World Book and Copyright Day 2013, April 23

°Día Mundial del Libro y del Derecho de Autor, 23 de abril
° Всемирный день книги и авторского права, 23 апреля
° Journée Mondiale du livre et du droit d'auteur,  23 Avril
°World Book and Copyright Day, 23 April
° 世界书籍与版权日, 4月23日
° اليوم العالمي للكتاب وحقوق المؤلف

Message of Irina Bokova, Director General for World Book and Copyright Day 2013

 UNESCO has celebrated World Book and Copyright Day on 23 April for 17 years now. UNESCO Member States around the world celebrate the power of books to bring us together and transmit the culture of peoples and their dreams of a better future. This day provides an opportunity to reflect together on ways to better disseminate the culture of the written word and to allow all individuals, men, women and children to access it, through literacy programmes and support for careers in publishing, book shops, libraries and schools. Books are our allies in spreading education, science, culture and information worldwide. The city of Bangkok has been designated “World Book Capital 2013” in recognition of its programme to promote reading among young people and underprivileged sections of the population.

This is a source of inspiration in our collective efforts to promote editorial diversity, and to protect intellectual property and equitable access to the wealth of books. UNESCO is committed to this work in the spirit of the Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions, along with all its partners, including the International Publishers Association, the International Booksellers' Federation and the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions. This day also calls us to reflect on the changes in books over the long term and the intangible values that should guide us. Digital books offer new opportunities for access to knowledge, at reduced costs and over wide geographical areas. Traditional books are still powerful technology: failsafe, portable and standing the test of time. All forms of books make a valuable contribution to education and the dissemination of culture and information. The diversity of books and editorial content is a source of enrichment that we must support through appropriate public policies and protect from uniformity. This bibliodiversity is our common wealth, making books much more than a physical object, for they are our most beautiful invention for sharing ideas beyond the boundaries of space and time.

SOURCE :   

UNESCO:

• World Book and Copyright Day
• Books and Reading
• Copyright
• One of the most important achievements was the introduction of the universal copyright symbol © at the UNESCO-organized conference at which the Universal Copyright Convention was adopted.
• Text of the Universal Copyright Convention as revised at Paris on 24 July 1971
• Protection of Folklore
• UN Literacy Decade 2003 - 2012

World Intellectual Property Organization

• Copyright and Related Rights
• E-Commerce and Copyright
• Intellectual Property Digital Library
• Information Meeting on Educational Content and Copyright in the Digital Age (2005 : Geneva)
• WIPO Copyright Treaty
• Patentscope Database

United Nations

• UN Bookshop
CyberSchoolBus - Bookstore
• UN Education Portal
   

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES:

The additional resources links on this page are provided for information purposes only and do not necessarily represent an endorsement by the United Nations.
 
Centro Regional para el Fomento del Libro en América Latina y el Caribe
Commonwealth of Learning
Copyright Research and Information Center (Japan)
EUCLID International
European Bureau of Library, Information and Documentation Associations
European Publishers Council
Intellectual Property Watch
International Board on Books for Young People
International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions
International ISBN Agency
International Publishers Association
International Reading Association
United States Copyright Office

This is a source of inspiration in our collective efforts to promote editorial diversity, and to protect intellectual property and equitable access to the wealth of books.

UNESCO is committed to this work in the spirit of the Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions, along with all its partners, including the International Publishers Association, the International Booksellers' Federation and the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions.

This day also calls us to reflect on the changes in books over the long term and the intangible values that should guide us. Digital books offer new opportunities for access to knowledge, at reduced costs and over wide geographical areas. Traditional books are still powerful technology: failsafe, portable and standing the test of time. All forms of books make a valuable contribution to education and the dissemination of culture and information. The diversity of books and editorial content is a source of enrichment that we must support through appropriate public policies and protect from uniformity. This bibliodiversity is our common wealth, making books much more than a physical object, for they are our most beautiful invention for sharing ideas beyond the boundaries of space and time.

 

Message of Irina Bokova, Director General for World Book and Copyright Day 2013

UNESCO has celebrated World Book and Copyright Day on 23 April for 17 years now. UNESCO Member States around the world celebrate the power of books to bring us together and transmit the culture of peoples and their dreams of a better future.

