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September 30, 2011
Exquisite Jewelry from Carrera y Carrera, Madrid — Presented by Olivia Palermo
Photos: Olivia Palermo presents the new collection, Mediterraneo, by Spanish fine jewelry brand, Carrera y Carrera, Madrid. Palermo was photographed in Ibiza (a Spanish island) with the sparkling Mediterranean Sea in the backdrop. “Mediterraneo is a fresh, youthful, and innovative collection that tells of the legends of goddesses and nymphs who have dwelt in this tranquil sea,” explains Carrera y Carrera. “Atenea, the magnificent goddess that displayed her splendor across the seas of the world, starfish in motion, and the brilliance of diamonds have been selected as a theme to develop this Fine Jewelry line… especially created with a young, professional and independent woman in mind, one who is sophisticated and always exquisitely elegant… the Mediterraneo woman, who shows her strength of character through her own image.”
|GlobalGiants.Com|
Edited & Posted by the Editor | 2:39 PM | View the original post
September 25, 2011
Clinton Global Initiative: UNESCO and Varkey GEMS Foundation Announce Program to Train 10,000 School Principals
Photo: U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and Chelsea Clinton participate in the Clinton Global Initiative Annual Meeting and hold a one-on-one “conversation” during the Closing Plenary, at the Sheraton Midtown Hotel in New York, New York, on September 22, 2011. (State Department Photo).
Photo: President Bill Clinton takes a group photo with the 1,200 attendees of the CGI U 2011 meeting. Photo Credit: Erik Jepsen / Clinton Global Initiative.
Photo: Along with the Director General of UNESCO, Irina Bokova, and the Chairman of GEMS Education, Sunny Varkey, the ‘10,000 Principals Leadership Program’ was announced by President Clinton as a ‘commitment to action’ at the Clinton Global Initiative annual meeting in New York. Photo Credit: Adam Schultz / Clinton Global Initiative.
• The Varkey GEMS Foundation, a not-for-profit education organization and The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), today announced a school Principals training program. The ‘10,000 Principals Leadership Program’ was announced by President Clinton as a ‘commitment to action’ at the Clinton Global Initiative annual meeting in New York today.
The first phase of the program will involve Kenya, Ghana and India. 10,000 school principals will be trained over four years. “School Principals in many developing countries receive little, if any, leadership and development training,” explained GEMS Foundation. “This initiative will improve the skills of those school leaders and the multiplier effect will benefit thousands of teachers and up to 10 million children.”
The Director General of UNESCO, Irina Bokova said at the launch, “This partnership between UNESCO and the Varkey GEMS Foundation (including GEMS Education) is an excellent example of the new platforms for cooperation the world needs today. Tackling complex, global challenges requires also innovative and far reaching partnerships between the public and private spheres. GEMS Education works for education as a force for development, for individual realization, for tolerance and dialogue and indeed as a basic human right.”
The Founder of the Varkey GEMS Foundation and Chairman of GEMS Education, Sunny Varkey said at the launch of the initiative, “I believe the private sector can work with intergovernmental organizations, NGO’s and Governments, powerfully, to provide more education to those less fortunate. The fact that 67 million children around the world have no access to education is intolerable. Education is the most important issue in the world today. For us to confront, collectively, some of the world’s biggest challenges such as poverty, conflict, prejudice and intolerance we need to lift the standards of education worldwide.”
Photo: Student Volunteers at the CGI U 2011 Service Project at the San Diego Food Bank. Photo Credit: Adam Schultz / Clinton Global Initiative.
Photo: Students bag food at the CGI U 2011 Service Project at the San Diego Food Bank. Photo Credit: Adam Schultz / Clinton Global Initiative.
Photo: Students lend a hand at landscaping outside the San Diego Food Bank during the CGI U 2011 Service Project. Photo Credit: Erik Jepsen / Clinton Global Initiative.
Photo: CGI U 2011 Working Session. Photo Credit: Adam Schultz / Clinton Global Initiative.
