Stories from 29 September 2012
Nepal: New Media Gufa – A New Experiment
Blogdai reports: Dharma Adhikari's Media Foundation held a “New Media Gufa” or “cave” where 5 of Nepal's top tech-savvy journalists chained themselves to their computers for three days in a heroic attempt to determine the extent of internet penetration in Nepal and to see if Nepali stories could be accurately...
Azerbaijan: Youth Activist Believed Arrested
Emin Milli's Blog comments on the apparent disappearance of a youth activist in Azerbaijan. The blog says it believes Zaur Gurbanly's believed arrest was because of anti-presidential leaflets that were also confiscated.
Sri Lanka: The Rights Of The Homosexuals
Sri Lanka and India, despite our pre-colonial religious and social accommodation of differing sexuality, have remained Victorian in attitude long after the colonial powers have changed. In terms of gay rights, we really need to catch up, and be more honest to ourselves and each other.
India: Build Your Own Map to Improve Your City
Transparent Chennai is a platform for citizen engagement to help the citizens of Chennai counter inaccurate or incomplete government data with crowdsourced maps, and make better claims on the government for their rights and entitlements.
Armenia: Government Pressure on NGO
The Washington Post blog features an entry by David Ignatius detailing pressure on an Armenian NGO particularly active online. Founded by former Foreign Minister of Armenia Vartan Oskanian, government pressure on Civilitas is believed linked to his involvement with a former party of power now actively challenging the incumbent president...
Russia: Nation's Top Blogger Headed to Prison?
The criminal investigation targeting Russia's most prominent oppositionist blogger, Alexey Navalny, is heating up. Viacheslav Opalev, the former director of a logging firm in Kirov, has confessed [ru] to participating in the embezzlement of 16 million rubles (over half a million U.S. dollars), and named Navalny as the scheme's mastermind.
Russia: Ridiculing the Winter Olympics Slogan
The just-announced slogan of the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics (“Hot. Cool. Yours.”) has spurred a brief episode of merrymaking on the RuNet. At first that may seem surprising, while the English version of the slogan may sound slightly confusing and a bit corny, it isn't particularly rich fodder for jokes or double entendres.
Portugal: Unionists Take to the Streets in Protest
Following the biggest popular protest of the last decades in Portugal, on September 15, 2012, every week people have been taking to the streets. More demonstrations were called for September 29, “against the theft of wages, pensions and retirements” by the union confederation CGTP. On Twitter hashtags #29s, #29sPT –...
35 Million Escape Poverty – But Can Brazil Overcome Inequality?
The United Nations campaign to end poverty in 2015 is finding results in Brazil, home to 194 million people. Some 35 million Brazilians have escaped poverty over the last decade, but questions are nevertheless being raised concerning the government's effort to overcome inequality.
Nepal: Another Plane Crash Dips Optimism
Lex Limbu used to share his optimism and hope for the domestic airlines industry of Nepal. But the recent Sita Air crash, and the death of 19 people on board, puts all optimism in despair.
Ukraine: Protesting the Controversial Defamation Bill
A bill that calls for penalties of up to five years in jail for defamation passed a first reading in the Ukrainian Parliament on Sep. 18. Following the online campaign against the adoption of the bill, its author submitted a request to recall it. The bill isn't history yet, however, and the protest continues.
