NewzIntel.com

Category: housing

  • MIL-OSI USA: NASA’s SpaceX Crew-9 Scientific Mission on Space Station Concludes

    Source: NASA

    NASA’s SpaceX Crew-9 mission with agency astronauts Nick Hague, Butch Wilmore, and Suni Williams, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov is preparing to return to Earth following their science mission aboard the International Space Station. Hague, Williams, and Wilmore completed more than 900 hours of research between over 150 unique scientific experiments and technology demonstrations during their stay aboard the orbiting laboratory.
    Here’s a look at some scientific milestones accomplished during their journey:

    NASA astronaut Nick Hague processes samples for Arthrospira C, an investigation from ESA (European Space Agency) that transplants and grows Arthrospiramicro-algae eboard the International Space Station. These organisms conduct photosynthesis and could be used to convert carbon dioxide exhaled by crew members into oxygen, helping maintain a safe atmosphere inside spacecraft. Arthrospira also could provide fresh food on long-duration space missions.

    Researchers are testing the European Enhanced Exploration Exercise Device (E4D), a modular device that combines cycling, rowing, and resistance exercises to help keep crews healthy on long-duration missions. A single, small device effective at countering bone and muscle loss and improving cardiovascular health is needed for use on future spacecraft such as the Gateway lunar space station. NASA astronaut Butch Wilmore works on installing the device aboard the International Space Station ahead of its evaluation.

    This red romaine lettuce growing in the International Space Station’s Advanced Plant Habitat is part of Plant Habitat-07, a study of how different moisture levels affect the microbial communities in plants and water. Results could show how less-than-ideal conditions affect plant growth and help scientists design systems to produce safe and nutritious food for crew members on future space journeys.

    Packed bed reactors are systems that “pack” materials such as pellets or beads inside a structure to increase contact between any liquids and gasses flowing through it. NASA astronaut Suni Williams installs hardware for the Packed Bed Reactor Experiment: Water Recovery Series (PBRE-WRS) investigation, which examines how gravity affects these systems aboard the International Space Station. Results could help scientists design better reactors for water recovery, thermal management, fuel cells, and other applications.

    During the Residence Time Driven Flame Spread (SOFIE-RTDFS) investigation at the International Space Station, this sheet of clear acrylic plastic burns at higher oxygen levels and half the standard pressure of Earth’s atmosphere. From left to right, the image sequence shows a side and top view of the fuel and the oxygen slowly diffusing into the flame. Studying the spread of flames in microgravity could help improve safety on future missions.

    During a recent spacewalk, NASA astronaut Butch Wilmore swabbed the exterior of the International Space Station for ISS External Microorganisms, an investigation exploring whether microorganisms leave the spacecraft through its vents and, if so, which ones survive. Humans carry microorganisms along with them wherever they go, and this investigation could help scientists take steps to limit microbial spread to places like the Moon and Mars.

    NASA astronaut Nick Hague exercises on the International Space Station’s Advanced Resistive Exercise Device while wearing the Bio-Monitor vest and headband. This set of garments contains sensors that unobtrusively collect data such as heart rate, breathing rate, blood pressure, and temperature. The data supports studies on human health, including Vascular Aging, a CSA (Canadian Space Agency) investigation that monitors cardiovascular function in space.

    NASA astronaut Butch Wilmore works with hardware for InSPA Auxilium Bioprinter, a study that tests 3D printing of an implantable medical device that could facilitate recovery from peripheral nerve damage, a type of injury that can cause sensory and motor issues. In microgravity, this manufacturing technique produces higher-quality devices that may perform better, benefitting crew members on future long-duration missions and patients back home.

    A deployer attached to the International Space Station’s Kibo laboratory module launches LignoSat into space. JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) developed the satellite to test using wood as a more sustainable alternative to conventional satellite materials. Researchers previously exposed different woods to space and chose magnolia as the best option for the study, including sensors to evaluate the wood’s strain and its response to temperature and radiation. Researchers also are monitoring whether Earth’s geomagnetic field interferes with the satellite’s data transmission.

    NASA astronaut Suni Williams poses with bacteria and yeast samples for Rhodium Biomanufacturing 03, part of an ongoing examination of microgravity’s effects on biomanufacturing engineered bacteria and yeast aboard the International Space Station. Microgravity causes changes in microbial cell growth, cell structure, and metabolic activity that can affect biomanufacturing processes. This investigation could clarify the extent of these effects and advance the use of microbes to make food, pharmaceuticals, and other products in space, reducing the cost of launching equipment and consumables from Earth.

    The International Space Station’s Neutron star Interior Composition Explorer, or NICER, studies neutron stars, the glowing cinders left behind when massive stars explode as supernovas. NASA astronaut Nick Hague installs patches during a spacewalk to repair damage to thermal shields that block out sunlight while allowing X-rays to pass through the instrument. NICER continues to generate trailblazing astrophysics discoveries reported in hundreds of scientific papers.

    From inside the International Space Station’s cupola, NASA astronaut Butch Wilmore photographs landmarks on Earth approximately 260 miles (418 kilometers) below. Crew members have taken millions of images of Earth from the space station for Crew Earth Observations, creating one of the longest-running records of how our planet changes over time. These images support a variety of research, including studies of phenomena such as flooding and fires, atmospheric processes affected by volcanic eruptions, urban growth, and land use.

    This photograph captures an orbital sunrise above the lights of Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo as the International Space Station orbits above Brazil. This image is one of the millions of photographs taken by crew members for Crew Earth Observations. These images teach us more about our home planet, and studies show that taking them improves the mental well-being of crew members. Many spend much of their free time pursuing shots that, like this one, are only possible from space.

    The BioNutrients investigation demonstrates technology to produce nutrients during long-duration space missions using engineered microbes like yeast. Food stored for long periods can lose vitamins and other nutrients, and this technology could provide a way to make supplements on demand. NASA astronaut Suni Williams prepares specially designed growth packets for the investigation aboard the International Space Station.

    The International Space Station’s robotic hand, Dextre, attached to the Canadarm2 robotic arm, moves hardware into position for the COronal Diagnostic EXperiment, or CODEX. This investigation examines solar wind and how it forms using a solar coronagraph, which blocks out bright light from the Sun to reveal details in its outer atmosphere or corona. Results could help scientists understand the heating and acceleration of the solar wind and provide insight into the source of the energy that generates it.

    Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov conducts a hearing test in the relative quiet of the International Space Station’s Quest airlock. Crew members often serve as test subjects for research on how spaceflight affects hearing and vision, the immune and cardiovascular systems, and other bodily functions. This research supports the development of ways to prevent or mitigate these effects.

    Euro Material Ageing, an ESA (European Space Agency) investigation, studies how certain materials age when exposed to the harsh space environment. Findings could advance design for spacecraft and satellites, including improved thermal control, as well as the development of sensors for research and industrial applications. NASA astronaut Suni Williams installs the experiment into the Nanoracks Bishop airlock for transport to the outside of the International Space Station.

    NASA astronauts Don Pettit and Butch Wilmore remove a small satellite deployer from an airlock on the International Space Station. The deployer had released several CubeSats into Earth orbit including CySat-1, a remote sensor that measures soil moisture, and DORA, a receiver that could provide affordable and accurate communications among small spacecraft.

    The Responsive Engaging Arms for Captive Care and Handling demonstration (Astrobee REACCH) uses the International Space Station’s Astrobee robots to test technology for capturing objects of any geometry or material orbiting in space. This ability could enable satellite servicing and movement to maximize the lifespan of these tools and removal of space debris that could damage satellites providing services to the people of Earth. NASA astronaut Suni Williams checks out an Astrobee fitted with tentacle-like arms and adhesive pads for the investigation.

    As part of a program called High school students United with NASA to Create Hardware, or HUNCH, NASA astronaut Nick Hague demonstrates the HUNCH Utility Bracket, a student-designed tool to hold and position cameras, tablets, and other equipment that astronauts use daily. Currently, crew members on the International Space Station use devices called Bogen Arms, which have experienced wear and tear and need to be replaced.

    The SpaceX Dragon spacecraft fires its thrusters after undocking from the International Space Station as it flies 260 miles (418 kilometers) above the Pacific Ocean west of Hawaii. NASA’s commercial resupply services deliver critical scientific studies, hardware, and supplies to the station.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: What is a Charter School, Really?

    Source: US State of Connecticut

    In April 2025, the Supreme Court will hear arguments about whether the nation’s first religious charter school can open in Oklahoma. The St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School would be funded by taxpayer money but run by a local archdiocese and diocese.

    The case is often discussed in terms of religion, and a decision in the school’s favor could allow government dollars to directly fund faith-based charter schools nationwide. In part, the justices must decide whether the First Amendment’s prohibition on government establishing religion applies to charter schools. But the answer to that question is part of an even bigger issue: Are charters really public in the first place?

    As two professors who study education law, we believe the Supreme Court’s decision will impact issues of religion and state, but could also ripple beyond – determining what basic rights students and teachers do or don’t have at charter schools.

    Dueling arguments

    In June 2023, the Oklahoma Statewide Virtual Charter School Board approved St. Isidore’s application to open as an online K-12 school. The following year, however, the Oklahoma high court ruled that the proposal was unconstitutional. The justices concluded that charter schools are public under state law, and that the First Amendment’s establishment clause forbids public schools from being religious. The court also found that a religious charter school would violate Oklahoma’s constitution, which specifically forbids public money from benefiting religious organizations.

    On appeal, the charter school is claiming that charter schools are private, and so the U.S. Constitution’s establishment clause does not apply.

    Moreover, St. Isidore argues that if charter schools are private, the state’s prohibition on religious charters violates the First Amendment’s free exercise clause, which bars the government from limiting “the free exercise” of religion. Previous Supreme Court cases have found that states cannot prevent private religious entities from participating in generally available government programs solely because they are religious.

    In other words, while St. Isidore’s critics argue that opening a religious charter school would violate the First Amendment, its supporters claim the exact opposite: that forbidding religious charter schools would violate the First Amendment.

    Are charters public?

    The question of whether an institution is public or private turns on a legal concept known as the “state action doctrine.” This principle provides that the government must follow the Constitution, while private entities do not have to. For example, unlike students in public schools, students in private schools do not have the constitutional right to due process for suspensions and expulsions – procedures to ensure fairness before taking disciplinary action.

    Charter schools have some characteristics of both public and private institutions. Like traditional public schools, they are government-funded, free and open to all students. However, like private schools, they are free from many laws that apply to public schools, and they are independently run.

    Because of charters’ hybrid nature, courts have had a hard time determining whether they should be considered public for legal purposes. Many charter schools are overseen by private corporations with privately appointed boards, and it is unclear whether these private entities are state actors. Two federal circuit courts have reached different conclusions.

    In Caviness v. Horizon Learning Center, a case from 2010, the 9th Circuit held that an Arizona charter school corporation was not a state actor for employment purposes. Therefore, the board did not have to provide a teacher due process before firing him. The court reasoned that the corporation was a private actor that contracted with the state to provide educational services.

    In contrast, the 4th Circuit ruled in 2022 that a North Carolina charter school board was a state actor under the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. In this case, Peltier v. Charter Day School, students challenged the dress code requirement that female students wear skirts because they were considered “fragile vessels.”

    The court first reasoned that the board was a state actor because North Carolina had delegated its constitutional duty to provide education. The court observed that the charter school’s dress code was an inappropriate sex-based classification, and that school officials engaged in harmful gender stereotyping, violating the equal protection clause.

    If the Supreme Court sides with St. Isidore – as many analysts think is likely – then all private charter corporations might be considered nonstate actors for the purposes of religion.

    But the stakes are even greater than that. State action involves more than just religion. Indeed, teachers and students in private schools do not have the constitutional rights related to free speech, search and seizure, due process and equal protection. In other words, if charter schools are not considered “state actors,” charter students and teachers may eventually shed constitutional rights “at the schoolhouse gate.”

    Amtrak: An alternate route?

    When courts have held that charter schools are not public in state law, some legislatures have made changes to categorize them as public. For example, California passed a law to clarify that charter school students have the same due process rights as traditional public school students after a court ruled otherwise.

    Likewise, we believe states looking to clear up charter schools’ ambiguous state actor status under the Constitution can amend their laws. As we explain in a recent legal article, a 1995 Supreme Court case involving Amtrak illustrates how this can be done.

    Lebron v. National Railroad Passenger Corporation arose when Amtrak rejected a billboard ad for being political. The advertiser sued, arguing that the corporation had violated his First Amendment right to free speech. Since private organizations are not required to protect free speech rights, the case hinged on whether Amtrak qualified as a government agency.

