Wednesday, August 16, 2006

DPRK should suspend all activities related to its ballistic missile program

The Security Council,

Reaffirming its resolutions 825 (1993) of 11 May 1993 and 1540 (2004) of 28 April 2004 ,

Bearing in mind the importance of maintaining peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula and in Northeast Asia at large,

Reaffirming that proliferation of nuclear, chemical and biological weapons, as well as their means of delivery, constitutes a threat to international peace and security,

Expressing grave concern at the launch of ballistic missiles by the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), given the potential of such systems to be used as a means to deliver nuclear, chemical or biological payloads,

Registering profound concern at the DPRK’s breaking of its pledge to maintain its moratorium on missile launching, Expressing further concern that the DPRK endangered civil aviation and shipping through its failure to provide adequate advance notice,

Expressing its grave concern about DPRK’s indication of possible additional launches of ballistic missiles in the near future,

Expressing also its desire for a peaceful and diplomatic solution to the situation and welcoming efforts by Council members as well as other member states to facilitate a peaceful and comprehensive solution through dialogue,

Recalling that the DPRK launched an object propelled by a missile without prior notification to the countries in the region which fell into the waters in the vicinity of Japan on August 31, 1998 ,

Deploring the DPRK’s announcement of withdrawal from the Treaty on Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (the Treaty) and its stated pursuit of nuclear weapons in spite of its Treaty on Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons and International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) safeguards obligations,

Stressing the importance of the implementation of the Joint Statement issued on September 19, 2005 by China , DPRK, Japan , Republic of Korea , the Russian Federation and the United States ,

Affirming that such launches jeopardize peace, stability and security in the region and beyond, particularly in light of the

DPRK’ s claim that it has developed nuclear weapons,

Acting under its special responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security. July 5, 2006 local time;

1. Condemns the multiple launches by the DPRK of ballistic missiles on July 5, 2006 local time;

2. Demands that the DPRK suspend all activities related to its ballistic missile program, and in this context re-establish its pre existing commitments to a moratorium on missile launching;

3. Requires all member states, in accordance with their nation al legal authorities and legislation and consistent with international law, to exercise vigilance and prevent missile and missile- related items, materials, goods and technology being transferred to DPRK’s missile or WMD programs;

4. Requires all member states, in accordance with their nation al legal authorities and legislation and consistent with international law, to exercise vigilance and prevent the procurement of missiles or missile related-items, materials, goods and technology from the DPRK, and the transfer of any financial resources in relation to DPRK’s missile or WMD programs;

5. Underlines, in particular to the DPRK, the need to show restraint and refrain from any action that might aggravate tension, and to continue to work on the resolution of non-proliferation concerns through political and diplomatic efforts;

6. Strongly urges the DPRK to return immediately to the six- party talks without precondition, to work towards the expeditious implementation of September 19, 2005 Joint Statement, in particular to abandon all nuclear weapons and existing nuclear pro grams, and to return at an early date to the Treaty on Non Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons and International Atomic Energy Agency safeguards ;

7. Supports the six-party talks, calls for their early resumption, and urges all the participants to intensify their efforts on the full implementation of the September 19, 2005 Joint Statement with a view to achieving the verifiable denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula in a peaceful manner and to maintaining peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula and in Northeast Asia;

