Graduate Management Admission Council Announces New Board Members

RESTON, Va., July 13, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — The Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC), a global association of leading graduate business schools, today announced the addition of six new members to its board of directors: (elected by member schools) Isabelle Bajeux–Besnainou, Dean and Professor of Finance, Tepper School of Business, Carnegie Mellon University; W. Bruce DelMonico, Assistant Dean for Admissions, Yale School of Management, Yale University; Catherine Duggan, Director (Dean), Graduate School of Business, University of Cape Town; Anthony Wilbon, Dean, School of Business, Howard University; (appointed by the Board to fill vacancies) Mukesh Butani, Founder and Managing Partner, BMR Legal Advocates; and Itziar de Ros, Director of Corporate Marketing & Communications, IESE Business School, University of Navarra. They started their terms on July 1.

"We are thrilled and grateful for the six outstanding individuals from four continents joining the board of GMAC, bringing with them diverse and inspiring perspectives on graduate management education," said Sangeet Chowfla, president and CEO of GMAC. "As the industry continues to evolve and adapt in the face of the ever–changing landscape, their onboarding signals GMAC's strong commitment to its global mission of connecting business schools and candidates in support of growing graduate business education."

New GMAC Board Members

Isabelle Bajeux–Besnainou, Dean and Professor of Finance, Tepper School of Business, Carnegie Mellon University

Dr. Isabelle Bajeux–Besnainou is the 10th Dean of the Tepper School of Business and the Richard P. Simmons Professor of Finance. Since her arrival in 2020, Bajeux reorganized the leadership structure and started new degree programs that offer Tepper students new options and enhanced flexibility. As well, she launched the first comprehensive Tepper School DE&I Strategic Plan to support diversity, equity, and inclusion. The Tepper School is known for being the birthplace of management science, as well as for its frequent cross–collaboration with the other renowned schools at Carnegie Mellon. In that spirit, Bajeux refreshed its brand positioning to be the school of "The Intelligent Future," where students learn to combine the power of data with human judgement and imagination to make better decisions. Before her tenure at Tepper, Bajeux was Dean of McGill University's Desautels Faculty of Management in Montreal, Quebec where she spearheaded the school of retail management and several new master's degree programs.

Mukesh Butani, Founder and Managing Partner, BMR Legal Advocates

Mukesh Butani is the Founder and Managing Partner of BMR Legal Advocates, a Tier 1 law firm. He was also Co–founder and Chairman of BMR Advisors, one of India's leading professional services firms in the areas of Tax, Risk, and M&A. With specialization in corporate international tax and transfer pricing, he has experience in advising multinational corporations and Indian conglomerates on a range of matters concerning business re–organization, cross–border structuring, and tax controversy. Mukesh served as Vice–Chair of the ICC Paris Tax Commission and as a member of the Permanent Scientific Committee of the International Fiscal Association and OECD BIAC. A Fellow Chartered Accountant, he holds a double bachelor's in accounting, as well as Financial Management and Law. He serves as an Independent Board Member in select leading multinationals and Indian conglomerates and is a visiting faculty at the University of Vienna and the University of Lausanne.

Itziar de Ros, Director of Corporate Marketing and Communications, IESE Business School, University of Navarra

Itziar de Ros is the Director of Corporate Marketing and Communications at IESE Business School in Barcelona. In this role, de Ros is responsible for IESE's marketing and communications strategy across all its campuses. She joined IESE in 2007 after working in marketing at DuPont, based in Geneva, Switzerland. In 2011, de Ros was made Director of MBA Admissions at IESE, a post she held for six years, managing a team of 20 people from 12 different countries. Since 2021, de Ros has been on the Board of Ravents Codorniu, one of the most prestigious wine and sparkling wine companies in Europe. She is also a member of the Advisory Board of Navozyme, a blockchain–based solutions company based in Singapore. She holds an MBA from IESE, as well as a master's degree in Digital Transformation and a BA in Business Administration from the University of Navarra.

W. Bruce DelMonico, Assistant Dean for Admissions, Yale School of Management, Yale University

Bruce DelMonico is Assistant Dean for Admissions at the Yale School of Management. He joined Yale SOM in 2004 and has led the Admissions Office since 2006. During his time at Yale, Bruce has helped innovate new technologies and novel methods of candidate evaluation, including early roles in the Slate CRM system, the use of asynchronous video questions, and the adoption of forced–choice non–cognitive assessments. He has sat on a number of industry–related boards and is a past Trustee of the Hopkins School in New Haven, Connecticut. Before joining Yale, Bruce was an attorney focused on First Amendment, white collar, and commercial litigation, working primarily on cases with exposure ranging from $10 million to $10 billion. Bruce holds a bachelor's degree in Honors English from Brown University, a master's degree in Literature from the University of Texas at Austin, and a law degree from the University of Virginia School of Law.

Catherine Duggan, Director (Dean), Graduate School of Business, University of Cape Town

Catherine Duggan is Director (Dean) of the University of Cape Town Graduate School of Business (UCT GSB). Her research examines the political economy of development in Africa, where she has done work in two dozen countries over more than twenty years. Prior to joining the UCT GSB, she was Vice Dean at the African Leadership University School of Business "" a new business school in Rwanda "" and a Visiting Scholar at the University of Oxford's Sad Business School. She served on the Harvard Business School faculty for nearly a decade and won several teaching awards, becoming the first woman in the school's history to win the Faculty Award for Outstanding Teaching in the Required Curriculum two years in a row. She earned a Ph.D. from Stanford University and a B.A. with honors from Brown University, both in Political Science.

