Hollywood top star Dakota Fanning and her sister,  also an actress, Elle Fanning have arrived at Incheon International Airport, Korea on January 5 (local time). They are planning to film a commercial and participate in several interviews and ceremonies during their stay in Korea. Their visit was made by accessory brand, J.ESTINA.

Arriving Incheon International Airport around five A.M. in the morning, the Fanning sisters showed up without any makeup, and they looked little bit tired because of a long-hour flight.

The two starlets were welcomed by many fans who were already waiting for them and the Fanning sisters showed a bright smile to their fans while receiving a bunch of flowers.

The Fanning sisters are scheduled to participate in several events held by J.ESTINA, including filming a TV commercial, and this will be the first time Dakota and Elle will be working together as models. They have appeared in the same movie before.

On January 7, the Fanning sisters will be on the Korean talk show called “Baek Ji-yeon’s People INSIDE,” which is one of the famous talk shows in Korea. This show has a reputation for inviting famous western figures on its stage. So far Hugh Jackman, Anderson Cooper, Jessica Alba, Jason Mraz and the head of the World Bank, Jim Yong Kim, have been on this show. It has been reported that the Fanning sisters will talk about their personal life story and their recent interests.

Meanwhile, the Fanning sisters were spotted at the Korea’s Hongdae area, which is known for its urban arts and indie music culture, on the day they arrived. It has been reported that the two starlets tried various outfits and accessories on as they were walking around.

Dakota Fanning, who was born February 23, 1994, is a well-known movie star among Korean people for her movie ‘I Am Sam’ which she worked on with Sean Penn. Her performance in this movie earned her a nomination for a Screen Actors Guild Award at age eight in 2002, making her the youngest nominee in history. There are many high-profile films she was in such as ‘Man on Fire’ (2004), ‘War of the Worlds’ (2005) and ‘Charlotte’s Web’ (2006). She played a girl with a time-limited life in the movie ‘Now Is Good’ last year, impressing many people with her outstanding acting.

Elle Fanning, who was born April 9, 1998, is one of the rookie fashion models in the New York fashion industry with hear unique look. She is mainly known for her starring roles in ‘Phoebe in Wonderland’, ‘Somewhere’ and ‘We Bought a Zoo’.

Image Courtesy : Anthony Citrano

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Discovery Bay, U.S.A. – Starting August, 1 the world’s most efficient solar lamp becomes available to the American public through several online resources. Largely unknown to many in this country until recently, the WakaWaka Solar Lamp makes its debut after a very successful Kickstarter promotion completed in February. Patented solar technology enables WakaWaka to produce over 16 hours of excellent reading light on less than a day solar charge.

What do President Clinton, Janet Jackson, Walmart, Amazon and the Masai people of Kenya have in common? They all love the WakaWaka Solar Lamp and the business model on which it is built. “Yes, the design is dramatic, the technology is patented and the charging time ratio of 8 hours sunlight versus 16 hours reading light is amazing, but even more powerful is the business model created to help bring light to the 1.5 Billion people in the world living in darkness,” says Eric Clare, CEO of Digital Concepts 2.0, the exclusive distributor for WakaWaka in the USA.

Off-Grid Solutions (OGS) headquartered in the Netherlands is the creator of WakaWaka. They set out to find a solution for roughly 20 percent of the world’s population who still depend on toxic, expensive and dangerous kerosene lamps. They came up with a hi-tech, hi quality product providing the light families need who live at the so-called economic ‘Base of the Pyramid’.

Americans demand quality, hi-tech products but also have a growing desire to make a meaningful impact on the world around them. This led to the idea of creating a cool, useful, best of breed solar lamp that could be fairly priced in the U.S. with profits enabling a subsidy for families living at the bottom of the pyramid. “We found a way to enable people to deliver support not charity, a leveling of the playing field, making safe light affordable for people living on less than $2/day,” stated Camille van Gestel, OGS business director.