    The court ruled in the plaintiff’s favor, reasoning that Amtrak was a government actor because it was created by special law, served important governmental objectives, and its board members were appointed by the government.

    Courts have applied this ruling in other instances. For example, the 10th Circuit Court ruled in 2016 that the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children was a governmental agency and therefore was required to abide by the Fourth Amendment’s protection from unreasonable search and seizure.

    Currently, we believe charter schools fail the test set out in the Amtrak decision. Charter schools do serve the governmental purpose of providing educational choice for students. However, charter school corporations are not created by special law. They also fall short because most have independent boards instead of members who are appointed and removed by government officials.

    However, we would argue that states can amend their laws to comply with Lebron’s standard, ensuring that charter schools are public or state actors for constitutional purposes.

    Originally published in The Conversation.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Ditches and canals are a big, yet overlooked, source of greenhouse gas emissions – new study

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Teresa Silverthorn, Postdoctoral Research Associate, University of Liverpool

    Dick Kenny/Shutterstock

    It’s a cold winter morning in the bleak and bare arable fields of the East Anglian fens. At the edge of a field, a scientist dips a long pole into a ditch. So, what is a climate researcher doing here?

    We are measuring greenhouse gas emissions from ditches and canals by collecting samples of ditch water and analysing them in the laboratory. We also use floating chambers – a low-tech creation (sometimes coupled with high-tech sensors) made of a plastic bucket and noodle-shaped swimming floats that sit on top of the water and collect the gases emitted from it.

    As freshwater biogeochemists, we investigate how elements like carbon and nitrogen are cycled through freshwater ecosystems such as rivers, lakes and ponds. We study how human-induced pressures including eutrophication – when excess nutrients cause algal blooms that deplete oxygen – and climate change affect these cycles.

    Unlike many other scientists, we have a fondness for ditches and canals (we’ll call them all ditches from now on), which don’t tend to receive a lot of attention in the freshwater research world.

    Researchers have previously calculated that ditches emit up to 3% of the total global methane emissions from human activities. In our new study, we find they also emit a lot of CO₂ and nitrous oxide.

    In fact, when comparing the same surface area, ditches emit more CO₂ and nitrous oxide than ponds, lakes and reservoirs – probably due to the high nutrient inputs that go into ditches.

    Using a rough approximation of the global surface area of ditches, we estimate that including ditches would increase global freshwater CO₂ emissions by up to 1% and nitrous oxide emissions by up to 9%.

    These percentages might seem small, but they add up. When accounting for all three greenhouse gases, the world’s ditches emit 333Tg CO₂e (teragrams of CO₂ equivalents – a common unit to express the total climate impact of all greenhouse gases). This is nearly equivalent to the UK’s total greenhouse gas emissions in 2023 (379Tg CO₂e).

    For this study, we collaborated with ditch experts from the UK, Netherlands, Denmark, Australia and China. We collected existing data of greenhouse gas emissions from 119 ditches in 23 different countries, across all major climate zones.

    We estimated that global ditches cover about 5,353,000 hectares – about 22% of the UK’s total land area, or the whole of Costa Rica. However, researchers still don’t definitively know the global extent of ditches – they may actually cover a much larger area.

    Ditches are human-made, linear waterways built to serve a variety of purposes. By draining wetlands, they can help create productive soils for growing crops or trees.

    They also transport water for irrigating crops. Some are built to create desirable waterfront properties. Bigger canals play a role in shipping and transportation, while roadside ditches serve to redistribute storm water runoff.

    The global length of ditches is unknown but very large. In many European countries, the total ditch length rivals that of their streams and rivers. The Netherlands has 300,000km of ditches criss-crossing agricultural land. In Finland, networks of forestry drains total around 1 million km.

    Ditches can emit large amounts of greenhouse gases (CO₂, methane and nitrous oxide) that contribute to global warming and climate change. Ditches often contain stagnant water and are commonly found in agricultural and urban landscapes, which means they can receive high nutrient inputs from agricultural runoff containing manure and fertilisers, and from stormwater runoff containing lawn fertilisers, pet and yard waste.

    This creates the low-oxygen, high-nutrient conditions ideal for the production of greenhouse gases – especially methane and nitrous oxide, whose global warming potentials are much higher than CO₂. Given their extent, ditches therefore make a notable contribution to freshwater greenhouse gas budgets in many countries throughout the world.

    Fence, plant and dredge

    By considering ditches when reporting their annual greenhouse gas emissions, nations can build a more accurate picture of the problem. Proper quantification can also help researchers target ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from ditches. For example, stronger legislation can limit the use of fertilisers and manure near ditches.

    In Australia, installing fences to prevent cattle from entering farm dams has reduced methane emissions from dams by half. A similar strategy could be applied to ditches to minimise the amount of nutrient-rich manure flowing into them.

    Planting more trees along ditch banks could help take up some of the nutrients and lower water temperature through shading, which also reduces greenhouse gas production. Dredging ditches can remove nutrient-rich sediments, while aerating ditch water can make conditions less ideal for the production of methane.

    So, solutions do exist – but they’ll only be employed and scaled up once the significance of emissions from ditches is quantified and more widely recognised.

    Don’t have time to read about climate change as much as you’d like?

    Get a weekly roundup in your inbox instead. Every Wednesday, The Conversation’s environment editor writes Imagine, a short email that goes a little deeper into just one climate issue. Join the 40,000+ readers who’ve subscribed so far.

    Teresa Silverthorn has received funding for ditch research from from Defra, the Environment Agency, and EPSRC (UK research councils).

    Mike Peacock has received funding for ditch research from Defra, the Environment Agency, NERC and EPSRC (UK research councils), and Formas and VR (Swedish research councils).

    – ref. Ditches and canals are a big, yet overlooked, source of greenhouse gas emissions – new study – https://theconversation.com/ditches-and-canals-are-a-big-yet-overlooked-source-of-greenhouse-gas-emissions-new-study-250240

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: ‘Constructing Change’ on the Littleborough Flood Scheme

    Source: United Kingdom – Government Statements

    Press release

    ‘Constructing Change’ on the Littleborough Flood Scheme

    A new initiative in Littleborough is encouraging girls and women into the construction industry.

