IDN-InDepthNews

Asia-Pacific2017-02-262023-07-10

India’s Little Known Rocket Women

By Manoj Joshi and B R Srikanth*

The overwhelming success of India’s space missions has highlighted the role of the country’s women scientists.

NEW DELHI (IDN-INPS | Deccan Chronicle) – Think Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro), think Vikram Sarabhai, Satish Dhawan, G. Madhavan Nair, Rodham Narsimha and a host of geniuses. They build on an earlier generation of scientists who worked to push India’s space frontiers, men who came to define the contours of the country’s scientific rediscovery — C.V. Raman and Meghnad Saha. But times are changing.

UN INSIDER2017-02-252023-07-10

Iran Appointed as G-77 Chair at the UN in Vienna

VIENNA (IDN) – Iran’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations in Vienna has been appointed by consensus as the chairman of the Group of 77 (G-77), for a one-year term.

Reza Najafi, the country’s Ambassador to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and Permanent Representative to the UN in the Austrian capital, took over charge from Namibia’s Permanent Representative Simon Madjumo Maruta at a ceremony on February 24, 2017.

Ambassador Najafi is the second representative of Iran to head the G-77 in Vienna since 2011. In his remarks he stressed the importance of G-77 within and outside the UN as the largest coalition of meanwhile 134 developing nations in the United Nations.

ARMAMENTS2017-02-252023-07-10

A Dark Shadow Looms Large Over UN Talks On Abolishing Nukes

By Rodney Reynolds

WASHINGTON DC (IDN) – The 193-member UN General Assembly is to hold two key sessions – in March and in June – in what is expected to be a do-or-die attempt towards the elimination of nuclear weapons worldwide.

“Whether 2017 will be the year that sees nuclear weapons being banned or whether the effort to achieve this gets turned into a form of “fake news” remains to be seen?,” says a sceptical Tariq Rauf, Director of the Disarmament, Arms Control and Non-Proliferation Programme at the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).

The dark shadow that looms large over the upcoming General Assembly sessions will be the imposing figure of US President Donald Trump – whose trigger-finger is dangerously close to over 7,000 nuclear weapons, and whose views on nuclear disarmament appear consistently inconsistent, ranging from proliferation to strengthening existing arsenals.

UN INSIDER2017-02-252023-07-10

Amid Plenty, Billions Still Face Food Insecurity

By Phil Harris

ROME (IDN) – As wealth and well-being continue their inexorable course towards increasing concentration in the hands of fewer and fewer, an estimated 795 million people still suffer from hunger, and global food security is threatened by climate change and mounting pressure on natural resources.

With the world’s population expected to rise to almost 10 billion people by 2050, global demand for agricultural products will increase by 50 percent over present levels, posing a serious question mark over the capacity of the world’s agriculture and food systems to sustainably meet the needs of this mushrooming global population.

EU & Europe2017-02-242023-07-10

G20 German Presidency to Focus on Sustainable Development

By Jutta Wolf

BERLIN (IDN) – ‘Shaping an interconnected world’ is the slogan Germany has chosen for its Presidency of the Group of Twenty (G20) summit of heads of state and government on July 7-8 in the port city of Hamburg. It is based on three thematic pillars: building resilience, improving sustainability, and assuming responsibility.

The German Economic Cooperation Ministry (BMZ) has contributed to defining the German G20 agenda, as all three pillars are closely related to development cooperation.

Building resilience relates to financial services for small and medium-sized enterprises, and sustainable supply chains (innovative financing models, improvement of the general environment, especially for small and medium-sized enterprises) such as the textile sector.

OPINION2017-02-242023-07-10

The Climate Change Story Is a Security Story

By Patricia Espinosa, UNFCCC Executive Secretary

Note: Following are excerpts from opening address on February 18 at a discussion on human security and climate security by the UN’s top climate change official at the annual Munich Security Conference 2017, in which she called for a reframing climate change as a “security story”, given its far-ranging implications for global peace and stability. For full text please click here.

BERLIN (IDN-INPS) – Climate change is a security issue. Our current refugee crisis, when seen through the lens of climate change, brings this into sharp focus. And the security community, which is renowned and revered for their ability to assess and address future threats, understands that our current crisis pales in comparison to what is coming if climate change is left unchecked.

SYNDICATION, UNITED NATIONS2017-02-232023-07-12

Sustainable Tourism Can Make World Cleaner and Greener

By Taleb Rifai, Erik Solheim and Patricia Espinosa*

MADRID | NAIROBI | BONN (IDN-INPS) – Whether it is a chic, zero-emission hotel in Milan where toiletries are 99 per cent biodegradable, or Gaansbai in South Africa, where conservation of native flora and fauna is a community-wide priority, sustainable tourism is growing fast across the globe.

It is a tribute to the myriad entrepreneurs, companies, creative individuals and communities that the United Nations is marking 2017 as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development.

This means that, throughout 2017, activities and initiatives across the spectrum of those involved in tourism will celebrate its transformational power on our global efforts to create a world that is cleaner and greener, more equal and more inclusive.

ARMAMENTS2017-02-232023-07-10

Japan’s Largest Ever Voluntary Contribution to the CTBTO

By Jamshed Baruah

BERLIN | VIENNA (IDN) – Japan, by far the only country to experience atomic bombings in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, has decided to make the largest ever extra-budgetary contribution to the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO).

The funds amounting to about USD 2.43 million will support a range of verification related activities to improve the detection capabilities of the Organisation – and thus pave the way for a world free of nuclear weapons.

A voluntary contribution of this size must be recognized as a strong signal of Japan’s commitment to ‘finish what we started’ – getting the Treaty into force and finalizing the International Monitoring System, said CTBTO Executive Secretary Lassina Zerbo.

Peace & Security2017-02-232023-07-10

Global Arms Trade Hits Highest Level Since Cold War Ended

By Phil Harris

ROME (IDN) – With the global arms trade having reached its highest level since the end of the Cold War, the United States leads the list of countries transferring major weapons, and flows have increased to the Middle East, Asia and Oceania.

Releasing its latest figures on arms transfers, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) said February 20 that the volume of international transfers of major weapons has grown continuously since 2004 and increased by 8.4 percent between 2007-2011 and 2012-2016.

OPINION2017-02-232023-07-10

Securing ACP Economic Interests After BREXIT

By Dr. Patrick I. Gomes, ACP Secretary-General

Following are extensive excerpts from a presentation by the ACP Secretary-General during launch of the book AFTER BREXIT – SECURING ACP ECONOMIC INTERESTS by The Ramphal Institute on February 17, 2017 at King’s College London.

BRUSSELS (ACP-IDN) – Eight months have passed since the British voted in a referendum to leave the European Union. A lot has since been written and debated on the impact and implications of the vote. This is yet another occasion to join the discourse on BREXIT and to acknowledge and appreciate the work done by the Ramphal Institute by this seminal study.