The World Bank researched the impact of solar LED lighting on the pass rate for students. Two years after introduction of the solar lamps the pass rate improved from 57% to 100%.

WakaWaka is more than just an efficient solar lamp. It is a story; a solar lamp on a mission. Hopefully U.S. citizens will lead the way out of darkness, while enjoying the benefits of WakaWaka Solar Lamp in their own lives.

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UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon brought a radical shift in the global fight for the elimination of hunger recently when he announced the ‘Zero Hunger Challenge’ at the launch of the United Nations conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20) in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Zero Hunger Challenge calls for the participation of all the countries of the world, making them work for a future in which no individual is lacking the means or proper access to adequate nutrition. Also, all food systems will be elastic.

Ban Ki-moon envisaged a future where there will be no hunger at all, and said, “In a world of plenty, no one – not a single person – should go hungry.”

The Zero Hunger Challenge is supported by the International Fund for Agriculture Development (IFAD), UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), World Food Programme, (WFP), UN Children Fund (UNICEF), Bioversity International and The World Bank.

The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) director Jose Graziano da Silva greatly welcomed the announcement and said, “Big problems call for bold goals. The Zero Hunger Challenge can help us mobilize political commitment, the first step to eradicate hunger,” at a meeting in Brazil.

Ban Ki-moon further said, “I am not proposing a new goal. I am sharing my vision for the future. A future where all people enjoy their fundamental right to food; where people’s livelihoods and food systems are resilient and able to withstand a changing climate.”

Here are world hunger facts from the WFP:

• 65 percent of the world’s hungry live in only 7 countries: India, China, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Pakistan, Ethiopia, and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
• 10.9 million children under the age of 5 die each year in developing countries.
• 925 million people don’t have the provision for adequate food, and 98 percent live in developing countries.
• More than 70 percent of children in the world are underweight and mostly live in 10 countries.

Eradication of global hunger had been at the heart of the Millennium Development Goals projected in the year 2000. It looks like this global call for the eradication of hunger by Ki-moon is an attempt revitalize global hunger reduction efforts.

Zero Hunger Challenge will exert tremendous pressure on governments, especially of those nations where the proportion of hunger is greater, leading to implementation of more stringent and highly effective anti-hunger measures.

Of the 8 Millennium Development Goals, the Eradication of Hunger had been considered most significant and had been ranked the first priority. Inspiration for launching the Zero Hunger Challenge for Ban Ki-moon came from the outstanding work accomplished by Spain’s national Zero Hunger campaign. Brazil had been operating an anti-poverty program called Fome Zero, which was highly successful in lifting around 28 million people out of acute poverty.

The Zero Hunger Challenge may bring a new dawn and let poverty, hunger and starvation remain in the books as the dark era of history in the hope the pulse of poverty and hunger will stop soon.

Image Courtesy of  specialoperations

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The Republic of South Sudan became the newest member of the World Bank Group when South Sudan’s Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, Kosti Manibe Ngai, signed the Articles of Agreement and Conventions of the World Bank Group in Washington DC on April 19, 2012.

In addition to becoming a member of the International Bank of Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), South Sudan joined the International Finance Corporation (IFC), International Development Association (IDA), the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID), and the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA). IDA is the Bank Group’s concessional financing facility that helps the world’s poorest countries.

South Sudan became the world’s newest country on July 9, 2011, after decades of conflict. It has some of the lowest education, health, and other human development results in the world, and more than half of the population lives below the poverty line. The country however has rich agricultural and forestry potential, and significant oil reserves.

As a member of IDA, South Sudan will have access to highly concessional resources, in addition to a wide range of technical and advisory services from the World Bank Group. With the admission of South Sudan, membership now stands at 188 countries for IBRD, 184 for IFC, 172 for IDA, 148 for ICSID, and 176 for MIGA.

“I am very pleased to welcome South Sudan, the world’s newest country as our newest member of the World Bank Group, to help it manage and resolve its many formidable development challenges while it also builds a broad national coalition to secure lasting peace and prosperity,” said Obiageli Ezekwesili, the World Bank’s Vice President for Africa.

