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Category: Agriculture

  • MIL-OSI USA: FACT SHEET: Trump Continues to Block Hundreds of Billions of Dollars Owed to Communities Across America

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator for Washington State Patty Murray
    ***READ FACT SHEET HERE***
    Washington, D.C. — Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, released a new fact sheet detailing how, in his third week in office, President Trump is continuing to block hundreds of billions of dollars in enacted funding from making its way out to families and communities across America who are counting on investments that have been enacted into law. 
    In a statement, Senator Murray said:
    “President Trump is still illegally blocking hundreds of billions of dollars in investments that are owed to communities across the country.
    “The president’s sweeping freeze is causing real pain for people in every part of the country—in red states and blue states and everywhere in between—and it must end right now.
    “The uncertainty alone over the fate of these investments is putting jobs on the chopping block, hurting American businesses left wondering whether contracts they’ve inked mean anything, and jeopardizing entire local economies. What Trump is doing could shutter critical infrastructure projects in virtually every community, kill good-paying jobs, choke off funding for farmers, stop innovation in its tracks, leave massive holes in local communities’ budgets, and so much more.
    “Once again: if Donald Trump or Elon Musk want to gut funding that’s creating good-paying jobs all across America, they can take their case to Congress and win the votes they need to do it. Defying the constitution to unilaterally rip away your tax dollars is not how this works.”
    A table of estimated funding in jeopardy is below. Read the full fact sheet HERE.
    While the extent of Trump’s funding freeze remains uncertain as his administration refuses to clarify what is blocked, here is a non-exhaustive overview of what is frozen by Trump’s actions and in jeopardy:
    Trump Action
    Relevant Agencies
    Select Examples of Affected Programs
    Funding in Jeopardy*
    Executive Order Freezing IIJA & IRA Funding
    Department of Commerce
    High-speed broadband deployment.
    $40+ billion
    (EO 14154)
    Department of Energy
    Efforts to build and upgrade America’s energy infrastructure, lower costs for consumers.
    $98 billion
     
    Department of Housing and Urban Development
    Grants and loans to improve resiliency and energy efficiency of affordable housing.
    $830+ million
     
    Department of the Interior
    Tribal electrification, hazardous fuel reduction, National Parks maintenance and staffing, & more.
    $20+ billion
     
    Department of Transportation
    Funding to upgrade roads, bridges, transit, & more.
    $130+ billion
     
    EPA
    Funds for clean water infrastructure, tackling pollution, Superfund sites, & more.
    $100+ billion
     
    Forest Service
    Wildfire risk reduction, ecosystem restoration, & more.
    $10+ billion
     
    NOAA
    Funding for flood inundation mapping, coastal resilience projects, habitat restoration, ocean observations, fisheries management, & more.
    $1.5 billion
     
    USDA
    Grants for producers and rural small businesses to finance renewable energy projects, for farmers to improve climate resiliency, for watershed protection and flood prevention, rural broadband, & more.
    $25 billion
    Executive Order Blocking All Foreign Assistance (EO 14169)
    Department of State & USAID
    Life-saving aid, funding to monitor and prevent the spread of infectious diseases that can reach our shores,  counterterrorism programs, programs to give U.S. businesses an edge over Chinese and other companies in foreign markets, funds owed to U.S. businesses for services rendered, & more.
    $30 billion
    Executive Order Halting Funding for Anything Deemed “DEI” (EO 14151)
    All agencies
    Any programs or expenditures the administration deems “woke.”
      ???   The administration has provided little to no clarity over what programs it is blocking (or will block) funding for under this EO.  
    Elon Musk & DOGE Actions
    All agencies
    Open question. Reports confirm DOGE sought access to central payment system to halt disbursements.
      ???    
    Other actions  
    All agencies
    ???
    ???
    TOTAL
     
     
    At least $455 billion
    *Funding in Jeopardy: this reflects our best understanding, as of afternoon on February 7, of what funding is being illegally withheld. The administration has failed to provide clear answers—and the actual number could be higher. This lack of transparency and responsiveness to Congress, and thus the American people, is without precedent.
    FOR MORE DETAILS, READ THE FULL FACT SHEET HERE.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Derry and Strabane Council agrees its budget for 2025/26

    Source: Northern Ireland – City of Derry

    Derry and Strabane Council agrees its budget for 2025/26

    10 February 2025

    Derry City and Strabane District Council today agreed its budget for the incoming 2025/26 financial year and set a District Rates increase for ratepayers of 4.92%.

    This will see an average rates bill increasing by £28.96 per annum or 56 pence per week. The regional rate, set by Central Government, will be determined by the end of March, and will also have an impact on the overall rates bill.

    The budget was set at a Special Meeting of Council today, Monday, 10th February 2025, where it was highlighted that the increase comprised a 3.42% baseline increase to cover the significant statutory financial challenges and service demands facing Council along with a 1.50% rates investment towards the financing of Council’s hugely ambitious and exciting capital strategy.

    In terms of the baseline increase, Members were advised of the range of statutory pressures and new service demands facing Council services including pay pressures, Employer’s national insurance costs and cost inflation which have been partially offset by some rate-base growth, additional waste income and continued efficiencies across Council services.

    It was outlined to Members at the meeting that pay pressures continue to be a significant issue for Council, particularly in the current year whereby the Employer’s national insurance increases imposed by the recent UK budget have added circa £1.1m to Council’s pay bill and have had a direct 1.21% impact on rates bills. Unfortunately, despite ongoing lobbying by Councils, no funding has been confirmed from Treasury to offset this additional cost for public sector employers in Northern Ireland.

    Facilitated by new waste income, the baseline rates position also includes investment of £1.266m (1.64%) towards the reinstatement of previously implemented service cuts as well as new service pressures and demands. These include costs associated with assuming the responsible reservoir manager role at Creggan Reservoir; addressing budgetary and resourcing pressures within our key core front line services e.g. grounds maintenance, refuse collection, street cleansing and cemeteries; additional investment into grant aid programmes within sports development, community centre venues, consensual local growth partnerships, advice and cultural organisations; additional resources within community services to address emerging and immediate priorities e.g. Whole Systems approach to Obesity and Ending Violence against Women and Girls strategy; as well as additional tourism resource focused on screen and food tourism.  

    This year’s budget will therefore allow Council to continue to provide critical frontline services to ratepayers with a clear focus and commitment to protecting jobs as well as the continued provision of funding to organisations who rely on Council support to deliver community services and projects. 

    Central to this year’s rates process is the substantial positive progress made to Council’s capital funding strategy and our ambitious capital development plans. To date over £200m of capital projects have been completed or are progressing with full funding in place. These include Acorn Farm, Derg Active, Daisyfield Sports Hub, new Northwest cemetery provision at Mullenan Road, the DNA Museum and COVID recovery small settlements investment across the District, as well as the recently approved Riverine and Strabane Public Realm projects.

    The additional 1.50% rates capital investment agreed today along with funding expected to be secured from the Northern Ireland Executive towards City of Derry Airport will go towards financing Council’s hugely ambitious and exciting capital financing strategy. Building on the investment secured following the signing of the transformative City Deal and Inclusive Future Fund investment plan in September 2024, Council will now have financing of up to £100m in place towards it’s 2 key strategic leisure aspirations in Templemore and Strabane. This will enable the 2 projects to progress to detailed design, consultation and planning with some further rates investment in 2026/27 and 2027/28 allowing the projects to progress to construction.  2025/26 will also see options and costings being further progressed and detailed designs developed for new civic/ commercial office development as a key component of the wider aspirations for the future Central Riverfront development and university expansion.

    Members were also informed that, whilst work progresses across the Council District on Council’s fully funded programme of community and statutory capital projects, this years’ rates investment would ensure an additional £10m of funding could be made available to progress several further projects. This will supplement the £4m funding previously earmarked for a range of these projects and the hope that Council investment can be further leveraged through the securing of external investment from Central Government. Following the conclusion of the rates process, immediate considerations by the Capital and Corporate projects Planning Group in respect of the prioritisation of projects will progress. 

    In conclusion, members in approving the agreed District rates increase have given Council authority to continue to press ahead with its ambitious plans to drive growth and investment across the City and Region as well deliver critical front-line services across the City and District.

    The new agreed District rate for the year ending 31st March 2026 is 39.5993 p in the £ for Non-Domestic properties and of 0.6369p in the £ for Domestic properties. This represents a 4.92% District rates increase for all ratepayers.

    The Special Council meeting is available to watch back on the Council’s Youtube channel.

    The accompanying reports and papers are available online at – https://meetings.derrycityandstrabanedistrict.com/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=307&MId=2323&Ver=4https://meetings.derrycityandstrabanedistrict.com/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=307&MId=2323&Ver=4

    For more information on the rates visit our website at https://www.derrystrabane.com/about-council/rates/rates-2025-26

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: expert reaction to two papers assessing the impact of 2024 temperatures on Paris Agreement targets

    Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments

    Two papers published in Nature Climate Change look at the impact of 2024 temperatures on Paris Agreement targets (1.5 degrees). 

    Dr Akshay Deoras, Research Scientist, National Centre for Atmospheric Science and the Department of Meteorology, University of Reading, said:

    “The two papers help reflect the fact that we are getting dangerously close to breaching the Paris Agreement. Well-defined methodologies have been used, and conclusions are backed by solid data. However, a key limitation of these studies is that the models used might not account for all factors influencing global warming. This means that some uncertainty remains regarding whether the Paris Agreement will be breached in the late 2020s, early 2030s, or even earlier. This uncertainty should not be used as an excuse to continue business as usual, since the goal to limit global warming to 1.5°C is certainly dead in the absence of a rapid and robust reduction in emissions. Governments must urgently strengthen their commitments, align policies with science, and accelerate the transition to a sustainable future. The world cannot afford to abandon the Paris framework at this stage; instead, we must reinvigorate it with ambition and accountability.”

    Dr Robin Lamboll, Research Fellow at the Centre for Environmental Policy, Grantham Institute – Climate Change and Environment, Imperial College London, said: 

    “These two papers show that we are already in a time of peril for the 1.5°C target.  

    “There is a subtle distinction between what they show and what you might assume: they show that IF we are in a scenario that exceeds 1.5°C, the time of exceedance has very likely already started.  

    “The work by Cannon does not investigate scenarios where we never exceed 1.5°C, and the work by Bevacqua states that, in a scenario where we risk but aren’t committed to exceeding 1.5°C, we are “likely” but not “very likely” to exceed 1.5°C in the long term (so, more than 66% but less than 90% chance), now that we have seen a single year above 1.5°C warming.” 

    Professor Stephen Belcher, Met Office chief scientist, said:

    “A single year of exceedance of 1.5°C does not break the guardrail of the Paris Agreement. However, it does highlight that the headroom to stay below 1.5°C is now wafer thin. In a recent paper a collection of Met Office scientists calculated that the current global warming level is 1.3°C above pre-industrial levels. Added to this a Met Office forecast of carbon dioxide for the coming year reveals that the atmospheric concentration of CO₂ is now inconsistent with pathways keeping to 1.5°C; this suggests that only rapid and strong measures to cut greenhouse gas emissions will keep us from passing the first line of defence within the Paris Agreement.”

    Dr Alan Kennedy-Asser, Senior Research Associate at the University of Bristol Cabot Institute for the Environment, said:

    “I find the results of this modelling study to be, sadly, unsurprising and I would agree that the evidence suggests that 2024 (and now 2025) will be within a 20 year period which has an average temperature at or above 1.5°C unless something very radical changes in the next 5 to 10 years, suggesting we may be already living in the 1.5°C world the Paris Agreement referred to. Another way to think about this is that the year 2024 exists within 20 different climatology periods (one starting at 2024, one ending at 2024). The period ending 2024 is not above 1.5°C, however I would be very confident the one beginning in 2024 will be above 1.5°C unless something very radical changes in the next 5-10 years (in agreement with these papers). Meanwhile somewhere between these two will be the closest that one period is to precisely 1.5°C (perhaps the period 2018-2037 – we shall find out).

    “Both studies use straightforward but, in my opinion, sensible methodologies and use the most suitable data currently available: these are precisely the research questions CMIP6 models are designed to answer. However, even though the planet may be in a period that is at or exceeds 1.5°C, there is great value in taking rapid action to slow further warming, as the rate of change matters and every tenth of a degree matters.

    “I believe the press release is an accurate representation of the papers.”

     

    Prof Daniela Schmidt, Professor of Earth Sciences, University of Bristol, said:

    “To determine whether the Paris agreement has failed is defined as two decades above 1.5C and not one year as we have just had, due to natural climate variability. These papers suggest that the forcing conditions have been reached now, and that we reached the decade in which the Paris agreement will be broken. They came to this conclusion by interrogating climate models and observed temperature anomalies in complex discussions about probabilities and model baselines.  These are important papers exploring when 1.5C warming is passed, given the impacts projected and the need for adaptation to reduce risk.

    “The key importance of the Paris agreement is to avoid risk. Every increment of warming avoided by dramatically increasing mitigation reduces the risks and impacts of human driven changes to our climate system on people, our cities, our infrastructure and the environments which support us.

    “Fixating on a number of 1.5C, and that if will be surpasses, has the real risk of reducing actions, demotivating all of us – people, civic society, industry – to give up on trying. The consequence of a lack of ambition is that we will stay on the warming pathways we are currently on, which leads to nearly 3C warming globally, locally much more. Such warming has immense, and in parts irreversible consequences for Nature and people.

    “So while breaching 1.5C is not good news, reducing action and reaching twice as much warming is clearly much worse.”

     

    Prof Richard Allan, Professor of Climate Science, University of Reading, said:

    “A single year being globally 1.5 degree Celsius warmer than preindustrial levels does not mean we have crossed the Paris climate agreement threshold but it does mean breaching this dangerous level is pretty much inevitable.

    “The threshold of 1.5 degree Celsius above preindustrial climate decided at the Paris climate agreement applies to the global surface temperature averaged over multiple decades so a single year doesn’t mean we have breached this dangerous level. But given that warming of climate is accelerating, it is common sense that if a year unaffected by additional warming influences such as El Niño crossed this boundary it is pretty certain that crossing the 1.5 degree threshold will be inevitable without a step change in efforts to cut greenhouse gases. The new studies robustly confirm that even accounting for El Niño warmth, the persistence and magnitude of global temperatures in 2024 mean that to all intents and purposes breaching the 1.5 degree threshold is a given and that we need to double down efforts to avoid the even more dangerous 2 degree Celsius threshold by rapidly and massively cutting greenhouse gas emissions.”

     

    Dr Richard Hodgkins, a Reader in Climate Futures at Loughborough University, said:

    “While individual years may always be warmer or cooler than long-term averages, the analysis in both papers show that the record warmth of 2024 is likely to be part of a long-term shift above 1.5C, rather than being a one-off. However, this doesn’t mean that the Paris Agreement target of 1.5C is dead, because the Net Zero pathway to 1.5C always assumed that temperatures would increase above that target, before coming back down in the second half of the current century. So, in that sense, 1.5C is not dead.

    “However, the anticipated decline of temperatures relies on the assumption that large-scale technologies to remove carbon dioxide from the free atmosphere will be rapidly developed, globally deployed, and operate successfully, which is speculative to say the least. So, in that sense, 1.5C is dead because achieving it relies on borderline science fiction. There are many who would say that the reliance on carbon dioxide removal meant that 1.5C was never a very plausible target in the first place. Regardless, it shows that focusing on targets and not actions is an ineffective approach, and that actual emissions reductions, which can be achieved with existing, successful technologies, are needed now.”

     

    Dr Vikki Thompson, Scientist at the Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute, said:

    “These studies use data from both observational sources and multiple climate models to show we should now expect to exceed the Paris Agreement within the next 20 years, much sooner than climate projections had suggested. With this January continuing the recent trend, becoming yet another hottest on record month, we have seen 18 of the last 19 months exceeded 1.5C above pre-industrial. Not quite the 18 consecutive months shown by Cannon to make it virtually certain we will exceed the Paris Agreement, but so very close. 

    “The rate we have reached these levels is terrifying and shows, yet again, how urgently we need to act. Without adaptation and mitigation we will continue to feel the impacts of the accelerating warming with more and more extreme weather events.”

    Paper 1:

    ‘A year above 1.5 °C signals that Earth is most probably within the 20-year period that will reach the Paris Agreement limit’ by Emanuele Bevacqua et al. was published in Nature Climate Change at 16:00 UK time on Monday 10 February 2025.

    DOI: 10.1038/s41558-025-02246-9

    Paper 2:

    ‘Twelve months at 1.5 °C signals earlier than expected breach of Paris Agreement threshold ‘ by Alex J. Cannon et al. was published in Nature Climate Change at 16:00 UK time on Monday 10 February 2025.

    DOI: 10.1038/s41558-025-02247-8

    Declared interests

    Prof Richard Allan: No conflicting interests

    Dr Vikki Thompson: No interests to declare.

    Dr Akshay Deoras: No conflicts to declare.

    For all other experts, no response to our request for DOIs was received.

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Defense News: Governor, Joint Region Marianas, Joint Task Force-Micronesia Convene Civil-Military Coordination Council

    Source: United States Navy

    Military officials from the Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force and Guam Army National Guard attended. Additionally, participating on behalf of various government of Guam agencies were representatives from the Guam Department of Agriculture, the Guam Department of Civil Defense and Homeland Security, the Guam Power Authority and the Guam International Airport Authority.

    “The CMCC is an opportunity to get together to synchronize and synthesize our efforts on all of the major priorities for our island,” Huffman said. “Our meeting not only signifies the culmination of hard work and planning by our collective teams, but it is a demonstration of the strong partnership and close collaboration that are the hallmarks of our discussions.”

    Military and civilian members offered informational briefs and updates on significant topics that require a One-Guam holistic approach including critical civilian infrastructure for the defense of Guam, utilities resiliency specifically for the island’s electrical grid, and the proposed Guam Defense System by the Missile Defense Agency (MDA).

    “The Civil-Military Coordination Council continues to be an essential platform for ensuring that Guam’s needs and interests remain at the forefront of the ongoing military buildup. At our latest meeting, we placed a strong emphasis on resiliency—particularly in strengthening our island’s power infrastructure through the Guam Power Authority and the One Guam Power Infrastructure Resiliency & Reliability Projects,” said Leon Guerrero. “The military buildup is an ongoing conversation that requires careful planning, preparation, and the right subject matter experts at the table. It is critical that we have the latest and most relevant information to support our justifications and ensure that progress aligns with the best interests of all who call Guam home. As we continue these discussions, I remain committed to advocating for our people and working with our federal partners to reinforce the importance of Guam in national security and regional stability.”

    The CMCC was established in 2010 to foster collaboration among the DoD, local government, and federal agencies to share information, discuss, and provide recommendations for construction activities for the U.S. Marine Corps relocation to Guam. These meetings have expanded to include all DoD items of interest and military construction on Guam. The next CMCC meeting is scheduled in June.

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Neag School Alumni Board Announces the 2025 Alumni Award Winners

    Source: US State of Connecticut

    The UConn Neag School of Education and its Alumni Board are delighted to announce the 2025 Neag School Alumni Awards honorees. Eight outstanding graduates will be formally recognized at the Neag School’s 27th Annual Alumni Awards Celebration on Saturday, March 15.

    Outstanding School Educator – Tracey-Ann Lafayette ’15 (CLAS), ’15 (ED), ’16 MA, ’22 6th Year

    Tracey-Ann Lafayette ’15 (CLAS), ’15 (ED), ’16 MA, ’22 6th Year (Submitted photo)

    A graduate of the Neag School’s Integrated Bachelor’s/Master’s Teacher Education Program and UConn Administrator Preparation Program, Tracey-Ann Lafayette is an innovative educator dedicated to fostering inclusivity and academic excellence. She taught grades three and four at Robert J. O’Brien Elementary School in East Hartford, Connecticut, from 2016 until 2024. Currently, she teaches seventh-grade English Language Arts at Illing Middle School in Manchester, Connecticut. With expertise in culturally responsive teaching, Lafayette integrates diversity, advocacy, and conflict resolution into daily lessons, ensuring a positive classroom climate. A leader in professional development, Lafayette has facilitated workshops on equity and secured grants to support educational initiatives. Beyond the classroom, Lafayette has mentored aspiring educators of color through organizations like the Neag School’s Leadership in Diversity (LID) group, which she co-founded as a student, and the Neag School’s Diverse Educators Making Outstanding Change (DEMO) program. She co-founded the international Melanin Magic Educators collective, exemplifying her commitment to supporting educators of color. Her work has been featured on Connecticut’s WTNH Channel 8 and earned her a Fund for Teachers Fellowship (FFT). Through FFT, she had the opportunity to travel to South Africa to explore the connections between the country’s anti-apartheid movement and the civil rights movement here in the U.S. As a sought-after speaker, Lafayette has also presented at numerous conferences on anti-racist education and student activism. She is also a Malka Penn Award Committee member, allowing her to highlight literature promoting human rights.