    Littleborough Flood Risk Management scheme under construction

    The Environment Agency, Volker Stevin, Jacobs, Flannery Plant Hire, AE Yates, JN Bentley and Rochdale Borough Council are working together to deliver a new project aimed at encouraging girls and women into the construction industry.

    Constructing Change is a new social value initiative which supports the future generation of construction workers. It aims to provide local female students with an experience of the construction industry and insight into what career opportunities are available.

    Hosted by the Littleborough Flood Risk Management Scheme project team, the launch of the Constructing Change initiative will see students escorted safely through the site to get an overview of the construction of the Flood Risk Management Scheme.

    The day also includes presentations by contractors VolkerStevin, consultants Jacobs, suppliers Flannery’s as well as the talks from the Environment Agency, AE Yates and JN Bentley. There is also an interactive session taking place in a machine simulator and the on-site laboratory.

    Constructing Change is working to increase diversity, equity, and inclusion within the construction industry and empower underrepresented communities to have a career in construction – building a more inclusive and socially responsible industry for the future. This aligns with the objectives of the Environment Agency, as an inclusive employer.

    Caroline Douglass, Executive Director Flood and Coastal Risk Management at the Environment Agency said:

    I welcome the Environment Agency supporting this initiative to showcase opportunities in the construction industry to young women and ultimately improve diversity which will benefit everyone in the wider sector.

    CEO and Founder of Constructing Change Elizabeth Griffin-Bennett said:

    The launch of Constructing Change at Littleborough marks a key moment in our mission to transform construction. Through collaboration across the sector, we are bringing young people to live sites, showcasing career opportunities, breaking barriers, and embedding social value. This is just the beginning of a movement to build a more diverse, skilled, and resilient future for the industry.

    Environment Agency Senior Project Manager for the Littleborough Flood Risk Management Scheme, Neil Johnson said:

    This is a great opportunity to provide young, local people with the opportunity to experience a major construction site – right on their doorstep. The Environment Agency is committed to encouraging a diverse and inclusive workforce.

    The work ongoing as part of scheme delivery provides an insight into many aspects of the construction industry, which we hope will inspire local young people to choose a career in construction.

    When completed the Littleborough Flood Risk Management Scheme will better protect 337 residential properties and 185 local businesses across Littleborough from the impact of flooding.

    The Environment is also working closely with Rochdale Borough Council on delivery of the Resilient Roch project which aims to raise flood risk awareness, reduce surface water risk, increase property resilience and implement integrated water management.

    For more information on the Littleborough and Rochdale Flood Risk Management Scheme visit the Flood Hub or download the Volker Engage app.

    Updates to this page

    Published 7 March 2025

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI Asia-Pac: Union Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation, Shri Amit Shah inaugurates the Sri Vishweshathirtha Memorial Hospital in Bengaluru, Karnataka

    Source: Government of India

    Union Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation, Shri Amit Shah inaugurates the Sri Vishweshathirtha Memorial Hospital in Bengaluru, Karnataka

    Sri Vishweshathirtha Memorial Hospital will serve as a modern center for free treatment for the poor and marginalized, providing services to people for many years to come

    The Pejawar Mutt has earned a respected place across the country by promoting national unity, preventing forced conversions, supporting the Ram Mandir movement, and serving Sanatan Dharma

    Sri Vishweshathirtha Swamiji, who took sanyas at the age of 8, dedicated his life to society, religion, and community

    Swamiji combined religious teachings with modern education and dedicated his entire life to education, service, healthcare, and the promotion of the Vedas

    Sri Vishweshathirtha Swamiji made a significant contribution in preventing the division of Hindu society into castes in South India

    Sri Krishna Seva Ashram Trust, established by the revered Sri Vishweshathirtha Swamiji, has always worked for the service of the poor and marginalized people in society

    Posted On: 07 MAR 2025 4:38PM by PIB Delhi

    Union Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation, Shri Amit Shah inaugurated the Sri Vishweshathirtha Memorial Hospital in Bengaluru, Karnataka today.

    In his address, Union Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation Shri Amit Shah said that today, the 150-bed Multi-Speciality Sri Vishweshathirtha Memorial Hospital has been inaugurated in Bengaluru, Karnataka, on a 2-acre land at a cost of ₹60 crore. He mentioned that this modern center for free treatment for the poor and underprivileged sections of society will serve people for many years to come. He said that 60 per cent of the beds in this hospital have been reserved for the poor, and the center is equipped with several state-of-the-art services. Shri Shah mentioned that the Sri Krishna Seva Ashram Trust has always worked for the service of the poor and marginalized sections of society. He noted that this trust was founded by the revered Sri Vishweshathirtha Swamiji, and today his successor, Sri Vishwprasannteerth Swamiji, is carrying forward this tradition. He added that the Sri Krishna Medical Center, Sri Krishna Netralaya, Dental Center, and Sri Vishwprasannteerth Memorial Clinic have been established. He emphasized that there cannot be a better treatment center for the poor in Bengaluru than this one.

    Union Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation Minister said that the Pejawar Mutt is not only a prominent mutt in Karnataka and South India but also in all of India, serving as a beacon of light. He mentioned that under the leadership of Sri Sri Vishweshathirtha, the Pejawar Mutt has earned a respected place across the country for its long-standing efforts in promoting national unity, preventing forced conversions, supporting the Ram Mandir movement, and serving Hindutva and Sanatan Dharma throughout South India and the nation. Shri Shah added that the Pejawar Mutt, located in Udupi, is one of the eight Mutts and has played a significant role in guiding many people on the path of devotion to Lord Krishna, following the teachings of Sri Madhvacharya.

    Shri Amit Shah said that finding a saint like Sri Vishweshathirtha Swami is extremely rare in today’s times. He mentioned that Swamiji lived his life for society, religion, and community, taking sanyas at the age of 8 and dedicating his eight decades of life to spirituality. He added that Swamiji was always at the forefront not only in serving Hinduism but also in serving society and the nation. Shri Shah further stated that Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi conferred the Padma Vibhushan on Swamiji in 2020.

    Union Home Minister said that Swamiji has always worked for national unity. He mentioned that Swamiji played a significant role in preventing the division of Hindu society into castes in South India. He added that Swamiji dedicated his entire life to education, service, healthcare, and the propagation of the Vedas. Shri Shah also said that Swamiji worked to combine religious teachings with modern education. He mentioned that today, Swamiji’s tradition is continuing, and the Udupi Mutt holds great expectations for the country. He highlighted that the Pejawar Mutt played a crucial role in the religious ceremonies of Lord Ram’s consecration at the Ram Mandir. Shri Shah further stated that when Shri Narendra Modi became the Prime Minister of India in 2014, Swamiji was one of the prominent saints who went to Delhi to bless him.

