DR Congo: amid alleged army atrocities, UN cites civilian protection as top priority

The top priority for the United Nations peacekeeping mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is the protection of civilians from abuse, be it from the Government forces that it is mandated to support or armed rebel groups, a senior official said today.

Post-Courier’s ‘aliens’ story condemned as fabrication

UN war crimes tribunal reduces sentence of convicted former Bosnian Serb general

The Appeals Chamber of the United Nations tribunal set up to deal with the worst crimes committed during the Balkan wars of the 1990s today cut four years off the 33-year sentence imposed on a former Bosnian Serb army general who commanded much of the siege of Sarajevo.

Today on New Scientist: 12 November 2009

Today’s stories on newscientist.com, at a glance, including: the quest to tag the tigers of the sea, the promise and perils of solar sailing, and the peeriodic table of illusions

UNICEF urges immediate action to tackle food shortages in Southern Sudan

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has called for greater efforts to prevent the food shortages in parts of Southern Sudan, caused by poor rains and made worse by insecurity, from escalating into a deeper crisis.

Tens of thousands of Somali women and children benefit from UN health initiative

At least 83,000 Somali children and women benefited from the Child Health Days Campaign carried out with United Nations support in the Afgooye corridor, which hosts displaced people who fled their homes owing to the violence in the capital, Mogadishu.

Maternal mortality in Eastern Europe, Central Asia halved but still high - UN report

The number of women in Eastern Europe and Central Asia dying from complications in childbirth and pregnancy has been slashed by more than half over the last 10 years, participants at a high-level United Nations gathering in Istanbul heard today.

Electric cars ‘may not cut CO2 emissions or oil dependency’

Home Staff

A switch to electric cars may not necessarily reduce CO2 emissions or dependence on oil, a report for the Environmental Transport Association claims.
It was unlikely that electric vehicles would account for more than 25 per cent of new sales by 2050, it added.
There were significant potential environmental benefits to be had from a switch to electric vehicles, but these were entirely dependent on changes in the way that electricity was generated and energy was taxed.
Under the EU emissions trading system electric cars were likely to result in higher overall CO2 emissions, the report said

Cloud Over India’s Solar Power Plans

By SUNIL RAGHU
NEW DELHI — India is betting big on abundant sunshine to feed its growing power needs, but funding costs and feeble solar panel manufacturing capacity are clouding its ambitions to harness the non-fossil fuel.
In July 2009, India unveiled a $19 billion plan to produce 20 GW of solar power by 2020, with this increasing to 100 GW by 2030 and 200 GW by 2050.
It’s a hugely ambitious project–solar now accounts for only a tiny proportion of India’s energy mix. The need for more capacity is clear–apart from environmental imperatives, India’s inability to meet power demand now has for long crimped its economic growth.
Rules governing the sale of solar power to India’s national and state grid companies are vague, solar equipment makers don’t yet produce enough to benefit from economies of scale and bring down prices, and financing costs make it difficult to expand output rapidly.
Of India’s installed generating capacity of 152.36 gigawatts, there are just two megawatts of solar capacity connected to the grid. There is no data available for off-grid generation.
However, things are moving. On Saturday the government is to unveil a roadmap on how India can achieve its target, which includes provision for surplus solar power made in the domestic sector to be fed into the grid for a fee.
It will also include the role of the federal and provincial governments, funding issues and what sort of financial supports will be made available.
Grid companies aren’t obliged to buy solar power but the “Solar Mission” announcement may change this.
Solar power in India costs 15 rupees ($0.32) per kilowatt hour, compared to 3.5 rupees per kilowatt hour power drawn from the national grid, government officials say.
Other parts of the roadmap may call for government buildings to be fitted with solar panels by 2012, and for the promotion of microfinancing to encourage nearly 20 million households to start using solar power by 2020.
“The solar push will not come easy. After all, we are talking about the world’s second most populous nation transitioning from fossil-fuel energy, which accounts for nearly 60 per cent of our electricity generation, to solar power becoming a substantial part of the country’s energy mix,” Rajiv Arya, chief executive officer of Moser-Baer (India) Ltd.’s photovoltaic business.
Photovoltaic cells, are usually made of silicon, collect solar energy and convert it to electricity.
Moser-Baer will invest $5 billion over 10 years to build new photovoltaic cell manufacturing capacity, in plants in Hyderabad, Chennai and Delhi, Chairman Deepak Puri said Tuesday.
Only two other local companies–Tata BP Solar and Webel-SL Energy Systems Ltd. — make solar panels.
The government recently invited bids from companies to set up photovoltaic cell making plants, and offered a range of supports for this.
“The investment required to set up a 3000 megawatt manufacturing capacity will be around 180 billion rupees,” said Rajiv Jain, associate director at India Semiconductor Association. “It is not the money but the cost of finance that will be critical.” Industry players such as K. Subramanya, chief executive at Tata BP Solar, expect the targets can be met and funding won’t be a hurdle.
“This is entirely possible and we have in front of us examples of telecom and internet revolutions that have happened in less than a decade,” Mr. Subramanya said.
India had about 340,000 mobile phones in 1997 but today has over 500 million cellular subscribers.
Write to Sunil Raghu at Sunil.Raghu@dowjones.com

Are global warming and deforestation too scary for Sesame Street?

Scaring kids might not be the best approach, but we shouldn’t avoid talking about ’scary’ subjects with children altogether
During the four decades since its inception, Sesame Street has introduced some pretty challenging subjects to its young audience – death, AIDS, adoption. It has even recently talked about the impact of the ongoing recession on family life.
But there’s one topic that will not be raised, according to Rosemarie Truglio, vice president of research and education at Sesame Workshop, the New York-based charity that produces Sesame Street – and that’s global warming. It’s just “too scary” for kids, apparently.
At a press conference earlier this week to announce the launch of a two-year, environmental “curriculum” on the show called My World is Green and Growing, Truglio said:
Global warming and deforestation – those are really adult concepts, and it’s just too scary for children … The place we’re coming from is, ‘Let’s love and care for the Earth, because it’s so beautiful, and we appreciate its awe and wonder, and we’re going to respect it … When you love something, you want to take care of it.
As I wrote earlier this year, I’ve long been intrigued to know what the right age is to start introducing the difficult subject of climate change to children. Sesame Street is aimed at three- to five-year-olds and, personally, I think Truglio has got it about right. With children at such a tender age, it’s probably best to start off by getting them interested in the natural world around them and to elicit a basic sense of respect, rather than wade in straight away with the heavy stuff about greenhouse gases and the like.
But I also think we need to be wary about believing that some subjects are just “too scary” to tell children about. My reasoning for not introducing climate change to children is more based on the fact that it is conceptually quite a complex subject to take in – for most adults, let alone three-year-olds.
And as Frank Carson says: “It’s the way you tell ‘em!”
Last month, more than 200 complaints were filed with the Advertising Standards Authority after the Department of Energy and Climate Change produced an Act on C02 advert which suggested that pets might drown as a result of climate change. Scaring people might not always be the best way to convince people of your argument – as many environmentalists are belatedly now recognising – but that shouldn’t mean, therefore, that we avoid talking about “scary” subjects with children altogether.