This day provides an opportunity to reflect together on ways to better disseminate the culture of the written word and to allow all individuals, men, women and children to access it, through literacy programmes and support for careers in publishing, book shops, libraries and schools. Books are our allies in spreading education, science, culture and information worldwide.

The city of Bangkok has been designated “World Book Capital 2013” in recognition of its programme to promote reading among young people and underprivileged sections of the population.

- See more at: http://www.unesco.org/new/en/unesco/events/prizes-and-celebrations/celebrations/international-days/world-book-and-copyright-day-2013/#sthash.NyV1vECK.dpuf

Message of Irina Bokova, Director General for World Book and Copyright Day 2013

UNESCO has celebrated World Book and Copyright Day on 23 April for 17 years now. UNESCO Member States around the world celebrate the power of books to bring us together and transmit the culture of peoples and their dreams of a better future.

This day provides an opportunity to reflect together on ways to better disseminate the culture of the written word and to allow all individuals, men, women and children to access it, through literacy programmes and support for careers in publishing, book shops, libraries and schools. Books are our allies in spreading education, science, culture and information worldwide.

The city of Bangkok has been designated “World Book Capital 2013” in recognition of its programme to promote reading among young people and underprivileged sections of the population.

Thai manuscript, 19th century © Bavarian State Library in Munich, Germany

This is a source of inspiration in our collective efforts to promote editorial diversity, and to protect intellectual property and equitable access to the wealth of books.

UNESCO is committed to this work in the spirit of the Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions, along with all its partners, including the International Publishers Association, the International Booksellers' Federation and the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions.

This day also calls us to reflect on the changes in books over the long term and the intangible values that should guide us. Digital books offer new opportunities for access to knowledge, at reduced costs and over wide geographical areas. Traditional books are still powerful technology: failsafe, portable and standing the test of time. All forms of books make a valuable contribution to education and the dissemination of culture and information. The diversity of books and editorial content is a source of enrichment that we must support through appropriate public policies and protect from uniformity. This bibliodiversity is our common wealth, making books much more than a physical object, for they are our most beautiful invention for sharing ideas beyond the boundaries of space and time.

- See more at: http://www.unesco.org/new/en/unesco/events/prizes-and-celebrations/celebrations/international-days/world-book-and-copyright-day-2013/#sthash.NyV1vECK.dpuf

Message of Irina Bokova, Director General for World Book and Copyright Day 2013

UNESCO has celebrated World Book and Copyright Day on 23 April for 17 years now. UNESCO Member States around the world celebrate the power of books to bring us together and transmit the culture of peoples and their dreams of a better future.

This day provides an opportunity to reflect together on ways to better disseminate the culture of the written word and to allow all individuals, men, women and children to access it, through literacy programmes and support for careers in publishing, book shops, libraries and schools. Books are our allies in spreading education, science, culture and information worldwide.

The city of Bangkok has been designated “World Book Capital 2013” in recognition of its programme to promote reading among young people and underprivileged sections of the population.

Thai manuscript, 19th century © Bavarian State Library in Munich, Germany

This is a source of inspiration in our collective efforts to promote editorial diversity, and to protect intellectual property and equitable access to the wealth of books.

UNESCO is committed to this work in the spirit of the Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions, along with all its partners, including the International Publishers Association, the International Booksellers' Federation and the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions.

This day also calls us to reflect on the changes in books over the long term and the intangible values that should guide us. Digital books offer new opportunities for access to knowledge, at reduced costs and over wide geographical areas. Traditional books are still powerful technology: failsafe, portable and standing the test of time. All forms of books make a valuable contribution to education and the dissemination of culture and information. The diversity of books and editorial content is a source of enrichment that we must support through appropriate public policies and protect from uniformity. This bibliodiversity is our common wealth, making books much more than a physical object, for they are our most beautiful invention for sharing ideas beyond the boundaries of space and time.

- See more at: http://www.unesco.org/new/en/unesco/events/prizes-and-celebrations/celebrations/international-days/world-book-and-copyright-day-2013/#sthash.NyV1vECK.dpuf

Message of Irina Bokova, Director General for World Book and Copyright Day 2013

UNESCO has celebrated World Book and Copyright Day on 23 April for 17 years now. UNESCO Member States around the world celebrate the power of books to bring us together and transmit the culture of peoples and their dreams of a better future.

This day provides an opportunity to reflect together on ways to better disseminate the culture of the written word and to allow all individuals, men, women and children to access it, through literacy programmes and support for careers in publishing, book shops, libraries and schools. Books are our allies in spreading education, science, culture and information worldwide.