”South Sudan is a test case for the ideas in our 2011 World Development Report on Conflict, Security and Development, emphasizing the leadership role of citizens in their own country- led peace and state-building solutions, with the support of their international development partners.

The World Bank is strongly committed to this approach in South Sudan, and also to support the fight against corruption, to promote accountability and good governance, and to work closely with South Sudan and its communities for better social and economic development.”

The World Bank Group has been actively engaged in South Sudan’s development since 2005, both through analytical work and as the administrator of the Multi-Donor Trust Fund for Southern Sudan (MDTF-SS), which is funded by 13 donors and the World Bank. To date, the MDTF-SS has disbursed about $505 million (against $541 million committed), supporting 20 projects in ten sectors considered vital to South Sudan.

“Even before we became members, the World Bank has already been collaborating closely with us. So today we are very pleased that the formalities have finally been completed, and we look forward to a long term partnership with the World Bank Group as we work together on the much needed development of South Sudan,” said Minister Kosti Ngai.

Slightly larger than the size of France, South Sudan has few roads or water infrastructure, while key education and health indicators such as child and maternal mortality and primary enrolment are among the worst in the world. Over the last several years, the MDTF-SS has helped fund the rehabilitation, reconstruction, and maintenance of nearly 3,700 kilometers of all-weather roads, thereby increasing access within the country.

Over 1,100 boreholes have been drilled or rehabilitated, and fourteen water distribution systems constructed, thus giving more than 562,000 people across almost 100,000 households in rural South Sudan access to clean and safe water.

In addition, the MDTF-SS funded the construction of 46 primary schools and 11 county education centers, trained more than 1,200 new teachers, and enabled the printing and distribution of more than 3.6 million textbooks and teachers’ guides throughout the ten states.

In the area of health, the MDTF-SS provided for the rehabilitation of 71 health facilities, and enabled the distribution of more than 250,000 malaria kits, 1 million mosquito nets, and 10 million water purification tablets. The rehabilitation of 47 buildings at the Juba Teaching hospital, the largest such medical facility in South Sudan, also means it is now better equipped to serve approximately 100,000 patients a year

In the agriculture sector, advisory services and grants for production inputs have been provided to more than 116,000 farmers across 27 counties in South Sudan. This has helped to increase yields of staple crops by over 30 percent, translating into improved household food security and incomes for those beneficiaries that have been able to produce a surplus.

Ahead of South Sudan’s independence last July, a $75 million South Sudan Transition Trust Fund (SSTTF) was established by the World Bank to help provide health care, infrastructure, and employment for the people of South Sudan during this transition period.

The World Bank Group is working closely with the government and stakeholders in South Sudan to develop a new two year partnership strategy. The new strategy will work towards a range of efforts that are critical to supporting South Sudan’s development.

Image Courtesy of   babasteve

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The Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) approved a new arrangement for Niger under the Extended Credit Facility (ECF) in an amount equivalent to SDR 78.96 million (about about US$120.97 million). The Board’s decision will enable an immediate disbursement equivalent to SDR 11.28 million (about US$17.28 million).

The authorities’ program is aimed at maintaining macroeconomic stability while increasing resilience to shocks; strengthening public finance and debt management; putting in place a transparent legal and supervisory framework for the mining and petroleum sectors; and supporting private and financial sector development.

“The 2012 budget is well aligned with the authorities’ growth and poverty reduction program. Medium-term fiscal policy is rightly geared towards creating the fiscal space for increased development spending, while maintaining debt sustainability.

“Rising receipts from oil production and strengthened domestic revenue should primarily finance the planned investment. It will also be important to step up efforts to seek grants and concessional financing for large infrastructure investment and other projects. Non-concessional loans should only be contracted for well-assessed, high-yield projects,” observes Naoyuki Shinohara, Deputy Managing Director and Acting Chair.

