Guardian: By 2050, China and India will make up half of the global economy

Randeep Ramesh in Gangtok, Sikkim
Friday September 30, 2005

. . . what's happening ...   more »

A dramatic last-minute deal drawn up by the EU may mark the end of the US government's control of the internet.   more »

"It is now 2:33am. I can hear gunshots. Put, put, put. I hear them every year at this time."

Why do you blog? A question that's asked both in a ...   more »

Tom Wright in Geneva for the International Herald Tribune

GENEVA An effort by the European Union to break a deadlock in talks here on changing the way the Internet is governed drew an angry reply on Thursday from the U.S. delegation, underlining how far apart nations remain on the issue.

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Without consensus, some experts say countries may move ahead with setting up their own domain name system, or DNS, as a way of bypassing Icann. The United States, however, says a single addressing system is what makes the Internet so powerful, and moves to set up multiple Internets would be in no one's interest.

"The EU position seems to be a compromise solution between two extreme factions," said Robert Shaw, a policy adviser at the International Telecommunication Union, a UN body based in Geneva.

A senior Indian Foreign Ministry official told ISN Security Watch that New Delhi’s decision to join the Galileo project would guarantee India the highest-quality signal across its vast territory.

Officials refused to speculate on India’s expected financial contribution to the project.

Ajey Lele, an expert with a government-funded think tank in New Delhi, described the Galileo technology as the “internet” of global navigation, which he said could be used for precision in everything from air traffic control and mobile phones to sensor technology and police surveillance.


However, the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, expressed concerns that the program could eventually be taken over by the Indian military, in competition with the US GPS and Russia’s GLONASS.

(By Animesh Roul in New Delhi)

All the mos had indicated towards a successful international run, and Khyentse's film second film did not disappoint. Magicains and Travellers., as far as I know, the first feature film shot entirely on location in Bhutan.

Buddhist lama and filmmaker Khyentse Norbu ("The Cup'') made "Travellers & Magicians,'' the first feature film shot in the Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan, with nonprofessional actors using an official national language, Dzongka, that only some of the film's participants knew beforehand. If this effort sounds more admirable than enjoyable, take heart: "Travellers'' is visually accomplished and loads of fun.

Norbu frames a sensual fable with the humorous modern-day tale of Dondup (Tshewang Dendup), a Westernized government official who wants to leave his post in a remote Bhutanese village for America. Late for the bus, Dondup is forced to wait roadside as he tries to thumb a ride, encountering among his fellow foot travelers a monk (Sonam Kinga) who will relate the fable.

"Travellers'' contrasts traditional and modern elements to produce some fish-out-of-water laughs a la "Northern Exposure.'' City slicker Dondup -- or as slick as people from Bhutan's capital of Thimphu can be -- likes rock 'n' roll, prefers his traditional garb sewn in denim and rolls his eyes at the unhurried conversations of folks in the village where the government placed him. (SFgate review via friend in Berkeley, CA.).

www.chinaview.cn 2005-09-23 13:26:18: BEIJING, Sept. 23 (Xinhuanet) -- A Paris-based media watchdog released a free guide Thursday to help bloggers and cyber-dissidents avoid political censorship in countries as far apart as Iran, Vietnam and Cuba.

The guide, published by Reporters Without Borders (RSF) and partly financed by the French Foerign Ministry, identifies bloggers as the "new heralds of free expression" and offers advice on how to set up a blog and run it anonymously.

"Bloggers are often the only real journalists in countries where the mainstream media is censored or under pressure," wrote Julien Pain, head of RSF's Internet Freedom Desk.

"Only they provide independent news, at the risk of displeasing the government and sometimes courting arrest."

The 87-page "Handbook for Bloggers and Cyber-Dissidents" was launched at the Apple Expo computer show in Paris on Thursday. It can be downloaded from the RSF website (www.rsf.org), and is available in English, French, Chinese, Arabic and Farsi . . .

As part of the BBC's Who Runs Your World? series, Mark Almond, Lecturer in Modern History at Oriel College, Oxford University, assesses the myth and reality of "People Power".   more »

The Beijing Olympics are shaping up to be the most technically advanced in history, writes Tang Yuankai

A bullet proof transparent window sheeting, a multi-directional surveillance camera and iris recognition ...   more »