    Outstanding Professional – Alicia Bowman ’01 (ED), ’02 MA, ’08 6th Year

    Alicia Bowman ’01 (ED), ’02 MA, ’08 6th Year (Submitted photo)

    Alicia Bowman is a highly accomplished educational leader with expertise in the instructional, operational, and financial aspects of school administration. As associate executive director of the Connecticut Association of Schools, Bowman champions visionary priorities for educational administrators through advocacy, coaching, and professional learning. Her tenure as assistant superintendent for finance and operations for Farmington Public Schools showcased her strategic leadership in mentoring, union collaboration, and large-scale improvement initiatives. Bowman’s impact extends to the classroom and beyond, having previously served as principal at Farmington’s West Woods Upper Elementary School, where she led innovative instructional models and established a Makerspace and flexible learning blocks. She is a lifelong learner, earning her bachelor’s, master’s, and 6th Year diploma from the Neag School, and her doctoral degree from the University of New England. She is also an adjunct faculty member, coach, and former mentor principal for the University of Connecticut Administrator Preparation Program (UCAPP). Widely recognized for her contributions, Bowman has been previously named National Distinguished Principal and Connecticut Elementary Principal of the Year. She has contributed to publications and presented at national forums on equity, leadership, and student-centered learning and is passionate about fostering inclusive, transformative educational systems.

    Outstanding Early Career Professional – Paul Singleton II ’17 MA, ’24 Ph.D.

    Paul Singleton II ’17 MA, ’24 Ph.D. (Submitted photo)

    Paul Singleton II is an accomplished educator, counselor, and advocate for equity in education, dedicated to fostering student success across diverse backgrounds. He holds a master’s in school counseling and a Ph.D. in educational psychology with a focus on counselor education and supervision from the Neag School, where his research centered on the impact of psychoeducational groups on African American male college students and their career readiness. Singleton is a counselor for grades seven through 12 and the diversity, equity, and inclusion coordinator at The Potomac School in McLean, Virginia. Singleton supports students’ academic and social-emotional development in these roles while implementing diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives to build an inclusive school culture. He is also the founding director of the Learning & Engagement at the Potomac School (LEAP) Program, a pioneering effort to enhance student engagement and leadership through tailored support and mentorship. Previously, Singleton has contributed to initiatives such as UConn’s ScHOLA²RS House, focusing on retention and success for Black male students, and has taught graduate courses in school counseling. His widely recognized work, publications, and presentations reflect his passion for empowering students to achieve their full potential.

    Outstanding School Administrator – Lori Leibowitz ’19 Cert.

    Lori Leibowitz ’19 Cert. (Submitted photo)

    With over two decades of experience in education, Lori Leibowitz is a distinguished administrator, educator, and advocate for equity in gifted education who holds a graduate certificate from the Neag School in gifted education and talent development. As the district administrator for Gifted and Talented and the Arts in Norwalk, Connecticut, she has overseen the redesign and implementation of innovative programs, increasing gifted identification rates by 25% and ensuring equitable access for underrepresented populations. Leibowitz’s leadership extends across teacher coaching and districtwide events celebrating diversity and inclusion. A published author, Leibowitz has contributed to scholarly works on gifted education, talent development, and social justice for multilingual learners. Her dissertation at Baylor University focused on empowering Hispanic multilingual learners through a social justice curriculum. She is a sought-after presenter, sharing insights at national conferences such as the National Association of Gifted Children (NAGC), the National Association of Bilingual Educators (NABE), and UConn’s Confratute. Leibowitz has earned accolades such as the Gifted Coordinator Award (NAGC, 2020) and the Outstanding Dissertation Award (NABE, 2024). A dedicated advocate for transformative education, she continues to drive change through research, innovation, and collaboration.

    Outstanding School Superintendent – Howard Thiery III ’91 MS, ’07 ELP

    Howard J. Thiery III ’91 MS, ’07 ELP (Submitted photo)

    A graduate of the Neag School’s Executive Leadership Program (ELP), Howard Thiery III is a dedicated and innovative educational leader with over three decades of experience spanning K-12 and higher education. Thiery also holds a master’s degree in physiology and neurobiology from UConn. As superintendent of Regional School District 10 since 2019, he has championed initiatives that enhance student creativity, increase access to college-credit courses, and improve special education services. Under his leadership, the district has implemented a systemic leadership development system, restructured administrative frameworks to focus on high-quality learning, and launched personalized learning opportunities. Previously, Thiery served as superintendent for Regional School District 17, assistant superintendent for Southington Public Schools, and principal of the Greater Hartford Academy of Math and Science, where he managed curriculum development and led a visionary approach to STEM education. His contributions have extended internationally through his work with UConn’s Advanced Instructional Leadership Program in Jordan and his role as chair of the New England Association of Schools and Colleges Commission on International Education. An accomplished educator and author, Thiery’s publications and teaching reflect a lifelong commitment to academic excellence and innovation.

    Outstanding Higher Education Professional – Daniel Burkey ’23 MA

    Daniel Burkey ’23 MA (UConn photo)

    Daniel Burkey is an accomplished chemical engineer, educator, and academic leader. With degrees from Lehigh University, MIT, and the University of Connecticut, Burkey’s expertise spans chemical engineering and educational psychology, specializing in research methods and engineering education innovation. Currently the associate dean for undergraduate education, outreach, and diversity in UConn’s College of Engineering, he has overseen transformative growth, including a 70% enrollment increase and initiatives to triple female enrollment. He co-developed the College’s new Ph.D. in Engineering Education program and launched innovative undergraduate teaching programs. As an educator, Burkey integrates cutting-edge techniques like game-based learning, earning accolades such as the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE) David Himmelblau Award and multiple university teaching awards. His contributions to process safety education and curriculum design are widely recognized, alongside his leadership roles in professional organizations like AIChE, where he was recently elected as a Fellow. Burkey has secured significant research funding, authored book chapters, and developed pioneering educational technologies. Beyond academia, his mentorship and advocacy for diversity and inclusion continue to shape the next generation of engineers.

    Outstanding Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Professional – Fany DeJesús Hannon ’08 MA

    Fany DeJesús Hannon ’08 MA (UConn photo)

    Fany DeJesús Hannon, who holds a Master of Arts in higher education from UConn, is an accomplished higher education administrator and educator dedicated to fostering holistic student success and belonging. She also holds a doctorate in education from New England College. As dean of students at UConn, she leads initiatives addressing critical issues like crisis management, free speech, and student equity, ensuring inclusive engagement and retention across diverse populations. With over 18 years of higher education leadership experience, Hannon has championed programs enhancing cultural identity, leadership, and academic achievement, notably increasing Latinx/a/o retention and graduation rates during her tenure as director of the Puerto Rican/Latin American Cultural Center. A passionate advocate for first-generation and marginalized students, Hannon collaborates with University leadership, faculty, and legislative bodies to develop policies supporting access, equity, and well-being. Her teaching philosophy, rooted in Paulo Freire’s scholarship, centers on student engagement and diverse learning styles. Recognized for her leadership, she has earned accolades like the Nuestro Orgullo Hispano award and has presented nationally on diversity and mentoring. Fluent in multiple languages, she combines strategic vision with cultural competency to empower and inspire future leaders.

    Distinguished Alumnus – Mark Daigneault ’07 (ED)

    Mark Daigneault ’07 (ED) (Oklahoma City Thunder photo)

    Mark Daigneault is the head coach of the NBA’s Oklahoma City Thunder. He previously served as head coach of the Oklahoma City Blue, the Thunder’s G-League affiliate, for five seasons. Originally from Massachusetts, Daigneault graduated with a BA in education from UConn, where he also worked as a student manager for the men’s basketball team. He has credited his studies with being able to connect with players. Daigneault’s coaching career began at Holy Cross, followed by an assistantship at the University of Florida, where he was involved in scouting and working with players off the court. During his tenure, the Gators achieved three SEC titles and four Elite Eight appearances. In 2020, Daigneault became the Thunder’s head coach, guiding the team through a rebuilding phase. Daigneault was 35 years old at the time, becoming the second-youngest head coach in the NBA. In 2023-2024, the Thunder became the youngest team in NBA history to earn the best regular season record in the NBA’s Western Conference, with Daigneault being awarded NBA Coach of the Year. Known for his innovative coaching style, defensive strategies, and player-development focus, Daigneault is praised by players for his adaptability and fostering strong relationships.

    For more information on the event, visit s.uconn.edu/NeagAlumni2025.

    To learn more about the UConn Neag School of Education, visit education.uconn.edu and follow the Neag School on Instagram, Facebook, X, and LinkedIn. 

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: UConn Engineering Boasts 9 National Academy of Inventors (NAI) Fellows

    Source: US State of Connecticut

    For people diagnosed with Atrial fibrillation, commonly known as AFib, the upper chambers of the heart beat rapidly and irregularly, leading to poor blood flow. This can cause an increased risk of stroke, chronic fatigue, or heart failure.

    Professor of Biomedical Engineering Ki Chon was elected an NAI Fellow in 2020.

    Professor of Biomedical Engineering Ki Chon has devoted his entire career at UConn developing advanced computational methods—or algorithms—that can improve accurate detection of AFib and other heart diseases. He holds multiple patents for these algorithms, which help monitor heart activity in smartwatches and other wearable devices.

    For his life-saving innovations, Chon, who’s also a Board of Trustees Distinguished Professor and Krenicki Chair Professor, is recognized as a National Academy of Inventors (NAI) Fellow. He’s among 13 academic inventors at UConn “who have demonstrated a prolific spirit of innovation in creating or facilitating outstanding inventions that have made a tangible impact on quality of life, economic development and the welfare of society.”

    Election to NAI Fellow status is the highest professional distinction accorded solely to academic inventors.

    Chon and eight other UConn NAI Fellows are affiliated with the College of Engineering, including:

    • UConn’s 17th and current President Radenka Maric, Board of Trustees Distinguished Professor and Chair Professor in Sustainable Energy in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering and Materials Science and Engineering, earned the NAI Fellowship in 2019. Maric has significantly advanced understanding of materials and catalysts and has developed innovative manufacturing processes involved in fuel cell technologies, storage materials, and electrochemical sensors for health applications, leading to higher-performance, commercially viable clean energy systems. She also has six issued patents and 11 published patent disclosures.
    • Ji-Cheng “JC” Zhao, dean of the College of Engineering and professor of materials science and engineering, received the NAI Fellowship in 2022. Zhao’s research focuses are on design of advanced alloys and coatings, additive manufacturing (3D printing) of alloys and composites, high-throughput materials science methodologies, determination of phase diagrams and other materials properties, computational thermodynamics and kinetics, and also hydrogen/energy storage materials. In addition to many materials innovations, he pioneered the development of a diffusion-multiple approach and co-developed several materials property microscopy tools for accelerated materials discovery and development. Zhao has 49 patents covering a wide range of materials, processes, and systems.
    • Dr. Cato Laurencin, Albert and Wilda Van Dusen Distinguished Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery, professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering, professor of materials science and engineering, and professor of biomedical engineering, received the Fellowship in 2013 and was the first UConn faculty to become a NAI Fellow. He’s also a current member of the NAI’s Board of Directors and president of UConn’s NAI chapter. He has received the Connecticut Medal of Technology and Innovation, and the National Medal of Technology and Innovation in ceremonies at the White House. As Chief Executive Officer of the Cato T. Laurencin Institute on Regenerative Engineering and a practicing sports medicine and shoulder surgeon, Dr. Laurencin is known for being the pioneer of the field of regenerative engineering. He’s also produced seminal research and technologies on nanotechnology and tissue regeneration, polymer chemistry and polymeric materials science and engineering.
      Dr. Cato Laurencin is currently a member of the national selection committee for the National Academy of Inventors and serves as a resource to individuals interested in becoming Fellows at UConn. (Sean Flynn/UConn Photo)
    • Luyi Sun, professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering, was awarded the Fellowship in 2021. Sun studies polymeric materials, ceramics and glasses, and composites with a focus on designing materials with unique structure for specific applications, such as packaging, energy, or catalysis.
    • Bahram Javidi, Board of Trustees Distinguished Professor and SNET Endowed Chair Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering, received the NAI Fellowship in 2018. Javidi’s inventions are in a broad range of transformative imaging approaches using optics and photonics. He has made seminal inventions in passive and active multi-dimensional imaging from nano to micro and macro scales. His inventions include advanced 3D displays, 3D augmented reality devices, underwater sensing and imaging, multi-dimensional object recognition and classification, optics for security and authentication systems, field portable bio-sensors for automated disease identification, among others.
    • UConn’s 16th President Tom Katsouleas, professor of electrical and computer engineering, was named a NAI Fellow in 2020. He invented the Surfatron accelerator that uses electromagnetic waves to accelerate charged particles.
    • Steven Suib, director of the Institute of Materials Science, Board of Trustees Distinguished Professor of Chemistry and graduate faculty member in Materials Science and Engineering, received the Fellowship in 2017. Suib, an inventor, holds more than 90 patents in the field of materials science, of which three are licensed. These patents are primarily for the synthesis of new compositions of matter of catalysts, ceramics, batteries, semiconductors, and other materials.
    • Lakshmi Nair, from UConn Health, received her Fellowship in 2016. She is an associate professor of orthopedic surgery and is also on the graduate faculty for Materials Science and Engineering Department. Nair studies biomaterial design and synthesis, protein and small molecule delivery, and using matrices to help with tissue regeneration.
      Lakshmi Nair, who serves on the graduate faculty for the Materials Science and Engineering Department, is vice president of UConn’s NAI Chapter.

    Other UConn faculty who are NAI Fellows include:

    Guillermo Risatti, from the College of Agriculture, Health and Natural Resources, is UConn’s most recent NAI Fellow. He received the award in 2024. Risatti, professor of pathobiology and veterinary science and director of UConn’s Connecticut Veterinary Diagnostic Medical Laboratory, was nominated to the NAI in recognition of his pioneering work in veterinary vaccine research. Most recently, he was a lead inventor on a new vaccine for African swine fever. Risatti currently holds 19 patents, all in the realm of veterinary vaccines.

    Dr. Se-Jin Lee, from UConn Health, earned the NAI Fellowship in 2015. Dr. Lee, Presidential Distinguished Professor of Genetics and Genome Sciences and a joint faculty appointment with The Jackson Laboratory for Genomic Medicine, is an expert on reproductive health, particularly how various growth factors and signaling pathways impact health, aging, and disease.

    Dr. Pramod Srivastava from UConn Health, was named a Fellow in 2015. Dr. Srivastava, professor of immunology and the Eversource Energy Chair in Experimental Oncology, also served as director of the Carole and Ray Neag Comprehensive Cancer Center. He has earned international acclaim and holds many patents for his groundbreaking work in the immunological function of heat shock proteins and in cancer immunology.

    And Diane Burgess, from the School of Pharmacy, received the NAI Fellowship in 2023. Burgess, Pfizer Distinguished Chair of Pharmaceutical Technology and Board of Trustees Distinguished Professor of Pharmaceutics, studies drug delivery systems including implantable biosensors for glucose monitoring for diabetic patients.

    These 13 NAI Fellows are among 2,068 worldwide, representing more than 300 prestigious universities and governmental and non-profit research institutes. Collectively, the Fellows hold more than 68,000 issued U.S. patents, which have generated over 20,000 licensed technologies, 4,000 companies, and created more than 1.2 million jobs. In addition, over $3.2 trillion in revenue has been generated based on NAI Fellow discoveries.

    Among all NAI Fellows, there are 755 members of the National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine; 63 inductees of the National Inventors Hall of Fame; 70 recipients of the U.S. National Medal of Technology and Innovation and U.S. National Medal of Science; and 57 Nobel Laureates, among other awards and distinctions.

    In addition to the elected NAI Fellows, the Academy also accepts NAI Senior Members, who may not reach the NAI Fellow criteria, but foster a spirit of innovation within their communities and institutions while educating and mentoring the next generation of inventors. Senior Members are active faculty, scientists, and administrators with success in patents, licensing, and commercialization and have produced technologies that have brought or aspire to bring, real impact on the welfare of society.

    Senior Members are nominated by their local NAI chapter. UConn’s NAI Chapter, NAI-UConn, is led by President Laurencin and Vice President Nair. NAI-UConn was established to promote scientific innovation across all disciplines in the UConn community.

    “As a group, we work to identify individuals who would make ideal Fellows and Senior Members by evaluating how they contribute to the ecosystem of inventorship,” Laurencin says. Laurencin is a member of the national selection committee for the National Academy of Inventors and serves as a resource to individuals interested in becoming Fellows.

    UConn currently has seven NAI Senior Members including:

    “Our inductees in the National Academy of Inventors confirm what we know to be true of UConn researchers and innovators,” says Pamir Alpay, UConn vice president for research, innovation, and entrepreneurship. “From engineering to health care, UConn researchers are helping to improve lives and advance technology. Congratulations to all our members of this prestigious Academy.”

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Gov. Kemp Announces 104 Appointments to Boards, Authorities, and Commissions

    Source: US State of Georgia

    Atlanta, GA – Governor Brian P. Kemp today announced 104 appointments and reappointments to various state boards, authorities, and commissions.

    Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia

    Patrick Jones was reappointed. 

    Thomas Chris Cannon is a business owner, business leader, and an active member of the Albany community and the State of Georgia. Early in his career, Cannon was the President and Chief Operating Officer of an entity that had varied business interests throughout Georgia, including a multi-divisional Caterpillar Tractor Distributorship, corporate farming operations and real estate development. In 1992, Cannon founded and developed a business group whose mission was to provide a variety of environmental services to businesses and city and county governments in Georgia, Florida, and Alabama. The business group consisted of a multi-location residential and commercial waste service company, a petroleum equipment company, a solid waste landfill developer and operator, and an environmental consulting and remediation firm. In 1998, Cannon completed a merger transaction of his waste service company with a publicly traded company – Waste Industries – based in Raleigh, North Carolina. For several years, Cannon served on the board of directors of the publicly traded company, until 1992 when he sold his shares in Waste Industries to pursue other business interests. Also in 1992, he founded Flint Holdings, Inc. Today, Cannon continues to own and operate Flint Equipment Company consisting of Flint Ag and Turf, Flint Power Systems, and Barber Petroleum Equipment Company. Over the years, Cannon has served as the president of many civic organizations, including the Albany Technical College Foundation Board, the Albany YMCA Board, and the Boys and Girls Club Board. He also served on the boards of the Darton College Foundation, the State of Georgia Department of Industry and Trade, NoVab Inc., Waste Industries Inc., Deerfield Windsor School, the Governors Council on Economic Development, the Georgia Mining Association, the Albany Museum of Art, Nations Bank, and regional Sun Trust Bank. Cannon is a graduate of the University of Georgia with a B.S.A. degree in Business. He has two children that are active in the businesses and continues to reside in Albany.

    Haynes (Maier) Studstill is a partner in the Valdosta law firm Studstill Firm, LLP, where her practice is focused on representing individuals and families in disputes with insurance companies. Studstill is originally from Rome, where she attended Darlington School before graduating the Culver Academies in Culver, Indiana. She earned her B.S. degree from Vanderbilt University in human & organizational development. After graduating from Vanderbilt, Haynes worked in the journalism industry for several years. She worked at WRC-TV/NBC4 in Washington, D.C. and NBC-affiliate WSMV in Nashville, Tennessee. She also served as the life editor of The Brunswick News before joining her uncle, William S. Morris, III, of Augusta, at his equine publications, Quarter Horse News and Barrel Horse News, in Fort Worth, Texas. Morris is a former regent, as is his father and Haynes’s grandfather, William S. Morris, Jr., thus making Haynes the 3rd generation in her family to serve the University System of Georgia on the Board of Regents. Studstill attended Mercer University’s Walter F. George School of Law, where she met her husband, Justin D. Studstill. She and Justin both graduated from Mercer. She is a former barrister in the William Augustus Bootle Inn of Court. Studstill clerked for the Hon. C. Ashley Royal in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Georgia and worked as an associate for King & Spalding, LLP in Atlanta, before joining her father-in-law, Danny Studstill, and her husband in practice in South Georgia at the Studstill Firm, LLP.  She currently serves as a board member on the State Botanical Garden of Georgia Board of Advisors in Athens and on the Judicial Nominating Commission, having been appointed by Gov. Kemp in 2021. She also serves as a Special Master, appointed by the Georgia Supreme Court, on attorney discipline cases. She is the immediate past president of the Valdosta Bar Association, and former president of both the Alapaha Judicial Circuit Bar Association and the Valdosta Chapter of the Georgia Association of Women Lawyers (GAWL). She is a former board member of: Vanderbilt University Peabody College Young Alumni Board; the Museum of Arts & Sciences in Macon; SafeKids Lowndes County; and The Verdict magazine of the Georgia Trial Lawyers Association (GTLA). She has been admitted to practice in all State Appellate Courts in Georgia, all U.S. District Courts in Georgia, and the Supreme Court of the United States. She and her husband have four children and live in Lakeland, Georgia.

    State Board of Pardons and Paroles

    Robert Markley is a dedicated and experienced law enforcement professional with a proven track record of leadership and service to the community. Markley served as the elected Sheriff of Morgan County from 2001 to 2024, overseeing all aspects of law enforcement operations. Prior to his role as Sheriff, Markley held various positions within the Morgan County Sheriff’s Office, including jailer, patrolman, investigator, and administrative officer. Committed to maintaining public safety, upholding the law, and fostering positive community relationships. During his tenure as Sheriff, he served as member of the Board of Trustees for the Sheriffs’ Retirement Fund of Georgia.

