Source: NATO
The NATO STO has announced the winners of the Women & Girls in Science 2025 (WGS25) Challenge, an initiative aimed at promoting scientific excellence across the Alliance. The WGS25 Finale, held at NATO Headquarters in Brussels on 6 June, brought together 12 finalists from 11 NATO Nations to present research proposals that address key challenges in defence and security.
Source: Government of India
Source: Government of India (4)
There has been more than 90 times rise in direct benefit transfer (DBT) in just a decade under the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Thursday.
Moreover, India leads the world in real-time payments, with more than Rs 260 lakh crore worth of transactions processed in 2024-25, informed Sitharaman on X.
“From Rs 7,368 crore in 2013-14 to Rs 6.83 lakh crore in 2024-25, there has been a 90X+ rise in DBT transfer in just a decade under Prime Minister Modi’s leadership, ensuring that every rupee reaches to every citizen,” said FM Sitharaman.
She further stated that India leads the world in real-time payments as “Rs 260+ lakh crore worth of transactions processed in 2024-25 and approximately 18,600 crore transactions by volume handled annually”.
According to the Finance Minister, India’s tech journey over the last 11 years is nothing short of revolutionary.
“India has transformed into a hub of digital innovation, tech-led governance, and global trust. From manufacturing to space tech, from digital payments to rural connectivity — the change is visible, impactful, and lasting,” she emphasised.
But this isn’t just about devices and platforms — it’s about seamless governance, citizen empowerment, and building a tech-first ‘Viksit Bharat’, said FM Sitharaman.
A staggering 55.44 crore Jan Dhan accounts have been opened in India, 56 per cent of which belong to women, and the total amount in these deposits has surpassed Rs 2.5 lakh crore as of May 21 this year, according to RBI Deputy Governor M. Rajeshwar Rao.
In FY 2024-25, digital payments surged 35 per cent YoY by volume to 60.81 crore transactions per day, with UPI accounting for 83.73 per cent of such transactions. The extraordinary uptake of UPI stands as a testament to the power of collaborative and use-case-driven innovation in driving financial inclusion, Rao observed.
(With inputs from IANS)
Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region
The Civil Service College (CSC) has launched a new seminar series on “Presenting China to the World”. The first seminar of the series, on the topic of “Achieving the Rejuvenation of Chinese Culture: Insights from the Ne Zha Craze”, was delivered today (June 12) by the Executive Director of the Academy of Chinese Studies, Dr Yau Yat.
Addressing the seminar, the Head of the CSC, Mr Oscar Kwok, said that as Mr Zhao Qizheng, former Director of the State Council Information Office, proposed in his book, it is the joint responsibility of every Chinese national to present China to the world. Given the complex and volatile international situation nowadays, the development of a country hinges not only on its own national conditions but also on the international environment, including the international public opinion environment. In the Internet era, deliberate distortions of facts and truths are more likely to be widely disseminated, and misunderstandings and prejudices about China’s situation and developments are common among foreigners. As such, every civil servant needs to learn how to present China to the world through cultural soft power.
Through analysing China’s developments and challenges from the cultural, technological, economic and other perspectives, the series enables civil servants to learn about the real stories of the country, so they can better leverage the role of Hong Kong as a bridge between the country and the world to enhance mutual understanding and to promote exchange and co-operation. The first seminar held today on “Achieving the Rejuvenation of Chinese Culture: Insights from the Ne Zha Craze” explored how the country showcased the rich heritage of Chinese culture to the world through popular culture, increasing China’s attractiveness and further enhancing its voice on the international stage.
Mr Kwok said he hopes that participants can seize this learning opportunity to gain a thorough understanding of China’s mode of development and embrace the mission of people’s diplomacy to present an authentic China to the world in their respective roles.
Around 340 middle and senior-level civil servants from 52 bureaux and departments attended the seminar in person or online today.
Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)
Press contact:
Florence Lièvre
Tel.: +33 1 47 54 50 71
Email: florence.lievre@capgemini.com
Aerospace and defense leaders are prioritizing digital continuity to
tackle industry disruption
Paris, June 12 2025 – The Capgemini Research Institute’s latest report, ‘The strategic edge: How digital continuity drives business outcomes in aerospace and defense,’ published today, finds that digital continuity1– the seamless integration of data and information across all stages of the product lifecycle and linked to the external partner ecosystem – is emerging as a critical enabler of business transformation in the aerospace and defense (A&D) sector. Over 80% of A&D leaders surveyed view digital continuity as a driver of business transformation and a route to gaining a competitive advantage. In 2024, A&D organizations on average allocated a significant 2.1% of their annual revenue to these initiatives, to ramp up production, accelerate development cycles, reduce operational costs, and stay agile amid global pressures. In the context of rising costs, supply chain instability, and geopolitical movement, investments in digital continuity are expected to increase to 3.4% by 2028.
“Digital continuity is a critical imperative for aerospace and defense organizations to thrive in today’s challenging and uncertain geopolitical environment. If it is embraced as a way of working, it will help organizations increase productivity and free up key resources from the waste created by disconnected systems and data. Ultimately, it enables operational excellence, reduces product development cycle times and fosters a collaborative culture, setting A&D players up for long-term success. Business leaders clearly recognize this and as a result have been ramping up their investments in these initiatives,” said Lee Annecchino, Global Industry Lead, Aerospace and Defense at Capgemini. “In order to leverage the full potential, A&D organizations must focus on building interoperability across systems, enabling robust data management and adopting a comprehensive change management strategy.”
Digital continuity helps A&D organizations to ramp up quickly, driving many business benefits
Nearly nine in 10 (86%) A&D executives agree that digital continuity is important to their organizations’ ramping-up strategies, and 77% believe that improving digital continuity will accelerate the process.
Around a third (34%) of A&D organizations have already reduced costs with 13% cost reduction on average because of digital continuity. Thirty percent of A&D organizations have already realized shortened time to market and 18% have accelerated product development cycle times because of digital continuity, making it a top priority for investment.
Defense organizations are better prepared to ramp up production
According to the survey, 44% of defense organizations are prepared to ramp up production compared to just over a third of civil aerospace organizations. The readiness of defense organizations to ramp up production can be driven by geopolitical uncertainty and technological and infrastructure investment, including a more flexible manufacturing execution system (MES), and a more resilient supply chain. For example, 65% of defense organizations agree that their supply chain is adaptable to quickly changing customer demands, while only 45% of civil aerospace organizations believe the same.
The report also finds that more than 8 out of 10 (86%) defense organizations recognize the need to integrate AI and generative AI in engineering and product development and over half (56%) to develop autonomous systems. However, less than half of the defense organizations are prepared to integrate AI (44%) and only 35% are prepared to develop autonomous systems.
In order to thrive, A&D organizations must continually evolve in terms of skills, processes, technologies, security methods, and compliance policies concludes the report.
Report Methodology
In March 2025, the Capgemini Research Institute conducted a global survey to assess the maturity of digital continuity in aerospace and defense (A&D) organizations and the benefits achieved. The survey included 179 A&D organizations across 16 countries in Asia-Pacific, Europe, the Americas, and the Middle East. Over half (51%) of the participating organizations are headquartered in the United States. The survey sample also included 28 public sector or government organizations. All surveyed organizations have annual revenues exceeding $500 million, with the majority (56%) reporting revenues greater than $1 billion.
About Capgemini
Capgemini is a global business and technology transformation partner, helping organizations to accelerate their dual transition to a digital and sustainable world, while creating tangible impact for enterprises and society. It is a responsible and diverse group of 340,000 team members in more than 50 countries. With its strong over 55-year heritage, Capgemini is trusted by its clients to unlock the value of technology to address the entire breadth of their business needs. It delivers end-to-end services and solutions leveraging strengths from strategy and design to engineering, all fueled by its market leading capabilities in AI, generative AI, cloud and data, combined with its deep industry expertise and partner ecosystem. The Group reported 2024 global revenues of €22.1 billion.
Get The Future You Want | www.capgemini.com
About the Capgemini Research Institute
The Capgemini Research Institute is Capgemini’s in-house think-tank on all things digital. The Institute publishes research on the impact of digital technologies on large traditional businesses. The team draws on the worldwide network of Capgemini experts and works closely with academic and technology partners. The Institute has dedicated research centers in India, Singapore, the United Kingdom and the United States. It was ranked #1 in the world for the quality of its research by independent analysts for six consecutive times – an industry first.
Visit us at https://www.capgemini.com/researchinstitute/
1Digital continuity in A&D refers to the seamless integration of data and information across the product lifecycle including the external partner ecosystem; thus, ensuring a “single source of truth” that enhances collaboration and streamlines design, production, operations, and service through a strengthened feedback loop.
Attachments
Source: Government of India
Source: Government of India (4)
As part of the ongoing Viksit Krishi Sankalp Abhiyan, Union Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan visited Tigipur village on the outskirts of Delhi on Wednesday. The visit aimed to engage directly with farmers, promote the adoption of modern agricultural technologies, and gather ground-level feedback for shaping future agricultural policies.
