I Am Adam Smith

Russia Trying to Duplicate India's IT Boom

Russia is placing a high priority on copying India's boom in IT over the past 15 years.

BANGALORE, India (AFP) - Russia said it wants to emulate India's success in information technology as it wooed Indian firms for joint projects and called on both nations to team up to tap global markets.

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"We think the experience of India is one of the most remarkable in the world. Today India is one of the leaders in software and IT. This is something we want to implement in Russia," Reiman said.

I doubt it. India has a highly educated slice of its population. They have a big pool of English speaking people, and a relatively open democratic society.

Russia has poor education, not many anglophones, and is becoming more undemocratic every day. They also don't inspire confidence in foreign investment because of their harrassment of the Yukos oil firm.

"Da. You will create IT Park. Da." I don't think so. The state can't mandate an IT boom. They can subsizide infrastructure and give R&D funding. But with what money?

Also, an information ecomony is predicated on an open exchange of ideas. With Putin strangling the free press... that ain't gonna happen.

Putin, please.

Sudan's Government ready to sign agreement with rebels

A negotiating deadlock was broken in Sudan, and the State Minister of Foreign Affairs said the government is ready to sign a deal with the rebels.

I don't have a sense if this deal will truly go through, nor what it will mean practically. Its definately a promising sign though. Its also still not clear to me how much control the government has over the Janjaweed militias.

ABUJA (Reuters) - The Sudanese government is ready to sign agreements with Darfur rebels on Tuesday covering aid and disarmament in the war-torn region, a junior government minister said, marking a major breakthrough after two weeks of talks.

The talks in Nigeria had been deadlocked over the government's reluctance to accept a military no-fly zone in the area the size of France, where 1.5 million civilians have been forced from their homes, creating what the United Nations called the world's worst humanitarian crisis.

"So far what has been finalized is the security and humanitarian protocols. We are going to sign," said Najeeb Adbul Wahab, Sudan's state minister of foreign affairs.