    Georgia Composite Medical Board 

    Judy Lynn Gardner and Barby J. Simmons were reappointed.

    Board of Natural Resources

    Nancy Addison was reappointed. 

    Mike Peavy is a native of Hawkinsville, Georgia, and is a graduate of the University of Georgia. After teaching for several years, he transitioned into concrete and masonry supply sales, ultimately joining Cherokee Brick. At Cherokee, Peavy became vice president of sales and later assumed the role of president in 2008. In 2021, Peavy was named president of CBEL, the parent company overseeing Cherokee Brick, Cherokee Block, Cherokee Masonry, Stratton Stone and other complimentary businesses. With a history of leadership in the industry, Peavy served many years on the Brick Industry Association (BIA) Board, BIA Region 9 and as past president of Brick Southeast. He currently serves on the Georgia Mining Association (GMA) board and the Southeast Concrete Masonry Association (SCMA). Peavy resides in Macon with his wife, Kate. They have two children and are awaiting the arrival of twin granddaughters on the way.

    Georgia Peace Officer Standards and Training Council

    Andy Hester and Ray Paulk were reappointed.

    State Board of Education

    Leonte Benton and Rich Valladares were reappointed. 

    Courtney Dove attended the University of Georgia where she earned a B.A. in political science and master’s in teaching. She went on to teach United States history, world history, government and Georgia studies at Winder-Barrow High School and Dodgen Middle School. She has served as department chair and a county representative of her department. Dove has also worked at Riverstone Church as the preschool and kindergarten lead and regularly volunteers at her children’s schools in various capacities. Additionally, she advocates for congenital heart defect awareness and serves as a heart swap chair for Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta.  Courtney lives in Marietta with her husband David and their three children.

    Kristi Garrett has been with RA-LIN & Associates, Inc. since 2008, where she is the chief marketing officer. A graduate of Auburn University with a degree in business administration-marketing, Garrett initially worked in the healthcare industry before taking time to focus on her family. In 2018, she became a managing partner of Southern Home & Garden/ACE Hardware until its sale in 2021. At RA-LIN, she focuses on building relationships, fostering growth, and inspiring success. Beyond her professional career, Garrett is a dedicated community leader, serving on the Carroll County Chamber Board, the Tanner Foundation Board of Trustees, and participating in local organizations. A Carrollton, Georgia native, Garrett is married to Ben Garrett, and together they have four children. 

    Melanie Stockwell has had a longstanding passion for Georgia public education, beginning with her role as general counsel for the Department of Education from 1996 to 2003. She then served in various capacities in the Georgia State Senate, including as chief of staff to President Pro Tempore Eric Johnson, where she provided legal counsel and policy expertise, particularly in education. After her time in the Senate, Stockwell worked on policy initiatives for political candidates and later held a position at the Georgia Department of Labor before leaving full-time work in 2013 to focus on family. She became deeply involved in school volunteering, serving on PTSA boards and local school councils. After her youngest child graduated, she worked as a front desk receptionist at Lakeside High School for five years, supporting teachers and administrators. She holds a B.A. in political science from Carson-Newman College and a law degree from the University of Virginia. Melanie and her husband, Mitch, reside in DeKalb County with their two young adult children.

    Lake Lanier Islands Development Authority

    Alan Gravel and Stephen Syfan were reappointed.

    Walter “Bill” Frobos is CEO and one of the owners of Lanier Treatment Center. He graduated from the University of Georgia with a B.S.A. Frobos worked for Leon Farmer & Co. for 20 years in management and marketing. He is also a licensed real estate agent with Southern Heritage Land Co. In 2005, he saw a need to help those that had inadvertently became addicted to opiates. Frobos founded Lanier Treatment Center with a local physician and another business partner to offer medication assisted treatment. His goal and philosophy have always been to focus on providing the best outpatient treatment by using quality and well-trained counselors to help the clients to live a healthy, sober life.

    Georgia Council on Aging

    Kenneth Brooks, Maureen Kelly, Ruth Lee, Patricia Lyons, Adrienne Mims, and Ashton Windham were reappointed. 

    Pamela Cushenan is an experienced dental hygienist and educator based in Marietta, Georgia. She holds an associate of science in dental hygiene from Tennessee State University and MeHarry Medical College, a bachelor’s and master’s in health arts and training & development from the University of St. Francis, and a graduate certificate in Gerontology from Georgia State University. With over 30 years of experience in dental hygiene, Cushenan has served in various clinical roles, from private practice to teaching at Georgia State University, where she has been a faculty member since 2005. She is involved in numerous professional organizations, including the Georgia Dental Hygienists’ Association (GDHA) and the Special Care Dentistry Association (SCDA), where she has held leadership positions. Her research contributions include serving as principal investigator on studies related to oral health and aging, and she has received several accolades for her work, including the Georgia Dental Award of Merit and the 2020 Carl V. Patton President’s Award for Community Service & Social Justice. Cushenan is passionate about advancing dental hygiene through education, advocacy, and specialized care for seniors and individuals with special needs.

    Elizabeth Schulze is the long-term care ombudsman program coordinator and CEO of North Georgia Programs and Services. In her role, she advocates for long-term care residents through routine facility monitoring, facility consultation, providing information and assistance to the public and other agency officials, training for facility staff, and community education. Schulze has a bachelor’s in biology and is working towards her Master of Public Administration at the University of Georgia. While earning her undergrad degree, Schulze worked as a caregiver for people with developmental disabilities and older adults. Her interest in the aging population deepened during her time as a caregiver in Assisted Living and Nursing Homes, which led her to earn an A.S. in Gerontology. She has previously held positions as program coordinator at Athens Community Council on Aging and as a Medicaid case manager for an Oregon Area Agency on Aging.

    Board of Juvenile Justice

    Danny Lee Blackmon and Sandra Heath Taylor were reappointed.

    Gary McGiboney is executive director of the government and education program with Sharecare. Prior to his role at Sharecare, McGiboney worked for over 30 years in the advancement of education and educational services as the Deputy Superintendent at the Georgia Department of Education and as the Deputy Superintendent of Support Services for Dekalb County Schools. McGiboney has a Ph.D. in psychology from Georgia State University. Throughout his career, he has been the recipient of many awards and accolades. McGiboney currently serves on the Council of Alcohol and Drugs.

    Western Circuit Public Defender Supervisory Panel 

    William “Billy” Rennie graduated from the University of Georgia in 2005 with a degree in speech communications and the University of Georgia School of Law in 2011. Billy began his legal career representing indigent defendants in Athens-Clarke and Oconee Counties. In 2014, Rennie opened the Law Office of William R. Rennie, LLC and joined the Law Office of Russell W. Wall, LLC as of counsel, working primarily as the firm’s lead litigator. Rennie has won jury trials in Athens-Clarke, Oconee, Greene, Morgan, Putnam, Oglethorpe, and other surrounding Counties. He is a graduate of and a former facilitator for the Oconee Chamber of Commerce’s Leadership Oconee program, and previously served on the Oconee County Chamber of Commerce’s Board of Directors, the Oconee County Arts Foundation’s Board of Directors, and the University of North Georgia Advisory Board. Billy’s hobbies include golf, soccer, and reading. He lives in Watkinsville with his wife and daughters.

    Coweta Circuit Public Defender Supervisory Panel

    Brian Lewis is a partner with the Kam, Ebersbach and Lewis, P.C Law Office and has been practicing there for over 20 years. He specializes in plaintiff personal injury and criminal defense. Before going into private practice, he served as an assistant district attorney for the Cowette Judicial Circuit. Lewis has a bachelor’s in finance and real estate, and a Juris Doctorate from the Emory School of Law. He is an active member of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Newnan, where he served two terms as senior warden and currently serves as the chair of the Strategic Planning Committee. Brian is a member of the Board of Trustees for The Heritage School and is the chair of the Governance Committee, is a former chairman of the Board of Trustees for the Carolyn Barron Montessori School in Newnan, and supports local organizations and charities, such as The Coweta Samaritan Clinic, One Roof, Coweta Food Pantry, and the Lindsey Riggs Memorial Foundation.

    Georgia Board of Private Detective and Security Agencies

    Pamela Griggs, Tripp Mitchell, and Joel Peacock were reappointed. 

    David Sawyer is a forensic accountant and financial crimes investigator with extensive experience in both civil litigation and criminal prosecution. Sawyer currently works for Sawyer & Company as a private investigator. With over 300 investigations involving fraud, corruption, financial damages, and various legal disputes, he has provided expert witness testimony in more than 20 cases. He has also contributed to the development of software designed to detect fraud, waste, and white-collar crime, and has advised on global initiatives to combat issues such as economic espionage, terrorist financing, and money laundering. Sawyer attended the University of Auburn and received a bachelor of science in accounting. He has had roles as a partner at a top 50 regional CPA/advisory firm and a managing consultant with two big four accounting firms. He also has experience as an internal auditor for Fortune 500 companies. Additionally, Sawyer is a licensed private investigator. He is an active member of several professional organizations, including the Georgia Chapter of Certified Fraud Examiners, the Georgia Society of CPA’s Fraud and Forensic Services Advisory Council, and the Association of Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialists (ACAMS). He also serves as co-chairman of the Atlanta Chapter of ACAMS and is on the Executive Committee of Business Executives for National Security (BENS). A graduate of Auburn University, Sawyer has also served as an adjunct professor and guest lecturer on fraud examination and forensic accounting.

    Stone Mountain Memorial Association

    Joan Thomas was reappointed. 

    Georgia Board of Landscape Architects 

    Betsey Norton and Jon Williams were reappointed.

    State Licensing Board for Residential and General Contractors

    Devell Frady is the owner of Devell Frady Homes. He is a custom home builder based out of Ellijay. Frady has been in the construction business for over 20 years. He is the former president of the Georgia High Country Builders Association and has extensive knowledge of the licensing and permit process.

    North Georgia Mountains Authority

    Charles DePriest serves as the executive vice president of Summit Materials’ East Segment. He brings more than 25 years of extensive experience in finance, operations, and executive leadership to his role. In 2016, he co-founded Georgia Stone Products, a construction materials producer in Georgia. Georgia Stone Products was acquired by Summit Materials in 2017 and has emerged as a cornerstone component in Summit’s greenfield growth strategy. His previous roles at Summit include East Region CFO, Leader of Enterprise Standardization, and Central Region President. A veteran of the U.S. Army, Charles holds a bachelor of professional accountancy from Mississippi State University, an MBA from Mercer University, and is an active CPA and Chartered Global Management Accountant. DePriest is an at-large representative on the Board of Natural Resources.

    Mark Hennessey works for Hennessy Automobile Cos. in Atlanta, Georgia. Hennessy has served on the Board of Trustees for the Marist School in Atlanta and is a member of the Buckhead Coalition. He served on the first BRAC Commission for Fort McPherson. He was a member of the North Fulton CID for over eight years. He had the pleasure to serve on the Board of the Technical College System of Georgia from April 2020 until spring of 2023, when he was appointed to serve on the Board of Natural Resources.  

    Lesley Reynolds is the chair of the Board of Natural Resources. She is a native of Baldwin County, Georgia, and a graduate of Georgia Military College and Georgia College and State University. Reynolds taught elementary school at Midway Elementary in Milledgeville. She has and is engaged with several organizations that focus on education, Judeo-Christian values, and women’s safety and security.

    Harley Yancey is the president of State Mutual Insurance Company in Rome, Georgia, where he also serves on the company’s Board of Directors. He joined State Mutual in 2018 after practicing law at Brinson, Askew, Berry, Seigler, Richardson & Davis, LLP. Prior to becoming president, he served as the company’s general counsel and now manages its day-to-day operations. Yancey holds a bachelor of business administration from the University of Georgia’s Terry College of Business, a Juris Doctor from the University of Georgia School of Law, a master of laws from the University of Alabama School of Law, and a master of business administration from the University of North Carolina. Outside of his role at State Mutual, Yancey is the chairman of the Georgia Life & Health Insurance Guaranty Association, a director for the Oklahoma Life & Health Insurance Guaranty Association, and serves on the Board of Directors for United Community Bank of Rome. He is also involved with the YMCA Board of Trustees, the Darlington School Alumni Council, and the Georgia School of Law Alumni Council. He is the 14th Congressional District representative on the Board of Natural Resources.

    Georgia Commission for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing

    Chelsea Tehan was reappointed.

    Stormey Cone is currently the director of the deaf and hard of hearing family engagement and education program at the Georgia Department of Education. Cone is particularly passionate about ensuring access to services in rural Georgia and has a wealth of experience in the education of deaf and hard of hearing students, especially those enrolled in rural school districts. Cone is a former educator that worked with deaf and hard-of-hearing students in public schools for many years. Recently, she has specialized in improving Georgia’s early identification and intervention for young deaf and hard-of-hearing infants. Cone was the inaugural parent navigator for the Georgia Mobile Audiology, traveling around the state to develop a better understanding of parents’ experiences with diagnosing infants with hearing loss. 

    Russell Fleming has held many leadership positions in agencies that serve deaf and deafblind communities. Among other positions, he was state coordinator for Vocational Rehabilitation Services for the deaf, hard of hearing, and deafblind consumers and dean of students and interim superintendent at the Georgia School for the Deaf.  In his retirement, he serves as vice president of the Georgia Association of the Deaf and works part time as a deafblind Specialist. 

    Byron Smith is the father of a deaf child who uses ASL. He and his wife are hearing and had no contact with the deaf community before adopting their daughter. They are learning ASL as adults to provide the best language and learning environment for their daughter. He has been a fire fighter since 1993, working for U.S. Army, the U.S. Navy, the U.S. Airforce, and the National Park Service.

    DeAnna Swope has held several positions of leadership in the deaf community. She currently works in the field of domestic violence where she educates hearing agencies on how to offer more culturally and linguistically accessible services for deaf and hard of hearing survivors of domestic violence survivors. Swope has received accolades, such as the prestigious Gender Justice Award from the Georgia Commission on Family Violence as well as Collaborate awards from the Georgia Coalition Against Domestic Violence. In 2020, she was honored with a distinguished deaf community leader position at Hamilton Relay. She is a past president of the Georgia Association of the Deaf.

    State Forestry Commission 

    Ken Sheppard was reappointed.

    State Board of Occupational Therapy

    Deborah Hinerfeld is the owner and director of Tic Tok Occupational Therapy Services in Roswell, GA. Hinerfeld holds a Ph.D. in Health Science with a concentration in health care administration and public policy from Trident International University. She also earned a master’s in health care policy and administration from Mercer University and a bachelor’s in occupational therapy from Utica College. Hinerfeld has extensive experience in occupational therapy, having worked in various roles including private practice owner, adjunct professor, and staff therapist at several institutions. She holds certifications in sensory integration, behavioral intervention for tics, hippotherapy, and youth mental health. Additionally, she has contributed to research, presented at numerous conferences, and held leadership positions within professional organizations such as the American Occupational Therapy Association. 

    Georgia Superior Court Clerks’ Cooperative Authority

    Trevor Addison is the clerk of Putnam County’s Superior and Juvenile Courts and has since taken on additional roles as clerk of State Court, Juvenile Court, appeal administrator to the Board of Equalization, and jury manager. Previously, Addison served as a commissioner for Putnam County. During his tenure he served on multiple boards, including the Sinclair Water Authority and the Central Georgia Joint Development Authority, and was appointed vice chairman of the Board of Commissioners. He also serves as treasurer of the Putnam County Law Library Board of Trustees and is active on the Putnam General Hospital Foundation Board, the Legislative Committee of the Georgia Superior Court Clerk Cooperative Authority, and the Executive Board of the Putnam County Republicans. Trevor remains dedicated to serving his community at both the local and state levels.

    Board of Directors of the Georgia Regional Transportation Authority

    Dick Anderson, Frank Auman, Jace Brooks, William Tate, Jr. and BobVoyles were reappointed.

    Himanshu Karnwal is the founder and CEO of ISHTECH INC, an IT Solutions architecture and design company that has been successfully operating for over 12 years. With 25 years of experience in the information technology industry, he has worked alongside Fortune 100 companies, including Sony Pictures, NBC Universal, eBay, and Nike, helping to design and manage global IT infrastructures. In addition to his business achievements, Karnwal is an active community leader. He serves as a planning commissioner for Johns Creek and is a member of the board of directors for the Johns Creek Chamber of Commerce. He is also involved with several other organizations, including Rotary Johns Creek North Fulton and the advisory boards of Quantiphi and Waypoint 2 Space. Karnwal is a strong advocate for the Indian and Asian communities in North Fulton, Johns Creek, and South Forsyth. He is the founder and chairman of a National Indian Association in the greater Atlanta area and serves on the board of the Georgia chapter of U.S. Impact, an organization that represents the Indian American community.

    Jai Bum Park immigrated to the United States from Korea in the late 1980s and quickly transitioned into the telecommunications industry. He made the decision to leave college and focus on growing his business, starting in Chicago and later expanding his operations. In the early 2000s, Park relocated to Georgia, where he became a Master Coin Operated Amusement Machine (COAM) license holder and played a key role in generating millions of dollars for the Georgia Lottery Corporation, supporting the Georgia HOPE Scholarship. In 2009, Park served as chairman of the Korean Association of Augusta, working to integrate Korean-Americans into American society. In addition to his business endeavors, he has invested in real estate across Georgia. A strong believer in the concept of the “whole person,” Park is committed to personal growth and fostering meaningful connections. 

    State Board of Pharmacy 

    Michael Azzolin was reappointed.

    Board of Directors of the Georgia Lottery Corporation 

    Missy Burgess was reappointed. 

    Board of Economic Development

    Sandra Bland is the president of Vidalia Brands, Inc. and director of marketing for Bland Farms, where she has been instrumental in popularizing the Vidalia Sweet Onion. Her innovations include incorporating Vidalia onions into processed foods and expanding their reach across the U.S. Bland’s early entrepreneurial efforts included running a mail-order business that helped Vidalia onions gain widespread recognition. Under her leadership, Vidalia Brands champions sustainability by minimizing food waste. Before her role at Bland Farms, she attended College of Coastal Georgia where she received a degree in nursing. Bland built a career in healthcare, holding significant nursing positions. She is actively involved in Southern Roots Women in Produce and supports various philanthropic causes, including St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. Bland, a devoted community member and family matriarch, resides in St. Simons Island with her husband, Delbert, and their three children and ten grandchildren.

    Board of Corrections

    Bruce Carlisle, Donnie Pope, W.D. Strickland and Rose Williams were reappointed.

    Chris Clark will now serve as the Seventh Congressional District Representative. 

    Luis Solis will now serve as the Ninth Congressional District Representative. 

    Ester Fleming will now serve as the Thirteenth Congressional District Representative. 

    Barry Babb will now serve as an At-Large Representative. 

    Stacy Jarrard will now serve as an At-Large Representative.

    Kellie Brownlow is the VP of development and community relations at First Step Staffing. First Step Staffing is a 501C3 that uses an alternative staffing model to provide individuals who are homeless, citizens returning from prison, and veterans with immediate employment. Brownlow is responsible for community partnerships and resource development in all five states in which the company has offices, including the headquarter office in Atlanta. Previously, she served as the executive director of the Georgia Alliance of the Boys & Girls Clubs. Before joining Boys & Girls Clubs, Brownlow was the deputy chief to the Cobb County Commission Chairman and director of economic development for Partnership Gwinnett. She holds a bachelor’s degree in communications and political science from Rhode Island College and a master’s degree in public administration for the University of Georgia. Brownlow serves on the State Workforce Development Board. She lives in DeKalb County with her husband and two daughters.

    Rodney Bryant is a retired law enforcement executive with over 34 years of law enforcement experience. Bryant has held numerous key roles, culminating in his position as Chief of Police for the Atlanta Police Department. Throughout his career, he has demonstrated expertise in a wide range of areas including community engagement, crime reduction, crisis management, and public safety leadership. Known for his strong communication, negotiation, and strategic planning skills, he has successfully led teams, improved community relations, and managed multi-million-dollar budgets. Bryant’s achievements include serving as the President of the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives, overseeing the security operations for Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, and managing large-scale events such as the College Football Playoff Championship and Super Bowl LIII. Bryant holds a master of science in administration from Central Michigan University and a bachelor of science in criminal justice from Georgia State University. He is also a graduate of various prestigious law enforcement leadership programs, including the Police Executive Leadership Institute and the FBI LEEDA.

    Georgia Rural Development Council

    Betts Berry, Gabe Evans, Jim Matney, and Stuart Rayfield were reappointed.