8. Decides to remain seized of the matter.

GERMANY : Geothermal Energy:
From the Depths of the Earth to the Living room

Centimetre by centimetre, the engineers are working their way into the ground of the Märkische Heide with heavy drilling equipment. The cutters are digging to a depth of 4.300 metres near the small town of Gross Schdnebeck. Yet the geologists from Geoforschungszentrum Potsdam (GFZ) are not drilling for oil. Geo-thernal is the natural resource that the GTZ sciemtists plan to tap before the end of the year. When completed, the power plant will use the bore hole to produce electricity with energy from inside the earth — emission-free, around the clock and independently of wind and weather. Geothermal energy is the latest star among renewable energies. Some 99% of the earth’s mass is hotter than 1,000 degrees Celsius. Geothermal energy’s potential is enormous. Theoretically, it is available in sufficient quantities to meet global energy needs for 100,000 years. Ac cording to the Office of Technology Assessment of the German Bundestag. there is enough geothermal energy available on the territory of Germany alone to supply the country with electricity for 500 years. However, these figures are rather abstract. As the use of geothermal energy is very dependent on geological conditions, it is often too expensive to transform this natural energy into electricity or heat. Although this energy costs nothing and is theoretically available everywhere, in Germany usable reservoirs of heat are located very deep. They require an enormous input of technology and money. The situation is different in countries like Iceland where hot springs bubble to the surface. That is why geothermal energy currently only plays a minor role in Germany : it met 0.04% of primary energy needs in 2004. Nonetheless, since the prices for fossil fuels began to skyrocket and thanks to the support arising from the Renewable Energies Law (see page 9), the geothermal energy sector is now growing by 14% a year. In 2005 alone, 110 million euros were spent on the development of geo thermal energy.

Currently, 24 larger geothermal energy plants with outputs of between 100 kilowatts and 20 megawatts are operating in Germany . Eleven years ago, the first geothermal power plant in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania went on-line. Its ecological results are impressive: after five years, it had already saved 6,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions compared with a conventional power plant. Since 2003, the plant with an output of 1.4 megawatts has also been supplying 500 houses with electricity. The Essen-based Enro Group will be entering a totally new dimension from 2007: it is investing 250 million euros in the construction of the largest German geothermal power station in Brandenburg . Its planned output is 25 megawatts.

More and more house builders are also discovering this environmentally friendly energy source. If you only want to heat a single building using geothermal energy, a power plant is not absolutely necessary. So-called geothermal probes that can reach up to 90 metres into the ground are sufficient to heat an individual building. A circulating liquid absorbs heat deep in the ground and transfers it to a heat pump in the house. This “natural” heating system costs between 12,000 and 20,000 euros for a detached house — an investment that pays for itself in six years. Even the Reichstag building in Berlin is supplied with heat from a depth of 60 metres. Last year, 15,000 geothermal units were installed in Germany — compared with an annual figure of 10,000 in earlier years. Bundesverband Geothermie expects a total of 30,000 new geothermal units for 2006. The manufacturers, says the association, are already working at full capacity. Even skyscrapers are tapping the earth’s energy. The 154-metre-tall Skyper office tower in Frankfurt draws energy from 47 geothermal probes. The banking centre is gradually be coming Germany ’s geothermal capital: a shopping centre planned for 2008 and the new European Central Bank building will use this technology.

Text courtesy: The Deutschland Magazine, Embassy of Germany in Nepal-ed.

MICROCREDIT: The wealth creator

Florence Raynal, French Journalist

Originating in the third world, the microcredit system is gaining ground in the world, especially in France . Targeted at poor people unable to obtain bank loans in the normal way, it gives them the means to set up their own micro-enterprise — and to build themselves a better future.

Through a loan of only a few dollars, women in the third world living below the poverty threshold are able to start up an income-generating business. As a result, families raise their standard of living and avoid the loan sharks. The money is repaid two years later. It was this observation in the l997 that gave economist and academic, Muhammad Yuuus, the idea of founding a bank in Bangladesh, which he set up in 1983, offering small loans to the rural poor - the Grameen Bank.

Since then, the idea has caught on and micro-credit has spread in developing countries, permitting millions of people, not credit-worthy by traditional market criteria, to live from their work. Moreover, the value of this scheme has been recognized by the United Nations (UN) which proclaimed 2005 the International Year of Microcredit in the hope that a large number of microfinance institutions (MFI) would be opened. The form these take varies from one country to another.