The city of Bangkok has been designated “World Book Capital 2013” in recognition of its programme to promote reading among young people and underprivileged sections of the population.

Thai manuscript, 19th century © Bavarian State Library in Munich, Germany

This is a source of inspiration in our collective efforts to promote editorial diversity, and to protect intellectual property and equitable access to the wealth of books.

UNESCO is committed to this work in the spirit of the Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions, along with all its partners, including the International Publishers Association, the International Booksellers' Federation and the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions.

This day also calls us to reflect on the changes in books over the long term and the intangible values that should guide us. Digital books offer new opportunities for access to knowledge, at reduced costs and over wide geographical areas. Traditional books are still powerful technology: failsafe, portable and standing the test of time. All forms of books make a valuable contribution to education and the dissemination of culture and information. The diversity of books and editorial content is a source of enrichment that we must support through appropriate public policies and protect from uniformity. This bibliodiversity is our common wealth, making books much more than a physical object, for they are our most beautiful invention for sharing ideas beyond the boundaries of space and time.

- See more at: http://www.unesco.org/new/en/unesco/events/prizes-and-celebrations/celebrations/international-days/world-book-and-copyright-day-2013/#sthash.NyV1vECK.dpuf

Message of Irina Bokova, Director General for World Book and Copyright Day 2013

UNESCO has celebrated World Book and Copyright Day on 23 April for 17 years now. UNESCO Member States around the world celebrate the power of books to bring us together and transmit the culture of peoples and their dreams of a better future.

This day provides an opportunity to reflect together on ways to better disseminate the culture of the written word and to allow all individuals, men, women and children to access it, through literacy programmes and support for careers in publishing, book shops, libraries and schools. Books are our allies in spreading education, science, culture and information worldwide.

The city of Bangkok has been designated “World Book Capital 2013” in recognition of its programme to promote reading among young people and underprivileged sections of the population.

Thai manuscript, 19th century © Bavarian State Library in Munich, Germany

This is a source of inspiration in our collective efforts to promote editorial diversity, and to protect intellectual property and equitable access to the wealth of books.

UNESCO is committed to this work in the spirit of the Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions, along with all its partners, including the International Publishers Association, the International Booksellers' Federation and the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions.

This day also calls us to reflect on the changes in books over the long term and the intangible values that should guide us. Digital books offer new opportunities for access to knowledge, at reduced costs and over wide geographical areas. Traditional books are still powerful technology: failsafe, portable and standing the test of time. All forms of books make a valuable contribution to education and the dissemination of culture and information. The diversity of books and editorial content is a source of enrichment that we must support through appropriate public policies and protect from uniformity. This bibliodiversity is our common wealth, making books much more than a physical object, for they are our most beautiful invention for sharing ideas beyond the boundaries of space and time.

- See more at: http://www.unesco.org/new/en/unesco/events/prizes-and-celebrations/celebrations/international-days/world-book-and-copyright-day-2013/#sthash.NyV1vECK.dpuf

  World Book and Copyright Day

23 April

---

23 April is a symbolic date for world literature for on this date in 1616, Cervantes, Shakespeare and Inca Garcilaso de la Vega all died. It is also the date of birth or death of other prominent authors such as Maurice Druon, Haldor K.Laxness, Vladimir Nabokov, Josep Pla and Manuel Mejía Vallejo.  It was a natural choice for UNESCO's General Conference, held in Paris in 1995, to pay a world-wide tribute to books and authors on this date, encouraging everyone, and in particular young people, to discover the pleasure of reading and gain a renewed respect for the irreplaceable contributions of those who have furthered the social and cultural progress of humanity. In this respect, UNESCO created both the World Book and Copyright Day and the UNESCO Prize for Children's and Young People's Literature in the Service of Tolerance.