    Bárbara Rivera Holmes is president and CEO of the Albany Area Chamber of Commerce. Holmes is likewise CEO of the Albany Area Chamber Foundation. In 2018, Holmes was appointed by then Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal to serve on the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia, for which she chaired the Committee on Economic Development. In 2020, Holmes was appointed by then Georgia Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan to co-chair the Rural Initiatives Subcommittee of the Georgia Innovates Task Force to help design the state’s innovation blueprint. Holmes is a former journalist whose work has earned four awards for excellence in journalism from the Georgia Associated Press. Prior to her role at the Albany Area Chamber, Holmes was vice president of the Albany-Dougherty Economic Development Commission, where she developed the organization’s business retention and expansion program to facilitate existing industry job creation and capital investment in Albany-Dougherty County, and its marketing programs. Holmes is a 2014 graduate of Leadership Georgia, and served on the organization’s Board of Trustees; a 2022 participant of the U.S. Chamber Foundation Business Leads Fellowship Program; and a 2023 graduate of the U.S. Chamber Foundation’s Institute for Organization Management. She serves on the boards of the Georgia Chamber of Commerce and the Commodore Conyers College and Career Academy. She graduated from Florida Southern College in Lakeland, Florida, with degrees in journalism and in Spanish. She continued her studies at Estudio Sampere Internacional in Madrid and Alicante, Spain. She lives in Albany with her husband, David, and their daughter.

    Sheriff’s Retirement Fund

    Dan Kilgore is the elected Sheriff of Upson County, a position he has held since January 2013. With over 40 years of experience in law enforcement, Kilgore’s career has spanned a variety of roles, including serving as a sheriff’s deputy, city police officer, county police officer, and district attorney’s investigator. Prior to his election as Sheriff, he dedicated more than 21 years of service as the chief deputy sheriff of Upson County. Kilgore is deeply involved in the law enforcement community and holds several leadership positions. He serves as vice chairman on the Board of the Peace Officer’s Annuity and Benefit Fund and is an advisory member of the Georgia POST Council. Additionally, he is the Georgia Sheriff’s Association Area 4 regional vice president. In 2023, he earned his certification as a retirement plan fiduciary, awarded by the Georgia Association of Public Pension Trustees. Outside of his professional endeavors, Kilgore is a devoted family man, married to his wife, Renae, and the proud father of three adult children and one grandson. The Kilgore family are active members of the First Methodist Church of Thomaston.

    Horace “Billy” Hancock started his career in public safety in 1976, and he is currently serving his 3rd term as Sheriff of Crisp County. He has also served as the emergency management director of Crisp County since 2014. Hancock began his career as an emergency medical technician with Crisp County EMS. He has spent over 40 years in law enforcement, first sworn in in 1979 as a part-time deputy with the Crisp County Sheriff’s Office. He later went to work for the Georgia State Patrol. He returned to the Crisp County Sheriff’s Office in 1990. He held the position of chief deputy for 19 years and served as the deputy director of the Crisp County Emergency Management Agency for 14 years. He is a graduate of the 57th Georgia State Patrol Academy. He has an associate degree in criminal justice, a master’s certificate in emergency management, and a bachelor’s from Columbia Southern University in homeland security. Hancock was appointed and has served as a board member of the Georgia Peace Officer’s Standards and Training Council (the ABAC Region). He is past vice president of the Georgia Peace Officers Association and is an active member of both the Georgia and National Sheriff’s Association. He continues to teach on the state and federal levels. Hancock began serving as a lion with the Cordele Lions Club in 2001 and has received numerous awards from the organization. In 2018, Governor Nathan Deal appointed Hancock to the Georgia Emergency Communications Authority (GECA) Board. Hancock was also reappointed to the GECA Board by Governor Brian Kemp. Hancock is a member of the Cordele Church of Christ.

    Frank Reynolds was sworn into office on January 1, 2017, as the 39th Sheriff of Cherokee County, Georgia. Reynolds has been a resident of Cherokee County since 1981. He began his law enforcement career in 1994 with the Cherokee Sheriff’s Office. Reynolds is committed to serving Cherokee County with honesty, transparency, and integrity. As a Georgia Constitutional Officer, Reynolds is mandated to oversee warrant service and civil process, maintain the adult detention center, courthouse security and provide general law enforcement within Cherokee County. He is a graduate of Riverside Military Academy, earned a bachelor’s degree from Reinhardt University and holds a master of public administration from Columbus State University. Reynolds is a graduate of the FBI National Academy in Quantico, Virginia class 244, and the Georgia Law Enforcement Command College. He is married to Dr. Jennifer DeBord Reynolds and is the proud father of three.

    Georgia Technology Authority

    Marie Mouchet is an accomplished technology and cybersecurity executive currently serving as a member of the Board of Advisors for Mimic and HData and managing director of Mouchet Ventures LLC. Her extensive experience and leadership on various boards demonstrates her exceptional talent and commitment to driving innovation and education across industries and also exemplifies her dedication to leveraging her knowledge and insights to make a positive impact in the community. Previous roles include senior vice president and CIO at Colonial Pipeline Company, where Mouchet led technology strategy and operations across both IT and OT domains, vice president and CIO at Southern Company Operations & Southern Nuclear, and director of financial and contract services at Southern Company’s Southern Wholesale Energy. She has served in various board positions, including board advisor and chairman of Georgia CIO and board secretary of the Women In Technology (WIT) Foundation. Marie holds advanced degrees from Georgia State University and completed executive education at the Stanford University Graduate School of Business. Her remarkable contributions to the industry and community led to her being honored with the highly regarded and prestigious Ed Steineke CIO Award by TechBridge in 2020.

    Board of Commissioners of the Judges of the Probate Courts Retirement Fund of Georgia

    Annie Doris Holder has served as the Probate and Chief Magistrate Judge of Calhoun County for the past 24 years, dedicating her career to providing fair and courteous service to the citizens of her community. A committed public servant, she strives to ensure that all individuals receive just and equitable treatment under the law. Holder is a proud graduate of Calhoun County High School and holds an associate degree from Darton College, a bachelor’s degree from Albany State University, and a master’s degree from LaGrange College. Beyond her judicial responsibilities, she is actively engaged in community service. She currently serves as the president of the missionary department of the Southwest Georgia Missionary Baptist Association, the district associate matron of Cuthbert District #13 OES, and a board member of Albany Technical College. Holder is married to Rev. Julian Holder and they share three daughters, as well as nine beloved grandchildren. 

    State Board of Veterinary Medicine 

    Matthew Bradley and Wendy Cuevas-Espelid were reappointed.

    Seth Stowers grew up on a small family farm in Dawsonville, Georgia. In 2005, he began his own small beef cattle operation that he continues to grow today. Stowers graduated from the University of Georgia in 2014 where he received a bachelor of science in poultry science. While at UGA he was active in UGA Cattleman’s Association, Block and Bridle, UGA Poultry Science Club, and competed on UGA’s Poultry Judging Team. Dr. Stowers attended the University of Georgia College of Veterinary Medicine where his studies were emphasized in food animal medicine and production. He graduated with his doctor of veterinary medicine in 2018. Throughout the curriculum at UGA CVM, he lived and worked at Rose Creek Farm, UGA’s Veterinary School farm. To gain a better knowledge and develop his skills in cattle medicine he completed externships at Krebs Ranch in Nebraska and bovine veterinary practices in Texas, West Virginia, North Carolina, and Georgia. Stowers began Hillside Veterinary Services in May of 2018. His professional interests encompass anything involving beef cows, especially herd health and preventative medicine. Stowers is excited to have an opportunity to give back to FFA and 4-H, two programs that provided him with numerous opportunities, through working with local youth. In 2023, he was elected to serve as the district 1 Commissioner on the Dawson County Board of Commissioners.

    John Tarabula is a seasoned veterinary professional with over 30 years of experience in small animal and exotic medicine. He earned his D.V.M. and B.S. degrees from the University of Georgia and has served as the medical director at the Animal Medical & Surgical Center in Canton, Georgia, since 1988. Additionally, he is the owner of Creekside Animal Hospital in Cumming, Georgia, where he has been practicing since 2015. Tarabula’s extensive career also includes roles as an associate veterinarian at Beach St. John Animal Hospital in Jacksonville, Florida, and as an emergency clinician at Jacksonville Veterinary Emergency Clinic. Beyond clinical practice, Tarabula is actively involved in professional service, having served on the Board of Directors for Cobb and Cherokee Emergency Veterinary Clinics, as well as holding leadership positions within the Georgia Veterinary Medical Association. He also has a history of public service, having been a city councilman and Mayor Pro-Tem in Holly Springs, Georgia. Tarabula has participated in medical missions with the Flying Doctors of America, providing veterinary care in Ecuador, Peru, and Bhutan. 

    OneGeorgia Authority Overview Committee 

    Senator Larry Walker, III and Representative Butch Parrish were reappointed. 

    Georgia Board of Behavior Analyst Licensing Board 

    Christina “Nina” Holland is an experienced office administrator with nearly 20 years of expertise in managing operations both in-office and remotely. She has spent eight years with ICB Construction Group, overseeing contracts, financial management, and accounts, and has worked with Southern Structures Fencing for the past decade. In addition to her professional success, Holland is a passionate advocate for children with autism. After recognizing early on that her son had unique needs, she became dedicated to navigating complex medical and governmental systems to ensure her son received the therapies and care required for his development. Holland’s personal journey through autism advocacy has fueled her desire to help other families, offering support in early intervention, Medicaid, and ABA therapy, while striving to improve access to essential services for children in need.

    Board of Public Safety 

    Neal Jump is currently serving his fourth term as the Sheriff of Glynn County. Jump has been in law enforcement since he was 17 years old. Prior to being elected sheriff, Jump worked with the Georgia State Patrol for more than 30 years, beginning his career as a radio operator in 1975.  Jump studied criminal justice at South Georgia College.

    Georgia Board of Nursing 

    Lydia Watkins is the Dean of the School of Nursing and Health Sciences at College of Coastal Georgia, as well as a professor of nursing. She has worked as a registered nurse since 1997, first in pediatric hematology/oncology at the Children’s Hospital of Alabama, and then as a pediatric hematology/oncology nurse practitioner at Sparrow Health System in Lansing, Michigan. She was an adjunct instructor with the Department of Pediatrics and Human Development at Michigan State University’s College of Human Medicine prior to joining the faculty at College of Coastal Georgia. Since joining the college, Watkins has served in other roles such as the BSN program coordinator, interim program director of radiologic sciences, and chair of nursing and health sciences, prior to becoming the dean. Watkins holds a doctor of nursing practice from the University of Alabama at Birmingham, a master of science in nursing from the University of Alabama at Birmingham, a bachelor of science in nursing and an associate of science in nursing from Samford University. She is also a certified nurse educator (CNE) through the National League for Nursing.

    Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Overview Committee 

    Senator Tonya Anderson, Senator Steve Gooch, Representative Demetrius Douglas, Representative Scott Hilton, and Representative Martin Momtahan were reappointed. 

    Senator Sonya Halpern represents Senate District 39 and is the Minority Caucus Vice Chair. Halpern was elected to the General Assembly in 2020. She is the vice chair for the Committee on Urban Affairs and a member of Senate Appropriations, the Committee on Banking and Financial Institutions, the Committee on Education and Youth, the Committee on Health and Human Services, and the Committee on Public Safety.

    Soil and Water Conservation Commission 

    Jim Waters is a local farmer from Blackshear, Georgia. He is the elected Pierce County Supervisor for Satilla River Conservation District. He also serves as the chairman. He is a full-time farmer, planting crops that consist of cotton and peanuts. He is passionate about educating the community on conservation efforts and farmers on good conservation practices to protect our croplands.

    Nonpublic Postsecondary Education Commission 

    P.K. Martin, Doug Roper, Jim Squire, and Pranay Udutha were reappointed. 

    Michael Foor is the president of state operations for Georgia for Kinetic. Foor previously served as vice president of state government affairs in Georgia, building relationships with legislators, electric cooperatives, and communities to support the deployment of rural broadband. Prior to joining Kinetic, Foor was the president of Georgia Communications Cooperative and part of Habersham Electric Membership’s efforts to build fiber-to-the-premise broadband service to communities in North Georgia. In addition to his responsibilities at Kinetic, Foor currently serves as chair for White County Development Authority and is a past president of Habersham Rotary Club, where he remains an active member. Foor holds an M.B.A. from Brenau University. He lives in Cleveland with his wife. They have three daughters and twin grandsons

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Turkana Food Recalls Aleppo Tahini Sesame Paste

    Source: US State of Rhode Island

    The Rhode Island Department of Health (RIDOH) is advising consumers that Turkana Food Inc. is recalling 858 cases of Aleppo Tahini Sesame Paste because it has the potential to be contaminated with Salmonella.

    Salmonella can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections in young children, frail or elderly people, and others with weakened immune systems. Healthy people infected with Salmonella often experience fever, diarrhea (which may be bloody), nausea, vomiting, and abdominal pain. In rare circumstances, infection with Salmonella can result in the organism getting into the bloodstream and producing more severe illnesses such as arterial infections (i.e., infected aneurysms), endocarditis, and arthritis.

    The recalled Aleppo Tahini Sesame Paste was distributed in many states, including Rhode Island and Massachusetts.

    Product details:

    – The product packaging is a 16oz plastic jar with a gold lid and gold label marked Aleppo Sesame Paste Tahini. – LOT# 120824-01 can be found on the top portion of the jar. – UPC Label 854643003054 marked by a sticker on the side of the jar. – Expiration Date August 2026, which can be found on the top portion of the jar.

    The recall was the result of a routine sampling performed by the Ohio Department of Agriculture which revealed that the finished products contained Salmonella. The company has ceased production and distribution of the products as FDA and the company continue their investigation into what caused the problem. Consumers who purchased Aleppo Sesame Paste Tahini With lot code 120824-01 should not consume the product and they are urged to return it to the place of purchase for a full refund.

    Consumers with questions may contact Turkana Foods Inc. (info@turkanafood.com).

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Businesses invited to find out about the benefits of digital transformation

    Source: Northern Ireland – City of Derry

    Businesses invited to find out about the benefits of digital transformation

    10 February 2025

    Local businesses are being invited to find out more about how their enterprise could benefit from improved digital capability assisted by the Digital Transformation Flexible Fund (DTFF).

    An information session will take place in the Everglades on 27th Feb, from 10am to 12.30pm delivered by the William J Clinton Institute at Queen’s University Belfast. Members of Derry City and Strabane District Council’s Business Team will also be on hand to provided tailored advice and information about the programme and the many benefits. Eligible businesses can apply for capital grant funding between £5000 and £20000 to support their business transformation journey to accelerate digital ambitions.

    The Fund is delivered by all local authorities in Northern Ireland under the Full Fibre Northern Ireland Consortium (FFNI) and supported by Invest NI. The project is part funded by the NI Executive, UK Government, Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA) and all local authorities.

    Looking ahead to the event, Business Development Manager with Council, Danielle McNally said: “This is a unique and innovative funding opportunity for businesses to introduce new technologies that will really enhance both their profile and their performance. Many local enterprises are unaware of the support that’s out there and we are happy to advise on how they can best leverage opportunities like the DTFF to get the maximum benefit for their venture.

    “I would really encourage anyone interested in digital transformation to come along and find out more about how they can harness the latest digital technologies in the most effective way.”

    The closing date for Expressions of Interest to this call closes on 14th March and businesses are encouraged to attend the information session to see what the fund can do for them. Other local businesses will also be on hand on the day to share their experiences of engaging with the DTFF programme to date.

    The information session will help identify the types of technology funded, the application process and the importance of leveraging this unique opportunity to address financial barriers to the adoption of advanced digital technologies.

    Businesses can register to attend here – https://dtff.co.uk/pre-briefing-sessions/

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Why the price of your favorite chocolate will continue to rise

    Source: The Conversation – USA – By Narcisa Pricope, Professor of Geography and Land Systems Science and Associate Vice President for Research, Mississippi State University

    Chocolate prices spiked amid very dry conditions in Africa. Chuck Fishman/Getty Images

    Valentine’s Day often conjures images of chocolates and romance. But the crop behind this indulgence faces an existential threat.

    Regions like northeastern Brazil, one of the world’s notable cocoa-producing areas, are grappling with increasing aridity – a slow, yet unrelenting drying of the land. Cocoa is made from the beans of the cacao tree, which thrives in humid climates. The crop is struggling in these drying regions, and so are the farmers who grow it.

    This is not just Brazil’s story. Across West Africa, where 70% of the world’s cacao is grown, and in the Americas and Southeast Asia, shifting moisture levels threaten the delicate balance required for production. These regions, home to vibrant ecosystems and global breadbaskets that feed the world, are on the frontlines of aridity’s slow but relentless advance.

    A farmer in Colombia holds a cacao pod, which holds the key ingredients for chocolate.
    ©2017CIAT/NeilPalmer, CC BY-NC-SA

    Over the past 30 years, more than three-quarters of the Earth’s landmass has become drier. A recent report I helped coordinate for the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification found that drylands now cover 41% of global land, an area that expanded by nearly 1.7 million square miles (4.3 million square kilometers) over those three decades — about half the size of Australia.

    This creeping dryness is not just a climate phenomenon. It’s a long-term transformation that may be irreversible and that carries devastating consequences for ecosystems, agriculture and livelihoods worldwide.

    What causes aridity?

    Aridity, while often thought of as purely a climate phenomenon, is the result of a complex interplay among human-driven factors. These include greenhouse gas emissions, land use practices and the degradation of critical natural resources, such as soil and biodiversity.

    These interconnected forces have been accelerating the transformation of once-productive landscapes into increasingly arid regions, with consequences that ripple across ecosystems and economies.

    Greenhouse gas emissions: A global catalyst

    Human-induced climate change is the primary driver of rising aridity.

    Greenhouse gas emissions, particularly from fossil fuel combustion and deforestation, increase global temperatures. Rising temperatures, in turn, cause moisture to evaporate at a faster rate. This heightened evaporation reduces soil and plant moisture, exacerbating water scarcity – even in regions with moderate rainfall.

    Aridity began accelerating globally in the 1950s, and the world has seen a pronounced shift over the past three decades.

    This process is particularly stark in regions already prone to dryness, such as Africa’s Sahel region and the Mediterranean. In these areas, reduced precipitation – combined with increased evaporation – creates a feedback loop: Drier soils absorb less heat, leaving the atmosphere warmer and intensifying arid conditions.

    The number of people living in dryland regions has been rising in each region in recent years. Years 1971-2020. Scales vary.
    UNCCD

    Unsustainable land use practices: A hidden accelerator

    Aridity is also affected by how people use and manage land.

    Unsustainable agricultural practices, overgrazing and deforestation strip soils of their protective vegetation cover, leaving them vulnerable to erosion. Industrial farming techniques often prioritize short-term yields over long-term sustainability, depleting nutrients and organic matter essential for healthy soils.

    For example, in cocoa-producing regions like northeastern Brazil, deforestation to make room for agriculture disrupts local water cycles and exposes soils to degradation. Without vegetation to anchor it, topsoil – critical for plant growth – washes away during rainfall or is blown away by winds, taking with it vital nutrients.

    These changes create a vicious cycle: Degraded soils also hold less water and lead to more runoff, reducing the land’s ability to recover.

    Aridity can affect the ability to grow many crops. Large parts of the country of Chad, shown here, have drying lands.
    United Nations Chad, CC BY-NC-SA

    The soil-biodiversity connection

    Soil, often overlooked in discussions of climate resilience, plays a critical role in mitigating aridity.

    Healthy soils act as reservoirs, storing water and nutrients that plants depend on. They also support biodiversity below and above ground. A single teaspoon of soil contains billions of microorganisms that help cycle nutrients and maintain ecological balance.

    However, as soils degrade under aridity and mismanagement, this biodiversity diminishes. Microbial communities, essential for nutrient cycling and plant health, decline. When soils become compacted and lose organic matter, the land’s ability to retain water diminishes, making it even more susceptible to drying out.

    In short, the loss of soil health creates cascading effects that undermine ecosystems, agricultural productivity and food security.

    Global hot spots: Looming food security crises

    Cocoa is just one crop affected by the encroachment of rising aridity.

    Other key agricultural zones, including the breadbaskets of the world, are also at risk. In the Mediterranean, Africa’s Sahel and parts of the U.S. West, aridity already undermines farming and biodiversity.

    By 2100, up to 5 billion people could live in drylands – nearly double the current population in these areas, due to both population growth and expansion of drylands as the planet warms. This puts immense pressure on food systems. It can also accelerate migration as declining agricultural productivity, water scarcity and worsening living conditions force rural populations to move in search of opportunities.

    A map shows average aridity for 1981-2010. Computer simulations estimate that greenhouse gas emissions from human activities caused a 1.2% larger increase in the four types of dry regions combined for the periods between 1850 and 1981–2010 than simulations with only solar and volcanic effects considered.
    UNCCD

    Aridity’s ripple effects also extend far beyond agriculture. Ecosystems, already strained by deforestation and pollution, are stressed as water resources dwindle. Wildlife migrates or dies, and plant species adapted to moister conditions can’t survive. The Sahel’s delicate grasslands, for instance, are rapidly giving way to desert shrubs.

    On a global scale, economic losses linked to aridification are staggering. In Africa, rising aridity contributed to a 12% drop in gross domestic product from 1990 to 2015. Sandstorms and dust storms, wildfires and water scarcity further burden governments, exacerbating poverty and health crises in the most affected regions.