    Shri Amit Shah said that Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has focused a great deal on the health and wellness of the people over the past 10 years. He mentioned that campaigns like Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, Fit India Movement, Nutrition Mission, Mission Indradhanush, Ayushman Bharat Yojana, and Jal Jeevan Mission are different components of the Healthy India campaign. He emphasized that cleanliness can manage health, fitness can make health eternal, and only nutritious and balanced food can keep the human body healthy. Shri Shah further stated that Mission Indradhanush covers all types of vaccinations, the Jal Jeevan Mission has ensured fluoride-free water reaches every home, and under the Ayushman Bharat scheme, Prime Minister Modi has provided free treatment up to ₹5 lakh for 60 crore people. He also mentioned that these health initiatives will not succeed unless religious and service-oriented organizations actively promote them. He concluded by stating that the hospital built in memory of Swamiji will play a significant role in keeping society healthy.

    *****

    RK/RR/ASH/PS

    (Release ID: 2109109) Visitor Counter : 90

    Read this release in: Hindi

    MIL OSI Asia Pacific News –

  • MIL-OSI Asia-Pac: 20 persons arrested during anti-illegal worker operations (with photo)

    Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region

         The Immigration Department (ImmD) mounted a series of territory-wide anti-illegal worker operations codenamed “Contribute”, “Greenlane”, and “Twilight”, and joint operations with the Hong Kong Police Force codenamed “Champion” and “Windsand”, for four consecutive days from March 3 to yesterday (March 6). A total of 16 suspected illegal workers and four suspected employers were arrested.     During the anti-illegal worker operations, ImmD Task Force officers raided 26 target locations, including industrial buildings, residential buildings, restaurants and shopping malls. Eleven suspected illegal workers and four suspected employers were arrested. The arrested suspected illegal workers comprised three men and eight women, aged 35 to 59. Among them, one man and one woman were holders of recognisance forms, which prohibit them from taking any employment. In addition, two women were also suspected of using and being in possession of a forged Hong Kong identity card. Three men and one woman, aged 35 to 63, were suspected of employing the illegal workers and were also arrested.     During operation “Champion”, enforcement officers raided 21 target locations in the Western region. Five suspected illegal workers were arrested. The arrested suspected illegal workers comprised two men and three women, aged 38 to 55. Among them, one man and one woman were also suspected of using and being in possession of a forged Hong Kong identity card.     An ImmD spokesman said, “Any person who contravenes a condition of stay in force in respect of him or her shall be guilty of an offence. Also, visitors are not allowed to take employment in Hong Kong, whether paid or unpaid, without the permission of the Director of Immigration. Offenders are liable to prosecution and upon conviction face a maximum fine of $50,000 and up to two years’ imprisonment. Aiders and abettors are also liable to prosecution and penalties.”     The spokesman warned, “As stipulated in section 38AA of the Immigration Ordinance, an illegal immigrant, a person who is the subject of a removal order or a deportation order, an overstayer or a person who was refused permission to land is prohibited from taking any employment, whether paid or unpaid, or establishing or joining in any business. Offenders are liable upon conviction to a maximum fine of $50,000 and up to three years’ imprisonment. As stipulated in section 20(1)(a) of the Immigration Ordinance, the Chief Executive may make a deportation order against an immigrant, prohibiting the immigrant from being in Hong Kong at any time thereafter if the immigrant has been found guilty in Hong Kong of an offence punishable by imprisonment for not less than two years. Under the prevailing laws, it is an offence to use or possess a forged Hong Kong identity card or a Hong Kong identity card related to another person. Offenders are liable to prosecution and upon conviction face a maximum fine of $100,000 and up to 10 years’ imprisonment.”     The spokesman reiterated that it is a serious offence to employ people who are not lawfully employable. Under the Immigration Ordinance, the maximum penalty for an employer employing a person who is not lawfully employable, i.e. an illegal immigrant, a person who is the subject of a removal order or a deportation order, an overstayer or a person who was refused permission to land, has been significantly increased from a fine of $350,000 and three years’ imprisonment to a fine of $500,000 and 10 years’ imprisonment to reflect the gravity of such offences. The director, manager, secretary, partner, etc, of the company concerned may also bear criminal liability. The High Court has laid down sentencing guidelines that the employer of an illegal worker should be given an immediate custodial sentence.     According to the court sentencing, employers must take all practicable steps to determine whether a person is lawfully employable prior to employment. Apart from inspecting a prospective employee’s identity card, the employer has the explicit duty to make enquiries regarding the person and ensure that the answers would not cast any reasonable doubt concerning the lawful employability of the person. The court will not accept failure to do so as a defence in proceedings. It is also an offence if an employer fails to inspect the job seeker’s valid travel document if the job seeker does not have a Hong Kong permanent identity card. Offenders are liable upon conviction to a maximum fine of $150,000 and to imprisonment for one year. In that connection, the spokesman would like to remind all employers not to defy the law by employing illegal workers. The ImmD will continue to take resolute enforcement action to combat such offences.     Under the existing mechanism, the ImmD will, as a standard procedure, conduct an initial screening of vulnerable persons, including illegal workers, illegal immigrants, sex workers and foreign domestic helpers, who are arrested during any operation with a view to ascertaining whether they are trafficking in persons (TIP) victims. When any TIP indicator is revealed in the initial screening, the ImmD officers will conduct a full debriefing and identification by using a standardised checklist to ascertain the presence of TIP elements, such as threats and coercion in the recruitment phase and the nature of exploitation. Identified TIP victims will be provided with various forms of support and assistance, including urgent intervention, medical services, counselling, shelter or temporary accommodation and other supporting services. The ImmD calls on TIP victims to report crimes to the relevant departments immediately.