Anthony Wilbon, Dean, School of Business, Howard University

Dr. Anthony Wilbon is the Dean of the Howard University School of Business. Dr. Wilbon's particular areas of research include technology strategy, technology innovation and entrepreneurship, operations management, project management, systems development life cycle, and research methodology. Prior to joining Howard University, Dr. Wilbon was a faculty member at Morgan State University's Earl Graves School of Business and Management. He also previously served in engineering and management level positions and several organizations including the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, Booz–Allen and Hamilton, Inc., American Management Systems, Inc, and Westinghouse Electric Corporation. A respected academician, Dr. Wilbon completed his BS in Electrical Engineering at Michigan State University, an MBA at Howard University School of Business, and a Ph.D. at George Washington University in Management of Science, Technology and Innovation. He is also the recipient of a Fulbright International Education Administrators Award (France).

Besides the aforementioned, newly elected board members, Sanjiv Kapur, an independent consultant, was re–appointed for a second term. GMAC also recognizes and thanks its outgoing board members: William (Bill) Boulding, Dean and J.B. Fuqua Professor of Business Administration, Fuqua School of Business of Duke University; Tom Buiocchi, Executive Advisor & Former CEO of Service Channel; Erika James, Dean of the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania; Peter Johnson, Assistant Dean, Full–time MBA Programs & Admissions, University of California, Berkeley's Haas School of Business; Soojin Kwon, Managing Director, Full–Time MBA Admissions and Student Experience, University of Michigan's Ross School of Business; and Donna Rapaccioli, Dean of the Gabelli School of Business and Dean of Business Faculty, Fordham University.

About GMAC

The Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC) is a mission–driven association of leading graduate business schools worldwide. Founded in 1953, GMAC provides world–class research, industry conferences, recruiting tools, and assessments for the graduate management education industry, as well as resources, events, and services that help guide candidates through their higher education journey. Owned and administered by GMAC, the Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT) exam is the most widely used graduate business school assessment.

More than 12 million prospective students a year trust GMAC's websites, including mba.com, to learn about MBA and business master's programs, connect with schools around the world, prepare and register for exams and get advice on successfully applying to MBA and business master's programs. BusinessBecause and The MBA Tour are subsidiaries of GMAC, a global organization with offices in China, India, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

To learn more about our work, please visit www.gmac.com

Media Contact:

Teresa Hsu
Sr. Manager, Media Relations
202–390–4180 (mobile)
thsu@gmac.com


BRAC celebrates 50 years: A case for social development founded and led by the Global South

BRAC celebrates 50 years and has reached over nine million people living in extreme poverty through its Ultra-Poor Graduation program, which introduces a set of sequenced and holistic interventions intended to guarantee sustained financial stability. Credit: BRAC

BRAC celebrates 50 years and has reached over nine million people living in extreme poverty through its Ultra-Poor Graduation program, which introduces a set of sequenced and holistic interventions intended to guarantee sustained financial stability. Credit: BRAC

By Naureen Hossain
New York, Jul 13 2022 – As part of the 2022 United Nations High-Level Political Forum, BRAC, with the Permanent Mission of Bangladesh to the United Nations, and the Permanent Mission of the Republic of Rwanda to the United Nations, hosted a side event this week to discuss development opportunities led by the Global South. The event highlighted the NGO’s achievements over the last five decades in alleviating and eradicating poverty and the interconnectedness between the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in their initiatives.

As part of the 2022 United Nations High-Level Political Forum, BRAC and the Permanent Mission of Bangladesh to the United Nations hosted a side event this week to discuss development opportunities led by the Global South. The event highlighted the NGO’s achievements over the last five decades in alleviating and eradicating poverty and the interconnectedness between the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in their initiatives.

The discussion was moderated by IPS Senior Vice Chair and Executive Director, IPS North America, Farhana Haque Rahman. Speakers included BRAC Executive Director Asif Saleh, Ambassador Rabab Fatima of Bangladesh; Robert Kayinamura, Deputy Permanent Representative of Rwanda Mission to the United Nations; Deputy Chief and Senior Programme Management Officer to the UN Office of the High Representative for the Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries, and Small Island States (UN-OHRLLS) Susanna Wolf; Oriana Bandiera, Professor of Economics at the London School of Economics, and Jaideep Prabhu, Director of the Center for India & Global Business, Cambridge University.

 At the high-level discussion commemorating BRAC’s 50 years of eradicating poverty were BRAC Executive Director Asif Saleh; Ambassador Rabab Fatima of Bangladesh; Robert Kayiamura, Deputy Permanent Representative of Rwanda Mission to the United Nations. Credit: Naureen Hossain/IPS

At the high-level discussion commemorating BRAC’s 50 years of eradicating poverty were BRAC Executive Director Asif Saleh; Ambassador Rabab Fatima of Bangladesh and Robert Kayinamura, Deputy Permanent Representative of Rwanda Mission to the United Nations. Credit: BRAC

The event was a commemoration of BRAC’s 50th anniversary. Founded in 1972 by Sir Fazle Hasan Abed, BRAC began as a humanitarian relief provider after Bangladesh’s war of independence ended in 1971. The NGO has since grown in scale and operations, the only one of its size to originate from the Global South. Its programs reach over 100 million people in 11 South Asia and African countries. It aims to provide the tools and strategies for people to graduate from poverty and into more financially stable, resilient lives. Over the last five decades, BRAC has worked to address the pressing socio-economic issues of the times through holistic, solutions-based approaches that have relied on local community involvement in multiple program planning and implementation avenues.