    The path forward

    Aridity is not inevitable, nor are its effects completely irreversible. But coordinated global efforts are essential to curb its progression.

    Countries can work together to restore degraded lands by protecting and restoring ecosystems, improving soil health and encouraging sustainable farming methods.

    Communities can manage water more efficiently through rainwater harvesting and advanced irrigation systems that optimize water use. Governments can reduce the drivers of climate change by investing in renewable energy.

    Continued international collaboration, including working with businesses, can help share technologies to make these actions more effective and available worldwide.

    So, as you savor chocolate this Valentine’s Day, remember the fragile ecosystems behind it. The price of cocoa in early 2025 was near its all-time high, due in part to dry conditions in Africa. Without urgent action to address aridity, this scenario may become more common, and cocoa – and the sweet concoctions derived from it – may well become a rare luxury.

    Collective action against aridity isn’t just about saving chocolate – it’s about preserving the planet’s capacity to sustain life.

    Narcisa Pricope is a member of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) Science-Policy Interface, which works to translate scientific findings and assessments into policy-relevant recommendations, including collaboration with different scientific panels and bodies.

    – ref. Why the price of your favorite chocolate will continue to rise – https://theconversation.com/why-the-price-of-your-favorite-chocolate-will-continue-to-rise-246227

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI USA: New Mexico State Council Rallies at Roundhouse for Workers’ Rights

    Source: US GOIAM Union

    The legislative building in Santa Fe, N.M., is known as the Roundhouse. Citizens can spend hours there going round and round with different lobbyists and interest groups trying to sway state politicians. This session, IAM members from New Mexico Locals 1635 (Albuquerque), 794 (Albuquerque), and 2515 (Alamogordo) –along with IAM International President Brian Bryant, Western Territory General Vice President Robert “Bobby” Martinez, General Secretary-Treasurer Dora Cervantes, and Resident General Vice President Jody Bennett–took matters into their own hands and scored some impressive wins.                                                                       

    “The reason we do this is because we fight for working people, and when we fight for working people – we win,” said IAM International President Brian Bryant. “And what you were able to do yesterday, by getting an anti-captive audience bill out of committee, that’s a win for working people!” 

    Bryant was speaking about the lobbying efforts of these IAM members to move the Employees Free Speech Act, sponsored by State Rep. Eleanor Chavez, which is aimed at preventing employers from monitoring employees’ political activities and from holding mandatory attendance, anti-union captive audience meetings.

    “We believe that you don’t only fight for things at the bargaining table, you also have to simultaneously fight for things through legislative action and advocacy,” said IAM Local 794 President Ashley Long. “Secondly, we are advocating for paid family medical leave. We know that our members have needs. They’re caregivers to children, to their elders in their family, and we want to make sure this legislation is passed, so that it’s easier for us to codify it in our collective bargaining agreements” 

    “We are building people, to build power, to make significant change for our members in their work life and their communities,” said IAM Western Territory General Vice President Robert “Bobby” Martinez. That concept grows from legendary organizer of the United Farm Workers, Marshall Ganz. “Engaging our members will get us better contracts, win more elections, and we’re just going to win overall. Real change is made when we invest in people!

    IAM members also gathered at a nearby conference center to install new officers to the state council and update their bylaws to reflect needed changes.

    New Mexico State Council President John Dyrcz noted that across the country, people are turning to organized labor to do things for workers that have long been ignored.

    “You see states like Alaska, that are ruby red, but their voters are passing family medical leave because we all need it,” said Dyrcz. “We are going to continue to fight for laws that support workers because it’s the right thing to do. We are going to keep up the fight here in New Mexico.”

    [ Council Meeting Photo Gallery]

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    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI Global: How rural English women used scrapbooks to commemorate the death of Winston Churchill

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Cherish Watton-Colbrook, Archives Assistant, University of Cambridge

    Sixty years ago, on January 24, Britons gathered around their radios to listen to the sombre BBC announcement that Sir Winston Churchill had died at the age of 90. Others learned about the news at church, as they listened to prayers for the life of the former prime minister, admired by many for leading Britain through the second world war. Later that day, radio and television schedules were suspended to make way for the flood of tributes.

    Around this time in villages around England and Wales, Women’s Institute (WI) members were just beginning a year-long scrapbooking project in honour of the WI’s golden jubilee year in 1965. A branch-based voluntary organisation,
    founded in 1915, the WI was set up to bring country women together.

    This scrapbook project was one way in which the organisation sought to foster a sense of community in rural areas. Members were invited to chronicle everything that happened in their village during that year. Although not every entry featured a tribute to Churchill, several WI members decided to mark the former leader’s death.

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    Today, many of these scrapbooks survive in county record offices, while others remain cherished volumes kept by WIs in their branch archives. Some branches, along with local history societies, have digitised their scrapbooks and shared them online.

    Scrapbooks are perhaps not what immediately spring to mind when we think about the 1960s. Traditionally, they conjure up images of brightly coloured printed clippings or pressed flowers, saved by Victorian women and children. But this is just one page in scrapbooking’s rich history.

    In the 20th century, the rise of popular newspapers, magazines, domestic photography and television provided an array of material that could be transformed into personal archives. Scrapbooking proved a popular way for people to document what they found meaningful in their lives. Family, work, activism, stars of film, music and sport, royalty and even the weather were just some of the many topics covered.

    In 1965, WI members in Woodford, the constituency Churchill represented for 40 years until 1964, decided to conclude their community scrapbook with a tribute to their former MP.

    On a page of black sugar paper, members pasted a programme from a local memorial church service. Women also included a commemorative stamp, together with a photograph of floral tributes left at a bronze statue of Churchill on the village green, flanked by servicemen. Even though Churchill died at the beginning of the year, it was evidently the last thing Woodford Green’s WI members wanted their readers to encounter in their scrapbook.

    Local and national newspapers published a plethora of obituaries and articles on Churchill’s life, providing scrapbookers, such as WI members in Stoke Ferry in Norfolk, with a wealth of visual material for their community volumes.

    Local WI members crafted a photographic record of Churchill’s life, from childhood through to retirement, arranging the images in chronological order, mirroring the conventions associated with family photograph albums. They combined a series of press photographs and newspaper headlines with a handwritten note elaborating on what they felt was significant about Churchill’s death. WI women even went as far as to connect Churchill with their scrapbooking activities:

    As we compile this Jubilee Scrap Book, we stop to wonder what life would have been like in this village in 1965 but for that great statesman and leader, Sir Winston Churchill. Would this book be the happy record of a free and thriving community?

    On the following pages, they contrasted photographs from the funeral procession, with a shot of a bunch of pink tulips, given by a serviceman. In juxtaposing these images, they switched between ceremonial and more intimate forms of commemoration.

    WI scrapbookers clearly felt strongly about recording the death of Churchill in their community volumes. The scrapbook genre allowed these women, at a significant moment in time, to shape the historical record in a way they found to be meaningful, with an eye to the future generations they expected to read their creations.

    ‘Cold lunches were the order of the day’

    As relayed in many of these WI scrapbooks, Churchill was the first prime minister in the 20th century who was afforded a state funeral. It was broadcast around the world in a transmission of unparalleled significance – second only to the 1953 coronation of Queen Elizabeth II.

    One woman in Whitchurch, Herefordshire, wrote a series of diary entries under the pseudonym of Ann Whitchurch for her WI’s competition entry. After an earlier entry (exploring the merits of new brightly coloured long johns) Whitchurch reflected on January 30:

    Everyone seems to feel his loss as something that really matters. Whatever anyone’s politics are, he stood for England, especially for people of my generation who remember his great speeches during the War. It’s rather like the end of a chapter.

    Whitchurch chose the more intimate format of the diary entry, as opposed to national newspaper coverage, to offer a personal tribute to Churchill. By declaring herself the spokeswoman for her generation, Whitchurch conveyed how she understood Churchill’s death as a moment of rupture and transition.

    Over 100 miles away in the Cotswolds, a farmer’s wife in Chedworth shared what the day looked like from her rural farm:

    Cold lunches were the order of the day, everyone was watching the funeral procession of Sir Winston Churchill – an unforgettable memory. Even the menfolk dashed in and out between essential jobs.

    This WI member used her passage to show how the villagers’ commitment to watching the funeral upended their everyday routines at home and at work.

    Sixty years on, browsing the pages of these community scrapbooks reveals more than just a reaction to Churchill’s death by a specific group of rural women. They provide a fascinating glimpse of how national mourning unfolded in English villages and the different ways in which country women documented this moment on behalf of their communities.

    Cherish Watton-Colbrook works as an Archives Assistant for Churchill Archives Centre in Cambridge.

    – ref. How rural English women used scrapbooks to commemorate the death of Winston Churchill – https://theconversation.com/how-rural-english-women-used-scrapbooks-to-commemorate-the-death-of-winston-churchill-248689

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: The EU was built for another age – here’s how it must adapt to survive

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Francesco Grillo, Academic Fellow, Department of Social and Political Sciences, Bocconi University

    Shutterstock/gopixa

    To European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen, Europe is like a Volkswagen Beetle – an iconic car produced by a once-mighty German manufacturer which has been struggling to adapt to a new world.

    “Europe must shift gears,” she urged in a speech to business executives gathered in Davos, Switzerland at the beginning of the year. Yet, her call to arms failed to raise more than an eyebrow. After all, she has repeated the same call many times since she was elected six years ago. So far, there has been little result.

    The US president, Donald Trump, may now even be tempted to finish off the EU (the most developed of the world’s multilateral organisations) by dividing its members over the single market for trade. This arrangement is the cornerstone upon which the union was built, but can it withstand Trump’s attempts to play European nations off against each other in order to get the best deal for himself?

    The problem is that Trump is simply bringing to its most extreme consequences the weakness of a system that was built for stable times which are long gone. We urgently need a new idea, and it cannot be for a “United States of Europe”. That is a dream from the past that could not be more at odds with Europe’s current political climate.

    Mini unions

    Europe is unable to chart a path forward because it needs unanimity among its member states in order to make any major decision. Votes are not even weighted to reflect the different sizes of each of the club’s members.

    This is a weakness that would gradually cause the deterioration of any international organisation. But in the case of the EU, the crisis is more serious because member states have surrendered part of their decision power. As a result, if the EU cannot move quickly, even member states turn out to be paralysed.

    Viktor Orbán, the prime minister of Hungary, has often been singled out as the bad guy especially – this has happened every time the EU has tried to approve sanctions against Russia or aid to Ukraine. But examples of free riding abound even among the founding parties.

    For decades, France has resisted any attempt to reorganise the common agricultural policy that sends a third of the EU’s budget to farmers, many of them French. Italy has halted the ratification of the reform of the European stability mechanism that should protect states from financial instability, out of the assumption among part of the Italian electorate that this may compromise further sovereignty.

    Elsewhere, Germany’s constitutional court has derailed the reform of the EU electoral law that divides the election of the European parliament into a dysfunctional system of 27 national contests, because of the resistance of the German political system to any electoral law which is not proportional.

    We need to find a way to change all this. And the solution cannot be the rather abstract idea of a union that proceeds at different speeds, where the older members are supposed to be part of an inner circle. Nor is it feasible to expect the abolition of unanimous voting for the simple reason that to forgo unanimity, you need a unanimous vote.

    Instead, the EU should become the coordinator of multiple unions, each formed by the member states themselves around specific policies. A union might form around defence, for example, among member states which are ready for such a partnership, such as Poland, the Baltics and Finland.

    Another might bring together countries that wish to collaborate on large projects such as a pan-European high-speed train, or a fully integrated energy market that may allow Italy, France and Spain to save billions of euros and decarbonise more quickly.

    This is not entirely new. Arrangements like the euro and the free circulation of people (the Schengen area) follow this principle. Only a subset of EU nations are part of these projects, and offers have even been extended to join beyond the EU’s borders. Monaco is in the euro, for example, while Norway is in Schengen, despite neither being an EU member state.

    The problem with these unions is that they are incomplete. The complement to the monetary union is a recently reformed “stability pact” that leaves so many loopholes that 11 out of its 20 members do not comply. And even within Schengen, there are still no proper common borders. The result is continuous reciprocal accusations of exporting each other’s illegal migrants.

    The solution here is to fully share the levers within a certain policy area on terms which are more flexible and voluntary for the union’s members.

    The possibility of calm divorce

    Resilience is achieved through adaptability. Therefore, these new arrangements must make divorce between union members possible from the outset – and establish the terms of such a rupture in advance.

    And in the event of an extreme case, the other parties should also be able to ask one of the members to leave their union (so as to avoid being systematically held to ransom by a free rider). The current union treaty does contain a provision (article 50) that enables a member to leave, as the UK did – but if Brexit showed anything, it was that this mechanism has limited use at preventing a divorce from descending into chaos.

    People should always be part of these decisions, of course. When states decide to surrender some of their sovereignty to a larger organisation such as the EU, it changes the nature of the pact between the citizens of a country and the people who make decisions on their behalf. This evident truth has been ignored for decades as the EU has gradually been built from the top down.

    The European Union currently resembles the marriages we once had in Europe (until well into the 20th century), before it was acknowledged that they are a civil (not necessarily religious) contract that can be dissolved through divorce – not some divine construct that can never be undone.

    The marriage between EU countries is blighted by cheating and empty rhetoric. This is an issue we can no longer avoid if Europe wants to do more than just “shift gears”. The EU was the most successful political project of the 20th century. If it wants to continue to be so in the 21st, it has to learn to be flexible. Only those who can adapt survive.

    Francesco Grillo is Director of the think tank Vision. Vision is convenor of three global conferences on the future of the EU, climate change and AI .

    – ref. The EU was built for another age – here’s how it must adapt to survive – https://theconversation.com/the-eu-was-built-for-another-age-heres-how-it-must-adapt-to-survive-248811

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Growing Plants in ‘America’s Attic’

    Source: US State of Connecticut

    Carl Johnson ’19 ’21 (CAHNR) starts his day by making the rounds in the greenhouses he tends, checking for any “plant emergencies” or problems with the facility.

    This is standard fare for any horticulturalist. But Johnson is doing it somewhere pretty special. He works at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C.

    Johnson works in an off-site, high-security production complex that supports all the Smithsonian museums.

    “I’ve heard it referred to as ‘America’s attic,’” Johnson says. “The stuff on this campus is pretty wild. There’s whale bones and mummies and artifacts.”

    Johnson manages a living botanical research collection belonging to the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, Department of Botany. This collection supports the work of scientists doing research at the Smithsonian on topics like plant genetics, evolutionary biology, morphology, and species conservation.

    “They’ll travel around the world, and they’ll come back with a seed, or a cutting, or a piece of a plant that they want to grow, and it’s my job to take it and grow it here in D.C. in the greenhouse,” Johnson says.

    Johnson also works with staff from Smithsonian Gardens who produce interior exhibits and horticultural displays around the Smithsonian museums.

    Johnson’s interest in plants and caring for living things started early. He grew up with a small vegetable garden at his house and started caring for plants and pets when he was young.

    “I think it’s rewarding to take care of things and see them thrive,” Johnson says. “It’s very fulfilling to take a plant that might be challenging to grow, then figure out what that specific species needs. In the end, I am, hopefully, successfully growing it and seeing it thrive here in the greenhouse.”

    Johnson worked at Logees Greenhouses in Danielson for a few years before coming to UConn, where he pursued both his associate and bachelor’s degrees in plant science from the College of Agriculture, Health and Natural Resources.

    “I wasn’t the biggest academic person,” Johnson says. “Having the Ratcliffe Hicks associate’s program allowed me to get into UConn and then transition from that to the bachelor’s plant science degree was perfect for me. It brought it all together.”

    At UConn, Johnson joined the Horticulture Club. The student club took a trip to Washington, D.C. and met with James Gagliardi ’05 (CAHNR), with whom one of the other members had interned. Gagliardi was working as a horticulturalist at the Smithsonian Institute at the time.

    The club members toured the U.S. Botanic Garden with Susan Pell, now the director of the organization, which turned out to be an important moment for Johnson.

    “I just found her and her job really inspiring, and I kept thinking about how cool it would be to work in a place like that,” Johnson says.

    As Johnson was preparing to graduate, a position at the U.S. Botanic Garden opened. With the help of UConn’s Center for Career Readiness and Life Skills, two weeks after graduation, he started working there.

    Johnson worked at the Botanic Garden for a few years before moving over to the Smithsonian in his current role. In that prior role, Johnson was responsible for preparing the gardens each morning for the public, checking on plants and cleaning up anything that may have been left by visitors. He then spent most of his days at the production facility where they grow backups of all the plants on display in case one gets sick or damaged.

    “If you think of the plants in the Garden as actors, all the understudies are at the production facility,” Johnson says. “Anything you see on display, there’s three or four extras waiting to take its place.”

    While working at the U.S. Botanic Garden, Johnson got to cross off a major botanical bucket list item – growing a “corpse flower.” The corpse flower, or Amorphophallus titanum, gets its nickname from the rotting-flesh-like aroma its flower produces.

    “When we have a bloom it’s a big deal,” Johnson says. “It only happens every few years, and the public gets really excited, and people who might not even be interested in plants come to see it.”

    Through his years of gardening experience, Johnson says he’s had the chance to grow just about every plant he’d ever dreamed of.

    “Getting into plants, I had favorites, plants that I thought were cool, and I had these dream plants that I was hoping to encounter and grow, and I’ve gotten to grow all of them,” Johnson says.

    Johnson credits his experience at UConn with preparing him for the work he has done since graduation.

    “There’s a lot of basic gardening stuff that comes with this job that I learned at UConn and in my jobs before that people might not think would remain as relevant,” Johnson says. “I still water, I still weed, I still prune. All of those basic gardening skills are still everyday essential things.”

    At UConn, Johson interned at the Plant Diagnostic Laboratory, the Home and Garden Center, and in the Floriculture Greenhouse, taking full advantage of having active greenhouses on campus and the services provided to the community through UConn Extension.

    “I did every possible internship that was available to someone in plant science,” Johnson says.

    Johnson says his internship with Shelley Durocher, laboratory technician in the Floriculture Greenhouse, especially prepared him for the work he does now at the Smithsonian.

    “That’s what [Durocher] does – she works with the researchers, and she grows their plants to whatever their specifications are and for whatever research purpose they have in mind,” Johnson says. “So that was a one-to-one translation. It was a super valuable experience.”

    This work relates to CAHNR’s Strategic Vision area focused on Ensuring a Vibrant and Sustainable Agricultural Industry and Food Supply.

    Follow UConn CAHNR on social media

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI: Australian Oilseeds Announces First Quarter Fiscal 2025 Financial Results

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    COOTAMUNDRA, Australia, Feb. 10, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Australian Oilseeds Holdings Limited, a Cayman Islands exempted company (the “Company”) (NASDAQ: COOT) today announced financial results for its first quarter fiscal 2025 ended September 30, 2024.

    First Quarter Fiscal 2025 Financial Highlights Compared to Prior Year

    • Sales revenue increased 6.1% to A$10.4 million due to strong demand for the Company’s cold pressed canola oil.
    • Retail oil revenue increased 59.9% to A$5.7 million due to expanded distribution in leading retailers in Australia along with the addition of several new SKUs.
    • Net loss of A$0.6 million compared to net income of A$1.4 million, reflecting changes to sales mix along with the timing of planned investments in brand and marketing to support our GEO products.
    • Cash flow from operations improved to A$0.6 million compared to a use of A$1.5 million.

    “We delivered exceptionally strong growth in our retail oils business during the first quarter driven primarily by our expanded distribution in Costco and Woolworths in Australia, ” said Gary Seaton, Chief Executive Officer. “We also benefited from three new SKUs that were launched in coordination with focused, integrated marketing campaigns across our key retail partners. While margins and profitability were impacted by the timing of our investments in branding initiatives during the quarter, as planned, we believe we are still well positioned to drive improving results as our business continues to grow and scale. We remain steadfast in our commitment to eliminating chemicals from the edible oil production and manufacturing systems to supply quality products such as non-GMO oilseeds and organic and non-organic food-grade oils to customers globally.”

    About Australian Oilseeds Investments Pty Ltd. Australian Oilseeds Investments Pty Ltd. is an Australian proprietary company that, directly and indirectly through its subsidiaries, is focused on the manufacture and sale of sustainable oilseeds (e.g., seeds grown primarily for the production of edible oils) and is committed to working with all suppliers in the food supply chain to eliminate chemicals from the production and manufacturing systems to supply quality products to customers globally. The Company engages in the business of processing, manufacture and sale of non-GMO oilseeds and organic and non-organic food-grade oils, for the rapidly growing oilseeds market, through sourcing materials from suppliers focused on reducing the use of chemicals in consumables in order to supply healthier food ingredients, vegetable oils, proteins and other products to customers globally. Over the past 20 years, the Company’s cold pressing oil plant has grown to become the largest in Australia, pressing strictly GMO-free conventional and organic oilseeds.

