Stories from 10 May 2006
Nepal: Democrats, Maoists Gearing For Peace Talks
After the spectacular success of the April Revolution, the seven party alliance has not moved fast enough for some, but it sure has been moving steady.
India: The death of a student
What kind of pressure is created by the expectations of an educational institution and peers? Incognito on the recent events where a student committed suicide on the campus of Indian Institure of Technology Kanpur.
India: So much for Equal Opportunity
Some firms in India have a long way to go before they even begin to be women-friendly. Emma on the outdated beliefs as expressed by a top shot in one of the biggest IT firms in India, with nanopolitan also voicing some concerns.
Nepal: Parliament And Elections
More ideas on the future of Nepal. Paramendra says “But I think the parliament should only be dissolved two months before the election date. This is to limit possibilities of regression. And this is also to keep the pressure on the Maoists during the peace talks. The sooner the talks...
Sri Lanka: Status Quo
Where does Sri Lanka stand now? While conflict is not in full swing, the frequent disruptions have put Sri Lanka in a status quo position – with no war and no peace says FocusLanka.
Japan: Chinese chopsticks nonforthcoming
The Japandit blogger notes that following a doubling in price last year of Chinese chopsticks, the Chinese government has now decided to block their export altogether in a move aimed at protecting China's forests.
Image from Mauritius: Happy Bride
Annoella and Sebastien on their wedding day. By Sebastien Merion. Annoella and Sebastien met in New Caledonia. Annoella is from Mauritius and Sebastien is from metropolitan France and has been living in and blogging about New Caledonia at 5 minutes en Nouvelle Caledonie. Says (Fr) the blogger of his 150-guest...
Bangladesh: A Documentary On The Forgotten
imperfect world 2006 on a documentary “Tears of Karnaphuli” – “Tanvir eloquently tells the devastating story of dam construction in the area, the displacement of people and the resulting impoverishment of local inhabitants.”
Argentina: The Tango Singer
Jeff Barry, who is writing his own novel set in Buenos Aires, mentions the newest work by famed Argentine novelist Tomás Eloy Martínez. “The Tango Singer is about an American graduate student who travels to Buenos Aires to research Borges’ writings on tango.”
China: Media lacking research
After reading a Chinese-language interview with Yale university's Office of Public Affairs, uleewang at Non-violent Resistance questions stories in Chinese media of a prominent Chinese and Yale-educated businessman who claims to have arranged Chinese president Hu Jintao's stop at Yale last month: “Did they figure a senior official at a...
Hong Kong: Islands bear discoveries
In which Flagrant Harbour blogger and Hong Kong resident Michael takes an educational tour to outlying Hong Kong island Tung Ping Chau, gets a geography lesson, a geology lesson too, and finds a new swimming hole.
Korea: Geographic history documented
Gerry Brevers at Korean Language Notes does his own ongoing research into the history of Ulleungdo island, located in the disputed border region between South Korea and Japan.
Japan: Youth through the war
Tokyo Times‘ Lee blogs photos from an ongoing exhibition which shows the lives of children in Tokyo during the Showa era (1926-1989), “[a]n event that should prove nostalgic to those brought up during the period, and a source of interest to much younger viewers, allowing them a peek into a...
Venezuela: Chavez's Meeting With Ken Livingstone
Venezuela's opposition bloggers continue their foray into the mainstream media. Daniel Duquenal (who recently had a letter to the editor published in the Boston Globe) and Guillermo Parra both mention Aleksander Boyd's article in The Times as Chavez prepares his trip to London where he will meet with Mayor Ken...
North Korea: Human rights observed
It's a small step in the right direction, says The Korea Liberator blogger Joshua, of a change in South Korea's National Human Rights Commission's tendency to shy away from documenting human rights abuses in North Korea.
The week that was, in the Moroccan blogosphere
Once again, an Egyptian blogger is detained. I'll start today by urging the Egyptian Government to release Alaa and the other activists detained for having expressed their political opinion. I don't know yet why no one can access M.S Hjiouj‘s blog(Ar) since last week, and I sincerely hope it has...
China: Hackers strike portal
Lyn Jeffrey at Virtual China looks at an art studio in South-eastern China's Yunnan province which claims the aim of providing international artists “with the opportunity to experience rural Chinese village life, as an alternative to the intense pressure and marginalized status of the international ‘white box’ art circuit” as...
Panama: Seismic Activity in Chiriquí
Don Ray has posted an informative translation of an email that quotes seismologist Jaime Toral from the Technological University of Panama about recent seismic activity in the Chiriquí region.
Japan: Trippy urban art
The an englishman in osaka blogger has a theory on what inspired a creatively-designed work of art commemorating the Japanese city's 900th birthday: “Initial ideas included ‘a singing carpet’ and ‘a piece of string with lollipops attached.’ However, after much discussion they settled on ‘a big plastic thing with two...
Cameroon: IT outsourcing
Scribbles from the Den writes on Africa's entry into the “knowledge business” with reference to Cameroon which he believes has great IT potential except that “However, unlike India, Cameroon is crippled by the “civil service mentality”, and it lacks a crop of creative economic and political visionaries similar to those...
Nigeria: Constitutional amendment
Adefunke on Adefunke comments on the Nigerian consitutional amendment and asks if there is a copy available online for citizens to read and asks “My concerns are about the very bad precedent this will set, a sitting administration amending the constitution without following due process. What will stop some future...