500 MILLION BENEFICIARIES WORLDWIDE

‘They often originate in support programmes run and financed by local or foreign non-governmental organizations (NGOs). They may be village savings offices or rural banks, more or less similar to our ‘mutual societies,” observes Michel Lelart, Research Director Emeritus of the French national centre for scientific research (C he goes on to explain that “The Bangladesh model is present in 34 countries. Sometimes, in India , for example, loans are given to self-help groups that share the same project but are not one organization. In South America , some MFIs have effectively become banks. In Asia , several commercial banks have ventured into micro credit. In Africa , no one model really dominates; all are represented to a greater or lesser degree in the different countries.”

At the beginning of 2006 the World Bank produced a positive assessment of micro credit, from which 500 million people are said to benefit, although its experts observe that “financial services for the poor cannot solve all the problems caused by poverty”.

IN THE NORTH TOO

For about ten years the scheme has also been developing in the northern countries. Thus in France , where lack of job security is increasing, the idea of offering the right to take the fin initiative to all is spreading and the demand for solidarity loans is growing. Concerned to give it “fresh impetus”, French president, Jacques Chirac, who considers that “in the context of the fight against un-employment and social exclusion, microcredit offers a promising way forward”, on 2 February 2006 announced a series of measures. He intends first to boost the activities of the French social cohesion fund, by enlarging the scope of its work. The aim of this body, already granted state funding of 73 million euro over five years, is to make access to bank credit easier for people on low incomes who wish to set up or take over a business. Moreover from 2006, the Caisse des dépots et consignations (a state- owned financial institution acting on behalf of French central, regional and local governments), which runs the fund, will devote 5 million euro to financing 50 experimental training and support schemes for borrowers in deprived areas. Information for potential beneficiaries will also be improved and a micro- finance monitoring unit set up by the Banque de France.

In parallel, in March 2006, Martin Hirsch, president of Emmaüs France , suggested to the Head of State, that a social bank be set up with branches in thirty or so regional towns. It would be a single counter issuing welfare loans “with out conditions of age or surety”.

The project is based on a public-private partnership. On the public side, the State would guarantee the loans and the local authorities would provide the premises and staff to advise borrowers. On the private side, the banks would second staff to deal with cases and pro vide computing equipment.

30, 000 NEW BUSINESSES CREATED IN FRANCE

Today in France, several organizations offer microcredit to their users, following the path mapped out by the Association pour le droit a l’initiative économique (association for the right to (take the) financial initiative] ADIE) founded in 1989 by the pioneer Maria Nowak. ADIE, which demonstrates the determination to “enable the excluded to become wealth creators, achieve independence and regain their dignity”, has enabled the creation of about 30,000 enterprises and 36,000 jobs. Motivated unemployed people and those on income sup port with a project proposal (usually a small retail or craft business) are offered help to set it up, a solidarity loan, then a follow-up. Success is the key feature: the loans are repaid in 94% of cases, above the national average, and the lifespan of these businesses is also longer.

ADIE is also one of the bodies behind the European Microfinance Network (EMN), founded in 2003. Based in Paris and with some 30 members from 15 European countries, the EMN offers a means of providing more information and disseminating good practice and of sending joint messages to the authorities, the European Commission and the banking sector, to promote microfinance a lever which may, it claims, contribute to the European Union's Lisbon strategy for growth, employment and social cohesion.

Text courtesy: Label France 1’ QUARTER 2006. Embassy of France in Kathmandu-ed.

Israel launches world's first underwater museum

By Leora Eren Frucht - Israel

It was the largest, most impressive port in the Roman Empire when it was inaugurated in 10 BCE. And some 2,016 years later, the ancient port of Caesarea - along the Mediterranean coast of Israel - was inaugurated again last week, this time as the worlds first underwater museum.

Divers can now don their wet suits and tour the sign-posted remains of the magnificent harbor built by King Herod to honor his Roman patron, Caesar Augustus. The site has been excavated over the last three decades by a team led by the late Prof. Avner Raban of the University of Haifa ’s Recanati Institute for Maritime Studies.