The success of BRAC and other NGOs has also come down to the close collaboration between them and the Bangladesh government. Bangladesh has been celebrated for its economic growth and development, achieving the highest GDP globally from 2010 to 2020. The World Bank has called it a “model for poverty reduction”. This has been possible, as Ambassador Rabab Fatima stated in her opening remarks, because of the government’s “tremendous commitment to achieving the UN SDGs, especially SDG 1: No Poverty – aligning national plans and policy documents with SDG targets and goals and working in close partnership with the NGO sector and other civil society members, including BRAC”.

The forum’s discussion also deliberated on the multi-faceted approach needed for poverty eradication.

BRAC Executive Director Asif Saleh noted that “critical to eradicating poverty is understanding that it is multidimensional.”

“Solutions must address not only income and livelihoods but also education, health, climate, and gender equality – the many interconnected drivers that trap people in the most extreme states of poverty, unable to escape without receiving a significant transfer of assets and tailored support…”

Saleh also remarked that BRAC’s social development and investment approach had been shaped by a “problems-driven approach, rather than a proposal-driven one” and is crucially defined by its founding and establishment in the Global South. The traditional approach to development, as designed and dictated by the Global North, has had the unintended consequence of excluding millions of people from traditional programs and market-led initiatives.

“What we’ve seen is that people in extreme poverty are being left behind in development discussions.”

Deputy Chief and Senior Programme Management Officer to UN-OHRLLS Susanna Wolf; Oriana Bandiera, Professor of Economics at the London School of Economics and Jaideep Prabhu, Director of the Center for India & Global Business, Cambridge University. Credit: BRAC

Deputy Chief and Senior Programme Management Officer to UN-OHRLLS Susanna Wolf; Oriana Bandiera, Professor of Economics at the London School of Economics and Jaideep Prabhu, Director of the Center for India & Global Business, Cambridge University. Credit: BRAC

The high-level forum also covered how BRAC’s work and, in turn, Bangladesh’s growth and success demonstrate the SDGs’ interconnectedness, particularly regarding SDG1. Most notably, SDGs 4, 5, and 17 call for equitable and inclusive quality education for all, gender equality and revitalizing global partnerships for sustainable development.

In working with millions of people living in extreme poverty, the solutions put forward by BRAC have been borne from innovation through frugality for the sake of financial viability and social and environmental impact, as Professor Jaideep Prabhu noted.

“Indeed, Bangladesh has pioneered the idea of social business… but instead of returning these profits to investors and owners, you put this wealth back into scaling your social mission and broadening your social impact.”

Prabhu also noted that this approach to business and social development had been adopted worldwide, including publicly listed companies that take responsibility for their performance’s social and environmental impact.

BRAC reached over nine million people living in extreme poverty through its Ultra-Poor Graduation program, which introduces a set of sequenced and holistic interventions intended to guarantee sustained financial stability.

Among their efforts at poverty eradication, a key factor has been to empower women through education and economic independence.

Oriana Bandiera of the London School of Economics remarked: “It is not possible to achieve SDG1 [No Poverty] without advancing economic opportunities for women and their status in society.”

Studies from the International Center for Research on Women (ICRW) have shown that investing in women’s economic empowerment can have a meaningful impact on social and economic development. This can be observed in Bangladesh, where it has made significant strides in reducing gender divisions, closing 72 percent of the overall gender gap, and reducing the rates of child marriages, maternal mortality, and family violence.

As was discussed in the forum, this investment in women’s economic empowerment and the long-term impact on poverty eradication can be achieved through community engagement. This has been seen in BRAC’s education programs, first pioneered in 1985. Their model for community-based education programs recruits women, men, and other members of local communities in the most vulnerable areas to provide accessible schooling for boys and girls in one-classroom settings. Today, BRAC has become one of the world’s largest education providers.

Poverty is multidimensional and solutions should not only address income and livelihoods but also education, health, climate, and gender equality, a high-level discussion moderated by IPS Senior Vice Chair and Executive Director, IPS North America, Farhana Haque Rahman heard. Credit: BRAC

Poverty is multidimensional and solutions should not only address income and livelihoods but also education, health, climate, and gender equality, a high-level discussion moderated by IPS Senior Vice Chair and Executive Director, IPS North America, Farhana Haque Rahman heard. Credit: BRAC

BRAC demonstrated the potential for countries in the Global South to proactively lead development initiatives in the region. Deputy Permanent Representative of the Republic of Rwanda to the UN Robert Kayinamura stated that middle-income countries should step up to corroborate and share their knowledge and lived experiences in shaping these initiatives, citing Rwanda’s growth in the development sector.

“We have tried to achieve within our means with the SDGs,” he said. “It has been partnerships, including BRAC, which has brought us to where we are.”

This sentiment and call for partnerships to achieve the SDGs was echoed by Susanna Wolf of UN-OHLLRS, who provided the perspective of international agencies.

“Strong emphasis on building resilience to various shocks from health emergencies to disasters and price shocks, which are all increasingly frequent and disproportionally affect LDCs (Least Developed Countries). To address the multidimensional nature of poverty, all partners are expected to step up their efforts. Social protection has an increasingly important role to play, and other LDCs can learn a lot from the innovative approaches spearheaded by BRAC.”

The systemic inequities that have resulted in and perpetuated extreme poverty have only come in sharper contrast in the wake of compounding global crises such as climate change and the COVID-19 pandemic. The efforts of NGOs like BRAC and the frontline workers that continue to work through these crises to support the most vulnerable communities show their resilience. BRAC has championed people’s resilience, agency, and partnership for fifty years; may it continue for another fifty more.