    Forward-Looking Statements: This press release contains “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the “safe harbor” provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including but not limited to, statements regarding our financial outlook, business strategy and plans, market trends and market size, opportunities and positioning. These forward-looking statements are based on current expectations, estimates, forecasts and projections. Words such as “expect,” “anticipate,” “should,” “believe,” “hope,” “target,” “project,” “goals,” “estimate,” “potential,” “predict,” “may,” “will,” “might,” “could,” “intend,” “shall” and variations of these terms and similar expressions are intended to identify these forward-looking statements, although not all forward-looking statements contain these identifying words. Forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, many of which involve factors or circumstances that are beyond our control. For example, global economic conditions could in the future reduce demand for our products; we could in the future experience cybersecurity incidents; we may be unable to manage or sustain the level of growth that our business has experienced in prior periods; our financial resources may not be sufficient to maintain or improve our competitive position; we may be unable to attract new customers, or retain or sell additional products to existing customers; we may experience challenges successfully expanding our marketing and sales capabilities, including further specializing our sales force; customer growth could decelerate in the future; we may not achieve expected synergies and efficiencies of operations from recent acquisitions or business combinations, and we may not be able to pay off our convertible notes when due. Further information on potential factors that could affect our financial results is included in our most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and our other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The forward-looking statements included in this press release represent our views only as of the date of this press release and we assume no obligation and do not intend to update these forward-looking statements.

    Contact
    Australian Oilseeds Holdings Limited
    126-142 Cowcumbla Street
    Cootamundra New South Wales 2590
    Attn: Bob Wu, CFO
    Email: bob@energreennutrition.com.au

    Investor Relations Contact
    Reed Anderson
    (646) 277-1260
    reed.anderson@icrinc.com 

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI: PureSky Energy Welcomes Rami Khadra as Chief Financial Officer

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    TORONTO, Feb. 10, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — PureSky Energy (PureSky), a leader in sustainable energy solutions and independent power producer, is pleased to announce the appointment of Rami Khadra as its new Chief Financial Officer (CFO), effective February 3, 2025.

    With over 15 years of leadership experience in renewable energy finance, Rami Khadra brings an impressive track record of securing capital, managing financial risk, and driving global expansion for major organizations. His expertise in building robust financial structures and his commitment to sustainable growth make him a key addition to the PureSky Energy leadership team.

    Khadra joins PureSky Energy from Amp Energy, where he served as Vice President of Treasury and FP&A, overseeing key initiatives such as securing capital, optimizing funding strategies, and managing financial risks to support the company’s global expansion. Previously, he held senior treasury roles at Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp., Brookfield Renewable Partners, and Nakheel, an infrastructure firm in Dubai that played a role in iconic projects such as Palm Islands off the coast of Dubai.

    In his most recent role at Amp Energy, Khadra spearheaded initiatives to diversify funding sources, optimize capital structures, and navigate currency risks while driving strategic growth. At Algonquin, he played a pivotal role in driving the successful implementation of its $9.7 billion capital plan, advancing its execution while safeguarding the company’s credit rating. During his tenure at Brookfield Renewable Partners, Khadra managed liquidity for $5 billion in project-level debt, supported over $5 billion in M&A activities, and enhanced credit risk and interest rate management for an asset portfolio exceeding $24 billion.

    “I am thrilled to join PureSky Energy at such a crucial time for the renewable energy industry,” said Khadra. “PureSky Energy has an outstanding track record of developing innovative projects and contributing to a sustainable energy future. I look forward to working with this talented team to optimize financial operations, drive growth, and deliver on the company’s strategic goals while maintaining and building upon the strong relationships already in place.”

    Jared Donald, CEO of PureSky Energy, expressed enthusiasm for the appointment: “Rami’s extensive experience in renewable energy finance, coupled with his proven ability to navigate complex capital markets and build resilient financial strategies, aligns perfectly with our vision for growth and innovation. His leadership will be instrumental as we continue expanding our portfolio of projects and driving the transition to clean energy.”

    As CFO, Khadra will focus on enhancing financial efficiency, optimizing the company’s capital structure, and building strong relationships with investors and stakeholders. He will also play a critical role in supporting PureSky Energy’s mission to develop community-focused solar projects and advance the renewable energy transition.

    Khadra’s appointment underscores PureSky Energy’s commitment to assembling a world-class team dedicated to sustainability, innovation, and long-term success.

    About PureSky Energy:

    PureSky Energy is a leading developer, owner, and operator of US community solar, C&I and storage projects with headquarters in Denver, Colorado. Since entering the US market in 2016, the company has rapidly expanded its scale and currently operates a portfolio with generation capacity of approximately 233MW across forty-four sites or under-construction projects expected to be completed in the short term. The company has a large pipeline of solar and battery storage projects across existing and new US markets, placing the platform in a primary position within the distributed generation market. The company’s mission is to make clean energy accessible and affordable to local communities across the United States, while shaping a brighter, more sustainable future for generations to come.

    Website: www.pureskyenergy.com

    Host A Solar Farm: https://www.pureskyenergy.com/community-host

    LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/puresky-energy

    For media inquiries, please contact:

    Janet Janzen: marketing@pureskyenergy.com

    A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/e0c0a2db-205e-4d44-aa2f-1654a64fb326

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI Asia-Pac: Acting CE meets UN official

    Source: Hong Kong Information Services

    Acting Chief Executive Chan Kwok-ki today met United Nations Food & Agriculture Organization (FAO) Director-General Qu Dongyu.

    Welcoming Mr Qu’s visit to Hong Kong with his delegation, Mr Chan noted that the FAO has 194 Member Nations launching work worldwide, leading international efforts to eradicate hunger.

    He said the organisation plays a pivotal role in global food security, promoting the development of distinctive agricultural products in various countries and regions, advancing the development of fisheries and aquaculture, and preventing and controlling major animal diseases, adding that its achievements are widely recognised.

    Mr Chan pointed out that Hong Kong is promoting the upgrading and transformation of the overall agriculture and fisheries industry towards modernisation and sustainable development. The Blueprint for the Sustainable Development of Agriculture & Fisheries formulated in Hong Kong earlier has also set out specific work targets in this regard.

    In addition, Hong Kong has consistently engaged in various collaborations with the FAO. For example, the Agriculture, Fisheries & Conservation Department earlier participated in the drafting of a series of FAO guidelines on African Swine Fever (ASF) to assist smallholder pig farmers in the Asian region to respond to ASF, and the relevant guidelines have now been widely adopted by Asian countries and regions.

    Mr Chan added that he looks forward to greater co-operation between Hong Kong and the FAO to strengthen knowledge exchange, promote regional co-operation, and make further contributions to global food security and sustainable development.

    MIL OSI Asia Pacific News –

  • MIL-OSI United Nations: EU supports early action as climate extremes compound hunger in the Greater Horn of Africa

    Source: World Food Programme

    NAIROBI – The Danish Refugee Council (DRC), United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), IGAD Climate Prediction and Applications Centre (ICPAC), and the World Food Programme (WFP) have welcomed a contribution of EUR4 million from the Directorate-General for European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations (DG ECHO) to launch a joint project to protect vulnerable communities in the Greater Horn of Africa from the devastating impacts of climate extremes, conflict, and displacement.

    “Increasingly frequent and intense climate extremes such as droughts and floods are compounding existing drivers of hunger such as conflict, displacement and economic instability. As livestock and crops perish, livelihoods are lost, and hunger deepens. Early action saves lives, builds people’s resilience to face future crises, and eases the strain on limited humanitarian resources,” said Rukia Yacoub, WFP’s Deputy Regional Director for Eastern Africa. 

    ‘Scaling Coordinated Multi-Hazard and Conflict-Sensitive Anticipatory Action in the Greater Horn of Africa’ will support 450,000 vulnerable people in Ethiopia and Somalia for two years by reducing the impacts of forecasted shocks before they become crises through capacity strengthening of weather agencies to provide timely, accurate forecasts, enabling better community and government response.

    “The IGAD region faces escalating risks from droughts, floods, cyclones, and conflicts, worsening humanitarian crises that threaten lives and livelihoods. This project proposes a holistic, regional, and harmonized approach to strengthen early warning systems for anticipatory action, enhance cross-border coordination, and facilitate risk-informed decision-making to ensure timely, life-saving early actions. With the March-May forecast indicating below-normal rainfall for the upcoming season, urgent preparedness is essential. Furthermore, this funding will directly support the implementation of the IGAD Regional Roadmap for Anticipatory Action, aiding member states in anticipating and undertaking early actions, improving coordination, and building resilience against climate shocks,” said Dr. Workneh Gebeyehu, IGAD’s Executive Secretary.

    The 2024-2026 project includes an additional EUR2.7 million joint contribution from the five implementing partners (DRC, FAO, IFRC, IGAD and WFP).

    “By supporting this new programme, the European Union intends to enhance our delivery of Anticipatory Action ahead of disasters which are predictable in the region and promote the resilience of communities across the region,” said Ségolène de Beco, the head of the European Union’s regional humanitarian aid office in Nairobi.

    MIL OSI United Nations News –

  • MIL-OSI Asia-Pac: Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi interacts with students during Pariksha Pe Charcha 2025

    Source: Government of India (2)

    Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi interacts with students during Pariksha Pe Charcha 2025

    The United Nations declared 2023 as the ‘International Year of Millets’ and promoted it across the world on a proposal from India: PM

    Seasonal fruits must be eaten, food must be chewed properly, right food must be eaten at the right time: PM

    Absence of illness doesn’t mean we are healthy, focus on wellness: PM

    One should prepare oneself for pressure concentrating on task at hand: PM

    We should continue to strive for better, fight our own battles, find stillness within: PM

    Be an example, don’t demand respect command respect, lead by doing not demanding: PM

    Students are not robots, studies are for holistic development, they should have freedom to explore their passions: PM

    Exams are not everything, knowledge and exams are not the same thing: PM

    The habit of writing should be developed: PM

    Discover and nurture each student’s unique talent, look for positivity: PM

    We all have the same 24 hours, it’s about managing our time wisely: PM

    Focus on the Present, share your feelings with your loved ones: PM

    Don’t compare your children with others,understand your children to support their passion, find your child’s strengths: PM

    Learn to listen, Right Breathing is the key: PM

    Every child is unique, know their dreams, guide their journey, be their support: PM

    Avoid comparing students, don’t criticise students publicly, encourage and praise to motivate them: PM

    Challenge yourself, defeat your past, thrive in the present: PM

    Listen, Question, Understand, Apply, compete with yourself: PM

    Convert your failures into opportunities: PM

    Use technology wisely not fearfully, technology should be utilised optimally: PM

    We should not exploit nature but protect and nurture our Environment showing our gratitude, Ek Ped naam ke Naam is one such initiative: PM

    Posted On: 10 FEB 2025 3:14PM by PIB Delhi

    The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi interacted with students at Sunder Nursery, New Delhi today during the 8th edition of Pariksha Pe Charcha (PPC). The Prime Minister in an informal interaction with the students from across the country discussed a host of topics. He distributed sweets made of Til (sesame) which is traditionally served during winters to keep the body warm.

    Nourish to Flourish

    On the topic of Nutrition, Shri Modi remarked that the United Nations had declared 2023 as the ‘International Year of Millets’ and promoted it across the world on a proposal from India. He added that the Government of India strongly urged that there should be a lot of awareness regarding nutrition, as proper nutrition helps prevent many diseases. The Prime Minister highlighted that Millets were known as a superfood in India. He added that in India, most things like crops, fruits were linked to our heritage and cited an example where every new crop or season was dedicated to God and festivals were celebrated in most places across India. He further mentioned that the offerings to the God were distributed as Prasad. Shri modi urged the children to eat seasonal fruits. He encouraged the children to avoid Junk food, oily food and food products made of Maida. Touching upon the importance of how to eat food correctly, the Prime Minister encouraged the children to chew their food at least 32 times before swallowing. He also shared tips to the children to take small sips of water and savor its taste, whenever they drink water. On the topic of eating the right food at the right time, Shri Modi citing the example of farmers, said that they had a hearty breakfast in the morning before going to the fields and completed their supper before the sunset. He encouraged the students to follow similar healthy habits.

    Nutrition and wellness

    Discussing Wellness, the Prime Minister underlined that absence of wellness does not mean that one is healthy, and urged the children to focus on wellness. He added that the right amount of sleep was important to ensure the fitness and wellness of the body. He mentioned that there were many research projects being conducted on the importance of sleep in human wellness. Shri Modi, stressing on the importance of sunlight for the human body, encouraged the children to cultivate a daily habit of soaking in the morning sunlight for a few minutes. He also told them to take deep breaths standing under a tree right after the sunrise. The Prime Minister summed it up by informing that for an individual to progress in life, the importance of nutrition lies in what, when, how and why one eats.

    Mastering Pressure

    On the topic of Mastering Pressure, the Prime Minister remarked that it is unfortunate how our society has ingrained the idea that not scoring high marks in school exams like 10th or 12th means life is ruined. This, he said, added to the pressure on the children. Citing a reference to the batsman’s concentration on the ball in a cricket match, Shri Modi encouraged the children to evade the outside pressure like the batsman and focus and concentrate on their studies only which would help them overcome the pressure.

    Challenge Yourself

    Asking the students to be well prepared and keep challenging themselves every time, the Prime Minister remarked that many people do not fight their own battles against themselves. He remarked on the importance of self-reflection, urging individuals to frequently ask themselves what they can become, achieve, and what actions will bring them satisfaction. He highlighted that one’s focus should not be swayed by daily external influences like newspapers or TV, but rather should be steadily cultivated over time. The Prime Minister pointed out that many people often let their minds wander without direction. He advised them not to be frivolous in their decisions and make up their mind to find stillness on something which will help them to tackle the challenges.

    The Art of Leadership

    On being asked by a student to share tips on effective leadership, Shri Modi said that outer appearance does not define a leader but a leader is one who leads by setting an example for others. To achieve this, he said that individuals must change themselves, and their behavior should reflect this change. “Leadership is not imposed, but accepted by those around you”, said the Prime Minister. He remarked that preaching to others will not earn acceptance; it is one’s behavior that is accepted. He cited an example, noting that if one gives a speech on cleanliness but does not practice it, they cannot be a leader. Shri Modi emphasised that teamwork and patience are essential for leadership. He underlined that when delegating tasks, it is important to understand the challenges faced by the team members and helping them through difficulties will build their confidence and trust in leadership. The Prime Minister illustrated this by sharing a childhood story about a child holding a parent’s hand at a fair. The child preferred the parent to hold their hand, ensuring a sense of security and trust. This trust is a significant strength in leadership, he emphasised.

    Beyond Books – 360º Growth

    On the topic of balancing hobbies with studies, while the general belief is that academics is the only path to success, the Prime Minister stated that students are not robots and emphasized the importance of holistic development. He noted that education is not solely for advancing to the next class but for comprehensive personal growth. Reflecting on the past, he highlighted how the lessons from early schooling like gardening might have seemed irrelevant, but they contribute to overall development. The Prime Minister urged parents and teachers not to confine children to a rigid academic environment, as this stunts their growth. He added that Children need an open environment and activities they enjoy, which in turn enhances their studies. He emphasized that exams are not everything in life, and told students that adopting this mindset will help convince families and teachers. The Prime Minister also clarified that he is not advocating against reading books; rather, he emphasized the importance of acquiring as much knowledge as possible. He remarked that exams are not everything and that knowledge and exams are two different things.

    Finding Positives

    The Prime Minister remarked that people often question advice given to them, wondering why it was said and if it reflects a flaw in them. This mentality hinders one’s ability to help others. Instead, he advised identifying the good qualities in others, such as singing well or dressing neatly, and discussing these positive traits. This approach shows genuine interest and builds rapport. He further suggested offering assistance by inviting others to study together. The Prime Minister also highlighted the importance of developing the habit of writing. He noted that those who develop the habit of writing would capture their thoughts effectively.

    Find your Uniqueness

     

    Recounting an incident in Ahmedabad where a child was about to be expelled from school for lack of attention, the Prime Minister said however, the child excelled in a tinkering lab and won a robotics competition, showcasing unique strengths. The Prime Minister emphasized that it is the teacher’s role to recognize and nurture unique talents and strengths of children. Shri Modi proposed an experiment for self-reflection and understanding relationships. He suggested recalling 25-30 childhood friends and writing their full names, including their parents’ names. This exercise often reveals how little we know about those we consider close friends. The Prime Minister encouraged identifying positive traits in people and cultivating the habit of finding positivity in others. This practice, he noted, would be beneficial for personal growth.

    Master your time, Master your life

    On being asked by a student about time management, Shri Modi pointed out that everyone has 24 hours in a day, yet some people accomplish a lot while others feel nothing is achieved. He highlighted the importance of time management, noting that many lack an understanding of how to utilize their time effectively. The Prime Minister advised being mindful of time, setting specific tasks, and reviewing progress daily. He also emphasized the importance of focusing on subjects that are challenging rather than avoiding them. He cited an example of how to take up the subject which one feels difficult first and tackle it head on. By taking on these challenges with determination, individuals can overcome obstacles and achieve success. Addressing the issue of distractions caused by various ideas, possibilities, and questions during exam time, the Prime Minister remarked that students often do not truly know themselves and engage in conversations with friends, making excuses for not studying. He noted that common excuses include being too tired or not in the mood. The Prime Minister highlighted that such distractions, including those from phones, hinder focus and academic performance.

    Live in the moment

    The Prime Minister emphasized that the most valuable thing is the present moment. Once it passes, it is gone, but if lived fully, it becomes a part of life. He highlighted the importance of being mindful and appreciating the moment, such as noticing a gentle breeze.

    The Power of Sharing

    On the topic of Coping with anxiety and depression while managing their studies, Shri Modi said the issue of depression often starts with feeling disconnected from family and gradually withdrawing from social interactions. He emphasized the importance of expressing inner dilemmas openly to prevent them from escalating. The Prime Minister highlighted the traditional family structure, where open communication with family members acted as a pressure release valve, preventing emotional build-up. He reflected on how his teachers worked hard to improve his handwriting, which deeply touched him and emphasized the impact of genuine care from educators. The Prime Minister noted that this care and attention can greatly influence a student’s well-being and academic performance.

    Follow your interests

    Shri Modi addressed parental pressure on children to choose certain careers. He remarked that parents’ expectations often stem from comparing their children to others, which can hurt their ego and social status. He advised parents not to showcase their children as models everywhere, but to love and accept their strengths. He cited the previous example of a child who excelled in robotics after being on the verge of expulsion from school, illustrating that every child has unique talents. He also cited the example of cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar. The Prime Minister encouraged parents to recognize and nurture their children’s strengths, even if they are not academically inclined. He emphasized the importance of skill development and mentioned that he would have chosen the Skill Development Department if he were not the Prime Minister. By focusing on their children’s abilities, parents can reduce the pressure and help them thrive.

    Pause, Reflect, Reset

    The Prime Minister illustrated how focusing on identifying different sounds can help in concentrating. He shared that practicing breathing exercises, such as Pranayama, can generate a different kind of energy, helping to manage anxiety. The Prime Minister provided a technique to balance breathing through both nostrils, which can bring the body under control in seconds. He mentioned how learning about meditation and breath control can alleviate stress and help maintain focus.

    Realising your potential, Achieving targets

    Addressing the concern of staying positive and finding happiness in small victories, Shri Modi highlighted that sometimes people become negative due to their own thoughts or the influence of others. Interacting with a student who aimed for 95% in the 10th grade but achieved 93%, which led to disappointment, the Prime Minister considered this a success and congratulated the student for setting a higher target. He emphasized that targets should be ambitious yet realistic. Shri Modi encouraged viewing achievements from a positive perspective, understanding one’s strengths, and appreciating the effort put into reaching close to the target.

    Every Child is Unique

    On the topic of maintaining good health during exams, the Prime Minister remarked that the primary issue lies less with students and more with their families. He highlighted that many parents pressure their children to pursue specific careers, like engineering or medicine, despite the child’s interests in fields like art. This constant pressure leads to a life of stress for the child. He urged parents to understand and recognize their children’s abilities and interests, monitor their progress, and provide support. For instance, if a child shows interest in sports, parents should encourage and motivate them by taking them to watch sports events. The Prime Minister also addressed teachers, urging them to avoid creating an environment where only top-performing students receive attention while others are neglected. He emphasized the importance of not comparing students and encouraging each child’s unique abilities. He reminded the students to strive for improvement and perform well, but also recognize that academics is not everything in life.

    Self – Motivation

    On the topic of self- motivation, the Prime Minister advised never to isolate oneself and emphasized the importance of sharing thoughts and seeking motivation from family or seniors. He suggested challenging oneself with small goals, such as cycling 10 kilometers, to build confidence and enjoy the sense of accomplishment. Shri Modi highlighted that these small experiments with oneself help overcome personal limitations and live in the present, allowing the past to remain in the past. The Prime Minister stated that he finds motivation from the people – 140 crore Indians. He shared that while he authored “Pariksha Pe Charcha,” individuals like Ajay in their villages are transforming it into their poetry. This makes him feel that he should continue such work, as there are many sources of motivation around us. On being asked about Internalising things, Shri Modi advised that merely contemplating advice, such as waking up early, is not enough without implementation. He emphasized the importance of applying learned principles practically and refining oneself through personal experimentation. The Prime Minister illustrated that by making oneself a laboratory and testing these principles, one can truly assimilate and benefit from them. Shri Modi highlighted that most people compete with others rather than themselves, often comparing themselves to those who may be less capable, which leads to disappointment. He emphasized that self-competition builds unwavering confidence, whereas comparing oneself to others can cause discouragement.