Chouhan, accompanied by Secretary (DARE) and ICAR Director General Dr. M.L. Jat and senior officials, participated in a Kisan Chaupal where he interacted with farmers on key issues like seed production, polyhouse farming, and high-value crop cultivation. He lauded the innovative efforts of local farmers and witnessed a live drone demonstration for pesticide and nutrient application.
Emphasizing the importance of field-based research, Chouhan stated that scientists would now work closely with farmers to address real-time agricultural challenges. He noted that over the last 15 days, 2,170 ICAR teams had engaged with nearly 1.08 crore farmers nationwide.
Highlighting concerns over declining soil fertility, Chouhan urged farmers to utilize Soil Health Cards and adopt sustainable farming practices. He also outlined the government’s focus on crop diversification, horticulture, and market-oriented agriculture, particularly in regions like Delhi with strong market linkages.
Assuring better inclusion of Delhi’s farmers in central schemes, Chouhan announced the rollout of several initiatives, including PM-AASHA, RKVY, crop insurance, and subsidies for polyhouses, orchards, and agri-machinery. He called on the Delhi government to submit proposals to expedite implementation.
He said, “Delhi’s farmers will now play a key role in building an Atmanirbhar Bharat (self-reliant India) and benefit from every Central Government scheme. Under the visionary leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, we are committed to transforming both the destiny and the landscape of Delhi’s farmers.”
The Minister reaffirmed the Centre’s commitment to farmers’ welfare and warned of strict action against the sale of counterfeit pesticides and fertilizers. “We will not allow anyone to exploit our farmers,” he declared.
Chouhan’s visit comes ahead of the campaign’s grand finale in Bardoli, Gujarat, marking the culmination of a 15-day nationwide outreach aimed at transforming Indian agriculture under the vision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Source: Government of India
Source: Government of India (4)
Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal on Thursday said that the proposed India-EU Free Trade Agreement (FTA) reflects a shared commitment to deepening economic ties and fostering inclusive growth across regions.
Speaking at the India-Sweden High-Level Trade and Investment Policy Forum, Goyal underlined the potential for increased collaboration between India and Sweden. The forum was attended by members of the Confederation of Swedish Enterprises and leading Swedish and Indian businesses.
“The joint paper on the proposed India-EU FTA, released at the event, underscores our collective commitment to strengthening economic ties and fostering inclusive growth. The India-Sweden partnership is a model of how two diverse economies can create mutual benefit through shared vision and cooperation. I look forward to translating these deliberations into concrete opportunities,” Goyal said.
During his visit, Goyal also met Marie Sandin, Managing Director of Tetra Pak Sweden, and discussed ways to enhance cooperation in sustainable packaging solutions. The two sides explored opportunities for expanding research and development initiatives in India and strengthening capabilities in advanced equipment manufacturing.
In an interaction with Swedish business leaders at a dinner reception hosted by the Sweden-India Business Council and the Embassy of India, Goyal highlighted India’s growing appeal as an investment destination. He cited the country’s steady progress in sustainable development and its Zero Defect, Zero Effect manufacturing philosophy as key drivers of economic opportunity.
“I emphasised the remarkable progress India has made in technology, innovation, and R&D, backed by the strength of our skilled and talented workforce. I encouraged Swedish businesses to explore opportunities in India, where there is immense potential for collaboration and mutual growth,” he said.
Goyal also participated in the concluding session of the Ministerial Meeting of the Indo-Swedish Joint Commission for Economic, Industrial and Scientific Cooperation, alongside Sweden’s Minister for International Development Cooperation and Foreign Trade, Benjamin Dousa. The ministers discussed how capital, talent, and technology exchanges continue to shape the strategic partnership between the two countries, with science and innovation at the forefront.
IANS
Source: Government of India
Source: Government of India (4)
The United States supports Russians’ aspirations for a brighter future, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on the occasion of Russia Day, reaffirming a desire for constructive engagement in efforts to bring about peace in the war with Ukraine.
The Russia Day holiday marks the country’s 1990 declaration of sovereignty, more than a year before the collapse of the Soviet Union.
“The United States remains committed to supporting the Russian people as they continue to build on their aspirations for a brighter future,” Rubio said in a statement on the State Department website.
“We also take this opportunity to reaffirm the United States’ desire for constructive engagement with the Russian Federation to bring about a durable peace between Russia and Ukraine,” he added.
“It is our hope that peace will foster more mutually beneficial relations between our countries.”
On Wednesday, Russian news agencies said Moscow’s new ambassador to the United States, Alexander Darchiev, pledged to work to fully restore ties with Washington as he formally presented his credentials to President Donald Trump.
Ties between Moscow and Washington have improved since Trump took office, as the two discuss a possible resolution to the Ukraine conflict.
(Reuters)
Source: Government of India
Source: Government of India (4)
The robotic Solar Orbiter spacecraft has obtained the first images ever taken of our sun’s two poles as scientists seek a deeper understanding of Earth’s host star, including its magnetic field, its 11-year cycle of activity and the solar wind.
The European Space Agency on Wednesday released images taken in March using three of Solar Orbiter’s onboard instruments. They show the sun’s south pole from a distance of roughly 40 million miles (65 million km), obtained at a period of maximum solar activity. Images of the north pole are still being transmitted by the spacecraft back to Earth.
Solar Orbiter, developed by ESA in collaboration with the U.S. space agency NASA, was launched in 2020 from Florida.
Until now, all the views of the sun have come from the same vantage point – looking face-on toward its equator from the plane on which Earth and most of the solar system’s other planets orbit, called the ecliptic plane.
Solar Orbiter used a slingshot flyby around Venus in February to get out of this plane to view the sun from up to 17 degrees below the solar equator. Future slingshot flybys will provide an even better view, at beyond 30 degrees.
“The best is still to come. What we have seen is just a first quick peek,” said solar physicist Sami Solanki of the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research in Germany, who heads the scientific team for the spacecraft’s Polarimetric and Helioseismic Imager instrument.
“The spacecraft observed both poles, first the south pole, then the north pole,” Solanki said. “The north pole’s data will arrive in the coming weeks or months.”
Solar Orbiter is gathering data on phenomena including the sun’s magnetic field, its activity cycle, and the solar wind, a relentless high-speed flow of charged particles emanating from the sun’s outermost atmospheric layer that fills interplanetary space.
“We are not sure what we will find, and it is likely we will see things that we didn’t know about before,” said solar physicist Hamish Reid of University College London’s Mullard Space Science Laboratory, UK co-principal investigator of Solar Orbiter’s Extreme Ultraviolet Imager instrument.
The sun is a ball of hot electrically charged gas that, as it moves, generates a powerful magnetic field, which flips from south to north and back again every 11 years in what is called the solar cycle.
The magnetic field drives the formation of sunspots, cooler regions on the solar surface that appear as dark blotches. At the cycle’s beginning, the sun has fewer sunspots. Their number increases as the cycle progresses, before starting all over again.
“What we have been missing to really understand this (solar cycle) is what is actually happening at the top and bottom of the sun,” Reid said.
The sun’s diameter is about 865,000 miles (1.4 million km), more than 100 times wider than Earth.
“Whilst the Earth has a clear north and south pole, the Solar Orbiter measurements show both north and south polarity magnetic fields are currently present at the south pole of the sun. This happens during the maximum in activity of the solar cycle, when the sun’s magnetic field is about to flip. In the coming years, the sun will reach solar minimum, and we expect to see a more orderly magnetic field around the poles of the sun,” Reid said.
“We see in the images and movies of the polar regions that the sun’s magnetic field is chaotic at the poles at the (current) phase of the solar cycle – high solar activity, cycle maximum,” Solanki said.
The sun is located about 93 million miles (149 million km) from our planet.
“The data that Solar Orbiter obtains during the coming years will help modelers in predicting the solar cycle. This is important for us on Earth because the sun’s activity causes solar flares and coronal mass ejections which can result in radio communication blackouts, destabilize our power grids, but also drive the sensational auroras,” Reid said.
“Solar Orbiter’s new vantage point out of the ecliptic will also allow us to get a better picture of how the solar wind expands to form the heliosphere, a vast bubble around the sun and its planets,” Reid added.
A previous spacecraft, Ulysses, flew over the solar poles in the 1990s.
“Ulysses, however, was blind in the sense that it did not carry any optical instruments – telescopes or cameras – and hence could only sense the solar wind passing the spacecraft directly, but could not image the sun,” Solanki said.
(REUTERS)
US Senate News:
Source: United States Senator for New Mexico Martin Heinrich
WASHINGTON — U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), Ranking Member on the U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee and a Member of the U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee, released the following statement on the Senate Republicans’ reconciliation bill text:
“Senate Republicans think they can get away with taking a sledgehammer to our national public lands, killing thousands of American jobs, and jacking up families’ electricity costs without being held accountable. To hell with that.
