When a river is a person: from Ecuador to New Zealand, nature gets its day in court — By Mihnea Tanasescu on The Conversation com

In the early 2000s, the idea of giving legal rights to nature was on the fringes of environmental legal theory and public consciousness . Photo: Wikipedia – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Whanganui_River.jpg Today, New Zealand’s Whanganui River is a person under domestic law, and India’s Ganges River was recently granted human rights. In Ecuador, the Constitution enshrines nature’s “right…

Videos: Record-breaking solar panels could slash power costs and How Denmark aims to run on clean energy

Solar panels that use microtracking technology to almost double the yield achieved by current sun-powered technology have been developed by a start-up offshoot of Switzerland’s EPFL. Jim Drury reports. Source: Reuters How Denmark aims to run on clean energy In Denmark, officials have taken strides to minimize the effects of climate change by converting from…

India Pakistan cricket #KhelneDo

Originally posted on Journeys to democracy:
“It’s just a game” doesn’t apply to any cricket match between India and Pakistan. But in recent years, fans have been stepping beyond national positions to support the other team even while rooting for their own, and to point out that yes, it is just a game. And that it’s…

A ‘Huge Win’ for Net Neutrality in Canada — by Andrea Germanos on Common Dreams org

Ruling against ‘zero-rating’ prevents ‘Big Telecom from exploiting data caps to pick and choose winners and losers online’ As the Trump administration moves to gut net neutrality, Canada has just taken a step in the opposite direction, strengthening the practice of making all Internet traffic treated equally. “Zero-rating is anti-competitive, bad for consumers, and harms…

Pamir Energy wins prestigious Ashden Award for bringing clean energy to East Tajikistan and North Afghanistan

London, United Kingdom, 12 June 2017 – Pamir Energy has won the 2017 International Ashden Award for Increasing Energy Access for its work bringing hydro power to 220,000 people in East Tajikistan and 35,000 people in North Afghanistan, as well as to many businesses, schools, and health centres. The Ashden Awards are a globally recognised…

Breaking News: His Highness the Aga Khan to be awarded Honorary Citizenship of Kampala, Uganda

Originally posted on Ismailimail:
His Highness the Aga Khan and His Excellency President Yoweri Museveni of Uganda lay a brick at the Nakawa site to symbolise the foundation stone-laying for the Aga Khan University Hospital. Source: theinsider.ug, http://www.observer.ug Prince Shah Karim Al Husseini Aga Khan IV, the 49th Imam of Nizari Ismailis is to be…

Aga Khan Hospital opens the first cardiac catheterisation laboratory in Mombasa’s coast area

Mombasa, Kenya, 9 June 2017 – A state-of-the-art cardiac catheterisation laboratory at the Aga Khan Hospital in Mombasa was today inaugurated by Her Excellency Margaret Kenyatta, the First Lady of the Republic of Kenya, in the presence of Princess Zahra Aga Khan and other dignitaries. HE Margaret Kenyatta, First Lady of the Republic of Kenya,…

When Clean Energy Gets Dirty: Experiences from Kenya — By Ikal Ange’elei on Heinrich-Boell Foundation

Renewable energy has become an important part of the global energy mix. This can be celebrated as a great achievement in the fight against climate change, but difficult questions still need to be asked about its squeaky-clean image. The current discourse on renewable energy tends to centre on the positive reduction of greenhouse gas emissions…

Aga Khan Academies worldwide |18 schools in 14 countries to develop future leaders with the skills and knowledge to support positive development in their societies

The network of Aga Khan Academies will eventually form an integrated global learning community of about 18 schools in 14 countries (see a map), serving approximately 14,000 girls and boys of exceptional calibre and graduating 1,500 students annually. The Aga Khan Academy, Mombasa-AKDN / Gary Otte The Aga Khan Academy, Hyderabad. | AKDN / Gary…

G20 Africa Partnership Conference: Investing in a common future | Plan to explore new investment opportunities on the African continent

Many countries in Africa are already strong political and economic partners of the G20. The world’s leading economies want to use a conference being held under Germany’s G20 Presidency to explore new options for boosting sustainable economic growth, investment and stability in Africa. The G20 Africa Partnership aims to promote the use of renewable energies…