IPS UN Bureau Report

 


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Soaring Temperatures Devastate Kashmir Farmers

Mumtaza Bano (centre), is ploughing the field along with other women in her village in south Kashmir. Farmers in the region have experienced a heat wave which has turned much of the area, known for lush green hills, into a dry wasteland. Credit: Umar Manzoor Shah/IPS

Mumtaza Bano (centre), is ploughing the field along with other women in her village in south Kashmir. Farmers in the region have experienced a heat wave which has turned much of the area, known for lush green hills, into a dry wasteland. Credit: Umar Manzoor Shah/IPS

By Umar Manzoor Shah
Srinagar, Indian Kashmir, Jul 13 2022 – The soaring temperatures this year in India’s northern state of Kashmir are proving calamitous for the region’s farming community.  The place, otherwise known for its emerald streams, lush green hills, and ice sheets, is reeling under heat attributed to climate change this year. The heat wave of such intensity has left most of the water canals dead and dry, plunging the already conflict-torn region into a frightening agrarian crisis.

Perturbed and dismayed, Ghulam Mohammad Mir is trying to sow a paddy crop on his two-acre plot in central Kashmir’s Ganderbal area. Mir says his months of hard work would probably get wasted as the land has almost turned barren due to scorching heat and water scarcity.

“We are witnessing the temperatures spiking as high as 37 degrees Celsius. Such heat wave was otherwise alien to Kashmir. You can see the land looks barren, and if we sow any crop here, we fear it would turn into dry, dead twigs in the coming days. The scenes are scary to imagine. There is little water accumulated by the rain left in the fields,” Mir told IPS.

Ghulam Mohammad Mir is sowing a paddy crop on his two-acre land located in central Kashmir’s Ganderbal area. Mir says his months of hard work will probably get wasted as the land has almost turned barren in the unrelenting heat. Credit: Umar Manzoor Shah/IPS

Ghulam Mohammad Mir is sowing a paddy crop on his two-acre land located in central Kashmir’s Ganderbal area. Mir says his months of hard work will probably get wasted as the land has almost turned barren in the unrelenting heat. Credit: Umar Manzoor Shah/IPS

The farmer, who is in his late 50s, says he has been in paddy cultivation since childhood but has never seen the drying of the land with such intensity.  Mir says the water canals were never as dry as they are today, and in the first three months after spring – from March to June, there was no rainfall, and then it rained heavily for four days, suddenly plummeting the temperatures to mere 15 degrees Celsius.

“And then, the mercury surged again, and within a mere one week, the temperatures surged to almost 37 degrees. Where will we get water to irrigate our fields now? The paddy will burn amid such scorching heat. This is disastrous to the core,” Mir said.

According to the research titled ‘Climate Change Projection in Kashmir Valley’ conducted by the region’s agriculture university, the states of Jammu and Kashmir are impacted by climate change. The state, claims the research, is expected to have a surge in the number of rainy days by 2030.

“Similarly, the annual temperature is likely to increase in the next century compared to the base period of 1970. An increasing trend in annual maximum and minimum temperature, as well as precipitation, has also been predicted for the region under Special Report on Emissions Scenarios (SRES).”

Over the years, the valley has experienced irregular precipitation patterns. In the first five months of 2022, Kashmir saw a 38 percent decrease in rainfall, according to data from the Meteorological Department (MeT) in Srinagar. The data reveals that the Kashmir valley has experienced a significant lack of pre-monsoon precipitation over the years. From March 1 to May 31, 2022, the region got 99.5 mm of rain, a 70 percent down from the average. Comparably, between March and May of each of the following years—2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, and 2021—there was a deficit of 16, 28, 35, and 26%, respectively.

Mohammad Iqbal Choudhary, the Director of the Department of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Kashmir, told IPS that most irrigation canals have turned dry in Kashmir. As a result, the majority of paddy fields have been left uncultivated.

Dr Arshid Jahangir, who teaches Environmental Studies at the University of Kashmir, said climate models indicate a pretty bleak outlook for the region.

In the future, Jahangir says extreme events will happen more frequently in the Himalayas, which includes Kashmir.

“The Kashmir region has had numerous extreme weather occurrences in the last ten years, including floods, frequent cloudbursts, heat waves, droughts, landslides, and early snowfalls. In Kashmir’s climate history, such occurrences were never typical. These extreme events won’t just keep happening; their frequency will also rise. Aside from the financial losses, everyone’s lives are in danger as a result of this,” he said.

For farmers like Mir, if the situation doesn’t improve, they will have no choice but to abandon farming forever.

“You see, our children do not want to do this work. They ask, ‘what is the fun of toiling so hard only to get losses in the end?’ We could sell this land off and do some other business,” Mir said.

Most Kashmiris are farmers, using various techniques adapted to the region’s environment. Rice is planted in May and harvested in September. The main summer crops are maize, sorghum, millet, pulses, tobacco, and cotton, and the main spring crop is barley.

In south Kashmir’s Pulwama area, Mumtaza Bano was busy ploughing her two-acre land with her husband. However, Bano seems pessimistic about having a profitable yield this year.

“The soil looks hard, and it is tough to plough it through. It is July, and we are without any irrigation facility here. The canals are running dry, and so are our hopes of a good yield. This entire village is considering abandoning farming now and doing some other work. It is just a waste of time now,” Bano said.

Kashmir’s renowned earth scientist Professor Shakil Ahmad Ramsoo, told IPS that action at the global level is needed to resolve the crises prevalent across the Himalayan region.