“Senate Republicans have finally said the quiet part out loud: They want to put millions of acres of our public lands up in a fire sale, destroy the investments that have created thousands of manufacturing and clean energy jobs – including in their home states, and obliterate programs that lower energy costs for everyday Americans. If Senate Republicans succeed, we all lose. Countless families lose their ticket to the middle class in the jobs killed and their hard-earned money to unnecessarily high utility bills. And we all lose access to public lands forever, jeopardizing our local economies and who we are as a nation.
“In the days ahead, you’ll hear a lot of excuses from Republicans trying to cover for what they’re doing. Do not believe it. This isn’t about building more housing or energy dominance. It’s about giving their billionaire buddies YOUR land and YOUR money.”
Source: ASEAN
Secretary-General of ASEAN, Dr. Kao Kim Hourn, met with representatives of companies and institutions in Bergen, Norway, on 11 June 2025, to discuss the Blue Economy, among others. During the meeting, both parties exchanged views on enhancing private sector contributions to deepen ASEAN-Norway cooperation in Blue Economy for the mutual benefits of both sides.
The post Secretary-General of ASEAN meets with stakeholders in Bergen to discuss the Blue Economy appeared first on ASEAN Main Portal.
Extended drought and warm weather are damaging South Australia’s marine ecosystems, and periodic flooding of the River Murray poses another major risk.
A significant flood in the Murray-Darling Basin in 2022-23 gave Flinders University researchers a rare opportunity to analyse conditions that damaged biodiversity and water quality for both marine species and local ecosystems, some at popular tourist locations south of Adelaide.
A new study led by the Beach and Dune Systems (BEADS) Lab at Flinders University provides a detailed framework for understanding how the river discharge increased turbidity (silt, clay and other suspended particles in the water) as the sediment plume expanded across thousands of kilometres from the river mouth westwards around the Fleurieu Peninsula into Gulf St Vincent.
“During this period of high riverine discharge, we measured the spatial extent and intensity of the surface sediment plume, with our satellite imagery providing a reference point for future plume behaviour – particularly near shore for targeted monitoring,” says Flinders environmental science honours student Evan Corbett.
“Interestingly we found the historically important sediment plume within the coastal region reached its maximum spatial extent of 13,681 km2 during the eight-day period beginning on 11 December 2022, more than a month before the peak discharge occurred.”
The local monitoring and satellite imaging between November 2022 and February 2023 measured the volume of water discharge, turbidity levels affecting regular seawater quality, surface winds, barrage controls and other factors.
The study found the major plume typically pooled near the river’s mouth within the northern corner of Long Bay, before migrating persistently westward around the Fleurieu Peninsula through Backstairs Passage into Gulf St Vincent, occasionally exhibiting brief eastward migration periods.
Fine organic and inorganic particulate matter in water can make it cloudy or opaque, often having a detrimental impact on ecosystems when it occurs in large amounts.
Strategic Professor in Coastal Studies Patrick Hesp, who leads Environmental Sciences at Flinders University’s College of Science and Engineering, says the study – in collaboration with University of Adelaide lecturer Dr Sami Rifai – used technology which effectively built a useful dataset to direct future research.
“This study highlights the significant role of riverine discharge in driving the surface sediment plume’s spatial extent and intensities, particularly within the plume’s inner core,” says Professor Hesp.
“Revealing when and where plumes are likely to form and evolve, this study provides a foundation for targeted monitoring, timely management interventions, and informed planning to reduce the discussed ecological and socio-economic risks associated with extreme river discharge events in the future.
“By improving how we measure and analyse these environmental events, we pave the way for better coastal management strategies, ensuring beaches and ecosystems remain more stable and resilient in the face of changing climate and weather conditions.”
The article, ‘Temporal and spatial distribution of 2022–2023 River Murray major flood sediment plume’ (2025) by Evan Corbett, Sami W Rifai (University of Adelaide), Graziela Miot da Silva and Patrick A Hesp has been published in the journal Remote Sensing. DOI: 10.3390/rs17101711.
Source: Peoples Bank of China
Announcement on Open Market Operations No.110 [2025]
(Open Market Operations Office, June 12, 2025)
The People’s Bank of China conducted reverse repo operations in the amount of RMB119.3 billion through quantity bidding at a fixed interest rate on June 12, 2025.
Details of the Reverse Repo Operations
|
Maturity |
Rate |
Bidding Volume |
Winning Bid Volume |
|
7 days |
1.40% |
RMB119.3 billion |
RMB119.3 billion |
Date of last update Nov. 29 2018
2025年06月12日
Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Emanuel Cleaver II (5th District Missouri)
(Washington, D.C.) – Today, U.S. Representatives Emanuel Cleaver, II (D-MO) and Young Kim (R-CA), along with Representatives Scott Peters (D-CA), William Timmons (R-SC), Kevin Mullin (D-CA), and Mike Carey (R-OH), reintroduced the Building Unity through Dual Sponsors (BUDS) Resolution to bolster bipartisan collaboration in Congress. While current rules of the House of Representatives only allow for one lawmaker to serve as a sponsor of legislation, the BUDS Resolution would formally change the rules of the House of Representatives to authorize two Members of the chamber to serve as joint sponsors of a bill, resolution, or joint resolution if they are from opposing political parties.
“In these deeply polarizing times, it is important that lawmakers help bridge the divides in our nation by focusing on bipartisan solutions that will benefit hardworking families in every community across the country,” said Congressman Cleaver. “As a member of the former Modernization Committee, I’ve seen firsthand that bipartisanship is still possible if we foster the environment that enables it to grow. That’s why I’m proud to join my friend Rep. Kim in reintroducing the BUDS Resolution to incentivize more cross-party collaboration in the House of Representatives.”
“Bipartisanship isn’t a bad word. In fact, it’s more important than ever to find common ground to improve the lives of the American people and move this country forward. That’s why I’m proud of my record and to be ranked the most effective federal lawmaker from the state of California,” said Congresswoman Kim. “I hope the BUDS Act can encourage more collaboration in Congress that will advance more impactful policy solutions.”
“The BUDS Act will encourage members to reach across the aisle and find bipartisan solutions to the toughest challenges facing Americans,” said Fix Congress Caucus Co-Chair, Rep. Scott Peters. “We know that great ideas often come from collaboration, and by simply allowing dual sponsorship, Congress will generate a lot more of those ideas and modernize an outdated system. At a time of hyper-partisanship and record low congressional approvals, we should be doing everything we can to boost bipartisanship and Americans’ trust in the legislature.”
“In today’s hyper-partisan environment, the BUDS Act represents a refreshing and necessary modernization of how Congress operates. By empowering lawmakers from both sides of the aisle to serve as joint sponsors, we are structurally reinforcing our commitment to collaboration—something the American people overwhelmingly support. As a co-lead on this resolution, I am proud to stand alongside colleagues to send a clear message: delivering results for our constituents means working together, not working apart,” said Rep. Timmons.
“We need to rebuild a politics of the common good, where actual bipartisan progress is possible to meet our most serious challenges.” said Rep. Mullin. “That’s exactly what the BUDS Resolution is about—modernizing our Congressional rules so we can value cooperation over conflict. The American people are tired of dysfunction. They want to see their representatives working together to solve real problems. The BUDS Resolution is a practical step toward that goal, and I’m proud to support it.”
“Delivering for my constituents is my biggest priority in Congress, and that often stems from bipartisan cooperation. For that reason, I re-launched and serve as Co-Chair of the Civility and Respect Caucus in the House,” Rep. Carey said. “This legislation will make it easier to identify bipartisan measures and build support for their passage. That means real results for our constituents, and I am proud to support it.”
“There is much more bipartisan collaboration in Congress than Americans see on the news, but it flies under the radar partly because there is no way for members to share equal credit for working together. This resolution from Rep. Cleaver (D-MO) and Rep. Kim (R-CA) fixes that by amending House rules to allow bills to have two sponsors, provided that each is from a different political party. With this change, it will be much clearer to constituents when their representatives put divisive politics aside to achieve bipartisan legislative wins. Bipartisan co-sponsorship was a key recommendation from the House Select Committee on the Modernization of Congress and this resolution will make it a reality,” saidMichele Stockwell, President of Bipartisan Policy Center Action
“We commend Representative Cleaver for recognizing the need for legislation that fosters greater bipartisanship in Congress. At a time when public trust in Congress is at historic lows, the Joint Sponsorship legislation charts a path toward consensus by encouraging cross-party collaboration — helping ensure that Congress fulfills its Article I responsibilities on behalf of the American people,” said Jamie Neikrie, Legislative Director of Issue One
“This is an obvious solution to a needless hurdle blocking genuine bipartisanship in Congress,” said Demand Progress Executive Director Sean Vitka. “This relatively simple, commonsense rule change would go a long way towards helping lawmakers showcase needed policy solutions with broad political support from the get-go. We thank Reps. Cleaver and Kim for introducing this resolution and modeling the kind of bipartisanship that the American people deserve.”