Ashden Awards winner:Pamir Energy / Bringing power to the people of Tajikistan and Afghanistan

The first public-private partnership in Tajikistan, Pamir Energy has so far restored 11 small hydro power plants and upgraded 4300km of old transmission and distribution facilities in East Tajikistan. As a result, 96% of households there, some 200,000 people, now have access to clean, reliable and affordable electricity. More recently, communities across the border in…

Video: 25 years studying the Big Bang’s afterglow

This week marks the 25th anniversary of a Nobel Prize winning discovery: the first image of the cosmic microwave background. This image showed the world what the universe looked like shortly after the big bang, and transformed cosmology. Reporter Davide Castelvecchi asks Nobel Laureate John Mather how the iconic image was taken, and investigates what…

The loss of Madagascar’s unique palm trees will devastate ecosystems — By Mijoro Rakotoarinivo on The Conversation com

Madagascar is a crucial diversity hot spot for palm tree species. 98% of the currently 204 known species do not occur anywhere else. This high diversity is because the island – and its palms – had a long period of isolation following the break up of the ancient super continent of Gondwana. The humid northeastern…

Tajik Ismaili Artists: Saqi-e Bawafa Manam

Originally posted on Ismailimail:
? I am the trusted cup-bearer: With every breath Aly Aly I am a Sufi, pure at heart: With every breath Aly Aly For Aly, dear to God, I burn with love: With every breath Aly Aly I am swept with secret melody: With every breath Aly Aly You are Adam…

Ocean Atlas: Understanding the threats to our marine ecosystems — Heinrich Boell Foundation de |Many graphics and PDF Versions | Under a Creative Commons License CC BY 4.0.

Territorially speaking, the high seas belong to no one – and so when it comes to exploitation, they belong to everyone. MANKIND AND THE SEAS The ocean covers more than two-thirds of our planet’s surface. It is rich in resources and provides us with food, energy, and minerals. Oceans are important transportation routes and crucial…

“Water, after all, has been seen, down through the ages, as the great source of life” — His Highness the Aga Khan on the opening of the Global Centre for Pluralism in Ottawa, Canada

His Highness the Aga Khan delivers his remarks at the inauguration of the international headquarters of the Global Centre of Pluralism. –AKDN / Moez Visram … When I first visited this site, I went across the Ottawa River, to see things from the opposite side.  From that perspective, I noticed that many buildings on the…

Germany: Young people provide impetus for G20 summit |70 young people and young adults from the G20 states met here

YOUTH20 SUMMIT Fair global trade, more climate action and effective implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals laid out in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development – that is what young people from more than 20 nations have called for at the Youth20 summit. They presented their recommendations for the G20 summit in Hamburg to Chancellor…

Tajikistan: Each year, the Aga Khan Lyceum in Khorog educates over 950 students — Asia Plus

Established in 1998, the Aga Khan Lyceum is the first privately operated school in the Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Region (GBAO).The Lyceum is built on the premises of the former School #3 (named after Kirov), a school with a distinguished history in Gorno Badakhshan Autonomous Region.   Each year, the Lyceum educates over 950 students from Grades…

Tanzania: Aga Khan Hospital opens new State-of-the-Art Laboratory and Low Cost Inpatient Unit | AKDN provide health services in Tanzania to nearly 400,000 people a year through its hospital, health centers

Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, 8 June 2017 – Princess Zahra Aga Khan and Dr. Dorothy Gwajima, Acting Director of Curative Services at the Ministry of Health, Community Development, Gender, Elderly and Children today jointly opened a new state-of-the-art laboratory and a low cost inpatient unit at the Aga Khan Hospital in Dar es Salaam. Additional…

WEBCAST: Growing Gains – Advancing Early Childhood Development — Aga Khan Foundation, Canada

By the time you finish reading this sentence, a newborn baby’s brain will form thousands of new neural connections. This newborn’s mind and those of the next generation are crucial to the future of our planet, shaping and building what comes next for the global community. With the right support in the early years of…