May 22, 2008

Australian Francis Gurry Wins WIPO Director General Vote

Link: Intellectual Property Watch » Francis Gurry Of Australia Wins Election To Be Next WIPO Director General.

William New reports:

By one vote, Francis Gurry of Australia tonight won a hard-fought election to be the next director general of the World Intellectual Property Organization

The historic election at WIPO, only the third in its history, was decided today by a 42 to 41 margin in a secret ballot.

“This was an extremely close contest. I don’t want to go through too many similar experiences in my life,” Gurry told members in what amounted to a victory speech that sought to stress inclusiveness. “I want to assure the membership that as of conclusion of this process my mind will be set on all members. I’m very much aware of the diversity of the organization.”

The busy campaigns of the 15 original candidates lasted for months, beginning last autumn, and in some cases as far back as last summer, when it became apparent that a concerted effort would be made to convince the current director general to leave early out of concern for confidence in his leadership. Director General Kamil Idris agreed to leave the position one year early, on 1 October 2008.

But in the end, Gurry, considered a favourite as one of the most senior officials in the organisation who had nevertheless crafted a reputation for relative independence from the existing administration, prevailed. Gurry is the deputy director general in charge of patents, Internet domain names, and other matters, and previously served as WIPO general counsel. His biography is available on the WIPO website, click here.

In the end, it was a duel of insiders, as Graça Aranha also has been with the organisation for years. But Gurry may have managed to swing just enough developing country votes to take it. He also seemed to have support among some staff in the organisation. After the result, one staff person took to the hallways, shouting, “Viva Gurry!”

Progressive voting results were posted to www.ip-watch.org.

Gurry said WIPO is first a “service” organisation, and must be state-of-the-art in what it does. But it also is “extremely important for this organisation that the Development Agenda be robust,” he said. That agenda, passed by WIPO members last autumn, is expected to ensure activities at WIPO are equally reflective of developing country interests. The Development Agenda was initiated by Brazil and Argentina.

The United States, which led the push to remove Idris, said it was pleased with the outcome. “The much-needed healing at WIPO can begin,” said US Ambassador Warren Tichenor.

The Brazilian ambassador took a conciliatory tone with reporters, saying that the “only way to rebuild the organization is to build respect.” He highlighted the closeness of the vote.

The voting was expected to last into another day or two, but moved quickly after Gurry, Graça Aranha and Masood Khan of Pakistan emerged as clear leaders in the second round, leading all other remaining candidates to withdraw. The 13 May voting was only among the 83 governments of the total WIPO membership of 184, which make up the Coordination Committee, the WIPO executive body. The final nominee for director general will be sent to the annual WIPO General Assembly for final approval of the full membership in late September. It is expected to be approved, according to sources.

Posted by Anupam Chander on May 22, 2008 at 11:21 AM in Globalization | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack

Kremlinologists Reactivated for Release of McCain Medical Records

Link: McCain Set to Release Health Data on Friday - New York Times.

On Friday, the campaign will allow a small pool of reporters access to the records from 7 a.m. to 10 a.m. Pacific time in a conference room at the Copper Wind Resort in Phoenix, near the Mayo Clinic Scottsdale. The reporters will be allowed to take notes but not remove or photocopy the records. Campaign officials said they were imposing the restrictions to prevent the actual records from wide dissemination.

McCain--a model of transparency.

Posted by Anupam Chander on May 22, 2008 at 03:19 AM in Current Affairs | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

May 21, 2008

Fall International Environmental Law Internship in Geneva

Link: CIEL Internships and Externships in Geneva Switzerland.

Announcement: CIEL's Geneva office extends the application deadline for         Fall (September-December) internships and fellowships to May 31st, 2008

CIEL's internship program in Geneva offers law students and exceptionally       motivated undergraduates considering entering into law school excellent       opportunities to gain experience in the field of international environmental       and international economic law, including intellectual property rights law       and institutions. Interns work full or part-time during the school year,       usually receiving credit from their schools. Summer interns typically work       full-time during the summer months.
      CIEL's fellowship program in Geneva helps law graduates gain experience       and specialize in their field of interest. Fellows may work full or part-time.       

      Due to limited resources, almost all internships and fellowships are unpaid       and we cannot provide assistance with funding. CIEL is also unable to provide       housing. It is the intern's or fellow's responsibility to locate housing       in Geneva. However, we do provide housing information to the selected candidates.       Housing arrangements and reservations should be made well in advance due       to limited housing options in Geneva.