    MIL OSI Asia Pacific News –

  • MIL-OSI Asia-Pac: Union Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation Shri Amit Shah attends CISF Raising Day parade in Thakkolam, Tamil Nadu as Chief Guest

    Source: Government of India

    Union Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation Shri Amit Shah attends CISF Raising Day parade in Thakkolam, Tamil Nadu as Chief Guest

    CISF has not only secured country’s development, progress, and movement but also played a crucial role in their smooth operation

    Tamil language, culture, and traditions are invaluable jewels of India’s culture

    It is a matter of pride to name the CISF Regional Training Center in Thakkolam after the great warrior of the Chola dynasty, Rajaditya Chola

    Now, youth can take CAPF recruitment exams in Tamil as well as all the languages included in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution

    Like the Chief Ministers of other states, the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu should also start medical and engineering courses in the Tamil language as soon as possible, This will benefit Tamil medium students

    The security of ports, airports, and important commercial, tourism, and research institutions, as well as key establishments related to the country’s industrial development, cannot be imagined without CISF

    Posted On: 07 MAR 2025 3:30PM by PIB Delhi

    Union Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation, Shri Amit Shah attended the 56th Raising Day Parade of the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) in Thakkolam, Tamil Nadu, as the chief guest today. On this occasion, Union Minister, Dr. L. Murugan and CISF Director General Shri Rajvinder Singh Bhatti were also present.

    In his address, the Union Home Minister, Shri Amit Shah said that in the last 56 years, the CISF has not only ensured the development, progress and mobility of the country, but has also played an important role in their smooth functioning. He said that the security of vital installations associated with the industrial development of the country, including ports, airports, important business, tourism and research institutions cannot be imagined without the CISF. Shri Shah said that it is due to the unwavering loyalty, hard work and dedication of the CISF personnel that the country is moving forward safely in the field of industrial development. He said that CISF personnel have also taken interest in numerous social activities and taken it forward.

    Shri Amit Shah said that Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has set the resolve to make India the third-largest economy in the world by 2027 and to make India the leader in every field by 2047, in front of the country’s 140 crore people. He emphasized that CISF’s contribution will be very important in fulfilling these goals. Union Home Minister said that it was decided in 2019 that instead of celebrating the CISF Raising Day in Delhi, it would be celebrated in different parts of the country. Accordingly, today, the CISF Raising Day event was held at the Regional Training Center in Thakkolam, Tamil Nadu.

    Union Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation said that the culture of Tamil Nadu has played a significant role in strengthening India’s culture in many ways. Whether it is administrative reforms, achieving spiritual heights, setting educational standards, or promoting the message of unity and integrity of the country, Tamil Nadu has greatly strengthened Indian culture in every field. He said that the Tamil language, culture, and traditions are invaluable jewels of India’s culture, and the entire country acknowledges this. Shri Shah mentioned that, in line with this, it has been decided to name the CISF Regional Training Centre in Thakkolam after the great warrior of the Chola dynasty, Rajaditya Chola, which is a matter of pride. He further stated that Rajaditya Chola, on this land, created numerous tales of valor and sacrifice, attaining martyrdom and advancing the glorious traditions of the Chola Empire.

    Union Home Minister said that over 14,000 positions were filled in CISF last year. If we consider all the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF), more than one lakh youth have been provided employment, and the recruitment process for 50,000 more youth is currently underway.

    Shri Amit Shah said that until now, there was no provision for recruitment exams for CAPF in regional languages. However, according to the decision of the Modi government, besides Hindi and English, now youth can take the CAPF recruitment exams in Tamil and other languages included in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution. He requested the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, like the Chief Ministers of other states, he should also start medical and engineering courses in the Tamil language soon. This will not only strengthen Tamil as a mother tongue but also benefit students studying in Tamil medium. It will not only empower the mother tongue but also provide equal opportunities for children educated in the Tamil medium.

    Union Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation said that CISF has always prioritized security. Over the past 56 years, CISF has set golden standards in national security across every sector of the country. He mentioned that CISF personnel work to protect the movement of nearly one crore people at various places, including ports, airports, and metros, ensuring their safety from all threats. The contribution of CISF personnel is crucial for the industrial and educational development of the country and for the smooth functioning of the nation. Under their vigilance, all establishments, including ports, airports, and metros, are secure. It is a matter of pride that CISF personnel are also entrusted with the security of the new Parliament building. Shri Shah mentioned that CISF personnel ensure the safe movement of over 70 lakh passengers daily in the Delhi Metro with discipline and patience, without any lapses. Additionally, they are responsible for the security of 250 ports. He further stated that CISF’s responsibilities for port security are expected to increase in the future.

    Union Home Minister said that the government has equipped CISF with state-of-the-art technology and is continuously providing the force with the latest technological advancements. He mentioned that ‘Digi Yatra’ has been implemented at many airports, which has significantly reduced the time required for security checks. CISF has not only adopted international standards in airport security but is also very close to setting records in this regard. He mentioned that an Internal Quality Control Unit has also been established, through which continuous training is ensuring the maintenance of high security standards. CISF has also established a special training center for counter-drone capabilities. Shri Shah mentioned that the Jewar Airport in Uttar Pradesh and the Navi Mumbai Airport in Maharashtra will soon be included under CISF’s security. For this, the Ministry of Home Affairs approved the establishment of three new battalions last year, one of which will be a completely women’s battalion.

    Paying tributes to the 127 CISF personnel who made the supreme sacrifice in protecting the country, the Home Minister said that these 127 personnel made their supreme sacrifice while discharging the responsibility of security in different parts. He told the family members of these jawans that it was because of the sacrifice of their family member that the country today stands before the world with a high head.

    Union Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation Shri Amit Shah launched the CISF’s annual magazine, Sentinel. He also honored 10 personnel with the President’s Police Medal, 2 with the Jeevan Raksha Medal, and 10 with the Gallantry Medal. Shri Shah stated that all these personnel have advanced the excellent traditions of CISF. Union Home Minister laid the foundation stone for six different infrastructure and development projects worth ₹88 crore to improve the health, smooth duty performance, and facilities for CISF personnel. He also inaugurated the newly constructed gym and Pup hall at SSG Noida.

    Union Home Minister virtually flagged off the CISF Cyclothon 2025. He said that this cycle rally will cover every coastal village of the country and reach the Vivekananda Rock Memorial in Kanyakumari. During this journey, our personnel will not only raise awareness about security in the coastal villages but also inform the villagers about development. Additionally, CISF personnel will collect suggestions related to security and village development. Union Home Minister emphasized that the ‘ground zero inputs’ provided by the personnel will help ensure better facilities and security in these coastal villages.