It’s not your ordinary museum tour. Visitors float from one ‘exhibit’ to the next, marveling in silence at the untouched remains of a once-glorious harbor: a Roman shipwreck, a ruined lighthouse, an ancient breakwater, the port’s original foundations, anchors, pedestals.

“It’s a truly unique site,” said Sarah Arenson, a University of Haifa maritime historian and participant in the project. “This port was built as the state-of-the-art port of the Roman Empire , and made the other ports of the time, including those of Rome , Alexandria and Piraeus , look small and out-of-date by comparison.”

Arenson notes that the port is also unique today: “There are no other ancient ports in the world that are accessible to ordinary divers,” she said. Some such ports are restricted to authorized scientists. Others may be open to any diver, but would be meaningless to such visitors “because all you would see is a bunch of stones.”

At Caesarea, divers view some 36 different sign-posted sites along four marked trails in the sunken harbor covering an area of 87,000 sq. yards They are given a water-proof map which describes in detail each of the numbered sites along the way (currently maps are in English and Hebrew; within a few months they will be available in six additional languages.) One trail is also accessible to snorkelers. The others, ranging from 7 to 29 feet below the surface, close to the beach, are appropriate for any beginner diver.

And what does the visitor see?

In a sense, an abrogated history of this once prominent port town - from its entrance at sea (about 350 feet from the current shoreline) to the Roman shipwreck that signaled the demise of the port, probably due to an earthquake, about a century after its construction, researchers believe. And, in between, divers can view the remnants of the original foundations that made this harbor one of the wonders of the Roman Empire .

“This port was built using the knowledge and technology of Roman engineers,’ explains University of Haifa maritime historian Dr. Nadav Kashtan, a member of the team that excavated the site.

It was constructed with a type of hydraulic cement, invented by the Romans, known as pozzolana. “The Romans found that when they take the volcanic powder found around Mount Vesuvius and mix it with lime and rubble, the substance hardens in water,” Kashtan told ISRAEL21c. “This ‘hydraulic concrete’ was imported to Casearea and used to fill wooden frames which were then lowered into the water to lay the foundations for the port.” Two such frames were found, one almost perfectly intact, and are on view today.

Kashtan notes that thousands of men were recruited - both from Rome and locally - to build the port over the course of 12 years. Among them were many divers, who descended simply holding their breath, or possibly in a diving bell.

The Roman city of Caesarea was built on the ruins of a decaying Phoenician town called Straton’s Tower. Its builder, Herod, who also built the Second Temple of Jerusalem, was considered one of the most magnificent builders of the Roman era, notes Kashtan. The Jewish king built the town - given to him as a present by Augustus - into a grand, fortified city that served as the capital of the Roman province of Judea for about 600 years.

The first century Jewish historian Josephus Flavius described the building of the port of Caesarea in ‘The Jewish Wars’:

“Along the coast Herod discovered a city that was in decay named Stratons Tower . The stretch of coast-line from Dora to Joppa, between which the city lies, was completely devoid of harbors, so that every ship sailing from Egypt along the coast of Phoenicia had to ride at anchor in open when menaced by southwest wind, for even a moderate breeze from this quarter dashes the wave to such a height against the cliffs that their reflux spread a great commotion far out to sea.”

Researchers note that the excavations correspond closely with Josephus’s detailed accounts of the port.

The underwater park was developed with the financial support of the Caesarea Development Corporation.

Israel has long been known as a diver’s Mecca because of the rainbow of corals and exotic fish found off the coast of the Red Sea resort of Eilat. But the country has more than two dozen other diving sites along the Mediterranean coast - from the unique maze of chalky white caves of Rosh Hanikra in the north, to a collection of shipwrecks dotting the coast as far south as Ashkelon. The sunken port of Caesarea - with its ancient sites and modern explanations - is sure to become one of the top underwater attractions.

Courtesy http://www.israel2ic.org/-ed