    Failure as fuel

    On the topic of how to overcome failure, Shri Modi remarked that even if 30-40% of students fail in their 10th or 12th grades, life does not come to an end. He emphasized the importance of deciding whether to succeed in life or only in academics. He advised making failures one’s teacher, using cricket as an example where players review their mistakes and strive for improvement. The Prime Minister urged viewing life holistically, not just through the lens of exams. He highlighted that differently-abled individuals often possess extraordinary strengths and that everyone has unique capabilities. He stressed the importance of working on these strengths rather than focusing solely on academic achievements. He stated that in the long run, it is one’s life and abilities that speak for success, not just academic marks.

    Mastering Tech

    Emphasising that we are all fortunate, and especially so in an era where technology is widespread and impactful, the Prime Minister remarked that there is no need to shy away from technology, but instead, individuals should determine whether they spend their time on non-productive activities or delve deeper into their interests. By doing so, technology will become a strength rather than a destructive force. Shri Modi highlighted that researchers and innovators develop technology for the betterment of society. He urged people to understand and optimally utilize technology.

    On being asked how to give one’s best in any task, Shri Modi emphasized the importance of continuous improvement, stating that the first condition for doing one’s best is to strive to be better than yesterday.

    How to Convince Your parents?

    Addressing the dilemma of choosing between following family advice or personal interests, Shri Modi remarked that it’s important to acknowledge family suggestions and then persuade them by asking how to proceed with their advice and seeking their assistance. By showing genuine interest and discussing alternative options respectfully, families may gradually understand and support one’s aspirations.

    Dealing with Exam Pressure

    Discussing the common issue of students not finishing their exam papers on time, leading to stress and pressure, the Prime Minister advised thorough practice with previous exam papers to learn how to write concise answers and manage time effectively. He highlighted the importance of focusing on questions that require more effort and not spending too much time on questions that are difficult or unfamiliar. He emphasized that regular practice helps in better time management during exams.

    Caring for Nature

    The Prime Minister addressed climate change and commended the young generation for their concern about it. He noted that much of the development in the world has led to a culture of exploitation, where people prioritize personal gain over environmental protection. Shri Modi mentioned Mission LIFE (Lifestyle for Environment), which promotes a lifestyle that protects and nurtures nature. He shared cultural practices in India, such as apologizing to Mother Earth and worshipping trees and rivers, which demonstrate respect for nature. He also highlighted the campaign “Ek Ped Maa ke Naam,” encouraging people to plant trees in memory of their mothers. This initiative fosters a sense of attachment and ownership, leading to the protection of nature.

    Growing your own Green Paradise

    Shri Modi encouraged the students to plant their own trees and suggested practical tips for watering them. He advised placing a clay pot filled with water next to the tree and refilling it once a month. This method helps the tree grow quickly with minimal water usage. The Prime Minister congratulated everyone and expressed his gratitude for their participation.

     

     

    ***

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    MIL OSI Asia Pacific News –

  • MIL-OSI Asia-Pac: Boosting Food Processing & Storage Infrastructure in India

    Source: Government of India (2)

    Posted On: 10 FEB 2025 1:02PM by PIB Delhi

    Pradhan Mantri Kisan SAMPADA Yojana (PMKSY) was envisaged as a comprehensive package which will result in creation of modern infrastructure with efficient supply chain management from farm gate to retail outlet. It will not only provide a big boost to the growth of food processing sector in the country but also improve the capacity of food processing units which help in providing better returns to farmers and creating employment opportunities especially in the rural areas, reducing wastage of agricultural produce, increasing the processing level and enhancing the export of the processed foods.

    However, standalone cold storages are not supported under PMKSY. The state-wise number of storages approved for captive use under PMKSY since inception in 2017 are at Annexue-1. Further, under the Scheme for Integrated Cold Chain & Value Addition Infrastructure a sub-scheme of PMKSY, 06 projects are approved in the state of Telangana in the last five years. The details district –wise are at Annexure-2.

    As informed by Food Corporation of India, Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, in order to upgrade and modernize the storage facilities, Government of India approved Action Plan for construction of steel silos on PPP (Public Private Partnership) mode in the country.  Under this plan, Silos with capacity of 24.25LMT at various locations throughout country are under implementation. Out of which silos with a capacity of 17.75LMT have been completed and remaining 6.5LMT are under various stages of development. In addition to above, silos of 5.5LMT capacity at 7 locations have already been constructed and put to in use in 2007-09 under circuit base model. Further, under phase –I of Hub & Spoke model Silos of 10.125 LMT at 14 locations on FCI owned land awarded and 24.75 LMT at 66 locations on private land have been awarded and are in development stage. As per the data of Food Corporation of India (FCI), the status of Grain Silos construction as on 30.11.2024 is placed at Annexure-3

    MoFPI has been implementing Central Sector Umbrella Scheme – PMKSY since 2016-17 to create post-harvest infrastructure and processing facilities to boost the overall development of the food processing sector including reduction in post-harvest losses. The component schemes under PMKSY provide credit linked financial assistance (capital subsidy) in the form of grants-in-aid to entrepreneurs for setting up of food processing/preservation infrastructure which, inter-alia, includes cold storages and refrigerated vehicles to minimize post-harvest losses.

    As per the Evaluation Study conducted and submitted by NABARD Consultancy Services Pvt. Ltd. (NABCONS) in 2020 on “Impact of Units Implemented under Scheme for Integrated Cold Chain and Value Addition Infrastructure assisted by Ministry of Food Processing Industries (MoFPI)”, it was highlighted that due to interventions of the Integrated Cold Chain and Value Addition Infrastructure Scheme of Ministry of Food Processing Industries, while all sectors had shown some decrease in wastages, but Fruits & Vegetables, Dairy and Fisheries sector had shown significant reduction in wastages.

    Apart from MoFPI, Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare has also launched the Agriculture Infrastructure Fund (AIF) Scheme in July 2020 under the Atmanirbhar Bharat package in order to improve post-harvest infrastructure and create community farming assets. The AIF Scheme facilitates sanction of medium to long term loans by Banks and other lending institutions for the setting up of cold storage facilities, warehouses and processing units, aimed at reducing crop wastage and enhancing value addition.

    This information was provided by the minister of state for food processing industries Shri Ravneet Singh in a written reply to rajysabha.

    *****

     

    ANNEXURE-1

    ANNEXURE REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PART (a) OF RAJYA SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 578 FOR ANSWER ON 07TH FEBRUARY, 2025 REGARDING “STORAGE FACILITIES UNDER PRADHAN MANTRI KISAN SAMPADA YOJNA”

     

    Ministry is implementing Pradhan Mantri Kisan Sampada Yojna (PMKSY). Under PMKSY standalone Cold storages/ frozen storage/ CA/ MA are not supported. The number of storages approved for captive use under PMKSY since inception in 2017 are as follows:

     

    S.No

    State

    No of Cold storages/ frozen storage/ CA/ MA

    Capacity

    (LMT/Annum)

    1

    Andaman & Nicobar

    2

    0.29

    2

    Andhra Pradesh

    31

    7.88

    3

    Arunachal Pradesh

    1

    0.14

    4

    Assam

    8

    6.97

    5

    Bihar

    1

    7.44

    6

    Chandigarh

    0

    0.0

    7

    Chhattisgarh

    6

    2.61

    8

    Dadar & Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu

    0

    0.05

    9

    Delhi

    0

    0.0

    10

    Goa

    0

    0.06

    11

    Gujarat

    35

    20.28

    12

    Haryana

    30

    8.89

    13

    Himachal Pradesh

    28

    4.34

    14

    Jammu & Kashmir

    16

    1.99

    15

    Jharkhand

    0

    0.0

    16

    Karnataka

    35

    12.17

    17

    Kerala

    12

    4

    18

    Ladakh

    0

    0.0

    19

    Lakshadweep

    0

    0.0

    20

    Madhya Pradesh

    17

    8.17

    21

    Maharashtra

    93

    72.71

    22

    Manipur

    5

    0.09

    23

    Meghalaya

    0

    0.12

    24

    Mizoram

    9

    0.58

    25

    Nagaland

    3

    0.35

    26

    Orissa

    8

    2.54

    27

    Puduchery

    0

    0.0

    28

    Punjab

    61

    14.69

    29

    Rajasthan

    29

    7.18

    30

    Sikkim

    0

    0.0

    31

    Tamil Nadu

    59

    10.6

    32

    Telangana

    16

    9.49

    33

    Tripura

    1

    1.11

    34

    Uttar Pradesh

    38

    16.92

    35

    Uttarakhand

    64

    11.61

    36

    West Bengal

    35

    8.06

     

    TOTAL

    643

    241.33

     

    ANNEXURE-2

    ANNEXURE REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PART (a) OF RAJYA SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 578 FOR ANSWER ON 07TH FEBRUARY, 2025 REGARDING “STORAGE FACILITIES UNDER PRADHAN MANTRI KISAN SAMPADA YOJNA”

     

     

    Details of sanctioned projects in the state of Telangana under the scheme of Integrated Cold Chain & Value Addition Infrastructure, a component of Pradhan Mantri Kisan Sampada Yojna (PMKSY) in the last five years  (as on 31.12.2024)

     

    Sr.No.

    Project

    Sector

    District

    State

    Total project cost
     (₹ in crore)

    Approved grant   (₹ in crore)

    Amount of grant released          (₹ in crore)

    Status

    1

    Sri Krupa RGR Agrogatros

    F&V

    Nalgonda

    Telangana

    36.22

    9.36

    2.22

    Under Implementation

    2

    VNR Dairy Products

    Dairy

    Nalagonda

    Telangana

    26.20

    6.84

    4.56

    Under Implementation

    3

    Dadus

    Dairy

    Malkajgiri

    Telangana

    77.31

    7.35

    2.45

    Under Implementation

    4

    Almond House Private Limited

    Dairy

    Hyderabad

    Telangana

    56.81

    7.62

    2.54

    Under Implementation

    5

    Manjeera Dairy Products

    Dairy

    Sangareddy

    Telangana

    22.71

    6.51

    0

    Under Implementation

    6

    AL QAWI Frozen Foods Pvt Ltd

    Meat

    Sangareddy

    Telangana

    32.71

    8.68

    0

    Under Implementation

     

    TOTAL

     

     

     

    251.96

    46.36

    11.77

     

     

    ANNEXURE-3

     

    ANNEXURE REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PART (b) OF RAJYA SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 578 FOR ANSWER ON 07TH FEBRUARY, 2025 REGARDING “STORAGE FACILITIES UNDER PRADHAN MANTRI KISAN SAMPADA YOJNA”

                                                 (Position as on 30.11.2024)

     

    STATEMENT SHOWING AGENCY-WISE STATE-WISE STATUS OF SILO CONSTRUCTION

    (Fig. In LMT)

     

    Agency

     

    State

    Target as per Action Plan

     

    Completed

    Under Construction

     

    Grand Total

     

     

     

     

     

     

    FCI

    Assam

    0.5

    0.5

    0

    0.5

    Bihar

    4.5

    1.5

    2.0

    3.5

    Chattisgarh

    1

    0

    0

    0

    Delhi

    1

    0

    0

    0

    Gujarat

    1

    1.50

    0

    1.5

    Karnataka

    0.25

    0

    0

    0

    Haryana

    3

    2.50

    0

    2.5

    Maharashtra

    1

    0

    0

    0

    Punjab

    4.25

    3.75

    0

    3.75

    Rajasthan

    1.5

    0

    0

    0

    Uttar Pradesh

    7

    1.50

    2.0

    3.5

    West Bengal

    4

    0

    1.0

    1

    Total

     

    29

    11.25

    5.00

    16.25

    CWC

    Punjab

    2.5

    0

    0

    0

     

     

     

     

     

     

    State Govt.

    Andhra Pradesh

    3.5

    0

    0

    0

    Bihar

    5

    0

    0

    0

    Gujrat

    2

    0

    0

    0

    Haryana

    6.5

    0

    0

    0

    Madhya

    Pradesh

    10

    4.5

    0

    4.5

    Maharashtra

    0.5

    0

    0

    0

    Orrisa

    2

    0

    0

    0

    Punjab

    24.25

    2.0

    0

    2.0

    Rajasthan

    4.75

    0

    0

    0

    Telangana

    1.5

    0

    0

    0

    Uttar Pradesh

    5

    0

    1.5

    1.5

    West Bengal

    3.5

    0

    0

    0

    Total

     

    68.5

    6.50

    1.50

    8.00

    Grand Total

    100

    17.75

    6.50

    24.25

    Note: In addition the silos under process, it has been decided to construct further silos under Hub & Spoke model.

     

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    MIL OSI Asia Pacific News –

  • MIL-OSI Europe: Written question – Crop irrigation difficulties of farmers in Evros – EU action needed – E-000430/2025

    Source: European Parliament

    Question for written answer  E-000430/2025
    to the Commission
    Rule 144
    Afroditi Latinopoulou (PfE)

    The expiration of the cross-border agreement between Greece and Bulgaria for the supply of water resources via the River Arda – and the end of the three-month extension thereof – has created serious uncertainty for farmers in the Greek region of Evros, who rely on this water to irrigate more than 300 000 hectares of farmland. The situation is exacerbated by the lack of a stable government in Bulgaria, which is hampering the smooth negotiation of a new agreement.

    The inability to find a solution threatens not only the viability of agricultural production in Evros, but also the social and economic cohesion of the region. At the same time, maintenance problems at the Kalyva and Kefali dams compound the problem further, as they limit the possibility of using local water resources.

    Given the importance of cross-border cooperation and the EU’s role in supporting the outermost regions, can the Commission say:

    • 1.What can the EU do to ensure that a new cross-border deal is negotiated or concluded between Greece and Bulgaria, despite the political instability in our neighbouring country?
    • 2.What European tools or programmes can be mobilised right away to meet irrigation needs and restore local irrigation infrastructure, ensuring the viability of agricultural production in Evros?

    Submitted: 30.1.2025

    Last updated: 10 February 2025

    MIL OSI Europe News –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Live Here Love Here award for Dromore environmental group

    Source: Northern Ireland City of Armagh

    Liz Burke-Jones from Higher Ground Community Gardening Group, Julie Reynolds from Higher Ground Community Gardening Group, Lord Mayor of ABC Borough, Cllr Sarah Duffy, Lynda Surgenor, Live Here Love Here Manager, Deirdre Shannon from Higher Ground Community Gardening Group, and Brian Shannon from Higher Ground Community Gardening Group.

    Dromore’s Higher Ground Community Gardening Group were crowned the ABC Borough Regional Champions at last week’s Live Here Love Here Community Awards.

    Live Here Love Here, a people-powered campaign dedicated to improving the local environment and fostering civic pride, revealed the winners of its 2025 Community Awards at Belfast City Hall on Thursday, February 6.

    The event hosted by TV presenter Joe Mahon, brought together over 150 guests – including DAERA Minister Andrew Muir, local leaders, environmental advocates and volunteers – to honour the outstanding contributions of voluntary community groups across Northern Ireland working to improve the environment and promote civic pride.

    Sponsored by Power NI and supported by the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA), nine local councils, and the Housing Executive, the awards serve as a vital platform for recognising the power of collective action in tackling community environmental challenges such as dog fouling, littering, biodiversity loss, transformation of neglected spaces, and environmental education.

    On the night, 12 awards were presented to celebrate the achievements of local community groups, including the Regional Champions Awards, which honoured volunteers from Live Here Love Here’s nine partner council areas.

    Dromore’s Higher Ground Community Gardening Group received Armagh, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council’s Regional Champions Award for its work in organising litter picks, revitalising neglected spaces, and planting around the area to enhance its appearance which in turn has fostered civic pride and created momentum for ongoing improvements.

    Tidy Banbridge was also recognised as runners-up in this category for its environmental efforts, which include litter picks and forming community partnerships, with a focus on supporting local youth groups and revitalising neglected flower patches.

    Lord Mayor of ABC Borough, Cllr Sarah Duffy explained how the volunteers in Dromore and Banbridge are leading by example. She said, “I would like to congratulate Dromore’s Higher Ground Community Gardening Group for their Regional Champions Award and also congratulate Tidy Banbridge who were runners-up. As well as the practical improvements they are making, these volunteers are inspiring more people to take care of the environment and developing a sense of pride in their communities, which is great to see.”

    Lynda Surgenor, Live Here Love Here Manager, said, “The Community Awards resonate because they celebrate the unsung heroes in our communities who are driving real environmental change through volunteer work. This year, the theme ‘Community Connections’ made it even more special as we honoured groups that demonstrate the power of collective action. Whether it’s transforming vacant land into thriving green spaces or mobilising locals to restore and protect local waterways, these groups are proving that no action is too small to make a difference. We’re reminded that, together, we can build a cleaner, greener, and more connected Northern Ireland.”

    She added, “We also want to thank DAERA, Power NI, the Northern Ireland Housing Executive, Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful, and our nine council partners for their continued support, which ensures the ongoing success of Live Here Love Here.”

    For more information on the Live Here Love Here campaign and the Community Awards, visit liveherelovehere.org.

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI Australia: 35-2025: *Update* Scheduled Outage: Saturday 15 February to Sunday 16 February 2025 – BICON, eCertificates, EVE, EXDOC, NEXDOC

    Source: Australia Government Statements – Agriculture

    10 February 2025

    Who does this notice affect?

    All clients required to use the Biosecurity Import Conditions System (BICON) during this planned maintenance period.

    All clients required to use the Export / Next Export Documentation (EXDOC/NEXDOC) systems during this planned maintenance period.

    Approved arrangements operators who will be required to view electronic government certificates (eCertificates) and relevant attachments online via external verification for…

    MIL OSI News –

  • MIL-Evening Report: As Coles slashes its product range, will well-known brands disappear from supermarket shelves?

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Flavio Macau, Associate Dean – School of Business and Law, Edith Cowan University

    Hitra/Shutterstock

    Coles is reducing its product range by at least 10%, a move that has sparked public backlash and renewed discussions about the role of supermarkets in the cost-of-living crisis.

    In cutting the range of items on offer Coles is moving closer to Aldi and Costco’s strategy to grow exclusive brands and limit product range.

    The goal is to boost profitability by reducing costs, increasing sales, and increasing control over the supply chain.

    Coles is unlikely to cut traditional brands, especially those from companies with significant market power like Coca-Cola or Nestle. In a battle between giants, the status quo is likely to prevail.

    Smaller suppliers are likely to bear the load as they struggle to renew contracts and face increased competition from home brands.

    To fully understand the reasons behind this move and its impact on the cost of living, insights from psychology, finance, and supply chain management come in handy.

    Why cut back on brands?

    The Coles move is all about profitability.

    Over the past decade, competition in the Australian supermarket sector has intensified. Coles’ market share declined from 31% to 25% between 2013 and 2023, while Woolworths’ share fell from 41% to 37%.

    This shift reflects the rise of Aldi, which now holds approximately 10% of the market, and its strong position in the home brand space.

    Aldi’s smaller range helps to keep costs down.
    Audreycmk/Shutterstock

    To boost profitability with a smaller customer base, Coles needs to find ways to enhance its earnings. This can be achieved by raising prices, cutting costs, or increasing the market share of its home brands.

    Raising prices vs cutting costs

    Raising prices is not a viable option, as consumers are already struggling with high food prices inflation and the rising cost-of-living. However, there is room to cut costs.

    One approach is to squeeze suppliers, but again this is unlikely to be effective. The consumer watchdog, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), is holding an inquiry into concerns that the supermarkets are using their market power to the disadvantage of their suppliers and consumers.

    Additionally, as producers exit unprofitable businesses, supermarkets risk supply chain disruptions due to increased market concentration among surviving suppliers.

    Another strategy is to reduce complexity. The more product variety there is, the more complicated and expensive it becomes to manage. Tasks such as stocking shelves, adjusting prices, maintaining inventory, managing delivery schedules, and disposing of expired products all contribute to higher costs.

    Anna Croft, Coles’ operations and sustainability officer, explained the strategy when telling investors in November that 13 basic table salts could be cut to five.

    Simplifying the product range can also boost sales. When faced with too many options, consumers can experience “choice overload”. A widely recognised study in psychology found that people are more likely to make a purchase when presented with a limited selection rather than an extensive array of choices.

    Coles has pointed to shampoo and salt as two potential product ranges that can be simplified.
    I.K.Media/Shutterstock

    Shifting to home brands

    Simplifying the range will likely focus on items where Coles has a home brand. Home brands now account for 33.5% of Coles’ sales, with 6,000 products. About 1,100 were added over the past year.

    This move is a response to competitors like Aldi and Costco. While Coles and Woolworths manage over 25,000 items in their stores, Aldi limits its offering to about 1,800 products.

    Coles is focusing on its home brands to better compete with non-branded offerings from Aldi. In its report to the ACCC, the supermarket highlights its investment in expanding its own-brand range to provide more affordable prices, up to 40% cheaper than similar proprietary brands.