“Tackling our nation’s pressing fiscal and governance challenges demands both bipartisan cooperation on fact-finding oversight and legislation. I commend Representatives Cleaver and Kim for working across the aisle and sponsoring this important resolution,” said Dan Lips, Senior Fellow of the Foundation for American Innovation
“Congress runs on collaboration and the BUDS resolution facilitates collaboration among members of all political stripes,” said Daniel Schuman, Executive Director of the American Governance Institute.
The legislation is also cosponsored by Representatives Kathy Castor (D-FL), James Moylan (R-GU), Maxwell Frost (D-FL), Mike Lawler (R-NY), Mike Quigley (D-IL), and Don Bacon (R-NE).
The BUDS Resolution is endorsed by the American Governance Institute, Bipartisan Policy Center Action, Demand Progress, Foundation for American Innovation, and Issue One.
Official text of the BUDS Resolution is available here.
Emanuel Cleaver, II is the U.S. Representative for Missouri’s Fifth Congressional District, which includes Kansas City, Independence, Lee’s Summit, Raytown, Grandview, Sugar Creek, Greenwood, Blue Springs, North Kansas City, Gladstone, and Claycomo. He is a member of the exclusive House Financial Services Committee and Ranking Member of the House Subcommittee on Housing and Insurance.
Source: Northern Territory Police and Fire Services
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Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)
CAMBRIDGE, United Kingdom, June 12, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Bango PLC (AIM:BGO, OTCQX:BGOPF), the leader in subscription bundling, today announces a strategic partnership with KT, a leading telecommunications provider in the Republic of Korea, to deliver subscription services to its 13.5 million customers. Leveraging the Digital Vending Machine® (DVM™) from Bango, KT customers will benefit from new and exciting subscription services. This is the first major DVM agreement for Bango in Korea, building momentum for further expansion into the East Asia telco market.
KT will use the Bango DVM to seamlessly integrate a wide array of third-party services into its subscriptions hub and its customer bundled offers. This will include AI, language and translation subscriptions – responding to the rising consumer appetite for next-generation digital experiences.
KT is leading the development of AI solutions across telecommunications and other industry sectors in the Republic of Korea. With AI subscriptions emerging as a standout category in the fast-evolving subscription economy, KT is now extending that vision to give customers access to groundbreaking AI services that enhance productivity, creativity, and learning, all through the Bango DVM.
The Bango DVM simplifies the complexity behind subscription bundling, transforming a traditionally technical and operational challenge into a seamless, scalable business model. With a single integration, KT gains access to a growing global catalog of subscription services. New offers can be deployed quickly and flexibly, giving customers access to the latest services while providing KT with deep insights to personalize and optimize bundles over time.
“This collaboration will be a turning point for KT’s subscription platform to expand as a global subscription service hub,” said Younggeol Kim, Head of KT’s Service Product Division. “We want to meet the evolving needs of our users, whether that’s the latest entertainment or cutting-edge AI subscriptions, and the Digital Vending Machine from Bango gives us the agility to do exactly that.”
“KT is a leader in its field and now, also in the subscription space, taking bold steps to offer customers a wide and modern mix of digital services,” said Paul Larbey, CEO of Bango. “With the Bango DVM, they can move faster, launch smarter, and deliver the high-demand subscriptions people are asking for, from SVOD to AI.”
About Bango
Bango enables content providers to reach more paying customers through global partnerships. Bango revolutionized the monetization of digital content and services, by opening-up online payments to mobile phone users worldwide. Today, the Digital Vending Machine® is driving the rapid growth of the subscription economy, powering choice and control for subscribers.
The world’s largest content providers, including Amazon, Google and Microsoft trust Bango technology to reach subscribers everywhere.
Bango, where people subscribe. For more information, visit www.bango.com
Media contact:
Anil Malhotra, CMO, Bango
anil@bango.com
Tel: +44 7710 480 377
Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)
Press Release
Montrouge, 12 June 2025
Crédit Agricole Santé & Territoires announces the signing of an agreement to acquire Petits-fils, the leading provider of at-home services for seniors in France, from Clariane
The acquisition of Petits-fils would establish Crédit Agricole Santé & Territoires, a subsidiary of the Crédit Agricole Group, as the leader in at-home services for seniors in France.
Beyond its commitment to improving access to healthcare, Crédit Agricole Santé & Territoires has invested in supporting wellbeing in aging, particularly in two key areas: non-medical accommodation — a sector in which the Group has been active since 2024 — and at-home services, where the acquisition of Petits-fils would represent a pivotal milestone in its development. The transaction is also expected to unlock synergies with other entities within the Crédit Agricole group.
The French population aged over 75 is expected to grow by 60% by 2040, with 90% of individuals in the age bracket continuing to reside at home. In this rapidly expanding market, Petits-fils has – within just a few years – emerged as the leading provider of at-home services for seniors across France, operating a nationwide franchise network comprising over 292 branches.
The exceptionally rapid growth of Petits-fils’ services as an intermediary between clients and care workers (at twice the rate of the broader at-home services industry), its strong territorial roots, and the high levels of satisfaction found among Petits-fils’ clients and partners underscore its strategic appeal to Crédit Agricole Santé & Territoires.
Clariane SE and Crédit Agricole Santé & Territoires also plan to conclude a nationwide partnership to help caregivers and dependent individuals access support services and suitable care near their place of residence.
Olivier Gavalda, Chief Executive Officer of Crédit Agricole S.A., commented: “In 2022, the Crédit Agricole Group announced its ambition to diversify its offerings and services to meet all our clients’ needs, particularly in the areas of health and ageing support. The acquisition of Petits-fils, France’s leading at-home services provider for seniors, by Crédit Agricole Santé & Territoires, would mark a major step forward in the execution of this strategy.”
Pierre Guillocheau, Chief Executive Officer of Crédit Agricole Santé & Territoires, added: “We would be delighted to welcome Petits-fils and its teams to Crédit Agricole Santé & Territoires. We are firmly convinced that the foundational values of Petits-fils — excellence, trust, quality, and compassion — are the cornerstone of its success and of the outstanding relationships it maintains with its clients, their caregivers, its at-home service assistants, and its franchisees. Our ambition is to support the company’s bold growth plan, building on the strength of its management and franchisees, and fostering ties with the Crédit Agricole Group’s regional network.”
Pursuant to the agreement signed with Clariane, Petits-fils would be acquired by Crédit Agricole Santé & Territoires for an enterprise value of €345 million, implying an estimated equity value at closing of approximately €255 million. The transaction is expected to have a limited impact on the CET1 ratios of Crédit Agricole S.A. and the Crédit Agricole Group.
The transaction remains subject to approval by the French Competition Authority, with closing anticipated in the third quarter.
About Crédit Agricole Santé & Territoires
A subsidiary of the Crédit Agricole group, Crédit Agricole Santé & Territoires is dedicated to structuring and expanding the group’s service offering in the healthcare sector. It provides pragmatic solutions to two major societal challenges:
About Petits-fils
Founded in 2014, Petits-fils is now the largest French provider of at-home services to the elderly in France. With over 290 branches — primarily franchised and employing more than 11,000 care workers — Petits-fils provided services to nearly 39,000 individuals in 2024.
Press Contacts – Crédit Agricole S.A.
Olivier Tassain: olivier.tassain@credit-agricole-sa.fr – +33 6 75 90 26 66
Mathilde Durand: mathilde.durand@credit-agricole-sa.fr – +33 6 25 94 01 98
All our press releases are available at: www.credit-agricole.com
@Credit_Agricole Groupe Crédit Agricole Crédit Agricole
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By Don Wiseman, RNZ Pacific senior journalist
Reports in Papua New Guinea say the governments of Bougainville and PNG have agreed to table the 2019 independence referendum results in Parliament.
While discussions are ongoing, some degree of consensus has been reached during the talks, being held at Burnham Military Camp, just outside of Christchurch in New Zealand’s South Island.
The talks are not open to the media.
A massive 97.7 percent of Bougainvillians voted for independence in 2019.
Former Bougainville president John Momis told delegates in Burnham to “take the bull by the horn” and confront the independence issue without further delay.
Both governments have agreed to present three highly pivotal documents to the PNG National Parliament.
Apart from the referendum results, there will be the moderator’s report, and the parliamentary bipartisan committee’s findings.
The commitment was formally conveyed by PNG’s Minister of Bougainville Affairs, Manaseh Makiba.
Only sovereignty acceptable
Meanwhile, the ABG President, Ishmael Toroama, said Bougainville would not accept a governance model that did not grant sovereignty.
This comes amid talk of other options, such as self-government in free association.
To achieve membership of the United Nations sovereignty is needed.
Writing in the Post-Courier, journalist Gorethy Kenneth said the Bougainville national leaders, for the “first time have come out in aligning with the Bougainville team in New Zealand”.
She reported that Police Minister and Bougainville regional MP Peter Tsiamalili Jr said he was in a peculiar position but he represented the 97.7 percent who voted for independence and he would go with the wishes of his people.
The ICT Minister, and South Bougainville MP Timothy Masiu also said his one vote in Parliament would be for independence as far as his people were concerned.
The PNG government has spoken previously of fears that independence for Bougainville would encourage other provinces to seek autonomy.