Posted by Anupam Chander on May 21, 2008 at 11:27 AM in Globalization | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

U.S. Mortgage Crisis Loans Priced

Link: BBC NEWS | Business | UBS sells loans in cut-price deal.

Swiss bank UBS has sold loans - with a nominal value of about $22bn - to fund management group Blackrock for $15bn.

...The assets being sold include sub-prime, prime mortgage-backed securities and Alt-A (a grade of US mortgage debt that is just a bit better than sub-prime).

Posted by Anupam Chander on May 21, 2008 at 08:41 AM in International Finance | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

May 20, 2008

Inaugural Poem 1992

Link: Inaugural Poem.

... Here on the pulse of this new day

You may have the grace to look up and out

And into your sister's eyes, into

Your brother's face, your country

And say simply

Very simply

With hope

Good morning.

Maya Angelou

Posted by Anupam Chander on May 20, 2008 at 06:39 AM in Current Affairs | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

May 16, 2008

Thank you, Mr. and Mrs. Mondavi, for Making Possible Many Wonderful Evenings at the Mondavi Center

Link: Mondavi Center.

Robert Mondavi, famed winemaker and philanthropist, died today in Yountville, California.

The University of California, Davis community will long remember you.

Posted by Anupam Chander on May 16, 2008 at 07:20 PM in Life | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

May 08, 2008

Want the Citibank Co-Head of Investment Banking? Call Dubai

Link: Deal Journal - WSJ.com : It's Dubai, Mumbai or Good-Bye.

Investment banks following the money trail are shifting some top earners to Dubai to help tap the booming oil-rich Persian Gulf economies and the estimated $1.5 trillion held by sovereign wealth funds there.

The latest is Alberto Verme, the co-head of its investment-banking unit. He is supposed to help win more business in what his employer describes as “one of the world’s fastest-growing and most important regions.”

...Bankers moving to the region get a big perk: no local taxes on their six- or seven-digit pay packages.

Posted by Anupam Chander on May 8, 2008 at 01:44 PM in Globalization | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack

Slouch! Study Argues that Sitting straight 'bad for backs'

Link: BBC NEWS | Health | Sitting straight 'bad for backs'.

Posted by Anupam Chander on May 8, 2008 at 11:51 AM in Life | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

May 07, 2008

Developing Country Researchers To Receive Free Access to Nature Journals

Link: Nature grants free access for biomedical journals - SciDev.Net.

Developing countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America will gain free access to more than 65 Nature journals, it was announced last week (22 April).

Nature Publishing Group (NPG) and INASP (International Network for the Availability of Scientific Publications) have teamed up to make NPG's collection of biomedical journals available to more than 20 partner countries, as part of INASP's Programme for the Enhancement of Research Information (PERI).

Posted by Anupam Chander on May 7, 2008 at 07:32 AM in Digitization | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Special Effects of Golden Compass Carried Out in India

Link: Special effects of outsourcing: Hollywood heads to India - Times Online .

As outsourcing projects go it is rather fantastic: the Oscar-winning special effects for The Golden Compass, the Hollywood blockbuster that took $370 million (£187.7 million) at the box office last Christmas were put together in a thatched village hut in India.

Well, almost.

The huts in question are replicas — stylised office cubicles made to look like rural Indian dwellings. Situated in Mind Space, a vast, grey commercial complex on the outskirts of Bombay, they form the Indian headquarters of Rhythm & Hues (R&H), the leading Los Angeles-based special effects studio.

The Times visits on a national holiday, but several of R&H's 250 India-based staff are hunched over their computers, working overtime on the visual pyrotechnics that will feature on the next outings of the Spider Man, Mummy and Incredible Hulk film franchises. The labour is painstaking. Each employee will struggle to produce the equivalent of five seconds of screen time in a month.

The results are usually worth the wait. Babe, the talking pig who won an Academy Award and earned more than $250 million at the box office in 1995, was an R&H creation. Alvin and the Chipmunks, the recent surprise hit for which R&H created the eponymous rodents, has now grossed nearly $360 million — not bad for a film with a $60 million production budget.

Posted by Anupam Chander on May 7, 2008 at 03:08 AM in Digitization | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack