent other regions of the world. For information about how to apply please visit this and...
Caribbean: Funding the Fight against HIV
Both Abeng News Magazine and Repeating Islands note that “Caribbean governments have been urged to provide financial support for the Regional Coordinating Mechanism of the Pan Caribbean Partnership Against HIV and AIDS (PANCAP).”
Cayman Islands: Same Old
“This election has the potential to again be nothing more than ousting current politicians who do very little and replacing them with politicians who are entirely incapable of bringing their generalizations to life”: The Cayman Islands’ Blog Man is afraid it's politics as usual for his country's upcoming elections.
Azerbaijan: Last day of April
Sheki, Azerbaijan comments on today's massacre of at least 13 students at a university in Baku and says that the end of April will now live on in the collective memory of the country as the day when the children of some families never came home.
Bangladesh: Value Achievements Not The Ancestry
Citing the example of Dr. Atiur Rahman, the newly appointed governor of the central Bank of Bangladesh who made a life out of nothing, Shada Kalo urges Bangladeshis to stop the practice of “inferring the quality of a human being based on his or her family background.”
India: Not On The Voter List
“There are many I know who won’t be able to vote because their name is not on the electoral rolls”, wrote Rajesh Jain in his blog. Later during the day when the blogger went to vote in South Mumbai, he found that his name was missing in the Voter list.
Bhutan: Flood Threat
Tshering Tobgay reports that the river Gotu-chu, a tributary of the Pho-chu river had swollen which could trigger a possible flood downstream along the Pho-chu and Punasang-chu rivers in Bhutan. The blogger comments: “We now know that we are ‘not prepared’ to handle a flood in Punasang-chu.”
Sri Lanka: Living In Fear
Indi.ca sheds a light on the lives of Tamils in Colombo as some of them are living in fear of being arrested for questioning without prior charges. The bloggers comments: “Perhaps this is necessary in the short-term (this being my lifetime) but it’s important to remember that this is a...
India: The Maoists-Naxalites And The Threat To Democracy
On 16th of April, 2009, just as the Indian elections began, the Maoists attacked police and poll booths in Latehar district of the eastern state of Jharkhand in India. Words From Solitude provides background of the Communist Party of India (Maoist) and its factions and the naxalite movement to understand...
China: The Beijing Consensus
Few are calling China's overseas investment strategy a Consensus comparable to the Washinton/IMF model, so how then best to describe it? Tom Orlik at China Translated explores a few alternate understandings.
Morocco: Praising Al Jazeera
Cinema and Movies praises Al Jazeera for its excellent documentary on Ahmed el Marzouki, a former prisoner in Tazmamart, and the author of the memoir Tazmamart: Cellule 10.
Kyrgyzstan: Elections and Ethnic Tensions
Elena tells who will be the single presidential candidate from the opposition in Kyrgyzstan and reports on the inter-ethnic conflict in the country.
Kazkahstan: Major bank admits default
Zara writes an update on entry of the state in BTA Bank. “The subsequent shift in ownership have eventually led to aggravation of the situation around the country’s largest private bank’, she says.
Kazakhstan: Internet Regulation Amendments
Adam analyzes possible outcomes of the law on internet regulation, which is currently passed through the lower chamber of Kazakh Parliament.
Kazakhstan: Expansion of the Uranium Industry
Joshua Foust reports that Kazakhstan is aggressively internationalizing its uranium industry by opening new mines, establishing high-profile international partnerships and lobbying for the global uranium fuel bank.
Uzbekistan: $67, a price for heroism
Musafirbek informs from Uzbekistan that the country's president decreed to award veterans of WWII with a one-time pension of $67.
China: Ongoing urbanization
With the Olympics long gone, the gentrification of Beijing neighborhoods continues. “Still, the signs go up, the schools and shops close down, and jobs, education and the prospect of permanent residence are suspended,” writes changing china blogger Ray Deng in his two-part photo essay.
China: Mash-ups in history
With ‘Socialism with Chinese Characteristics’ as one of the more prominent examples, Jeff Wasserstrom at The China Beat delineates mash-up culture in China, and don't miss out on the Confucian Blues.
Hong Kong: SexyPhotoGate uploader sentenced
Just over a year since photos of Edison Chen in bed with his Hong Kong celebrity friends appeared online, computer technician Sze Ho-chun has been found guilty of uploading the 1,300 images, blogs an anonymous The Dark Side blogger.
Honduras: Sailing Through the “Unknown Honduras”
Guillermo Anderson on his blog Bitacora de Honduras [es] take us on a magical trip through the Patuca river and the Atlantic coast of “La Honduras Desconocida” (the Unknown Honduras).
Honduras: Commercial Activity in the 1950s
Mario Perez of Honduras Hoy [es] takes us back in time to the capital city of Tegucigalpa of the 1950s, with photographs and names of businesses that flourished more than a half of century ago.