Provinces, such as New Ireland, have made no secret of their dissatisfaction with Port Moresby and desire to control more of their own affairs.
But the Bougainville Minister of Independence Implementation, Ezekiel Massat, said Bougainville’s status was constitutionally “ring-fenced” and could not set a precedent for other provinces.
He said “under the Bougainville Peace Agreement, independence is a compulsory option”.
This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rose-Marie Stambe, Adjunct Research Fellow, social and economic marginalisation, The University of Queensland
Inflation has steadied and interest rates are finally coming down. But for many Australians, especially those in low-paid, insecure or precarious work, the cost-of-living crisis feels far from over.
The federal government has recently focused on improving outcomes for this group in a number of ways. Labor has advocated strongly for real wage increases and taken measures to protect weekend penalty rates.
Such wage-based policies go some way towards addressing workers’ financial struggles. But they aren’t the only way to improve workers’ lives.
We know that in contemporary society, having a job is important for subjective wellbeing. We also know not all jobs are equal in terms of quality. Permanent, full-time employment is considered the gold standard, with insecure or precarious work the most detrimental.
Yet not all insecure work is the same. Our recent study provides additional evidence that how a job is designed may be just as important as what kind of job it is. It also hints at the ingredients for designing better jobs.
Many books – from Arne Kalleberg’s Good jobs, Bad jobs to Guy Standing’s The Precariat – have explored the negative impacts job insecurity can have on individuals, their families and communities.
“Bad jobs” are more likely to affect waged workers with low levels of education or those with a history of unemployment.
But many different types of insecure work are bundled into what researchers call “contingent employment” – which can include labour hire, casual work and self-employment. And not all have to be “bad jobs”.
Using 16 years of nationally representative data from the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) Survey, we examined the relationship between different forms of contingent employment and job satisfaction.
We found the link between employment type and job satisfaction (our proxy for worker wellbeing) isn’t straightforward. Some forms of contingent work are clearly worse for workers. Others, under the right conditions, can support job satisfaction and wellbeing.
This is where it becomes important to understand the concept of “job resources” – such as high skill use, autonomy or job security – which help to reduce the cost of meeting job demands.
Without adequate resources to support job demands, workers’ wellbeing can suffer, including through increased risk of burnout.
We found that job satisfaction varies significantly across different kinds of contingent roles.
For example, self-employment is, on average, associated with higher job satisfaction. Our study suggests a number of reasons for this, including that this group enjoys greater autonomy, more flexibility and more opportunities to use a range of skills.
These “job resources” appear to compensate for the lack of traditional employment benefits, such as job security.
At the other end of the spectrum, labour hire workers (who are hired by a labour hire agency and then supplied to a host organisation to perform work under its direction), experience lower job satisfaction than permanent workers.
While these jobs tend to be less demanding in terms of workload, they offer very few job resources. Labour hire positions are often marked by low levels of autonomy, minimal skill use and little opportunity for development.
These conditions are closely linked with lower motivation, disengagement and long-term dissatisfaction.
Casual employment sits somewhere in the middle, and our findings reveal important gender differences.
For men, we found casual work is associated with lower job satisfaction. For women, however, the picture is more complicated.
Our analysis suggests women in casual jobs may experience certain unmeasured benefits, such as work-life balance, that offset some of the downsides.
We couldn’t directly measure these benefits in our dataset. But our results align with other studies, showing how the flexibility of casual work can be useful for some women with caregiving responsibilities.
What connects these findings is the role of job characteristics. Across the board, we found that features like skill use, autonomy, task variety and flexibility play a major role in shaping workers’ satisfaction.
When insecure jobs include these positive characteristics, they can be satisfying. When they don’t, the downsides build on each other.
In an ideal world, there should be a perfect trade-off between positive and negative job characteristics. For example, jobs with undesirable characteristics, such as job insecurity, would offer higher wages to attract workers or other desirable characteristics.
In our study, that only held true for some groups, such as self-employed workers and women in casual roles. For many others, casual or labour hire jobs offer neither security nor satisfaction.
These findings have implications for how we think about work and wellbeing.
For employers and policy makers the message is clear: improving job quality isn’t just about offering permanent contracts. While security matters, it’s also about how the job itself is designed.
Even in non-permanent roles, providing workers with more autonomy, opportunities to use their skills, and flexible scheduling can significantly improve job satisfaction and retention. It’s also important for supporting gender equality in the workplace.
The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
– ref. Not all insecure work has to be a ‘bad job’: research shows job design can make a big difference – https://theconversation.com/not-all-insecure-work-has-to-be-a-bad-job-research-shows-job-design-can-make-a-big-difference-257642
Source: People’s Republic of China – State Council News
Inflation in the United States edged slightly higher in May, with the consumer price index (CPI) rising 2.4 percent on an annual basis, up from 2.3 percent in April, according to the data released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics on Wednesday.
The increase was just below economists’ expectations of a 2.5 percent rise, based on a FactSet survey.
Core inflation, which strips out the often volatile categories of food and energy, climbed 2.8 percent over the past year — also below the 2.9 percent projected.
Despite these softer-than-expected readings, inflation remains above the Federal Reserve’s 2 percent target, underscoring ongoing challenges in fully stabilizing prices.
The inflation rate likely rose less than expected due to a sharp dip in gasoline prices. Lower energy prices were a “major source of disinflationary/deflationary pressure,” noted Adam Crisafulli, an analyst with Vital Knowledge. Gasoline prices fell 12 percent from a year earlier, while clothing prices declined 0.9 percent, and airline fares dropped 7.3 percent. On the other hand, prices for beef, coffee, and housing continued to rise, offsetting the broader easing in other sectors.
In financial markets, the report prompted a modest lift in U.S. stock indexes during midday trading, while the U.S. Treasury yields and the U.S. dollar slipped, reflecting expectations that the Federal Reserve may be inching closer to cutting interest rates later this year.
Political pressure quickly mounted in response to the CPI data. U.S. President Donald Trump reiterated his call for the Fed to slash interest rates by a full percentage point, while U.S. Vice President JD Vance accused the central bank of engaging in “monetary malpractice” by maintaining current borrowing costs.
Although the inflation numbers do not yet reflect significant upward pressure from tariffs imposed by the Trump administration, economists warn the full effects could materialize in the second half of 2025.
“The impact of tariffs was smaller than expected in May. We expect to see it more clearly starting next month,” said economists with Bank of America Global Research.
Combined with the solid May jobs report, the latest CPI data reduce the chances of a nasty bout of stagflation in the United States, according to Bank of America Global Research.
“Tariff impacts may begin appearing in the CPI data later this summer,” said Seema Shah, chief global strategist at Principal Asset Management, noting the potential for inflation to creep above 3 percent by year-end if trade-related costs feed through the broader economy.
“Today’s below forecast inflation print is reassuring — but only to an extent,” Shah added. “Tariff-driven price increases may not feed through to the CPI data for a few more months yet, so it is far too premature to assume that the price shock will not materialise.”
Source: People’s Republic of China – State Council News
The business sentiment index (BSI) for large enterprises in Japan fell to minus 1.9 for the April-June quarter, marking the first negative figure in five quarters as U.S. tariff policies weighed heavily on exporters, official data showed Thursday.
The decline was driven primarily by the manufacturing sector, which recorded a BSI of minus 4.8, according to data released by Japan’s Cabinet Office and Ministry of Finance.
Industries subject to U.S. tariffs saw the most obvious deterioration, with the steel industry index falling to minus 29.1 and the automobile and auto parts sector at minus 16.1 due to weakened domestic and international demand.
Non-manufacturing industries also turned negative for the first time in 11 quarters, posting a BSI of minus 0.5. Rising procurement costs in wholesale trade and declining advertising revenue in the broadcasting sector within information and communications contributed to the downturn.
Looking ahead, large companies expect the BSI to recover to plus 5.2 for July-September and plus 6.1 for October-December, driven in part by anticipated growth in semiconductor-related orders.
However, the auto and auto parts sector, heavily affected by U.S. tariffs, is projected to remain nearly flat in both upcoming quarters.
A Ministry of Finance official stated that the government will closely monitor corporate trends, citing downside risks to the economy stemming from U.S. trade policies and inflation.
Source: People’s Republic of China – State Council News
In the dynamic economic hub of Shenzhen, commuters can now reserve seats on self-driving buses with just a few taps on an app. Far from a publicity stunt, this service is the first instance in China where intelligent connected buses have been incorporated into the wider public transport system.
What is unfolding in Shenzhen is more than a transportation experiment. It is a glimpse into a consumer experience model that Chinese policymakers and entrepreneurs are calling the “scene economy.”
The significance of this term, referring to the application of technology in real-life consumption scenarios, is perhaps best illustrated by its swift adoption: By June last year, more than 60 cities among the top 100 GDP cities had included this term in their economic plans, according to Greatwall Strategy Consultants.
Some industry observers view such a move as part of a broader strategy to incubate new growth drivers in the face of global uncertainty. But what exactly does it mean?