Links to UN and UN System sites:  UNESCO:

• World Book and Copyright Day
• Books and Reading
• Copyright
• One of the most important achievements was the introduction of the universal copyright symbol © at the UNESCO-organized conference at which the Universal Copyright Convention was adopted.
• Text of the Universal Copyright Convention as revised at Paris on 24 July 1971
• Protection of Folklore
• UN Literacy Decade 2003 - 2012

World Intellectual Property Organization

• Copyright and Related Rights
• E-Commerce and Copyright
• Intellectual Property Digital Library
• Information Meeting on Educational Content and Copyright in the Digital Age (2005 : Geneva)
• WIPO Copyright Treaty
• Patentscope Database

United Nations

• UN Bookshop
• CyberSchoolBus - Bookstore
• UN Education Portal
  
  ADDITIONAL RESOURCES:

The additional resources links on this page are provided for information purposes only and do not necessarily represent an endorsement by the United Nations.
Centro Regional para el Fomento del Libro en América Latina y el Caribe
Commonwealth of Learning
Copyright Research and Information Center (Japan)
EUCLID International
European Bureau of Library, Information and Documentation Associations
European Publishers Council
Intellectual Property Watch
International Board on Books for Young People
International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions
International ISBN Agency
International Publishers Association
International Reading Association
United States Copyright Office

" The Face of Climate Change" H.E. Mr. Ban Ki-moon on International Mother Earth Day 2013 , April 22

°Día Internacional de la Madre Tierra, 22 de abril
°Международный день Матери-Земли,22 апреля
°Journée internationale de la Terre nourricière, 22 avril
° International Mother Earth Day, 22 April
° 国际地球母亲日, 4月22日

 °اليوم الدولي لأمنا الأرض

 

Message of the United Nations Secretary-General for 2013

International Mother Earth Day is a chance to reaffirm our collective responsibility to promote harmony with nature at a time when our planet is under threat from climate change, unsustainable exploitation of natural resources and other man-made problems.
When we threaten the planet, we undermine our only home – and our future survival. On this International Day, let us renew our Pledges to honour and respect Mother Earth. 

Ban Ki-moon


Resource : CNN meteorologist Jenny Harrison discusses how Climate change is disrupting Weather Patterns around the world.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon briefed the press at UN Headquarters.

17 Apr 2013 - Ahead of talks with the World Bank, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon briefed the press at UN Headquarters.

Ahead of talks with World Bank, Ban briefs press at UN Headquarters

 

 

World Bank Headquarters, Washington DC. 

Photo: World Bank/Simone D. McCourte

 Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon briefed correspondents in New York today on a range of issues before beginning two days of top-level meetings in Washington tomorrow aimed at stepping up cooperation between the United Nations and the World Bank, the institution dedicated to providing financial and technical aid to developing countries around the world. The talks with the World Bank will focus on four main areas, he said – education, climate change and sustainable energy, poverty, and the role of development banks. “First is education: one of the smartest investments we can make in the world’s future well-being,” Mr. Ban said, while calling the second issue, climate change and sustainable energy, a crisis in the making, with sustainable energy a major part of any solution. On poverty, he noted that “remarkable progress” has been achieved towards attaining the anti-poverty Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by their target date of 2015 but much remains to do be done in the final 1,000-day lap “and we must make this period one of action.”

The MDGs, adopted by the UN Millennium Summit of 2000, seek to slash a host of social evils, including extreme poverty and hunger, diseases and lack of access to health care and universal primary education, all by 2015.
On the development, Mr. Ban noted that for the first time he will be meeting meet the heads of all the world’s leading development banks “to strengthen our partnership on financing and in the key area of statistics.”
He noted that his meetings will coincide with the spring meetings of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund with presidents, prime ministers, finance ministers and others in attendance “that we hope to turn into high-level political support for the Millennium Development Goals.”

Mr. Ban will be accompanied by Deputy Secretary-General Jan Eliasson who “will use his time to highlight the crucial issues of sanitation and the rule of law.”

The 188-member country World Bank, established in 1944 and headquartered in Washington, comprises two institutions managed by 188 member countries: the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) and the International Development Association (IDA).

The IBRD aims to reduce poverty in middle-income and creditworthy poorer countries, while IDA focuses exclusively on the world’s poorest countries.

WORLD ECONOMIC OUTLOOK 2013 - Hope, Reality and Risks

World Economic and Financial Surveys :

World Economic Outlook (WEO) "Hopes, Realities, and Risks"

April 2013 : Global economic prospects have improved again, but the bumpy recovery and skewed macroeconomic policy mix in advanced economies are complicating policymaking in emerging market economies. 

Chapter 3 examines the prospects for inflation, particularly because inflation was remarkably stable in the wake of the Great Recession and, in fact, has become less responsive to cyclical conditions. 