    While consumers may have fewer choices, it is expected that they will benefit from better prices.

    This shift towards home brands is not exclusive to Australia. In the United States, private label sales hit a record in 2023 across a range of items from beauty products to general merchandise. In the United Kingdom, home brand products now account for over half of supermarket sales.

    Have we been here before?

    Almost 10 years ago, Woolworths and Coles started a significant move to adjust their price positioning in response to the competition. Along with Metcash (IGA), they reduced product ranges in 2015–16 by 10% to 15% to simplify the weekly grocery shop for consumers.

    At that time, the culling of products put suppliers under pressure (as now) while consumers were ambivalent: some wanted more brand variety and others preferred less.

    As history repeats itself, it will be interesting to see if Woolworths and Metcash will follow the latest move from Coles and how customers, suppliers, and the ACCC will react this time.

    A/Prof Flavio Macau is affiliated with the Project Management Institute (PMI)

    – ref. As Coles slashes its product range, will well-known brands disappear from supermarket shelves? – https://theconversation.com/as-coles-slashes-its-product-range-will-well-known-brands-disappear-from-supermarket-shelves-249274

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-OSI Australia: 34-2025: Services Restored: Monday 10 February 2025 – COLS

    Source: Australia Government Statements – Agriculture

    10 February 2025

    Who does this notice affect?

    All importers and customs brokers who are required to lodge imported cargo documentation to the department for biosecurity assessment.

    Information

    Resolved time:

    As of: 10:05 Monday 10 February 2025 (AEDT).

    Between 07:45 and 10:05, the Cargo Online Lodgement System (COLS) was experiencing an unplanned service disruption.

    This issue has since been resolved and clients can now submit…

    MIL OSI News –

  • MIL-OSI Australia: NSW Women of the Year 2025 finalists announced

    Source: New South Wales Premiere

    Published: 10 February 2025

    Released by: The Premier, Minister for Women

    Thirty of the most inspirational women and girls across NSW were today announced as finalists for Women of the Year Awards 2025.

    The awards program, now in its 13th year, aims to recognise and celebrate revolutionary thinkers, everyday heroes, social advocates and innovative role models.

    Award categories include:

    • NSW Premier’s Woman of Excellence
    • NSW Aboriginal Woman of the Year
    • NSW Regional Woman of the Year
    • NSW Community Hero
    • NSW Young Woman of the Year (ages 16-30 years)
    • Ones to Watch (ages 7-15 years)

    The Women of the Year Awards ceremony is the centrepiece event of NSW Women’s Week 2025, a week-long celebration from Sunday 2 March until Saturday 8 March. The Awards are the NSW Government’s way of shining the light on the incredible talent and extraordinary women and girls from across our state.

    Women of the Year award recipients will be revealed at the Women of the Year Awards 2025 ceremony on Thursday, 6 March at the International Convention Centre, Sydney. The Award ceremony will be livestreamed for everyone to celebrate these inspirational women and girls.

    For more information about the NSW Women of the Year Awards 2025, go to https://www.nsw.gov.au/women-nsw/awards-and-events/nsw-women-of-year-awards.

    Premier Chris Minns said:

    “The incredible group of 2025 finalists reflect how exceptional the women of New South Wales truly are.

    “From doctors, academics and scientists to community leaders and advocates – each and every one of our finalists have gone above and beyond in their respective fields.

    “On behalf of the NSW Government and our community, I congratulate each of the finalists, for you are all deserving of this recognition.”

    Minister for Women, Jodie Harrison said:

    “We’ve had a phenomenal response to the NSW Women of the Year Awards 2025 program, with over 500 nominations across NSW. This is a record high, and we can absolutely confirm our 2025 finalists are some of the State’s most impressive women and girls.

    “This year’s group come from all walks of life, from scientists and researchers to entrepreneurs and strong advocates to stop domestic and family violence. They come from all across New South Wales – from Sydney to Walgett.

    “The NSW Women of the Year Awards is truly a leading recognition program, inspiring everyday women to reach their highest potential.”

    The Women of the Year 2025 finalists are (by Local Government Area):

    NSW Premier’s Woman of Excellence

    • Professor Annette Cowie (Armidale)
    • Mariam Mohammed (Newcastle)
    • Dr Vanessa Pirotta (Canada Bay)
    • Karen Iles (Sydney)

    NSW Aboriginal Woman of the Year

    • Marjorie Anderson (George’s River)
    • Aunty Fay Green (Walgett)
    • Lisa Sarago (Bayside)
    • Robyn Taylor (Penrith)
    • Aunty Rhonda Towney (Parkes)

    NSW Regional Woman of the Year

    • Kate Cleary (Hilltops)
    • Kirsty Evans (Orange)
    • Jan Frikken (Eurobodalla)
    • Penny Lamaro (Armidale)

    NSW Community Hero

    • Ennia Jones (Newcastle)
    • Kelly Lamb (Port Macquarie-Hastings)
    • Mona Mahamed (Canterbury-Bankstown)
    • Sandy Rogers (Tweed)

    NSW Young Woman of the Year (ages 16-30 years)

    • Yeon Jae Kim (Hornsby)
    • Zara Seidler (Woollahra)
    • Jessica Luyue Teoh (Hornsby)

    Ones to Watch (ages 7-15 years)

    • Chloe Croker (Goulburn Mulwaree)
    • Jiayi Fang (Ku-ring-gai)
    • Aurora Iler (Campbelltown)
    • Ashleen Khela (The Hills Shire)
    • Aish Khurram (Hornsby)
    • Kat Mulcair (Yass Valley)
    • Hayley Paterson (The Hills Shire)
    • Waniya Syed (Camden)
    • Lydia Tofaeono (Strathfield)
    • Emilia Trustum (Richmond Valley)

    MIL OSI News –

  • MIL-OSI Asia-Pac: Farmers possess political strength and economic capability; they should not depend on anyone’s help – VP

    Source: Government of India

    Farmers possess political strength and economic capability; they should not depend on anyone’s help – VP

    No one can undermine the role of farmers in India’s journey towards development; today’s governance system is bowing to farmers – VP

    Those who have benefitted from reservations should never forget the efforts and support of society – VP

    Farmers should benefit from Agricultural Science Centers and engage in the trade of agricultural products – VP

    Posted On: 09 FEB 2025 2:35PM by PIB Delhi

    Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar today stated that farmers are the providers and should not depend on anyone’s help. Addressing the Akhil Mewar Region Jat Mahasabha in Chittorgarh, the Vice President said, “When the economic situation of farmers improves, the country’s situation improves. After all, farmers are the providers, and they should not look to anyone or depend on anyone for help because farmers, with their strong hands, possess political strength and economic capability.”

    “No matter what happens, no matter how many obstacles arise, no one can undermine the role of farmers in India’s journey towards development. Today’s governance system bows to the farmers,” he emphasized.

     Remembering the Jat reservation movement that took place 25 years ago, he said, “I am here 25 years later, and 25 years ago, a great work was done here. The struggle for social justice began, and Jats and some other castes received reservations. This initiative started in 1999, with prominent members of society present. I was one of them. We laid the foundation here in this sacred land, Devnagari, Mewar’s Haridwar, and achieved success, and today the results of that effort are visible in the administrative services of the country and the state. On the basis of that social justice, that reservation, those who benefitted from it are now in key positions in the government. My request to them is—look back and never forget that the support and efforts of this society gave us social justice… Whenever there is a movement, especially related to reservations, people become terrified, become violent, and fall victim to accidents. But on this sacred land, my head is held high, and my chest is broad with pride because our movement for social justice is the world’s greatest example. There was no disorder, no violence.”

    Encouraging farmers to take advantage of Agricultural Science Centers, he said, “There are over 730 Agricultural Science Centers to help farmers. Don’t leave them alone, go there and ask them—’What services will you offer us?’ Learn about new technologies and government policies. You’ll discover that the government has opened up a treasure trove for you, of which you may not be aware. You also may not know what cooperatives can do.”

    “If you visit even twice a month, the people working there will wake up, become active, and realize that the food provider is awake. The food provider will be asking for accounts, and when you ask for accounts, quality improvements will follow,” he pointed out.

    The Vice President emphasized farmers’ participation in the trade and value addition of agricultural products, stating, “Why isn’t the farmer increasing the value of their products? Several businesses are running on the products of farmers, like flour mills, oil mills, and many more. We should collaborate and make sure the farmer focuses on livestock. I feel great joy when dairies expand. There should be more growth in this sector. We should not limit ourselves to milk, but extend to products like buttermilk, yogurt, paneer, ice cream, rasgullas—farmers should contribute to these.”

    Urging youth to engage in agricultural business, the Vice President said, “My appeal is to farmers, and to the sons and daughters of farmers—agriculture production is the world’s largest and most precious trade. Why are farmers not involved in the trade of their products? Why aren’t they participating in it? Our youth is talented. My humble request is—more and more farmers should take advantage of cooperatives, engage in other businesses, and work diligently in agricultural production businesses. Take note; there will be long-term positive economic results.”

    ****

    JK/RC/SM

    (Release ID: 2101122) Visitor Counter : 97

    Read this release in: Hindi

    MIL OSI Asia Pacific News –

  • MIL-OSI Asia-Pac: Pariksha Pe Charcha

    Source: Government of India

    Pariksha Pe Charcha

    Empowering Students, Transforming Lives

    Posted On: 09 FEB 2025 12:21PM by PIB Delhi

    Examinations are often a source of stress for students and their families, but the “Pariksha Pe Charcha” (PPC) initiative by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been transforming this narrative. Scheduled for 11 AM on February 10, 2025, this year’s PPC will once again serve as an interactive platform where the Prime Minister directly engages with students, teachers, and parents. Each edition of PPC highlights innovative approaches to tackle exam-related anxiety, fostering a celebratory attitude toward learning and life.

    The Record-Breaking PPC 2025

    The 8th edition of PPC, scheduled on 10 February 2025, has already set a new benchmark. With over 5 crore participation, this year’s program exemplifies its status as a Jan Andolan, inspiring collective celebration of learning This year, 36 students from all State and UT, have been selected from State / UT Board Government schools, Kendriya Vidyalaya, Sainik School, Eklavya Model Residential School, CBSE and Navodaya Vidyalaya. Pariksha Pe Charcha 2025 will feature seven insightful episodes, bringing together renowned personalities from diverse fields to guide students on essential aspects of life and learning. Each episode will address key themes:

     

    • Sports & Discipline – M.C. Mary Kom, Avani Lekhara, and Suhas Yathiraj will discuss goal setting, resilience, and stress management through discipline.
    • Mental Health – Deepika Padukone will emphasize the importance of emotional well-being and self-expression.
    • Nutrition – Experts Shonali Sabherwal, Rujuta Diwekar, and Revant Himatsingka (Food Farmer) will highlight healthy eating habits, sleep, and overall well-being.
    • Technology & Finance – Gaurav Chaudhary (Technical Guruji) and Radhika Gupta will explore technology as a learning tool and financial literacy.
    • Creativity & Positivity – Vikrant Massey and Bhumi Pednekar will inspire students to cultivate positivity and manage negative thoughts.
    • Mindfulness & Mental Peace – Sadhguru will introduce practical mindfulness techniques for mental clarity and focus.
    • Stories of Success – Toppers from UPSC, IIT-JEE, CLAT, CBSE, NDA, ICSE, and past PPC participants will share how PPC shaped their preparation and mindset.

     

    A Journey Through the Years

     

     2024: Nationwide participation.

    The seventh edition of PPC, held on January 29, 2024, was expansive with 2.26 crore registrations on the MyGov portal, it reflects the program’s immense popularity and relevance. For the first time, 100 students from Eklavya Model Residential Schools (EMRS) participated, symbolizing the inclusivity of the initiative. The event was held in a town-hall format at Bharat Mandapam, ITPO, Pragati Maidan, New Delhi, with approximately 3,000 participants, including students, teachers, parents, and winners of the Kala Utsav.

     

    Pariksha Par Charcha 2024

     

    2023: Widening Participation 

    The 6th Edition of PPC was conducted on 27 January 2023 at Talkatora Stadium, New Delhi. Hon’ble Prime Minister of India interacted with students, teachers and parents during this programme and gave his valuable suggestions/ inputs to all stakeholders. The programme was telecast live by many TV Channels and YouTube channels. 718110 students, 42337 employees and 88544 Parents viewed the live programme of PPC-2023. The interaction of the Hon’ble Prime Minister of India with students, teachers and parents was inspiring, motivating thought-provoking for all.

    Pariksha Par Charcha 2023

     

    2022: The Revival of Physical Interactions

    5th Edition of PPC was conducted on 1st April 2022 at Talkatora Stadium, New Delhi. Hon’ble Prime Minister of India has interacted with students, teachers and parents in this programme and has given them his valuable suggestions/ inputs. 9,69,836 students, 47,200 employee and 1,86,517 parents viewed the live programme of Pariksha Pe Charcha-2022. The programme was telecast live by the many TV Channels and YouTube channel etc

    Pariksha Par Charcha 2022

    2021: The Virtual Connection

    In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the fourth edition of PPC was held online on 7 April 2021. Despite the challenges posed by the pandemic, the interaction continued to inspire students and their families. The focus shifted to resilience and adaptability, teaching life skills to help students navigate uncertain times.

    Pariksha Par Charcha 2021

     

    2020: Expanding Participation

    The unique Town Hall format of the event in which the Hon’ble Prime Minister directly interacted with school students at the Talkatora Stadium, New Delhi was held on 20th January, 2020.  The event broadened its scope with an online competition for students that received  2.63 lakh entries. Students from all over India and also Indian students residing abroad from 25 countries participated. The event highlighted the need to embrace challenges as stepping stones for success.

    Pariksha Par Charcha 2020

     

    2019: Growing Reach 

    On January 29, 2019, the second edition of PPC took place at the same venue, witnessing an even greater level of participation. The interaction, which lasted for over ninety minutes, saw students, teachers and parents relax, laugh, and repeatedly applaud the Prime Minister’s observations, which included a touch of humour and wit.

     

    Pariksha Par Charcha 2019

     

    2018: The Inaugural Interaction

    The first-ever Pariksha Pe Charcha was held on February 16, 2018, at Talkatora Stadium, New Delhi. There were more than 2500 students from schools and colleges who were present in Talkatora Stadium of 16th February, 2018 for the interaction and more than 8.5 Crore students from across the country viewed or heard the programme on DD/TV Channels/ Radio Channels. The Prime Minister emphasized holistic development, resilience, and the importance of maintaining balance during exams. The event’s success set the tone for future editions.

     

    Pariksha Par Charcha 2018

     

    The Impact of Pariksha Pe Charcha

     

    Over the years, PPC has evolved into an opportunity aimed at transforming exam-related stress into positive energy. By addressing real questions and offering actionable solutions, Prime Minister Modi has bridged the gap between policy and practice, empowering students to thrive under pressure. The program’s inclusivity, digital reach, and innovative approaches ensure its continued success as a cornerstone of student engagement in India. With each passing year, PPC reinforces the message that exams are not the end but a beginning!

     

    References

    Annual report 2023-24 to 2018-19. https://www.education.gov.in/documents_reports?field_documents_reports_tid=All&field_documents_reports_category_tid=All&title=&page=1

    https://innovateindia1.mygov.in/#skip-main

    https://pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=2092794

    https://pib.gov.in/PressReleaseIframePage.aspx?PRID=2000010

    https://pib.gov.in/Pressreleaseshare.aspx?PRID=1561793

    https://pib.gov.in/PressReleaseIframePage.aspx?PRID=2100184

    Click here to download PDF

    *****

    Santosh Kumar/ Sarla Meena/ Madiha Iqbal

    (Release ID: 2101104) Visitor Counter : 84

    MIL OSI Asia Pacific News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Fact Sheet: President Donald J. Trump Addresses Human Rights Violations in South Africa

    US Senate News:

    Source: The White House
    ADDRESSING HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS IN SOUTH AFRICA: On Friday, President Donald J. Trump signed an Executive Order to address serious human rights violations occurring in South Africa.
    As encapsulated in its recent land confiscation act to seize disfavored citizens’ property without compensation, the government of South Africa blatantly discriminates against ethnic minority descendants of settler groups.
    As long as South Africa continues to support bad actors on the world stage and allows violent attacks on innocent disfavored minority farmers, the United States will stop aid and assistance to the country.
    The United States will establish a plan to resettle disfavored minorities in South Africa discriminated against because of their race as refugees.
    STANDING UP AGAINST INJUSTICE AND OPPRESSION: President Donald J. Trump is committed to holding South Africa accountable for its actions.
    South Africa has taken positions against the United States and its allies.
    Merely two months after the October 7th terrorist attacks on Israel, South Africa accused Israel, not Hamas, of genocide in the International Court of Justice.
    South Africa also strengthened ties with Iran, which supports terrorism globally.

    While championing terrorism and autocratic regimes abroad, South Africa has committed similar human rights violations at home. The recent Expropriation Act enables the government of South Africa to seize ethnic minority descendants of settler groups’ agricultural property without compensation.         
    The Expropriation Act follows countless government policies designed to dismantle equal opportunity in employment, education, and business, and hateful rhetoric and government actions fueling disproportionate violence against racially disfavored landowners.
    Years ago, the South African government disbanded volunteer forces defending rural farmers, turning a blind eye to the ensuing farm attacks.

    REAFFIRMING OUR COMMITMENT TO HUMAN RIGHTS: A commitment to human rights is central to President Trump’s America First agenda.
    President Trump: “South Africa is confiscating land, and treating certain classes of people very badly […] I will be cutting off all future funding to South Africa until a full investigation of this situation has been completed!”
    President Trump believes in sending a clear message to the world’s bad actors—and to their victims—by condemning human rights abuses in no uncertain terms.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI New Zealand: Federated Farmers proposes seven changes to lighten ratepayer burden

    Source: Federated Farmers

    After rampant rates rises across the country last year, Federated Farmers is calling for the Government to make seven key changes to restore confidence in local decision-making.
    “The funding model for our councils is broken,” Sandra Faulkner, Federated Farmers local government spokesperson, says.
    “Rage about rates increases will feature strongly when voters have their say in council elections this October, but the Government should also do more to rein in cost pressures.
    “Central governments over the years have pointed the finger at council excesses and failings but part of the solution here is to fix faulty legislation and government policy.”
    It’s clear that change is needed to turn back the tide on massive rates increases, Faulkner says.
    “Fewer people are voting in local body elections, and rates jumped an average 15% this year alone, which has really hurt all Kiwis, including rural families.
    “Meanwhile, central government has chipped away at the autonomy of local government with an ever-increasing list of national directions and requirements.”
    Two of Federated Farmers’ seven recommendations call on the Government to surrender some of its tax take in favour of councils.
    “We say the lion’s share of the cost of repairing and renewing local roads should fall on road users, not property owners,” Faulkner says.
    Outside of the state highway network, councils are responsible for maintaining roads and bridges.
    On average, councils get 53% of this cost via a NZ Transport Agency/Waka Kotahi Funding Assistance Rate (FAR), paid from fuel taxes and Road User Charges. The rest comes from ratepayers.
    “Property value rates are a poor way to fund roads for the same reason as general taxation: it does not tie those who use roads with those who pay for roads,” Faulkner says.
    “The system also lacks logic. In areas with a lot of tourism or freight, for example, locals are left paying for roading networks that serve a wider regional or national purpose.”
    Because ratepayers baulk at rising road costs, councils feel obliged to scale back renewal and maintenance on roads that are a lifeline for rural families and businesses.
    “So, we get deteriorating tarseal, potholes and even road closures in rural areas,” Faulkner says.
    Federated Farmers argues the FAR rate should be lifted to an average 90%.
    Another change that would reduce council funding pressure is to make Crown land rateable.
    Currently, government land is exempt from local authority rates, apart from targeted rates and charges for utilities.
    In 2023/24, Auckland Council estimated the Government was exempt from paying a total of $36.5 million in rates that year – worth $506.40 per household.
    Federated Farmers also seeks legislation that focuses local government on providing necessary infrastructure, local public services and regulation.
    “We want councils to stick to core services,” Faulkner says.
    “That requires withdrawal of the controversial ‘four well-beings’ mandate – social, economic, environmental, and cultural – which has led to councils drifting into areas outside their areas of expertise, often duplicating work already handled by central government.”
    Faulkner says there’s always debate on where to draw the line on what is a legitimate ‘local public service’.
    “There should be room for fostering a sense of community through events such as celebrating Matariki, or investing in social infrastructure such as libraries, halls and swimming pools.
    “But there should be restraint on councils from destroying their balance sheets through risky investments beyond their core purpose – things like convention centres and sports stadiums.
    “We’re proposing that a referendum must be held before spending is committed on commercial facilities and ventures costing more than $500 per resident.”
    New Zealand is at a crossroads with its 78 councils, Faulkner says.
    “We can either continue to underfund big challenges on water, transport and housing, or we can look for new ways to restore confidence in a refocused and resourced local government.”
    See Federated Farmers’ seven recommendations in its ‘Restoring confidence in local decision-making’ report – Restoring confidence

    MIL OSI New Zealand News –