“A significant build-up of government reserves at the central bank will provide flexibility in budget execution and bolster Niger’s resilience to exogenous shocks.

“Important structural reforms are underway. Measures to strengthen budget execution, reduce the number of tax exemptions, and modernize tax and customs administration will help maintain fiscal stability. At the same time, steps to strengthen and develop the financial system and improve the business climate will promote private sector development and diversify the economy,” Shinohara added.

Niger is emerging from a prolonged period of social unrest and from military rule. A democratically-elected government came into power in April 2011. Building on the poverty reduction strategy, the government has adopted an ambitious development program.

Economic activity in recent years has been affected by large swings in agricultural production. Following a year of serious food shortages, economic growth recovered quickly in late 2010, driven by an excellent harvest and the expansion of services related to agriculture.

The authorities’ medium-term policy framework is based on a favorable growth outlook driven mainly by the oil and mining sectors. With the startup of a new petroleum project, GDP is projected to expand by13.4% in real terms in 2012. Investments in a large new uranium mine and the development of the petroleum sector should sustain economic activity in the years after 2012

Niger’s medium-term prospects are nevertheless subject to various risks. The country is vulnerable to exogenous shocks, including recurrent, weather-related food crises and fluctuations in commodity prices. The deteriorating security situation in the region is another factor adding to Niger’s vulnerabilities.

Medium-term fiscal policy will aim at maintaining debt sustainability while creating room for increased development spending. At the same time, the objective to strengthen government cash balances to increase the resilience of the budget to unexpected shocks. In light of these objectives and the current projections for external donor aid, the authorities intend to keep the basic fiscal deficit below 1.5 percent of GDP during the program period.

The government is committed to further strengthening public oversight of the natural resources sector in 2012 through the Inter-ministerial Committee for natural resources assessment, which will ensure appropriate information flows and coordination between government representatives in each natural resource company. In addition, the government intends to undertake a study on its overall strategy and policy in the petroleum and mining sector, including the policy to maximize the government’s petroleum resources and the structure of government oversight in that sector. This study is to be completed by end-December 2012.

A key objective for the medium term will be to bring the Investment Code into line with best practices. In collaboration with the World Bank, the authorities are planning to undertake a comprehensive review of the Code in 2012.

Image Courtesy of   http://www.flickr.com/photos/imfphoto/

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A credit program will be reinstated for Afghanistan, its government stated on Tuesday, by the International Monetary Fund. This should restore the stream of international aid that had been suspended due to the Kabul Bank crisis. The Kabul Bank was the largest financial institution in the country and had sustained major losses of around $300 million USD. It almost collapsed from mismanagement and bad loans.

The IMF has not backed up Afghanistan for more than a year, while some nations who had previously been donors decided to stop authorizing payments to Afghanistan. Now that credit has been reestablished, the country’s international partners can now enlist once again in its development plans. The IMF approved a three -year loan for $129 million, said the Afghan Finance Ministry.

This will permit the government to take on crucial reforms in the financial and banking sector, it will further fiscal amendments in customs and revenue departments, and public financial management will be improved.

No mention of the Kabul Bank was made by the ministry, though it is now a symbol of the corruption in Afghanistan. The matter is being scrutinized by the Afghan people and Afghanistan’s international donors because it is an indicator of the government officials’ promise to eradicate patronage and show accountability to the financial institutions of the world, like the IMF.

Last October, Afghan lawmakers said they would reimburse the central bank of Afghanistan since they bailed out the Kabul Bank. A bill was passed to grant up to $825 million, which will be dispersed for the next eight years. The money will help recapitalize the central bank.

The Kabul Bank has been divided into a “good bank” and a “bad bank”. The Afghan Finance Ministry is running the “good bank,” while the “bad bank” is riddled with bad loans worth hundreds of millions of dollars. The division and the refinancing of the Kabul Bank partly satisfied the IMF conditions to provide more credit to the country.