Chapter 4 examines whether today’s fast-growing, dynamic low-income countries are likely to maintain their momentum and avoid the reversals that afflicted many such countries in the past.

Contents & Front Matter

Assumptions and Conventions

Further Information and Data

Preface

Foreword

Executive Summary

 

 

 

 Chapter 1: Global Prospects and Policies - International Monetary Fund

• Full Text

 

Chapter 2: Country and Regional Perspectives

• Full Text

Chapter 3: The Dog That Didn't Bark: Has Inflation Been Muzzled or Was It Just Sleeping?

 This chapter finds that inflation expectations have remained strongly anchored to inflation targets during the Great Recession and the sluggish recovery. Long-term inflation expectations in advanced economies remain close to targets despite wide variation in actual inflation rates. Even in Japan, expectations remain close to the 1 percent target announced in February 2012 despite a prolonged period of deflation. Furthermore, coincident with greater central bank credibility, this anchoring is found to have increased over time

• Full Text |   Press Points

Chapter 4: Breaking through the Frontier: Can Today's Dynamic Low-Income Countries Make It?

The chapter compares this recent wave of dynamic LICs with the previous wave, primarily dynamic LICs in the 1960s and 1970s, and finds: Important similarities: Both achieved stronger investment rates and export growth than LICs that were unable to takeoff. Striking differences: Today’s dynamic LICs sustained growth with much lower economic vulnerabilities than dynamic LICs in the past. This reflects in part greater reliance on foreign direct investment than on debt-financed investment, as well as faster implementation of structural reforms.

• Full Text   |   Press points

 

 

Annex : IMF Executive Board Discussion of the Outlook, April 2013

Statistical Appendix  : Text (Download PDF)

Global Financial Stability Report 2013 - International Monetary Fund

World Economic and Financial Surveys :

Global Financial Stability Report "Old Risks, New Challenges"

The April 2013: The Global Financial Stability Report examines current risks facing the global financial system and policy actions that may mitigate these. The April 2013 report analyzes the key challenges facing financial and nonfinancial firms as they continue to repair their balance sheets and unwind public and private debt overhangs. 

Chapter 1 also examines short- and medium-term stability risks in the euro area and the vulnerability of emerging market economies to persistent capital inflows. 

Chapter 2 takes a closer look at whether sovereign credit default swaps markets are good indicators of sovereign credit risk. 

Chapter 3 reports on unconventional monetary policy in some depth, including the policies pursued by the Federal Reserve, the Bank of England, the Bank of Japan, the European Central Bank, and the U.S. Federal Reserve. 

 Contents & Front Matter :

Executive Summary

Preface

Chapter 1. Acute Risks Reduced: Actions Needed to Entrench Financial Stability
 

 This chapter examines current risks facing the global financial system and policy actions that may mitigate these. Risks to financial stability have declined since the October 2012 report, reflecting deeper policy commitments, renewed monetary stimulus, and continued liquidity support. This April 2013 report analyzes the key challenges facing financial and nonfinancial firms as they continue to repair their balance sheets and unwind debt overhangs, and examines the work that lies ahead to address structural challenges in the euro area. The report also looks at the potential risk to financial stability of persistent or accelerating capital flows to emerging market economies.

• Full Text - Chap 1

Chapter 2. A New Look at the Role of Sovereign Credit Default Swaps 

Examines whether sovereign credit default swaps (SCDS) are good market indicators of sovereign credit risk, and finds that many of the negative perceptions surrounding their impact on financial stability are unfounded: SCDS markets do not appear to be more prone to high volatility than other financial markets. The results of the analysis do not support the need for a ban on “naked” SCDS protection buying, which went into effect in the European Union in November 2012.

• Full Text - Chap 2   |  Survey Article 

Chapter 3. Do Central Bank Policies Since the Crisis Carry Risks to Financial Stability?


 

Investigates the monetary policies pursued by four central banks (the Federal Reserve, Bank of England, European Central Bank, and Bank of Japan), including prolonged periods of low real policy interest rates and unconventional measures, including asset purchases. The policies appear to have lessened banking sector vulnerabilities and contributed to financial stability in the short term. However, policymakers should be alert to the possibility that risks may rise the longer these policies are maintained. Though not failsafe, targeted micro- and macroprudential tools should be used to mitigate risks while allowing greater leeway for monetary policy to support the macroeconomy. 