Is it about creating innovative parks, organizing promotional events or implementing a package of policy measures? Popular jargon in China’s tech sector may offer some clues. Terms like “paotong” (getting it running) and “bihuan” (closed-loop integration) are frequently used to assess whether a technology can be smoothly implemented and deliver tangible benefits.
“New technologies must be applied to improve and evolve, and this requires suitable scenarios,” said Jason Tang, chairman of the Shanghai Consumer Foundation.
“Thus, creating conditions for emerging technologies is crucial to transform laboratory results into economic returns,” Tang added.
Digitally-enabled
Building accessible digital infrastructure is, of course, a prerequisite.
In the case of Shenzhen’s driverless bus fleet, the initiative benefited greatly from the digital upgrades of the local public transport system. This system integrates intelligent scheduling platform, 5G vehicle-road coordination, multi-sensor fusion perception and high-precision map positioning, which enable millisecond-level response to road conditions and precise decision-making.
At a recent forum in Shenzhen, the city unveiled China’s first technical guidelines for city-wide, all-vehicle and all-scenario road access. These guidelines are poised to provide an open framework for testing highly and fully autonomous vehicles in complex urban environments.
Shenzhen had opened over 2,100 kilometers of test and demonstration roads by May, accounting for about 24 percent of the city’s total road mileage, said Xu Wei, deputy director of Shenzhen’s transportation bureau.
Additionally, China is proactively driving the integration of AI and 5G technologies into traditional industries to unlock their potential applications.
These technologies have started to make an impact elsewhere, too. Take China’s mining sector, this traditional industry is evolving to become more low-carbon and intelligent.
A video clip of about 100 autonomous mining trucks in northern Chinese city of Hulunbuir has gone viral on social media as a “sci-fi blockbuster.” Guided by 5G signals, the trucks navigate through vast mines, automatically avoiding obstacles in low-visibility conditions like snow, dust and night with only 40 meters of visibility.
Government initiatives
A 2024 RAND Corporation report noted that 80 percent of AI projects have stalled, and underscored the pressing challenge of how to translate AI’s enormous potential into concrete results.
Many AI projects fail due to insufficient data, overemphasis on cutting-edge technology rather than real user problems, and inadequate infrastructure for data management and model deployment, according to the report.
The Central Economic Work Conference last December, which called for large-scale demonstrations of new technologies, products and scenes, was the catalyst behind local government efforts to step up the real-world deployment of lab-developed technologies.
Instead of relying solely on financial incentives to attract investors, they are now promoting the profit potential of application scenes as a new approach to draw in businesses.
These cities are releasing “scene lists” to identify city-level needs and using measures, such as the establishment of promotional entities or pilot offices, and creating special funds to drive technology implementation.
In Shenzhen, the entire city is a testing ground for new technologies and products.
“We plan to open 100 more application scenes by 2025, with comprehensive, all-day, full-access in fields like municipal sanitation, emergency rescue, AI-assisted healthcare and medical wellness,” said Lin Yi, director of Shenzhen AI industry office.
With the rapid growth of China’s silver economy, the elderly population is increasingly seen as an exciting frontier with rich potential for tech application. This week, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and the Ministry of Civil Affairs initiated a pilot program for intelligent elderly care robots.
The project will focus on care for the disabled and those living with neurodegenerative conditions, emotional companionship, health promotion, smart environments and daily living assistance.
On June 6, Chongqing released its first list of 42 low-altitude economy application scenes, spanning urban governance, firefighting, emergency rescue, inspections and freight logistics.
The same day, Shanghai announced a call for quantum computing scenario plans, targeting the development of quantum hardware, software, algorithms and cloud platforms.
The Greatwall Strategy Consultants report has identified 419 key scenes, highlighting three critical innovation areas: energy storage, new energy vehicles and intelligent driving, and intelligent manufacturing.
“China’s strong manufacturing base and its vast, deep consumer market offer immense innovation potential in applications, which in turn facilitate better supply-demand matching,” said Tang.
Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region
Following is the speech by the Secretary for Culture, Sports and Tourism, Miss Rosanna Law, at the opening ceremony of 39th International Travel Expo Hong Kong and 20th MICE Travel Expo today (June 12):
Mr KS Tong (Founder and Managing Director of TKS Exhibition Services, Mr Tong Kam-shing), Dr Peter Lam (Chairman of the Hong Kong Tourism Board), Director Zhang Dong (Director of the Asia Tourism Exchange Center of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of the People’s Republic of China), Mr Stanley Mok (General Manager of the Macao Government Tourism Office – Hong Kong Representative), Consuls General, friends from the trade, ladies and gentlemen,
Source: Reserve Bank of India
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The Reserve Bank of India, in exercise of powers conferred on it under Section 45-IA (6) of the Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934, has cancelled the Certificate of Registration of the following company.
As such, the above company shall not transact the business of a Non-Banking Financial Institution, as defined in clause (a) of Section 45-I of the RBI Act, 1934. (Puneet Pancholy) Press Release: 2025-2026/529 |
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Robin Smit, Adjunct Professor of Transport, University of Technology Sydney
Emission control systems in modern cars have slashed air pollutants such as particulate matter and nitrogen oxides.
But these systems face two major challenges: carmakers cheating on pollution tests and owner tampering. Cheating means high-polluting cars can be sold when they shouldn’t be, while tampering can increase some pollutants up to 100 times.
In our new research review, we found the impacts of cheating and tampering on emissions of pollutants are substantial across the globe. For instance, researchers in Spain found almost half the diesel trucks had been tampered with, while the Volkswagen Dieselgate cheating scandal uncovered in 2015 led to an estimated A$60 billion in health costs in the European Union. In California, researchers found one in 12 trucks had a damaged or malfunctioning diesel particulate filter – and these high-emitting trucks contributed 70% of the entire fleet’s emissions of tiny particulate matter.
The solutions? Better detection of tampering, cheating and malfunctioning emission systems – and vigilance to get high polluting cars off the road.
From the 1950s onwards, smog, air pollution and health issues from car exhausts led many regulators to require carmakers to reduce dangerous air pollutants.
These days, modern combustion-engine cars are complex computer-controlled systems optimised to balance engine performance, durability and emission control. When working properly, new vehicles can reduce air pollutant emissions by 90% or more. However, they can increase carbon dioxide emissions by using slightly more fuel.
But these pollutants can soar if emissions control systems malfunction – or suffer from intentional cheating or tampering.
Cheating and tampering are not new. Cheating was first reported in the 1970s and it’s still happening. Tampering, too, dates back to the 1970s.
Both issues worsen air quality. These excess air pollutants have substantial costs to human health, as they can trigger respiratory conditions and can cause disability and premature death.
While the numbers of electric vehicles are rising, they’re only about 5% of the global fleet – about 60 million compared to about 1.5 billion cars powered by petrol, diesel and gas.
Because cars have relatively long lifespans, many fossil-fuel powered cars will still be in use in 2050, now just 25 years away. Many will be exported from rich countries to developing economies. That means effective pollutant control still matters.
It’s well established combustion engine cars produce substantially more emissions and pollutants during real-world driving than they do in regulatory tests.
There are many reasons for this, including natural wear and tear. But one big reason may be cheating.
Authorities in many nations rely on testing to see if a new model is emitting at rates low enough to meet emission standards.
Manufacturers can take advantage of the known quirks of official tests and intentionally alter how their vehicles operate during testing. To do this, they may install a “defeat device”, usually deep in the car’s engine or its computer code.
These devices shift the car to a special low-emissions mode if testing is detected. They’re typically easy for the automaker to install and difficult to detect.
Defeat devices are mainly found in diesel cars and trucks, since diesel emissions control systems are more complicated and expensive than petrol or LPG. Adding an emission control system to meet Euro 6 standards costs about $600 for a petrol car. For diesel, the cost can be three to five times higher.
In 2015, the United States Environmental Protection Agency and the state of California announced Volkswagen had been using a software-based defeat device to make its diesel cars appear substantially cleaner. The scandal drew worldwide attention and cost the company about $50 billion.
For those caught, large fines and mandatory recalls have followed. But this hasn’t been enough to stop the practice.
The way these tests are conducted usually has to be disclosed by law to ensure transparency and make results comparable and repeatable. Unfortunately, having detailed knowledge of the tests makes it easier to cheat.
Tampering is largely done by owners of diesel cars and trucks. Owners can tamper with emission control systems to improve performance, rebel against laws they don’t agree with or avoid extra costs such as Adblue, a liquid needed to reduce nitrogen oxides emissions from diesel trucks.
Tampering is usually illegal. But that hasn’t stopped the production of aftermarket tampering devices, such as software which deactivates emission control systems. It’s not necessarily illegal to sell these devices, but it is illegal to install and use them.
In the road freight sector, the use of aftermarket tampering by vehicle owners also acts as an unfair economic advantage by undercutting responsible and law-abiding operators.
Combustion engine cars and trucks will be on the world’s roads for decades to come.