• Established in 2005 by President Bill Clinton, the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) convenes global leaders to devise and implement innovative solutions to some of the world’s most pressing challenges.
|GlobalGiants.Com|
Edited & Posted by the Editor | 11:36 PM | View the original post
September 24, 2011
"The World Economy is in Trouble" — Prime Minister of India tells UN General Assembly
Photo: Dr. Manmohan Singh, Prime Minister of the Republic of India, addresses the general debate of the sixty-sixth session of the UN General Assembly. September 24, 2011. United Nations, New York. UN Photo/Evan Schneider.
“The world economy is in trouble,” Dr. Singh, an economist, told the General Assembly. “The shoots of recovery which were visible after the economic and financial crisis of 2008 have yet to blossom. In many respects the crisis has deepened even further.”
“The traditional engines of the global economy - countries such as the United States, Europe and Japan, which are also the sources of global economic and financial stability, are today faced with continued economic slowdown. Recessionary trends in these countries are affecting confidence in world financial and capital markets,” he told the gathering.
|GlobalGiants.Com|
Edited & Posted by the Editor | 2:34 PM | View the original post
September 23, 2011
Aspen Institute ranks Top MBA Programs that value the Social, Environmental and Ethical Impacts of Business Decisions
Photos © 2011 The Aspen Institute. Photographers Daniel Bayer/Michael Brands/Steve Johnson.
According to the Aspen Institute’s “Beyond Grey Pinstripes” (a biennial survey and alternative ranking of business schools) released today, the number of business schools teaching MBA students to examine the social, environmental and ethical impacts of business decisions continues to grow.
According to the institute, for the 2011-2012 “Beyond Grey Pinstripes” rankings, 149 schools from 22 countries submitted data. These data included more than 6,000 course descriptions and over 6,000 faculty research abstracts. In addition, the Beyond Grey Pinstripes project team received extensive information on participating schools’ extracurricular activities, institutes and centers, joint degrees and specializations. To arrive at this year’s ranking, the project team spent seven months analyzing the courses and faculty research.
Stanford University, ranked first in the 2005 and 2007 surveys, bounced back from a #4 ranking in 2009 to rank number one in the 2011 survey. Stanford received high marks for the number of courses with social and environmental content it offers students as well as courses that explicitly address the role of mainstream business in improving social and environmental conditions. It also ranked high in creating an environment in which faculty feel free to explore social and environmental topics in their research, says Aspen Institute.
Photo: Kellogg School of Management Professor Tim Calkins studies ads with business school students during the Kellogg School’s Advertising Review.
• Aspen Institute’s Ranking of Top 10 MBA Programs:
1. Stanford Graduate School of Business
2. York University, Schulich School of Business (Canada)
3. IE University (Spain)
4. Notre Dame, Mendoza College of Business
5. Yale School of Management
6. Northwestern, Kellogg School of Management
7. University of Michigan, Ross School of Business
8. Cornell University, Johnson Graduate School of Management
9. University of North Carolina, Kenan-Flagler Business School
10. UC Berkeley, Haas School of Business
“In all scoring categories used to determine the ranking, business schools have raised the bar,” said Judith Samuelson, executive director of the Aspen Institute Business and Society Program, which conducted “Beyond Grey Pinstripes”. “There are more courses than ever before with content on social, ethical, and environmental issues, more courses about the role of business as a positive agent for change, more exposure of students to this content, and more research published by faculty on relevant topics.”
• Despite the gains being made, Samuelson noted, there is still work to be done to address the belief among some business educators that the sole role that business should play in society is to maximize profits - as measured by today’s stock price.
Aspen Institute is based in Washington, D.C. It also has offices in New York City and an international network of partners in Bucharest (Romania), Rome (Italy), Berlin (Germany), Lyons (France), Tokyo (Japan), Madrid (Spain), and New Delhi (India). Its mission is to foster values-based leadership, encouraging individuals to reflect on the ideals and ideas that define a good society.
|GlobalGiants.Com|
Edited & Posted by the Editor | 7:59 AM | View the original post
September 21, 2011
UN General Assembly Session Opens with General Debate
Photo: A wide view of the General Assembly Hall as Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon presents his annual report, at the opening of the general debate of the Assembly’s sixty-sixth session. September 21, 2011. United Nations, New York. UN Photo/Mark Garten.