 Full Text - Chap 3  |  Survey Article

Statistical Appendix : Statistical Appendix : Full Text

WATER ISSUES AROUND THE WORLD

Where to Look for Success with Water ?

 As part of Bloomberg Businessweek's Fix This franchise, Chief Content Officer Norman Pearlstine sits with a panel of leading experts to discuss ways in which they are meeting the global water challenge.

Special Report

• Fix This/Water
  
• Full Streams, Parched Nations
  
• How the Experts Would Fix the Water Supply
  
• Fix This
  
• Fix This: Meeting the Global Water Challenge
  
• Fix This: Water and the Infrastructure Challenge
  
• Fix This: Water and the Challenge of Jurisdiction
  
• Fix This: Water and International Quality Control
  
• Fix This: Water and the Issue of Hydro-Fracking
  
• Fix This: Water and the Cost of Future Technology
  
• Fix This: The Future Pricing of Water
  
• Fix This: Where to Look for Success with Water
  

   

  Water Quality: An Ignored Global Crisis

  As we mark World Water Day on March 22, it is appropriate to reflect on why a critical problem such as water pollution has disappeared from the global agenda and what that means for our future.

  Ignored for decades, water pollution has increased in both developed and developing countries, undermining economic growth as well as the physical and environmental health and quality of life for billions of people.
  
  The U.S., Canada, and some European countries have made considerable progress in controlling water pollution from domestic and industrial sources. However, much still needs to be done.
  Take the case of London. Its 21,000-kilometer sewer network was a marvel of the Victorian age when it was constructed. The system ensured that water-borne diseases like cholera disappeared. It also relieved the city of unpleasant smells and significantly improved the overall living conditions.
  Some 150 years later, the situation has dramatically changed because of increasing population and lack of investment by successive governments to improve London’s sewage system. Today, when there are 2 millimeters or more of rain in an hour, untreated raw sewage flows into the River Thames. This happens on average once a week. Each year, some 30 million tonnes of raw sewage are discharged into the River Thames.
  
  In America, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimates that 850 billion gallons of untreated discharges flow into water bodies annually, contributing to over 7 million illnesses each year. When there are heavy rains in Washington, D.C., untreated sewage flows into the Anacostia and Potomac rivers. Under a federal consent decree, the nation’s capital will spend $2.6 billion to fix the problem—the city’s largest investment since the Metro was constructed.
  The Congressional Budget Office estimates that investments in drinking water and wastewater systems over the 20-year period from 2000-2019, including operation and maintenance costs, are likely to be on the order of $1.41 trillion to $1.96 trillion. Given that society pays the costs of water services either through ratepayers’ bills or federal, state, or local taxes, it remains to be seen whether the U.S. will have the political will to draw attention to this issue and spend the required resources under the current economic and political conditions.
  
  The situation is much worse in developing countries. The Third World Centre for Water Management estimates that only about 10 percent to 12 percent of wastewater in Latin America is properly treated. Mexico City, for example, “exports” its untreated wastewater to the Mezquital Valley. While the local farmers value this because the water increases crop yields, the wastewater is heavily contaminated with pathogens and toxic chemicals, representing a serious health risk for both farmers and consumers of the agricultural products grown in this area. In India, major cities discharge untreated wastewater into the bodies of water that serve as their drinking water. Delhi, for example, discharges wastewater directly into the Yamuna River—the source of drinking water for some 57 million people.
  Even in cities with good wastewater treatment systems, an emerging issue is the presence of man-made substances in our water supply. Increasing use of pharmaceuticals and personal care products has meant that chemicals or “contaminants of emerging concern” have been discovered in water with unknown effects for human and environmental health. An alarming find is intersex fish with both male and female characteristics in a growing number of streams in North America, Western Europe, and Japan immediately below the wastewater treatment plants. We do not know how these contaminants will affect people.
  
  To begin reversing water-quality deterioration on a global level, institutions that can implement the existing and required laws and regulations to solve this extensive problem are desperately needed. Equally important is to convince the general public, as well as politicians, that over a long-term basis it is more cost-effective for a society to live in a clean environment compared with a polluted one. Until and unless the public demands unpolluted waters, it will not be possible to obtain the huge investment that will be needed to improve the quality of our water.
  Water quality is a serious concern in nearly all countries. It is estimated that the total cost of this neglect is already around 3 percent to 5 percent of GDP in certain countries. It is time world leaders recognize the enormity of this problem and start taking the necessary actions.
  Tortajada is president of the Third World Centre for Water Management and past president of the International Water Resources Association. She is co-author of Singapore Water Story: Sustainable Development in an Urban City State. Biswas is the founder of the Third World Centre for Water Management and a distinguished visiting professor at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, Singapore. He is co-author of Singapore Water Story: Sustainable Development in an Urban City State.