Ensuring they run as cleanly as possible over their lifetime will require independent and in-service emissions testing. Authorities will also need to focus on enforcement.
Creating an internationally agreed test protocol for the detection of defeat devices will also be necessary.
Combating tampering by owners as well as malfunctioning emissions systems will require better detection efforts, either through on-road emissions testing or during a car service.
One approach would be to add telemetry to the onboard diagnostics systems now common in modern cars. Telemetry radio transponders can report emissions problems to the owner and relevant authorities, who can then act.
Shifting to EVs offers the most robust and cost-effective way to combat fraud and cut exhaust pollutants and carbon emissions from road transport. But this will take decades. Authorities need to ensure diesel and petrol vehicles run as cleanly as possible until they can be retired.
Robin Smit is the founding Research Director at the Transport Energy/Emission Research (TER) consultancy.
Alberto Ayala does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
– ref. Cheating by car makers, tampering by owners: crucial car pollution control is being sabotaged – https://theconversation.com/cheating-by-car-makers-tampering-by-owners-crucial-car-pollution-control-is-being-sabotaged-255882
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Hilary Bowman-Smart, Research Fellow, Australian Centre for Precision Health, University of South Australia
Monash IVF CEO Michael Knaap has resigned after one of the company’s Melbourne clinics mistakenly transferred the wrong embryo to a patient. The patient wanted her partner’s embryo, but instead her own embryo was transferred.
It is the second time this year Monash IVF has made such an announcement. In April, the company revealed a clinic in Brisbane had mixed up two different couples’ embryos.
IVF is big business in Australia. When Monash IVF was listed on the stock exchange in 2014, it raised more than A$300 million, with financial analysts noting the potential for massive profits, as “people will pay almost anything to have a baby”.
Total annual revenue in Australia from the IVF industry is more than $800 million. But what does the booming IVF industry mean for patients?
In Australia, regulation of the IVF industry largely happens at the state and territory level. This leads to variation, such as restrictions on single women accessing IVF in Western Australia, which other states do not have.
Victoria passed legislation in 2008, with a guiding principle to safeguard children born through assisted reproduction. However, until recently, Queensland largely relied on industry self-regulation.
The Fertility Society of Australia and New Zealand, the peak body for reproductive medicine, has called for a national regulatory framework to address the current “patchwork” of legislation.
Commercialisation is not necessarily a bad thing for patients. It can lead to innovation that improves the chances of successfully having a baby.
However, clinicians, ethicists and patients have raised concerns about the effects of commercialisation on the quality and cost of service provision in IVF.
With the rapid growth of the sector and high-profile incidents such as those at Monash IVF, stronger and more comprehensive regulation at the national level can help ensure quality and safety for patients.
Most IVF in Australia occurs in private practice, not the public system. While Medicare rebates are available, there is usually a significant out-of-pocket expense. This can range from a few hundred dollars to many thousands for each cycle. IVF can therefore be a big financial decision. Financial expense is one of the biggest barriers, which leads to inequities in access between those who can afford it and those who can’t.
The costs stack up even more if you want non-essential “add-ons”, such as pre-implantation genetic testing, acupuncture, or embryo time-lapse imaging. A study in 2021 found 82% of women using IVF in Australia had used an add-on during their IVF treatment.
Many IVF clinics offer these add-ons, which are promoted as improving patient experience, or the chance of a successful birth. Add-ons are offered as a point of difference on the market.
However, the evidence for these claims is often weak or non-existent. They also come with significant costs and can potentially take advantage of people’s hopes, if they are willing to pay “whatever it takes” to have a baby.
Read more:
IVF add-ons: why you should be cautious of these expensive procedures if you’re trying to conceive
Commercial providers in the IVF industry can help provide choice, particularly as it is difficult to get IVF in the public system.
However, when health care becomes a business, a risk is that the relationship between the patient and doctor can be affected: a patient seeking treatment becomes a “customer” buying a product.
The therapeutic relationship should be about enhancing patients’ health and wellbeing, relieving suffering, and promoting human flourishing.
When we talk about “choice” in medicine, we often think about ideas such as informed consent, autonomy and the best interests of the patient. However, if we think of patients as customers, “choice” may become more about being free to purchase what you want to.
The commercialisation of the sector can also increase the risk of over-servicing, where financial incentives may shape medical decision-making.
This doesn’t necessarily mean clinics are making deliberate decisions or misleading patients for financial benefit. However, it can mean doing more IVF cycles, even as success becomes increasingly unlikely.
We need to ensure doctors don’t feel pressure – directly or indirectly – to provide particular treatments just because a patient is willing to pay for it.
Doctors and other healthcare professionals have special responsibilities and moral obligations because of their role. They serve an essential human need in society because of their particular expertise in health and wellbeing. And they often have a monopoly on the essential services they offer.
Without patients’ trust that clinicians are being guided by medical reasons instead of financial ones, their special and privileged role to promote human flourishing can be undermined.
This special role is not necessarily incompatible with business. However, it is essential we allow doctors to maintain their focus on patient wellbeing. This is reflected in the doctors’ code of conduct, which notes their “duty to make the care of patients their first concern”.
Much public and media discourse has framed the embryo mix-up primarily as a reputational and financial risk to Monash IVF – but it is about patients. It’s not (just) an error of corporate governance, it’s about the special trust that we as a society place in medical practice.
IVF is expensive, and can be tough both emotionally and physically. One of the ways we can ensure trust in IVF services is by moving towards consistent and improved regulation at the national level. This might include more uniform standards and policies around who is eligible for IVF.
IVF industry regulation is on the agenda for the federal and state health ministers tomorrow. While there is still much to be done, a review of the regulation and processes in this sector could help prevent more embryo mix-ups from happening in the future.
Read more:
Why do women get ‘reassurance scans’ during pregnancy? And how can you spot a dodgy provider?
The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
– ref. IVF is big business. But when patients become customers, what does this mean for their care? – https://theconversation.com/ivf-is-big-business-but-when-patients-become-customers-what-does-this-mean-for-their-care-258585
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Linda Shearwin, Researcher, Comparative Genome Biology Laboratory, University of Adelaide
For decades, scientists have known that platypuses and echidnas – Australia’s unique egg-laying mammals – have another developmental quirk: they don’t use the same genetic toolkit as other mammals to develop male and female embryos.
What’s more, just how they do it has been a mystery. Until now.
In a recent study published in Genome Biology, our research team has found strong evidence that monotreme sex comes down to a single gene – one that’s much more like what we see in some fish and amphibians than other mammals.
The Australian platypus and echidna are monotremes, the most ancient living group of mammals. These unique creatures are famously the only mammals to lay eggs, and they also have other reptile-like features.
Humans and many other mammal species have two sex-determining chromosomes, X and Y. An embryo with an XX pair of chromosomes will develop as female, while an XY pair leads to a male embryo.
In many mammals, the process that makes an embryo develop as male is triggered by a gene called SRY on the male Y chromosome. However, the SRY gene in monotremes has never been found.
About 20 years ago, it was discovered that monotremes have an entirely different system that uses multiple X and Y chromosomes. Scientists assumed the Y chromosomes must still hold a gene that determined sex, but very little was known about what it might be.
In 2008 a full genome sequence of a platypus was published, which was a step in the right direction. However, the genome was from a female so it had no information about Y chromosomes.
By 2021, a new and improved platypus genome and a first echidna genome included sequences of multiple Y chromosomes. A gene emerged as the frontrunner for the role of sex determination in monotremes: the anti-Muellerian hormone (or AMH), which is involved in the sexual development in many animals.
Our new research provides the first real evidence that an adapted version of AMH found on one of the monotreme Y chromosomes (dubbed AMHY) is the sex determination gene in monotremes.
We showed that changes in the AMH gene long ago, early in the evolution of monotremes, could explain how AMHY arose and took on a role in male sexual development.
This event would have set the stage for the evolution of the novel sex chromosome system in the ancestor of today’s platypus and echidna, about 100 million years ago when the AMH gene on the XY chromosomes embarked on separated paths.
We showed that although the AMHY gene has changed significantly from the original AMH gene (AMHX), it has retained its essential features. Importantly, we could show for the first time that AMHY is turned on in the right tissue and at the right time to direct development of the testes during male development, which was an important missing piece of the puzzle.
Unlike the other mammal sex determination genes, which act directly on the DNA to switch on other genes that lead to male development, AMHY is a hormone. It does not interact with DNA, but instead acts at the surface of cells to turn genes on or off.
There is growing evidence that AMHY also plays a role in sex determination in a number of fish and amphibian species. However, AMHY in monotremes would be the first known example of a hormone playing a sex-determining role in mammals.
What’s next? Our ongoing research investigate in detail how AMHX and AMHY work differently in monotremes compared to other mammals.
The work discussed in this article was carried out by researchers from the University of Adelaide, the University of Melbourne, the University of Queensland, Monash University and Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary.
Linda Shearwin receives funding from the Australian Research Council.