“Global climate change is a reality. There would be extended dry spells interspersed with high-intensity, long-duration downpours. There is a trend when we look over the past 30 to 50 years. Snowfall in the winter is currently below average. The autumn is becoming dryer. The rainy spring is drying up. This is why the crisis needs global attention so that we can mitigate it,” Ramsoo said.
IPS UN Bureau Report

 


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News Fatigue, Anti-Vax and Wars

Nothing is so firmly believed as what is least known.
                                                    Michel de Montaigne

By Jan Lundius
STOCKHOLM, Jul 13 2022 – During the beginning of the pandemic, people wanted to learn more about COVID-19. Enclosed in their homes they watched with fear and fascination how the pandemic swept over the world, while comparing numbers of affected people and the death-toll in different countries. Watching COVID’s rampage became a kind of horror show. However, already after a few months with death-tolls rising and isolation not being over anytime soon, psychological fatigue set in. Judging from media coverage it now appears as if the pandemic finally is over, which is far from being the case.

A similar phenomenon seems to arise in relation to the war in Ukraine. Media coverage is decreasing, even if Russian troops are advancing while towns and villages continue to crumble under their heavy bombardment. The Ukrainian war came as a shock. Without provocation an independent nation was invaded by a military super-power. However, soon general interest was fading and the war in Ukraine is in the minds of many gradually being transformed into a “traditional” war. Affected by declining endurance and lack of commitment, as well as an audience-adapted media, people have a tendency to “normalise” protracted human suffering.

Relatively safe and comfortable, media audience is now returning to previous internet surfing and TV channel zapping, searching for entertainment and celebrity gossip. The U.S. author Norman Mailer often repeated his view of the “Western World” as a place where people out of convenience and inertia tend to gloss over all complexity, avoiding questions that take more than ten seconds to answer. To form an opinion, they require tangible and upsetting events, while more in-depth analyses tend to bore them.

Superficiality and lack of analysis are evident in emotionally charged and polarizing postings prevailing on social media networks, where propaganda and shallow information are delivered to millions of consumers, distracting them from important issues, while strengthening hatred and bigotry, eroding social trust, undermining serious journalism, fostering doubts about science and furthermore serving as covert surveillance of lives and opinions of individuals acceding the global web.

Young people tend to have significantly better computer skills than older newspaper- and book readers and are accordingly by elders accused of spending too much time within a digital world. Nevertheless, I assume most internet users, no matter their age, have a tendency to enter a limited, personal niche of specific information. Their approach to source criticism is to visit sites they are familiar with, judging such information to be more trustworthy than the one offered by other news outlets.

Social media might make sense of life, though the problem is that they generally deal with other people’s views and lives, seldom with our own. However, this cannot be exclusively blamed on social media. After all, young and old are alike when it comes to assessing an incessant avalanche of information. It is a common human trait that few of us have the time, courage, or interest, to dig deep into our own mind in search of whom we actually are, as well as the origin of our ideas and opinions. Something that might influence a reluctance to take decisions on our own, and if we do so – take responsibility and stand by them.

Nevertheless, there are a few brave women and men who are able to do just that. An example – in 1983, a Soviet duty officer, Stanislav Petrov, did on the early warning system detect intercontinental, nuclear missiles entering Soviet air space. He was supposed to report this to his superiors, who without doubt would have launched a nuclear counter-attack. However, Petrov used his personal reasoning and experience. The radar had only detected five missiles and there was no indication of the U.S. considering a nuclear onslaught. If it really was a nuclear attack, why use only five missiles and not stage an “all-out assault”? Petrov assumed a system failure was more likely than an actual nuclear attack. He decided not to alert anyone and thus saved the world.

With this example in mind, let me return to COVID-19 and the war in Ukraine. Social networks are excellent tools for acquiring knowledge, though at the same time they nurture tribalism and intolerance, spreading damaging beliefs by convincing people to support a common, but bad cause, while avoiding personal, well-thought-out positions. Shared beliefs are the glue of community. In a bewildering and often hostile environment we are in need of a fixed place/position. A sense of belonging makes us feel safe and protected. We are herd animals and some of us consider the defence of rigid and shared beliefs as a matter of life or death, convictions that have to be kept alive and guarded from change, far beyond fact and reason.

Take the anti-vax movement. Due to strong beliefs in vaccines’ harmfulness people are willing to put their own lives, as well as those of others, in danger and even losing jobs and friends. This in spite of a global, scientific consensus that vaccines are safe and beneficent.

Anti-vaxers might be influenced by a lack of scientific knowledge, mistrust of public authorities, insufficient confidence in health care providers, general complacency, and/or misguiding religious/ideological beliefs. Fundamentalist Christians may believe that vaccinations are instigated by the Beast and a overture to the Apocalypse. Adherents to the Waldorf Movement can apply the founder’s opinion that their children’s spirits benefit from being “tempered in the fires of a good inflammation”, while Salafists might consider vaccination campaigns as a means of Infidels to pacify the zeal of the Righteous.

Delusions are fuelled by more than a thousand web sites spreading anti-vaccine misinformation, as well as a host of books and articles clogging social media with misinformation, hindering serious information to reach people already deceived by fake news.

Vaccination campaigns have eradicated smallpox, which once killed as many as one in seven children in Europe alone. With the exception of Afghanistan, Nigeria, and Pakistan they made polio disappear from earth. Half a million children were in 2000 dying from measles, ten years later these deaths were down by eighty percent, akin to similar reductions in mortality from diphtheria, whooping cough, tetanus and bacterial meningitis.

There is a wealth of scientific proof that opposing vaccination campaigns has negative effects. An example – starting around 2008, Somali immigrants in Minneapolis were targeted by organized meetings warning for a “vaccine-autism link”, eight years later the Somali community was in the throes of a serious measles outbreak. The same happened in 2019, when the Orthodox Jewish community in New York was targeted by a campaign comparing vaccines to the Holocaust.