International Day of Human Space Flight 2013

载人空间飞行国际日- 4月12日
 International Day of Human Space Flight- 12 April
 Journée internationale du vol spatial habité  - 12 avril
 Международный день полета человека в космос- 12 апреля
Día Internacional de los Vuelos Espaciales Tripulados - 12 de abril

 اليوم الدولي للرحلة البشرية إلى الفضاء

The General Assembly, in its resolution A/RES/65/271 of 7 April 2011, declared 12 April as the International Day of Human Space Flight “to celebrate each year at the international level the beginning of the space era for mankind, reaffirming the important contribution of space science and technology in achieving sustainable development goals and increasing the well-being of States and peoples, as well as ensuring the realization of their aspiration to maintain outer space for peaceful purposes.”

12 April 1961 was the date of the first human space flight, carried out by Yuri Gagarin, a Soviet citizen. This historic event opened the way for space exploration for the benefit of all humanity.
The General Assembly expressed its deep conviction of the common interest of mankind in promoting and expanding the exploration and use of outer space, as the province of all mankind, for peaceful purposes and in continuing efforts to extend to all States the benefits derived there from.

Russian Space Program (factsheet via ModernRussia.com) by ModernRussia

50th Anniversary of the First Human Space Flight
108 Minutes That Shook the World

          52 years ago, on April 12, traveled around the world TASS, beginning with the words: "April 12, 1961 the Soviet Union launched into Earth orbit by the world's first satellite spacecraft" Vostok "with a man on board. Pilot-astronaut spacecraft-satellite "East" is a citizen of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, the pilot, Major Yuri Gagarin. "

          Here's what he wrote about Yuri Gagarin Commission August 23, 1960, to certify future astronauts: "Entitled infinite composure. Coaching moves easily, is working efficiently. Developed a very harmonious. Candor ... Intellectual development is high. Excellent memory. Stands out among his colleagues a broad measure of active attention, intelligence, quick reactions. Diligent. Well prepared for classes and training. Confidently manipulating formulas of celestial mechanics and higher mathematics. Do not hesitate to defend a point of view which considers correct. It seems that he knows life is more than some of his friends. "

          The materials Tass on the preparation for the flight said that "the first space flight could take only a man who, conscious of the great responsibility entrusted to him the task, knowingly and voluntarily agreed to give up all his strength and knowledge, and can be, and life for the commission of that outstanding feat. "

          108 minutes lasted first space flight. In these days when space expeditions are made many months, he seems to be very short. But each of these opening minutes was unknown. Yuri Gagarin's flight proved that man can live and work in space.

          Eminent scientist, designer, spacecraft Academician Sergei Korolev, whose name is associated development of mankind space era, said: "Gagarin proved what a person - on the biggest. He opened the way for the people of Earth into an unknown world. But is it? I think, Gagarin did more - he gave people confidence in their own strength, their capabilities, gave impetus to walk confidently, boldly ... This - Promethean act. "

          According to the American astronaut Neil Armstrong, Yuri Gagarin "called us all into space."

          April 9, 1962 in commemoration of the world's first manned space flight signed a decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics on the celebration of the Day of Cosmonautics.

          Later, according to the protocol of the 61st General Conference of the International Aeronautical Federation, held in November 1968 and the decision of the International Aeronautical Federation, adopted by the thirtieth April 1969, on the proposal of the Federation of Sports aviation festival gained international importance and became known - the World Day of Aviation and Cosmonautics .

          A half-century later, April 7, 2011 at a special plenary session of the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution officially proclaimed April 12 the International Day of Human Space Flight. Co-authors of the resolution were more than 60 states.

          Today, in many cities of the Russian Federation, as well as in several countries, the celebrations will be dedicated to this event. In the rocket and space industry Russia's Baikonur cosmodrome and the International Space Station today will remember the events of more than half a century ago, to remember the people, the dream of those who paved the way for humanity in space.
 

Source: federalspace.ru via Christina on Pinterest