Frank Grützner does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
– ref. In most mammals, one gene determines sex. But 100 million years ago, platypuses and echidnas went their own way – https://theconversation.com/in-most-mammals-one-gene-determines-sex-but-100-million-years-ago-platypuses-and-echidnas-went-their-own-way-258801
Source: The Conversation – Global Perspectives – By Linda Shearwin, Researcher, Comparative Genome Biology Laboratory, University of Adelaide
For decades, scientists have known that platypuses and echidnas – Australia’s unique egg-laying mammals – have another developmental quirk: they don’t use the same genetic toolkit as other mammals to develop male and female embryos.
What’s more, just how they do it has been a mystery. Until now.
In a recent study published in Genome Biology, our research team has found strong evidence that monotreme sex comes down to a single gene – one that’s much more like what we see in some fish and amphibians than other mammals.
The Australian platypus and echidna are monotremes, the most ancient living group of mammals. These unique creatures are famously the only mammals to lay eggs, and they also have other reptile-like features.
Humans and many other mammal species have two sex-determining chromosomes, X and Y. An embryo with an XX pair of chromosomes will develop as female, while an XY pair leads to a male embryo.
In many mammals, the process that makes an embryo develop as male is triggered by a gene called SRY on the male Y chromosome. However, the SRY gene in monotremes has never been found.
About 20 years ago, it was discovered that monotremes have an entirely different system that uses multiple X and Y chromosomes. Scientists assumed the Y chromosomes must still hold a gene that determined sex, but very little was known about what it might be.
In 2008 a full genome sequence of a platypus was published, which was a step in the right direction. However, the genome was from a female so it had no information about Y chromosomes.
By 2021, a new and improved platypus genome and a first echidna genome included sequences of multiple Y chromosomes. A gene emerged as the frontrunner for the role of sex determination in monotremes: the anti-Muellerian hormone (or AMH), which is involved in the sexual development in many animals.
Our new research provides the first real evidence that an adapted version of AMH found on one of the monotreme Y chromosomes (dubbed AMHY) is the sex determination gene in monotremes.
We showed that changes in the AMH gene long ago, early in the evolution of monotremes, could explain how AMHY arose and took on a role in male sexual development.
This event would have set the stage for the evolution of the novel sex chromosome system in the ancestor of today’s platypus and echidna, about 100 million years ago when the AMH gene on the XY chromosomes embarked on separated paths.
We showed that although the AMHY gene has changed significantly from the original AMH gene (AMHX), it has retained its essential features. Importantly, we could show for the first time that AMHY is turned on in the right tissue and at the right time to direct development of the testes during male development, which was an important missing piece of the puzzle.
Unlike the other mammal sex determination genes, which act directly on the DNA to switch on other genes that lead to male development, AMHY is a hormone. It does not interact with DNA, but instead acts at the surface of cells to turn genes on or off.
There is growing evidence that AMHY also plays a role in sex determination in a number of fish and amphibian species. However, AMHY in monotremes would be the first known example of a hormone playing a sex-determining role in mammals.
What’s next? Our ongoing research investigate in detail how AMHX and AMHY work differently in monotremes compared to other mammals.
The work discussed in this article was carried out by researchers from the University of Adelaide, the University of Melbourne, the University of Queensland, Monash University and Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary.
Linda Shearwin receives funding from the Australian Research Council.
Frank Grützner does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
– ref. In most mammals, one gene determines sex. But 100 million years ago, platypuses and echidnas went their own way – https://theconversation.com/in-most-mammals-one-gene-determines-sex-but-100-million-years-ago-platypuses-and-echidnas-went-their-own-way-258801
Translation. Region: Russian Federal
Source: People’s Republic of China in Russian – People’s Republic of China in Russian –
Source: People’s Republic of China – State Council News
BEIJING, June 12 (Xinhua) — The Chinese mainland on Wednesday condemned the Taiwan administration of Lai Qingde’s Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) for recklessly “selling out” and harming the island’s interests for its own political gain and pursuit of “Taiwan independence.”
Zhu Fenglian, spokesperson for the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council of China, made the statement at a press conference, commenting on media reports that the United States plans to sharply increase arms sales to the island, as well as Lai Qingde’s plans to increase Taiwan’s defense budget to 3 percent of its GRP and higher.
According to the latest public opinion polls in Taiwan, more than 60 percent of respondents believe the United States is seeking to increase the island’s military spending for financial gain, and nearly 70 percent of those surveyed believe Washington may sacrifice Taiwan for its own interests.
The survey results highlight Taiwanese people’s growing awareness of the US’s sinister intentions in using the island as a “cash machine for wealth” and a “powder keg,” Zhu Fenglian said, adding that they also reflect widespread skepticism among Taiwanese compatriots about the US’s “Taiwan card” speculation and their concerns about their own future and destiny.
“We firmly oppose the US arms sales to Taiwan and urge the US side to fully abide by the one-China principle and the three China-US joint communiques,” Zhu Fenglian stressed.
She expressed the hope that compatriots on both sides of the Taiwan Strait will work together to promote the peaceful and integrated development of cross-strait relations.
Translation. Region: Russian Federal
Source: People’s Republic of China in Russian – People’s Republic of China in Russian –
Source: People’s Republic of China – State Council News
BEIJING, June 12 (Xinhua) — A themed event titled “Languages Unite the SCO, Theatre Links the Silk Road” was held at the Institute of Foreign Languages of Nankai University in Tianjin, north China, on June 8, bringing together teachers and students from different countries.
The opening number of the event, “Dance of the Shepherds,” demonstrated the richness of Chinese culture. The joint recitation of poems by A.S. Pushkin and Shu Ting (a famous Chinese poet) by Chinese and foreign students showed the special charm of Russian and Chinese poetry.
Then, Sergey, a teacher from Russia, shared his experience of studying, working and living in China in fluent Chinese. Xu Lili, an associate professor at the Russian language department of the aforementioned institute, spoke about the profound value of the language and the role of Russian as a link in the SCO.
In the interactive cultural zone, games such as a competition to pronounce the Russian letter “R”, a quiz on theatre knowledge, a competition on knowledge of the SCO summits and tongue twisters in Chinese allowed participants to gain a deeper understanding of the cultures of different countries.
In the creative workshop “Man-made Civilization”, master classes on painting matryoshka dolls and calligraphy were held simultaneously; Chinese and foreign teachers and students, while painting bright Russian matryoshka dolls, felt the deep meaning of the “Shanghai Spirit”.
The event, which took the form of multilingual interactive events and cultural performances, aimed to use language as a tool and culture as a connecting thread to deepen mutual understanding between peoples and promote cultural exchanges between SCO member countries.
Translation. Region: Russian Federal
Source: People’s Republic of China in Russian – People’s Republic of China in Russian –
Source: People’s Republic of China – State Council News
CHANGSHA, June 12 (Xinhua) — Representatives from China, 53 African countries and the African Union Commission gathered in Changsha, capital of central China’s Hunan Province, on Wednesday to push for the full implementation of the outcomes of the Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FCAC).
At the opening ceremony of the ministerial meeting of the coordinators of the implementation of the FCAS results, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and his counterpart from the Republic of Congo Jean-Claude Gakosso read out congratulatory letters from their heads of state. The Republic of Congo is the African co-chair of the FCAS.
In the letter, Chinese President Xi Jinping deeply highlighted the importance of China-Africa solidarity and cooperation, and announced important measures to further expand opening-up and cooperation with Africa, which, according to Wang Yi, provide important guidance for the two sides to jointly advance modernization and build an all-weather China-Africa community with a shared future in the new era.
In the 25 years since its establishment, the FCAC has developed rapidly, ensuring the leap-forward development of China-Africa relations. The two sides have made new achievements in implementing the “10 Partnership Actions” announced at the FCAC Beijing Summit last September, which aims to promote modernization, Wang said.
China, the world’s largest developing country, and Africa, the continent with the largest concentration of developing countries, are the backbone of the Global South, he said.
“The more chaotic and intertwined the international situation becomes, the more China and Africa should strengthen unity and rely on their own strengths, and firmly stand on the right side of history,” Wang Yi said.
He noted that the parties should act as a guarantor of the cohesion of the Global South, a champion of international free trade, a like-minded partner in global development and cooperation, a defender of a fair international order and an engine of the diversity of world civilizations.
The 21st century is the century of both Asia and Africa. When more than 2.8 billion Chinese and Africans unite their aspirations and move forward hand in hand, they will definitely achieve outstanding achievements on the path to modernization, Wang Yi emphasized.
Jean-Claude Gakosso, on behalf of African countries, thanked China for supporting the continent’s development, warmly welcomed the “10 Partnership Actions” to promote modernization, and supported the China-Africa Cooperation Vision 2035. He expressed African countries’ readiness to thoroughly implement the results of the Beijing Summit to help realize the aspirations of African people for a better life.
The African side opposes the abuse of tariffs and unilateral sanctions and will firmly support China in jointly confronting challenges, he reiterated.
The meeting issued the Changsha Declaration of China and Africa on Maintaining Solidarity and Cooperation among Countries of the Global South. -0-