There is no link between vaccines and autism. In 1998, British scientist Andrew Wakefield published, in the prestigious medical journal The Lancet, research results suggesting that measles-, mumps-, and rubella vaccines caused behavioural regression and developmental disorders in children. Even if Wakefield’s findings could not be reproduced and proven right, vaccination rates began to drop. After finding that research results had been falsified, The Lancet retracted Wakefield’s article. However, by then the vaccine-autism connection had gone viral on the web. Eventually, Wakefield was barred from practising medicine in the UK and it was found that his research had been funded by lawyers engaged by parents in lawsuits against vaccine-producing companies.

Even if there is no link between vaccines and autism, there is definitely one between plagues and war. The deadly influenza pandemic in 1918 was propelled by troop movements and population shifts. Typhus follows almost every war. Armed conflicts cause malnutrition, poor pest control, sanitation problems, soil and water contamination, and destruction of medical facilities, while vaccination and other mass-treatment programmes falter, or cease.

The current, armed conflict in Yemen has caused the largest cholera outbreak in history, while the disease was absent from this country before the war. Wars in Syria and Iraq led to a resurgence of measles and polio, and the same is occurring in the war-torn Democratic Republic of Congo, the Central African Republic and South Sudan.

The Russian invasion of Ukraine has severely damaged the health care infrastructure, preventing citizens from receiving medical help. Specialist services are disrupted – HIV treatment and tuberculosis control are impacted. COVID-19 is spreading, as physical distancing are difficult to maintain in underground shelters, while vaccination efforts have been disrupted. They were already low before the invasion, with only 35 percent of Ukraine residents fully vaccinated against COVID-19. The war has also halted a Government roll-out of polio vaccination.

Considering the intimate connection between war and epidemics, a holding on to the harmfulness of vaccine campaigns, or a justification of wars of aggression, appear to be both absurd and harmful. We need to learn to discern the “full picture”, to compare and listen to different voices/various
opinions and thus avoid to be entrenched in fake and harmful convictions.

Instead of being lured into bigotry, we ought to finally understand that everything is connected, not the least misinformation, war, and disease. This means we have to make a joint effort to refrain from spreading and clinging to fake news and instead try to save our planet from the actual perils threatening it. There is only one Earth and no spare.

Main source: Hotez, Peter J. (2021) Preventing the Next Pandemic: Vaccine Diplomacy in a Time of Anti Science. Baltimore, MD: John Hopkins University Press.

IPS UN Bureau

 


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Excerpt:

Nothing is so firmly believed as what is least known.
                                                    Michel de Montaigne

Nikkiso Cryogenic Service’s Aftermarket Support Expansion

TEMECULA, Calif., July 12, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Nikkiso Cryogenic Industries' Clean Energy & Industrial Gases Group ("Group"), a part of the Nikkiso Co., Ltd (Japan) group of companies, is pleased to announce the integration of Nikkiso Cryo's aftermarket service with the Nikkiso Cryogenic Service (NCS) network.

This integration expands the scope of aftermarket service and support NCS offers to include Nikkiso Cryo and Nikkiso ACD pumps, as well as turbo expanders. They are also expanding their global footprint for the Nikkiso Cryo aftermarket by adding direct sales and field service support through each of their global facilities. The field service team will be providing overhauls and commissioning both in their centers and on–site, enabling them to provide prompt support locally and regionally.

Additionally, each of their facilities has factory trained staff providing expert knowledge of all the Nikkiso product lines. They also maintain a large spare parts inventory which enables them to provide fast delivery of equipment, minimizing costly downtime.

"With this expansion, we are looking forward to maximizing our resources and service. This will also allow us to respond more quickly to our customers' needs, providing individual support, service and solutions," according to Jim Estes, President of Nikkiso Cryogenic Service.

This integration reflects Nikkiso's continued commitment to be both a global and local presence for their customers.

ABOUT CRYOGENIC INDUSTRIES
Cryogenic Industries, Inc. (now a member of Nikkiso Co., Ltd.) member companies manufacture and service engineered cryogenic gas processing equipment (pumps, turboexpanders, heat exchangers, etc.) and process plants for Industrial Gases, and Natural Gas Liquefaction (LNG), Hydrogen Liquefaction (LH2) and Organic Rankine Cycle for Waste Heat Recovery. Founded over 50 years ago, Cryogenic Industries is the parent company of ACD, Nikkiso Cryo, Nikkiso Integrated Cryogenic Solutions, Cosmodyne and Cryoquip and a commonly controlled group of approximately 20 operating entities.

For more information, please visit www.nikkisoCEIG.com and www.nikkiso.com.

MEDIA CONTACT:
Anna Quigley
+1.951.383.3314
aquigley@cryoind.com


Food Security: We Are Still Going Backwards

Food Security - World hunger in 2021 reached 828 million people, an increase of 46 million from 2020 and 150 million since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Credit: FAO.

World hunger in 2021 reached 828 million people, an increase of 46 million from 2020 and 150 million since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Credit: FAO.

By Mario Lubetkin
ROME, Jul 13 2022 – The signs of the last few years indicate a continuous setback towards achieving food security. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations’ (FAO) annual report, “The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World (SOFI)”, prepared together with other UN agencies and presented on July 6th leaves no doubt about the dangerous situation in which we find ourselves regarding the real possibilities of eliminating hunger and poverty by 2030, as solemnly proposed by the international community in October 2015 in New York.

According to the latest SOFI data, world hunger in 2021 reached 828 million people, an increase of 46 million from 2020 and 150 million since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, showing that hunger has skyrocketed in 2020, after five years of no change or slight improvements. In 2019, the global population suffering from hunger was 8% of the world population, in 2020 it was 9.3% and in 2021 it reached 9.8%.