    Shri Amit Shah said that CISF has planted more than five lakh trees in the past five years, and a target of planting over three lakh trees has been set for the next year. He mentioned that under the ‘Ek Ped Maa Ke Naam’ campaign launched by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, every CISF personnel will plant a tree to express gratitude to their mothers. Shri Shah appealed to all CISF personnel to include yoga practice in their daily routine. He mentioned that several steps have been taken for the welfare of Central Armed Police Force (CAPF) personnel, including the issuance of over 31 lakh cards under the Ayushman CAPF scheme. Additionally, 13,000 homes and 113 barracks have been constructed, and under the e-Housing Portal, it has been ensured that no housing remains vacant. Shri Shah stated that special barracks have been created for female personnel, and the ex-gratia amount has also been increased. He added that the sale of indigenous products in Central Police Welfare Stores is being promoted, and from April 1, 2024, a 50 per cent discount on GST is being offered.

    ***

    RK/ASH/PR/PS

    (Release ID: 2109087) Visitor Counter : 56

    Read this release in: Hindi

    MIL OSI Asia Pacific News –

  • MIL-OSI Asia-Pac: English rendering of PM’s address at Republic Plenary Summit 2025

    Source: Government of India

    Posted On: 06 MAR 2025 11:07PM by PIB Delhi

    Namaskar!

    You all must be tired, your ears must be tired of Arnab’s loud voice, sit down Arnab, it is not the election season yet. First of all, I congratulate Republic TV for this innovative experiment. You people have brought the youth here by involving them at the grassroots level, by organizing such a big competition. When the youth of the country get involved in the national discourse, there is novelty in thoughts, it fills the entire environment with a new energy and we are feeling this energy here at this time. In a way, with the involvement of youth, we are able to break every bond, go beyond limits, yet there is no goal that cannot be achieved. There is no destination that cannot be reached. Republic TV has worked on a new concept for this summit. I congratulate all of you for the success of this summit, I greet you. Well, I also have a little selfishness in this, one, for the last few days I have been thinking that I have to bring one lakh youth into politics and that one lakh are such who are first timers in their families, so in a way, such events are preparing the ground for this aim of mine. Secondly, there is my personal benefit, the personal benefit is that those who will go to vote in 2029 do not know what the headlines of newspapers used to be before 2014, they do not know, there used to be scams of 10-10, 12-12 lakh crores, they do not know and when they will go to vote in 2029, there will be nothing before them for comparison and therefore, I have to pass that test and I have full faith that this ground which is being created will make that work strong.

    Friends, 

    Today the whole world is saying that, it is the century of India, you haven’t heard this.  India’s achievements, India’s successes have raised a new hope in the whole world. The India about which it was said that it will sink itself and take us down with it, that India is today driving the growth of the world. What is the direction of India’s future, we come to know this from our work and achievements today. Even 65 years after independence, India was the world’s eleventh largest economy. In the last decade, we have become the world’s fifth largest economy, and now we are going to become the world’s third largest economy at the same speed.

    Friends, 

    Let me also remind you of what happened 18 years ago. The reason for this figure being 18 years is special because those who have turned 18, who are becoming voters for the first time, do not know about the period before 18 years, that is why I have taken that figure. 18 years ago, i.e., in 2007, India’s annual GDP reached one trillion dollars. In simple words, this was the time when economic activity in India was worth one trillion dollars in a year. Now look at what is happening today? Now almost one trillion dollars’ worth of economic activity is happening in a single quarter. What does this mean? The amount of economic activity that was happening in India in a year 18 years ago is now happening in just three months. This shows how fast today’s India is progressing. I will give you some examples, which show how big changes have come in the last decade and how the results have come. In the last 10 years, we have succeeded in bringing 25 crore people out of poverty. This number is more than the total population of many countries. You can also remember the time when the government itself accepted, the Prime Minister himself said that if one rupee was sent, only 15 paise reached to the poor, who used to eat up that 85 paise and then there is today’s era. In the last decade, more than 42 lakh crore rupees have been transferred to the accounts of the poor through DBT, Direct Benefit Transfer, DBT. If you do the calculation of 15 paise out of a rupee, then what will be the calculation of 42 lakh crore? Friends, today when one rupee goes out from Delhi, 100 paise reaches the last place.

    Friends, 

    10 years ago, India was nowhere in the world in terms of solar energy. But today India is among the top-5 countries in the world in terms of solar energy capacity. We have increased the solar energy capacity by 30 times. Solar module manufacturing has also increased by 30 times. 10 years ago, we used to import even Holi pichkaris and children’s toys from abroad. Today our toy exports have tripled. Till 10 years ago, we used to import even rifles for our army from abroad and in the last 10 years, our defence exports have increased 20 times.

    Friends,

    In these 10 years, we have become the world’s second largest steel producer, the world’s second largest mobile phone manufacturer and the world’s third largest startup ecosystem. In these 10 years, we have increased our capital expenditure on infrastructure five times. The number of airports in the country has doubled. In these ten years, the number of operational AIIMS in the country has tripled. And in these 10 years, the number of medical colleges and medical seats has also almost doubled.

    Friends, 

    The temperament of today’s India is different. Today’s India thinks big, sets big targets and today’s India shows great results. And this is happening because the thinking of the country has changed, India is moving ahead with big aspirations. Earlier our thinking was like, it’s okay, it happens, let it be, whatever happens, let it be, whoever has to do something will do it, do your own thing. Earlier the thinking had become so narrow, I will give you an example of it. There was a time, if there was a drought somewhere, if it was a drought-affected area, then people used to give memorandums when Congress was in power, so what did the villagers demand, that sir, famines keep happening, so at this time during famine, relief work should start, we will dig pits, take out the soil, fill it in other pits, this is what people used to demand, someone would say what did he demand, that sir, please get a hand pump installed in my area, they used to demand a hand pump for water, sometimes what did the MPs demand, give him a gas cylinder a little early, MPs used to do this work, they used to get 25 coupons and the Member of Parliament used those 25 coupons to oblige for gas cylinders in his entire area. One MP 25 cylinders in a year and all this was happening till 2014. MPs used to demand that Sir, this train that is going, please give it a stoppage in my area, a stoppage was being demanded.

    I am saying all these things which were happening before 2014, not very old. Congress had crushed the aspirations of the people of the country. That is why the people of the country had even stopped having hope, they had accepted that nothing will happen from them, what are they doing. People used to say that brother, okay, if you can do only this much, then do only this much. And today you see, how fast the situation and thinking are changing. Now people know who can work, who can bring results, and this is not the common citizen, if you listen to the speeches in the House, then the opposition also gives the same speech, why is Modi ji not doing this, it means they think that this is what will do.

