In 2009, when Rio de Janeiro won its bid to host the Summer 2016 Olympic Games, its officials promised to clean up the notoriously polluted waters around the city before the Games commenced. Additionally, the Games would arrive just two years after Rio was to be a host city for the 2014 World Cup.
Last week, Ringing Bells, an Indian manufacturer based in Uttar Pradesh state, announced its newest model of smartphone –Freedom 251- for less than $4. More interestingly, Ringing Bells has claimed that it has received no subsidies from the government. This is, of course, a trend in the Indian smartphone market; International Data Corporation’s 2015 report
The United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP21) that took place in Paris from November 30th to December 12th, 2015, has been widely hailed as securing a landmark agreement among an impressive number of states to help curtail climate change. Naturally, waves of criticisms usually follow any comprehensive international political agreement. Critics usually point to
In a time when traditional business models have been reevaluated in light of their adverse impacts on local communities in developing countries, businesses are now opting to maximize profits while minimizing societal harms under an innovative approach known as Impact Sourcing. Since 2008, this new form of conscious capitalism, whereby both national and multi-national companies
FARC guerrillas in 1998. Public domain image. Recently, US President Barack Obama met with Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos to celebrate the 15th anniversary of Plan Colombia and to discuss the future of US-Colombian relations. Conceived in the late 90s under US President Bill Clinton and Colombian President Andres Pastrana Arango and signed in
What will the world’s energy consumption look like in 2040? According to the latest ExxonMobil’s Global Energy Outlook report, global energy demand would rise by about 140 percent from 2010 to 2040. Nevertheless, the increasing efficiency in all sectors, from vehicles to buildings to industries, would push down the energy consumption per unit to
In a groundbreaking achievement to bring more than 600 million people in sub-Saharan Africa access to reliable, modern energy, last week, the United States House of Representatives passed the Electrify Africa Act, following nearly two years of unsuccessfully attempts to pass the measure in both chambers. The bill aims to build a framework rested upon
The annual World Economic Forum (WEF), where world leaders come together to discuss the future of the world economy, recently took place from January 20-23rd in Davos, Switzerland. At the Forum, the Secretary- General of the United Nations, Ban Ki-moon, and the President of the World Bank, Jim Yong Kim, jointly announced their intention to
The recent outbreak of the Zika virus in Brazil and other countries of the Americas and the Caribbean has put mosquito-borne diseases into the news spotlight. As recently as January 25th, the World Health Organization (WHO) warned that they predicted Zika spreading to all but two countries in the regions. Symptoms include fever, rash, conjunctivitis
The year 2016 has been dubbed as the year that sustainable investment would go “mainstream.” If anything, 2015 gave enough reasons for investors to be optimistic about the future of Socially Responsible Investing (SRI). The U.S. Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration ruling, in October, gave pension and 401(k) managers the green light
New York City, New York – February 2, 2016 – The Bassiouni Group (www.bassiounigroup.com), a leading Global Development firm specializing in Advisory, Trade & Investment solutions for emerging/frontier markets, today announced the awarding of a major United Nations contract with the UNICEF Eastern and Southern Africa Regional Office / ESARO (http://www.unicef.org/esaro), based in Nairobi, Kenya.
