Stories from 30 June 2011
Azerbaijan: Doubts reportedly linger about Eurovision 2012
The Oikotimes, a major Eurovision blog, says that it is still uncertain whether the European Broadcast Union (EBU) is convinced Azerbaijan can host next year's competition. The blog says that it takes more than the oil-rich former Soviet republic spending €100m to do so.
Belarus: Report from Another Non-Violent Protest Event
Belarus Partizan publishes [ru] a detailed report (with photos and videos) on another non-violent protest action (#2906v1900 [ru/by]) in Belarus that took place on June 29, 2011. Police assisted by 3 buses of civilian police helpers (‘druzhinnik‘) and 2 BTRs detained nearly 100 participants. The next action organized by the net-based “Future...
China: Recycling sewage oil
A video showing how industrial and sewage oil is recycled in a dirty workshop in China. (via Sina Video Weibo)
China: Major Websites Go Red for Communist Party’s 90th Anniversary
Steven Millward from Penn Olson notices that major Chinese websites and portals are “going red” for celebrating the Communist Party's 90th Anniversary.
China: Local government budget, land seizure and social unrest
C. Custer from China Geeks explains the relation between local governments’ budget, forced demolition and social unrest in China. To pay back the 1.6 trillion debt, the blogger anticipates a new wave of social unrest approaching.
China: Fake Propaganda Photo
Roland Soong translates a local news story about netizens’ spoofing of a fake propaganda photo which showed the leaders of a county in Sichuan County inspecting the newly constructed country road at Lihong Town.
Japan: Uncanny Terrain, a documentary on Fukushima farmers
Filmmakers Junko Kajino and Ed M. Koziarski have been working on a documentary about the organic farmers of the Fukushima Prefecture. The film titled Uncanny Terrain will examine “the impact of the nuclear disaster on the farmers, their land, the food they produce, and their customers.” At the homonymous blog...
Japan: Real Voices, Real Japan
An Enligh-language website called Real Voices, Real Japan documents “the business environment and recovery in post-quake Japan.” Its purpose is to “keep foreign business communities up to date on the Japanese recovery and enables decision-making based on accurate, locally-sourced information.”
India: The Future of Wikipedia
Wikipedia celebrated its tenth anniversary this year, and almost 100 cities and towns in India registered to host celebrations, the highest number of any country. This year the Wikimedia Foundation will open its first office outside the United States, in an Indian city as yet to be announced. Global Voices has spoken to Tinu Cherian, an active Wikipedian, about Wikipedia in India.
Bangladesh: Exploring The Architecture Of Mud Houses
Jennifer Grosso, an architect student, explored a village near the famous Sundarban mangrove forest to learn about the Bangladeshi mud built homestead. Here is what she found out.
India: Innocents Being Killed By BSF
Anshul Tewari at Youth Ki Awaaz highlights some examples which shows that innocents are being killed at will by Indian Border Security Force. The blogger opines that the Ministry of Home Affairs should intervene.
India: Shooting The Messenger?
The Prime Minister Of India Manmohan Singh has commented on the Indian media “the role of the media in many cases has become that of the accuser, the prosecutor and the judge”. Sans Serif asks “is he barking up the wrong tree by shooting the messenger?”