In 2021, nearly 2.3 billion people were moderately or severely food insecure that is, 350 million more than those who suffered from it before COVID-19. Likewise, around 924 million people, representing 11.7% of the world’s population, faced severe levels of food insecurity, a figure that increased by 207 million in just two years

Looking into the future, the report projects that at this rate, even with a global economic recovery, around 670 million people will go hungry, or 8% of the world’s population. This is the same percentage as in 2015 when more than 150 heads of state and government adopted the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to eliminate hunger and poverty worldwide by 2030!

Experts remind us that, in 2021, nearly 2.3 billion people were moderately or severely food insecure that is, 350 million more than those who suffered from it before COVID-19.

Likewise, around 924 million people, representing 11.7% of the world’s population, faced severe levels of food insecurity, a figure that increased by 207 million in just two years. Moreover, the gender gap continued to widen, with women accounting for 31.9% of these dramatic figures, while men accounted for 27.6%.

In 2020, nearly 3.1 billion people could not afford to maintain a healthy diet, 112 million more than in 2019, reflecting the consumer consequences of the effects of food price inflation stemming from the economic implications of COVID-19.

This is without calculating the impact of the war in Ukraine involving two of the world’s main producers of basic grains, oilseeds and fertilizers, and other conflicts around the world.

Clearly, this is disrupting the international supply chains and driving up the price of grains, fertilizers and energy, as well as ready-to-eat therapeutic foods for the treatment of severe malnutrition in children.

An estimated 45 million children under the age of five suffer from wasting. This is one of the deadliest forms of malnutrition that increases the risk of child mortality 12-fold. Meanwhile, 149 million children of the same age suffer from stunted growth and development due to a chronic lack of nutrients necessary for a healthy diet, and another 39 million are overweight, all aspects that will undoubtedly affect the future development of our societies.

One way to contribute to economic recovery when faced with the danger of a global recession with its direct consequences on public income and spending, is to adapt the forms of support for food and agriculture, which between 2013 and 2018 was 630,000 million dollars, and allocate them to nutritious foods where per capita consumption still falls short of the recommended levels for a healthy diet.

The SOFI report suggests that if governments were to adapt the resources they are using to encourage the production, supply and consumption of nutritious food, they would contribute to making healthy diets less expensive, more affordable and equitable for all people.

FAO, through its Director-General Qu Dongyu, insists that, in this complex situation, aggravated by war and climatic factors, investment in countries affected by rising food prices should increase, especially by supporting local production of nutritious food.

Currently, only 8% of all food security funding under emergency aid goes to support agricultural production.

In addition, information tools must be improved to enable better analysis and decision-making on food security and nutrition, in particular by using the Integrated Phase Classification (IPC), which can be a key factor in global responses to hunger.

Specialists say that policies aimed at increasing the productivity, efficiency, resilience and inclusion of agrifood systems should be promoted.

For this to happen, a financial investment equivalent to 8% of the volume of the agrifood market would be advisable, and these investments should focus on value chain infrastructure, innovation, new technologies and inclusive digital infrastructure.

Reducing food loss and waste could feed an additional 1.26 billion people a year, including enough fruit and vegetables for everyone.

In parallel, it would be advisable to ensure a better and more efficient use of available fertilizers for a better adaptation to local agricultural systems, maintaining market transparency, using tools such as the Agricultural Market Information System (AMIS), which is important for building confidence in world markets, while seeking to stabilize prices, preserving the open world trade system.

The solutions exist, but we must act before it is too late.

Excerpt:

This is an op-ed by Mario Lubetkin, FAO Assistant Director-General and designated FAO Regional Representative for Latin America and the Caribbean (1 August 2022)

ATP’s New High-Endurance, Low-Latency SD/microSD Cards Built for Dashcams, DVRs Offer Over 109K Hours of Continuous Video Recording

S650 Series in native TLC surpasses other cards with 1.6X higher endurance;
S750 Series in pSLC mode achieves 2X higher endurance

TAIPEI, Taiwan, July 12, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — ATP Electronics, the global leader in specialized storage and memory solutions, introduces its new 3D triple level cell (TLC) S750/S650 Series SD and microSD memory cards built for the rigors of non–stop video recording. They meet the high endurance, low latency, and built–to–last data storage requirements of dashcams and digital video recorders (DVRs), as well as surveillance systems, autonomous vehicles, and other write–intensive applications.

High Endurance Over 109K Hours1 of Recording Time in Native TLC
Video evidence can prove critical in many scenarios; hence, it is very important for SD/microSD cards to record non–stop without compromising image quality and integrity. The S650 Series can record Full HD videos continuously up to 109,401 hours "" far longer than similar cards marketed as "high endurance." The S650 Series is based on 5K program/erase (P/E) cycles, which translate to 1.6X higher endurance than typical memory cards with 3K P/E cycles. The S750 Series, configured as pseudo single–level cell (pSLC) is based on 60K P/E cycles, while typical pSLC memory cards are rated for around 20K to 30K P/E cycles.

The following graph2 shows the endurance simulation result of ATP S650 128 GB microSD compared with other high–endurance branded cards of the same capacity, in full HD mode.

High Endurance Maximum Recording Hours: ATP S650 vs. Other High–Endurance Cards
—————————
Notes:
1 Tested using 128 GB ATP S650 TLC card based on 13 Mbps (lowest bitrate of HD recording) in best–case/ideal scenario, with no other influencing factors.
2 Information sourced by ATP from publicly available data.