Photo: A view of the dignitaries’ gallery at the opening of the general debate of the sixty-sixth session of the General Assembly.
Front row, right to left: Muna Ghassan Tamim Rihani, wife of Nassir Abdulaziz Al-Nasser, President of the sixty-sixth session of the General Assembly; Michelle Obama, First Lady of the United States of America; and Yoo Soon-taek, wife of UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. September 21, 2011. United Nations, New York. UN Photo/Mark Garten.
|GlobalGiants.Com|
Edited & Posted by the Editor | 1:08 PM | View the original post
September 16, 2011
Frankfurt Motor Show 2011 — Demonstration of Automotive Industry’s Innovative Strength
On September 15, 2011, German Federal Chancellor Angela Merkel opened the 64th IAA Cars (Internationale Automobil-Ausstellung) in Frankfurt, Germany, at a ceremony attended by numerous high-ranking guests from politics, business and society.
“This IAA demonstrates the automotive industry’s capacity for untiring renewal and innovation: Over 1,000 exhibitors have displays, covering an area equal to 33 football pitches. A total of 183 world premieres await 800,000 visitors, and more than 11,000 journalists from over 90 countries are reporting on the world’s most important trade fair for mobility. The IAA is the automotive industry’s ‘crystal ball’: here people can see, in a concentrated form, both the present and the future of mobility,” stressed Matthias Wissmann, President of the German Association of the Automotive Industry (VDA), at the opening of the IAA in Frankfurt am Main.
The slogan of this IAA - “Future comes as standard” - makes it clear, Wissmann said, that at this leading trade fair not only vehicle concepts are being presented, but also cars that would soon be seen as series models on the roads: “Progress and its inherent dynamism are like gravity: simply not negotiable,” Wissmann stated.
“Manufacturers and suppliers together characterise the unique innovative strength of our industry. And we are not the only people who think so. In a recent study by Ernst & Young, foreign automotive managers selected Germany as the world’s most attractive automotive location. That had not only to do with drive for innovation, but also with quality and productivity,” the VDA president emphasised.
“Here in Frankfurt we are demonstrating recipes for the future CO2 diet: the optimised classical internal combustion engine, hybrid cars, plug-in vehicles and range extenders, plus 100-per-cent battery-powered electric vehicles and vehicles with fuel cells,” Wissmann stressed. For the first time, he added, the IAA has a hall dedicated to the entire value-added chain for electric mobility. “So you are - if you like - also at the largest electric mobility fair in the world,” the VDA president explained.
• Concerning the situation on the financial markets Wissmann said: “We have not yet come through the crisis and the financial markets still look as though they are ailing. However, real life ensures relief. 2011 is turning into an automotive year. The global market will expand this year to over 65 million passenger cars sold, which is 10 million more than two years ago and a new record. The forecast for the year 2020 is 90 million passenger cars world-wide!“
|GlobalGiants.Com|
Edited & Posted by the Editor | 8:11 AM | View the original post
September 13, 2011
Miss Angola 2011, Leila Lopes is crowned Miss Universe 2011
Photo: Miss Universe Angola 2011, Leila Lopes is crowned the winner of the 2011 MISS UNIVERSE Competition by Miss Universe 2010, Ximena Navarrete. She celebrates on stage during the LIVE broadcast on NBC from Credicard Hall in Sao Paulo, Brazil on September 12, 2011. (Photographer: Patrick Prather. © Miss Universe L.P., LLLP. Photo provided for display on GlobalGiants.Com by The Miss Universe Organization, New York.)
|GlobalGiants.Com|
Edited & Posted by the Editor | 2:27 AM | View the original post
September 10, 2011
Miss Universe 2011 Contestants prepare for the Competition in Sao Paulo, Brazil
Photo: Miss Universe Cyprus 2011, Andriani Karantoni, poses for a photo during the Welcome Event at Governor’s Palace in Sao Paulo, Brazil on August 29, 2011. She is preparing to compete in the 2011 MISS UNIVERSE Competition on September 12 at 9 p.m. ET broadcast LIVE on NBC from Sao Paulo, Brazil. (Photographer: Richard D. Salyer. © Miss Universe L.P., LLLP. Photo provided for display on GlobalGiants.Com by The Miss Universe Organization, New York.)
Photo: Miss Universe El Salvador 2011, Mayra Aldana pre-tapes in her National Costume onstage at Credicard Hall in Sao Paulo on September 7, 2011. She is preparing to compete in the 2011 MISS UNIVERSE Competition on September 12 at 9 p.m. ET broadcast LIVE on NBC from Sao Paulo, Brazil. (Photographer: Darren Decker. © Miss Universe L.P., LLLP. Photo provided for display on GlobalGiants.Com by The Miss Universe Organization, New York.)
Photo: Miss Universe Japan 2011, Maria Kamiyama pre-tapes in her National Costume onstage at Credicard Hall in Sao Paulo on September 7, 2011. She is preparing to compete in the 2011 MISS UNIVERSE Competition on September 12 at 9 p.m. ET broadcast LIVE on NBC from Sao Paulo, Brazil. (Photographer: Darren Decker. © Miss Universe L.P., LLLP. Photo provided for display on GlobalGiants.Com by The Miss Universe Organization, New York.)
Photo: Miss Universe India 2011, Vasuki Sunkavalli, rehearses the evening gown pattern at the Hilton San Paulo Morumbi in Sao Paulo, Brazil on September 3, 2011. She will compete in the 2011 MISS UNIVERSE Competition on September 12 at 9 p.m. ET broadcast LIVE on NBC from Sao Paulo, Brazil. (Photographer: Darren Decker. © Miss Universe L.P., LLLP. Photo provided for display on GlobalGiants.Com by The Miss Universe Organization, New York.)
Photo: Miss Universe Chile 2011, Vanessa Ceruti; Miss Universe Peru 2011, Natalie Vertiz; Miss Universe Costa Rica 2011, Johanna Solano; Miss Universe Georgia 2011, Eka Gurtskaia; Miss Universe Kazakhstan 2011, Valeriya Aleinikova; Miss Universe Aruba 2011, Gillain Berry; Miss Universe China 2011, Luo Zilin; Miss Universe Russia 2011, Natalia Gantimurova; Miss Universe Tanzania 2011, Nelly Kamwelu; and Miss Universe Ukraine 2011, Olesia Stefanko; pose for a photo during the Welcome Event at Governor’s Palace in Sao Paulo, Brazil on August 29, 2011. They and other contestants will compete in the 2011 MISS UNIVERSE Competition on September 12 at 9 p.m. ET broadcast LIVE on NBC from Sao Paulo, Brazil. (Photographer: Richard D. Salyer. © Miss Universe L.P., LLLP. Photo provided for display on GlobalGiants.Com by The Miss Universe Organization, New York.)
Photo: Miss Universe China 2011, Luo Zilin, enjoys the Welcome Event at Governor’s Palace in Sao Paulo, Brazil on August 29, 2011. She will compete in the 2011 MISS UNIVERSE Competition on September 12 at 9 p.m. ET broadcast LIVE on NBC from Sao Paulo, Brazil. (Photographer: Richard D. Salyer. © Miss Universe L.P., LLLP. Photo provided for display on GlobalGiants.Com by The Miss Universe Organization, New York.)
|GlobalGiants.Com|
Edited & Posted by the Editor | 3:59 AM | View the original post
September 2, 2011
Mahindra's First Global SUV Christened XUV500
Photo: German rider Marcel Schrotter leading the Mahindra Racing team charge finished with a fine ninth place at the Dutch TT at Assen, Netherlands. The Assen, Netherlands motorsport race track has a capacity of 100,000 spectators and is a part of the Superbike World Championship calendar.
• Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd. (M&M) today christened its upcoming SUV as the XUV500 (pronounced as XUV ‘5 double Oh’).
• Designed and developed entirely in-house by Mahindra, the XUV500 is Mahindra’s first global SUV platform, with significant inputs in styling and development from customers across the globe.
According to Mahindra, consumer research for the Mahindra XUV500 was carried out in various Western markets, South Africa and India, with testing and validation of the product being done across Europe, Australia and South Africa among others.
“Conceptualized with the aim of creating an altogether new category between the Scorpio and high end SUVs, the XUV500 is the next generation SUV targeted at Generation X, where the double O connotes the added Oomph value in the product,” explains the company.
A US $12.5 billion multinational group based in Mumbai, India, Mahindra employs more than 1,37,000 people in over 100 countries.
|GlobalGiants.Com|
Edited & Posted by the Editor | 3:01 PM | View the original post
September 1, 2011
Brand USA — What is its Current Value?
In the ‘Nations Brand Index’ of ‘Brand Finance plc’, the value of ‘Brand USA’ has dropped 10% since April 2011 to $11.4 Trillion. In that index, ‘Brand USA’ is being downgraded to AA- , as “its brand strength falls to a 10 year low.”
According to Brand Finance plc., new data shows there is a significant decline in ‘Brand USA’s’ value. Brand Finance plc is an independent global business focused on advising strongly branded organisations on how to maximise value through effective management of their brands and intangible assets. Brand Finance plc is headquartered in London and has a network of international offices in Amsterdam, Athens, Bangalore, Barcelona, Cape Town, Colombo, Dubai, Geneva, Helsinki, Hong Kong, Istanbul, Lisbon, Madrid, Moscow, New York, Paris, Sao Paulo, Sydney, Singapore, Toronto and Zagreb.
‘Nation Brand’ values are produced through a detailed analysis of economic data, perceptual market research data and infrastructure measures producing a combined score out of 100. For ‘Brand USA’ decreases are apparent across all inputs. Infrastructure scores dropped from 77 to 76 points, economic measures fell from 74 to 64 points and the brand equity measure slipped from 71 to 61.
Photo: MacBook Pro
• As the world’s biggest economy, ‘Brand USA’ is still significantly more valuable than the next nearest nation. However, there has been a drop in brand strength caused by inflation, cost of capital, reduced capital, higher unemployment and declining image abroad.
“If ‘Brand USA’ had been given the AA- rating in the Brand Finance ‘Nations Brand Index’ published in May 2011, it would have fallen below Canada, Australia and South Korea in brand strength,” says Brand Finance.
Photo: 2011 Chevrolet Aveo.
David Haigh, CEO of Brand Finance plc, comments:
“‘Brand USA’ is under enormous pressure as a decade of crises in business and foreign policy have been joined by serious economic problems. Low consumer spending, a static property market and the sovereign debt credit downgrade have all taken their toll on the value of ‘Brand USA’. At the same time other developed and emerging nation brands are performing better and growing in value. The economic crisis and double dip recession will accelerate these differences, with further shifts likely in the near future.”
Ollie Schmitz, Director of Nation Brand Valuation, Brand Finance plc adds:
“Prior to the recession, ‘Brand USA’ communicated strong and desirable values in everything from popular culture and entertainment to food and retailing brands. However, as a result of the current economic situation the brand strength has now dropped to its lowest score since tracking began in 2000. Once the global benchmark, emerging markets across the globe will now look to other nations to take the lead signalling exceptionally testing times for the ‘Brand USA’ in the future.”
• The full ‘Nation League Table 2011’ and methodology is available upon request from Brand Finance plc.
|GlobalGiants.Com|
Edited & Posted by the Editor | 6:24 AM | View the original post
