Stories about South Asia from December, 2006
India: Going back to Cochin
Pooja Malpani goes home to Kerala after a year and a half, and already, things are a little difference. “The whole scenario seems so chaotic with a 2 laner being used as a 1-5 laner and I’d feel really scared in a car when a bus was next to us...
India: On the GV summit
National Highway, who attended the Global Voices summit in Delhi, has some thoughts to share.
Sri Lanka: The insider, outsider and the State
Moju on what seems to be an absurd reason to differentiate between Sri Lankans and foreigners. “When they called they were told that since the President is visiting the area to inspect Tsunami relief activity that all guest houses have been instructed not to provide accommodation for Sri Lankans and...
Bangladesh: Dr Yunus and rhetoric
Dr Yunus's speeches of late have been filled with a slightly neutral tone observes Drishtipat. “However, to me when I hear him stress on holding any election rather than a good, credible election, he seems to be trying too hard to keep the status quo.”
Pakistan: Bakra Mandi – where livestock is sold
Animals being traded for ritual sacrifice and more at the Bakra Mandi (a goat bazaar) as seen by Metroblogging Islamabad.
India: Music Season in Chennai
Suraj is in Chennai (Madras) as the music season peaks in the city. “What expectations would you develop if your first day of the music season starts off with a casual dinner and chat with your favourite artist? :)”
Nepal: Kingmakers and politics
The complexities are politics in Nepal are mind boggling. Nepali Netbook unravels some, explaining the context of a persuasive constitutional monarchist named Rabindra Nath Sharma.
Pakistan: The Rural, Urban and Cyber Me
Light Within on the multiplicity of the self's identities. “There it occurred to m that I have three different lives; different identities; Rural, Urban and Cyber.”
Sri Lanka: An identity for the nation
groundviews takes a closer look at the politics of identity and peace in Sri Lanka. “What may be a pre-condition to induce a true Sri Lankan nationalism is perhaps a ‘national grievance’; almost all nationalist movements was based on such a common grievance; the Indians found it in British colonialism,...
Sri Lanka: Two years after the Tsunami
Two years after the Indian Ocean Tsunami, there isn't too much noise in the respective blogospheres. LaneTop remembers the day, and wishes more had been done by the author. Another reaction here.
Africa/India: overcoming differences
Inktus, a Ugandan blogger in New Delhi, India, writes about “overcoming differences and behaving as global citizens of one world.”
Guadeloupe, India: 152nd Anniversary of Tamul Hindus’ Arrival
Atout Guadeloupe announces (Fr) that Guadeloupeans of Hindu Tamul origin celebrated the 152nd anniversary of their ancestors’ arrival in Guadeloupe on Dec. 24. Says the feed: “Hindus arrived after the second abolition of slavery.” The ceremony which took place in capital Pointe-a-Pitre included offerings of flowers to the ocean and...
India: Community Video Unit and Dalits
Reflections in a window pane on the power of video and overcoming oppression. “When the use of Video by a team of six Dalits, working for a Community Video Unit, set up by Navsarjan, Drishti and Video Volunteers transcended all barriers of caste, it brought upon relief for an entire...
Sri Lanka: Preparing for the Tsunami
LIRNEasia is apprehensive about a report in the UK press which claims that Sri Lanka is prepared well if a tsunami strikes. “The best-prepared country is Sri Lanka, one of those worst hit two years ago, which has a system of transmitting warnings through its police stations.”
India: The day MGR died
Metroblogging Chennai remembers the Christmas Eve of 1987, when a famous politician died. “The size of the crowd was unimaginable – hundreds of thousands of people. The driver had to inch along. People peered in, saw us foreigners and the wreath, and parted to let us pass.”
Nepal: Digital Democracy Organization
Democracy for Nepal discusses Humro Nepal. “It has not been registered. It does not have a budget. Both those details are intentional and are to be kept that way. It is the world's first digital democracy organization. A lot of members and outsiders still do not think of it as...
Bangladesh: Cricket in the country
the 3rd world view reviews cricket in Bangladesh over the last year. “Year 2006 was a very successful year for Bangladesh Cricket as they won 18 one-day internationals, eight in a row, out of 28 games.”
India: Compulsory HIV Testing
The Life and Times on compulsory pre-marital HIV testing. “Andra Pradesh just called for compulsory HIV testing before marriage and everyone seems to agree that this is a violation of individual rights.”
Pakistan: Musharraf and Kashmir
President Musharraf's statements on Kashmir with respect to Pakistan and India have quite a few reactions. Light Within on some fundamental issues. “The first one is that how can a single man – military dictator – claim to speak for the nation of Pakistan? Number two, what becomes of our...
Nepal: Going home
United We Blog! on the return of Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) in Nepal. “However, most of the IDPs were disappointed over the government’s indifference. Following the beginning of the peace process, a total of 500 IDPs from the Rajhena camps have returned home.”
“India Should Become a Model for Africa”
At Le Blog de PKJ Agency, Frederic Kingue Johnson reports (Fr) the thoughts of Cameroonian Jacques Bonjawo, a former senior manager at Microsoft and CEO of Genesis Futuristic Technologies: “Bonjawo is convinced that there are lots of similarities between India and Africa and that it is imperative that the black...