However, the IMF has asked the Afghan government to fortify the regulation and supervision of the bank sector and to prosecute the people blamed for the downfall of what used to be the country’s largest bank. Seventy million dollars has been recovered out of over $800 million in falsified loans given out by the Kabul Bank, says the finance ministry.

Three hundred and fifty million of the amount has been restructured for repayment, while $110 million in the assets related to the loans were held and transferred to the government. Some of the fraudulent loans were used to buy mansions and invest in malls and other risky projects. Criminal investigations have begun for many bank officials and the top two executives of the Kabul Bank, Sherkhan Farnood and Khalilullah Ferozi.

The two executives each used to own 28 percent of the bank’s shares, while President Hamid Karzai’s brother owned 7 percent of the bank’s shares and was the third largest shareholder. Afghan officials claim that Karzai’s brother and Haseen Fahim, a shareholder and brother to one of Afghanistan’s vice presidents, have repaid most of what they borrowed from the bank.

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Contaminated sites are increasing in major cities, as urban sprawls has overrun many pollution factories, pushing them to new locations, China Daily reports. This serious issue was given priority status at the annual sessions of the National People’s Congress and the Chinese People’s Consultative Conference (CPPCC), last week.

Jia Kang, a CPPCC National Committee member, called for a soil protection law immediately. Jia, who also heads the institute of fiscal science at the Ministry of Finance, said that land pollution is already threatening the sustainability of economic growth and social stability.

China is suffering direct economic losses caused by farm pollution, which leads to reduced grain production and public questions over food, Jia said. Land pollution will also take a toll on Chinese grain export and threaten the country’s ecological security, he added.

Last November, an affordable compound, with 2,400 apartments, was constructed in Wuhan, capital of Hubei Province, on the site of a previous chemical plant. Those who were qualified to purchase the property were considered lucky at the time.

The construction was almost finished when an environmental review by China University of Geoscience discovered that the site was contaminated with antimony, a metallic element that can cause heart and lung problems.

Plastic sheeting was spread over 21,000 squares meters to insulate the contaminated soil, and new soil was spread on the top of the plastic. The measures cost the developer 6.8 million Yuan (1.03 million dollars), according to The Beijing News.

“Pollution incidents associated with land contamination are becoming a growing concern In China”, said Jian Xie, a senior environmental specialist at the World Bank. “Many brownfields sites, if not managed well, will pose an environmental and health hazard in China`s most densely populated areas, as well as an obstacle to urban and economic development.”

A recent study conducted by World Bank shows that China’s rapid urbanization has resulted in the redevelopment of industrial land once occupied by old factories that were placed on the cities’ perimeters decades ago.

In Beijing, more than 100 polluting factories inside the Fourth Ring Road were relocated, leaving as much as 8 million square meters of industrial land to be redeveloped. Shanghai, Chongqing, Guangzhou and other big cities are in a similar situation.

Soil contamination usually involves toxic heavy metals from steel, iron and smelting plants; persistent organic pollutants (POPs) from pesticide residues; organic chemical compounds from petrochemical industries; and electronic wastes.

Heavy metals and POPs rarely break down over time and can accumulate in the environment. They can be absorbed into the body through drinking water and food consumption, causing harm to organs or even cancer.

Experts estimate that contaminated industrial sites in the country number 300,000 to 600,000.

Remediation for such sites has become urgent as the country’s rapid urbanization creates an enormous demand for usable land. This procedure requires both funding and technical guidelines from the government.

In China, the most commonly used remediation practice is to remove the polluted soil, which is then deposited into a landfill or burned, and replace it with clean soil.

Some developers argue that they should not have to pay the costs of remediation since they were not the people who cause the pollution.

For Wang Shuyi, director of the Research Institute of Environmental Law at Wuhan University, the polluters should pay for the remediation. In cases where seems impossible to identify who is liable, the money could come from public funding, he said.

The existing laws and regulations, such as the Environmental Protection Law and the Water Pollution Prevention and Control Law, are not able to effectively tackle land pollution, Jia said.

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