  • To record new data, the oldest data will be overwritten when the card is full.
  • 1Mbps=1,000,000 bps

Low Latency: Ready to Record in <1 Second, Writes 50% Faster
After power on, drive recorders may have to wait a few seconds to be ready for recording. The time between the first read command and the first write command from host is the “response time.” ATP S650 and S750 Series cards take less than 1 second response time while normal cards may take 7 to 12 seconds based on real tests on a DVR at room temperature.

While recording 16 MB data sequentially, ATP S650 cards take less than 0.1 second, saving 50% of writing time compared with consumer–rated cards and enabling high–speed backup without data loss.

Own HW/FW Design Features Offer Precise Reliability
As a true manufacturer with its own hardware/firmware capability, ATP can adjust to a variety of usages to fulfill customers' specific application requirements and conditions. Based on customers' applications, ATP does its best to meet the requirements by unique FW and HW design.

  • Auto–Read Calibration (ARC). Over time and with constant use, NAND flash memory cells degrade, causing voltage shifts that increase bit error rates (BER). When the normal Read Retry function is not enough to recover the errors, a more precise “Auto Read Calibration” (ARC) is applied to assure data integrity at extreme temperature or degraded NAND cells.
  • ATP Methodology for Advanced Card Analysis. ATP memory cards are IP67/IP57–certified and manufactured using System–in–Package (SiP) wafer/die process, making it difficult to do component analysis compared to SMT (surface– mount technology) process. ATP's uniquely designed substrate and debug tool make this mission “possible.”
    1. ATP–Developed Hardware Design – Substrate with reserved testing pin is available for future component analysis.
    2. Solder Mask Removal by Laser "" Precise and efficient method to remove solder mask so as to reach the reserved testing pins on the substrate.
    3. ATP's Own Customized Debug Tool – This is connected to the HW reserved testing pin and then linked to the SW analysis system.

For further information on ATP's advanced card analysis methodology, please go to: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=89Lm_eC3mSU

Specifications

SD microSD
Product Line

Premium Superior Premium Superior
S750Pi S750Sc S650Si S650Sc S750Pi S750Sc S650Si S650Sc
Interface UHS–I UHS–I UHS–I UHS–I UHS–I UHS–I UHS–I UHS–I
Flash Type 3D pSLC 3D pSLC 3D TLC 3D TLC 3D pSLC 3D pSLC 3D TLC 3D TLC
Form Factor SD Card microSD Card
Operating Temperature –40 C to 85 C –25 C to 85 C –40 C to 85 C –25 C to 85 C –40 C to 85 C –25 C to 85 C –40 C to 85 C –25 C to 85 C
Power Loss Protection Options Firmware Based Firmware Based
Capacity 8GB to 32GB 8GB to 32GB 32 GB to 128 GB 32 GB to 128 GB 8GB to 64GB 8GB to 64GB 32 GB to 256 GB 32 GB to 256 GB
Performance
Sequential Read (MB/s) up to 99 99 96 96 99 99 96 96
Sequential Write (MB/s) up to 78 78 62 62 82 82 65 65
Endurance (TBW)1 up to 1920 1920 640 640 3840 3840 1280 1280
Reliability
MTBF @ 25 C
>2,000,000 hours >2,000,000 hours >2,000,000 hours >2,000,000 hours >2,000,000 hours >2,000,000 hours >2,000,000 hours >2,000,000 hours
Reliability
Number of Insertions
20,000 (SDA spec minimum 10,000) 20,000 (SDA spec minimum 10,000)
Others
Dimensions: L x W x H (mm) 32.0 x 24.0 x 2.1 32.0 x 24.0 x 2.1 32.0 x 24.0 x 2.1 32.0 x 24.0 x 2.1 15.0 x 11.0 x 1.0 15.0 x 11.0 x 1.0 15.0 x 11.0 x 1.0 15.0 x 11.0 x 1.0
Certifications CE, FCC, UKCA, RoHS CE, FCC, UKCA, RoHS CE, FCC, UKCA, RoHS CE, FCC, UKCA, RoHS CE, FCC, UKCA, RoHS CE, FCC, UKCA, RoHS CE, FCC, UKCA, RoHS CE, FCC, UKCA, RoHS
Warranty 5 years 2 years 3 years 3 years 5 years 2 years 3 years 3 years
1 Under highest Sequential write value. May vary by density, configuration and applications.

For customers requiring application–specific features or technologies, ATP offers value–added customization services encompassing firmware and hardware as well as packaging and appearance (labels, printing and marking).

For more information on the S750/S650 Series SD/microSD cards, visit:

https://www.atpinc.com/products/industrial–sd–cards
https://www.atpinc.com/products/industrial–microsd–usd–cards

Media Contact on the Press Release: Kelly Lin (Kellylin@tw.atpinc.com)
Follow ATP Electronics on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/atp–electronics

About ATP
ATP Electronics ("ATP") has dedicated 30 years of manufacturing excellence as the premier provider of memory and NAND flash storage products for rigorous embedded/industrial/automotive applications. As the "Global Leader in Specialized Storage and Memory Solutions," ATP is known for its expertise in thermal and high–endurance solutions. ATP is committed to delivering add–on value, differentiation and best TCO for customers. A true manufacturer, ATP manages every stage of the manufacturing process to ensure quality and product longevity. ATP upholds the highest standards of corporate social responsibility by ensuring sustainable value for workers, the environment, and business throughout the global supply chain. For more information on ATP Electronics, please visit www.atpinc.com or contact us at info@atpinc.com.

Photos accompanying this announcement is available at:

https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/bba3f651–5d95–43f6–b8bb–cd7d2e1f639c

https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/1222a5e7–fcc0–4927–a482–13df5f61720e