The Global Gender Gap Index annually benchmarks the current state and evolution of gender parity across four key dimensions (Economic Participation and Opportunity, Educational Attainment, Health and Survival, and Political Empowerment). It is the longest-standing index tracking the progress of numerous countries’ efforts towards closing these gaps over time since …
A few days ago, most of India reeled under drought. Cities thirsted for water. Karnataka's chief minister S M Krishna - seeing water supply in his software capital reduced to once in three days - announced desperate measures, such as prayer. The entire country seemed to await the first emancipatory …
The World Heath Assembly adopted the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) at its 56th session in Geneva on May 21, 2003. The member countries affirmed that they would adopt and ratify the tobacco treaty at the earliest. FCTC can come into force only after 40 countries ratify it. Despite …
The movement to make cities car-free is gaining momentum (see: Down To Earth, July 15, 2001). The city of Freiburg in Germany has shown that it is indeed possible to virtually stop the growth of car use, even when car ownership is rising. Freiburg's car ownership rose from 113 cars …
German metal company Aluminium Rheinfelden will temporarily close an aluminium recycling plant after supplies dwindled, following the introduction of a deposit on drinks containers. The plant at Rheinfelden in south Germany melts down drinks cans, fish tins and other metal scrap. It will stop operations by the end of March, …
india's Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (csir) has joined hands with eight similar organisations to form the Global Research Alliance (gra) in New Delhi on January 21. Its main objective is to establish itself in the research consultancy megamarket. gra signifies the culmination of an agreement reached in Pretoria …
Microsoft has decided to share one of its most closely guarded trade secrets. But there is a catch. The software giant will let governments and international organisations study its source code for Windows opera-ting systems, authorising them to improve their software security. The serious challenge mounted lately by open source …
dispute settlement under the World Trade Organisation (wto) rules has been fraught with disagreements. The us has now put forth a proposal to grant countries that are parties to the dispute more control over such proceedings. The plan was announced at the three-day meeting of the wto dispute settlement body …
Protests are mounting in Germany over a pipeline being built in Ecuador. At a recent summit in Sassenberg, Germany, about 40 non-governmental organisations and a number of German politicians vowed to step up the campaign against the Ecuador Heavy Crude Oil Pipeline (Oleoducto Crudos Pesados or ocp) pointing out its …
Vehicles moving along the main routes between Germany and Italy came to a grinding halt as environmentalists blockaded the Austrian border for many hours together. The greens were protesting against the increasing Trans-Alpine traffic. They targeted five locations on the main motorways that connect Germany in the north with Italy …
a nail-biting climax to the closely contested German elections saw the Gerhard Schroeder-Joschka Fischer led Social Democratic Party-Green coalition emerge victorious. Schroeder's Social Democratic Party (sdp) and Fischer's Green Party won 306 of the 603 seats in Parliament. The Christian Democratic Party (cdu)/Christian Social Union (csu), in alliance with the …
remains of Neanderthal human skeletons and their tools have been recently found in Germany's Neander valley. The discovery was made by paleontologist Fred Smith of the Chicago-based Loyola University and his colleagues. The remains were earlier dug up in 1856 from a valley cave by quarry workers. But the workers …
it is a downpour that has left most parts of central and eastern Europe submerged in misery. Over the past few weeks, unprecedented and severe storms have triggered floods in the region, claiming more than 112 lives, rendering thousands homeless and causing damage worth more than us $21.5 billion. Authorities …
Kassel, a small town in central Germany, is home to Documenta, one of Europe's most prestigious art festivals. Documenta is often called the art Olympic, for it lasts a 100 days. Of course, it takes place only once every five years. The eleventh Documenta (Documenta 11) is currently on. Each …
Cildo Meireles' conceptual art at Documenta 11, the biggest European art festival held in Germany every five years makes a political statement for year 2002. The artist's concept had ice cream vending carts hosted by young volunteers, where a visitor could buy ice popsicles (not ice creams). As the ice …
Nuclear power is a dirty word in Germany today. Public pressure has forced the German government to scrap its nuclear power programme. A phase-out plan has been decided by the government following which one nuclear power plant would be shut down each year. By 2020, Germany would become a zero …
The memories of Belgium's 1999 dioxin crisis were revived with Germany shaken over feed grain contaminated by nitrofen, a cancer-causing chemical banned in the European Union (eu). Even though thousands of organic chickens were slaughtered, it was feared that infected meat and eggs had already entered the food chain. Consequently, …
Britain has failed to meet the April 21 deadline to comply with the European Union's (eu) directive on recycling cars. In fact, the uk isn't alone in non-adherence to the time schedule, with most eu member nations lagging behind. Even as they are in the process of changing their laws …
