EBRD officials to be investigated by Russia and UK
19 Enero 2011
UK police and Russian authorities are investigating alleged criminal activities of four Russian officials assigned to the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD).
The bank said that it had lifted the immunity of the officials who “either work or have worked at the EBRD”.
Russia’s government said that Yelena Kotova had been dismissed from her position as the EBRD’s board member.
She has been a member of the board since 2005.
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CBS ‘EcoAd’ Pays 10% to Local E-causes
12 Enero 2011
The Eye Network’s New Pitch: Buy a Spot, Save the Planet
Going green is nice, but getting caught “greenwashing” — doing environmental promotions that are all talk and no action — isn’t. CBS Corp. is hoping some of its advertisers will take this under advisement and put their money where their mouths are when they talk about acting in the best interest of the planet.
The company, best known for its TV network and programs such as “CSI” and “NCIS,” is unveiling a new form of advertising it calls an “EcoAd.” Marketers who commit to this sort of promotion can purchase ad packages across CBS’s various holdings — national and local TV, radio, outdoor, online and more — with the understanding that approximately 10% of the money committed to the sponsorship will be used to fund environmental-improvement efforts at the local level.
Pepsi Refresh Project Faces Cheating Allegations
12 Enero 2011
Some Nonprofits Claim Certain Participants Used Proxy Service to Amass Votes, Win Grants
Pepsi Refresh, the much-lauded program that awards grants for civic and social programs, is facing allegations of cheating as beverage giant is gearing up to expand the program to new countries and launch its 2011 effort.
In a New York Times article, a few nonprofits claim that some winners have used a service, represented by an individual known only as “Mr. Magic,” to generate proxy votes and win grants. Pepsi denies those claims, saying it is “committed to ensuring the integrity of the Refresh Project voting process.”
True transparency is about more than spilling the beans
11 Enero 2011
Today’s media often characterize our networked information age as the age of transparency.
Transparency can be a euphemism for lack of control over information and the public narrative about our business or ourselves. More ideally, it can be a mindful business strategy for approaching decisions and actions with the intention of communicating proactively and honestly about what is being done and why.
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Barack Obama signs gay military law
10 Enero 2011
Mr Obama said the law meant that tens of thousands of Americans would no longer be asked to live a lie.
He had campaigned to change the 1993 “don’t ask, don’t tell” law, overturned by Congress last week.
More than 13,000 service members have been dismissed under the policy, enacted in 1993 as a compromise.
Climate change affects toads, salamanders: study
21 Diciembre 2010
Climate change is affecting the breeding cycles of toads and salamanders, researchers reported on Tuesday, in the first published evidence of such changes on amphibians.
They documented that two species were breeding later in the autumn than in years past, and two others were breeding earlier in the winter.
Their study, published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B, adds to a growing body of evidence that climate change is affecting animals.
No toilets costs India $54 billion annually: World Bank
21 Diciembre 2010
A lack of toilets and poor hygiene practices in India cost Asia’s third largest economy almost $54 billion every year, the World Bank said on Monday.
Premature deaths, treatment for the sick, wasted time and productivity, as well as lost tourism revenues, are the main reasons for the high economic losses, the bank said in a report.
“For decades, we have been aware of the significant impacts of inadequate sanitation in India,” Christopher Juan Costain, the World Bank’s head for South Asia’s water and sanitation program, told a news conference.
Popular new breast cancer treatment lacks data
13 Diciembre 2010
A new radiation treatment for breast cancer is becoming increasingly popular despite lack of good evidence, at least among well-insured Medicare patients, U.S. researchers say.
According to claims data, use of the therapy, which irradiates only a portion of the breast instead of standard whole-breast radiation after lumpectomy, climbed more than 10-fold for those patients between 2001 and 2006.
While gold-standard clinical trials of the newer treatment are still missing, two other events did coincide with steep increases in its use: approval of a device used to deliver the radiation in 2002 and Medicare reimbursement in 2004.
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U.N. climate talks seek to avert damaging failure
9 Diciembre 2010
Almost 200 nations sought on Wednesday to break a deadlock between rich and poor on steps to fight global warming and avert a new, damaging setback after they failed to agree a U.N. treaty last year in Copenhagen.
Several environment ministers said that failure at the talks in Mexico could undermine faith in the ability of the United Nations to tackle global problems in the 21st century as power shifts toward emerging nations led by China and India.
“I think that what is at stake here is also multilateralism,” said European Climate Commissioner Connie Hedegaard. “It’s absolutely crucial that this process, which is the only one we have … can prove that it can deliver results.”
Donations Ban on iPhone Apps Irritates Nonprofits
9 Diciembre 2010
The nonprofit world is stewing over the ban Apple has put on making donations on the iPhone via charity apps.
No one, including Apple, has data on how many nonprofits have created apps for the iPhone. Organizations like the Monterey Bay Aquarium and American Cancer Society have them, but none can be used to make gifts. Prospective donors instead are directed out of a nonprofit’s app and to its Web site, which the organizations say makes the process of contributing more cumbersome.
“When you’re popped out of an app, you then have to go through a whole bunch of clicks to make a donation,” said Beth Kanter, co-author of “The Networked Nonprofit” and chief executive of Zoetica, a consulting firm. “It’s cumbersome and it doesn’t have to be.”
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