    Friends, 

    The aspiration that we have today is reflected in their words. The way of speaking has changed. What do people demand now? Earlier people used to ask for stoppages, now they come and say, start a Vande Bharat train at my place too. I had gone to Kuwait some time back, so when I normally go out to the labour camp there, I try to go to my countrymen wherever they work. So, when I went to the labour colony there, I was talking to our labourer brothers and sisters who work in Kuwait, some have been working there for 10 years, some for 15 years. Now see, a labourer from a village in Bihar has been working in Kuwait for 9 years and comes here once in a while. When I was talking to him, he said, Sir, I want to ask a question. I said, please ask. He said, Sir, please build an international airport near my village at the district headquarters. I was so glad that a labourer from my country’s village in Bihar who has been working in Kuwait for 9 years also thinks that now an international airport will be built in his district. This is the aspiration of a common citizen of India today, which is driving the whole country towards the goal of developed India.

    Friends, 

    The strength of any society or nation increases only when restrictions are removed from its citizens, obstacles are removed, walls of hindrances fall. Only then the strength of the citizens of that country increases, even the height of the sky becomes small for them. Therefore, we are constantly removing the barriers that previous governments had put before the citizens. Now I give an example of the space sector. Earlier, everything in the space sector was the responsibility of ISRO. ISRO certainly did a great job, but the remaining potential in the country regarding space science and entrepreneurship was not being utilized, everything was confined to ISRO. We courageously opened the space sector for young innovators. And when I made the decision, it did not make the headline of any newspaper, because there is no understanding either. Republic TV viewers will be happy to know that today more than 250 space startups have been formed in the country, this is the wonder of the youth of my country. These startups are today making rockets like Vikram-S and Agnibaan. The same happened in the sector of mapping, there were so many restrictions, you could not make an atlas, technology has changed. Earlier, if you had to make a map in India, you had to make rounds of government offices for years. We removed this restriction as well. Today, data related to geo-spatial mapping is paving the way for new startups.

    Friends, 

    Nuclear energy, the sector related to nuclear energy was also kept under government control earlier. There were restrictions, constraints, walls were erected. Now in this year’s budget, the government has announced to open it for the private sector. And this has strengthened the path to add 100 GW of nuclear energy capacity by 2047.

    Friends, 

    You will be surprised to know that there is an untapped economic potential of Rs 100 lakh crore, even more than that, lying in our villages. I am repeating this figure before you again – Rs 100 lakh crore, this is not a small figure, this economic potential is present in the form of houses in the villages. Let me explain it to you in a simpler way. Now here in a city like Delhi, if your house is worth 50 lakhs, one crore, 2 crores, you also get a bank loan on the value of your property. If you have a house in Delhi, then you can take a loan of crores of rupees from the bank. Now the question is, houses are not only in Delhi, there are houses in villages too, there are owners of houses there too, why does it not happen there? Loans are not available on houses in villages because in India there were no legal documents for houses in villages, proper mapping could not be done. Therefore, the country and its citizens could not get the proper benefit of this power of the villages. And it is not just India’s problem, people in the big countries of the world do not have property rights. Big international organizations say that the country which gives property rights to its people, its GDP increases.

    Friends, 

    To give property rights to the houses in villages in India we have started a Swamitva scheme. For this, we are conducting drone surveys in every village and mapping every house in the village. Today, property cards of village houses are being given to people across the country. The government has distributed more than two crore property cards and this work is going on continuously. Earlier, due to the absence of property cards, there were many disputes in the villages, people had to go to courts, all this has ended now. Now the villagers are getting loans from banks on these property cards, due to this the villagers are starting their own business, doing self-employment. Just the other day I was talking to the beneficiaries of this Swamitva Yojana on video conference. I met a sister from Rajasthan. She said that after getting my property card, I took a loan of Rs. 9 lakhs in the village and said that I started a business and I have repaid half the loan and now it will not take me much time to repay the entire loan and there is a possibility of getting more loans, what a confidence level.

    Friends, 

    The biggest beneficiary of all the examples I have given is the youth of my country. The youth, who are the biggest stakeholders of developed India. The youth, who are the X-Factor of today’s India. This X means Experimentation Excellence and Expansion, Experimentation, that is, our youth have moved beyond the old ways and created new paths. Excellence means that the youth have set global benchmarks. And expansion means that innovation has been scaled up by our youth for 140 crore countrymen. Our youth can provide solutions to the country’s major problems, but this capability has not been utilized properly earlier. Earlier governments did not even think that youth can also provide solutions to the country’s problems through hackathons. Today we organize the Smart India Hackathon every year. So far 10 lakh youth have become a part of it. Many ministries and departments of the government have put forward many problems related to governance before them, told them to tell us what could be the solution. In the hackathon, our youth have developed about two and a half thousand solutions and given them to the country. I am happy that you have also taken this culture of hackathon forward. And I congratulate the youth who have won and I am happy that I got a chance to meet those young people.

    Friends, 

    In the last 10 years, the country has experienced a new age of governance. In the last decade, we have transformed the impact less administration into impactful Governance. When you go to the field, people often say that they have received the benefit of a particular government scheme for the first time. It is not that those government schemes did not exist earlier. Schemes existed earlier as well, but last mile delivery at this level is being ensured for the first time. You often conduct interviews of beneficiaries of the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana. Earlier, houses for the poor were sanctioned on paper. Today, we build houses for the poor on the ground. Earlier, the entire process of building a house was government driven. The type of house to be built, what materials would be used, was decided by the government. We have made it owner driven. The government puts money in the beneficiary’s account, the beneficiary himself decides what kind of house will be built. And we also held a country-wide competition for house design, put forward models of houses, involved people for designing, and decided things with public participation. Due to this, the quality of houses has also improved and houses are also getting completed at a faster speed. Earlier, half-constructed houses were built by joining bricks and stones, we have built the house of the poor’s dreams. These houses have tap water, gas connection under the Ujjwala scheme, electricity connection under the Saubhagya scheme, we have not just built four walls, we have built life in those houses.

     Friends, 

    National security is a very important aspect for the development of any country. In the last decade, we have worked a lot on security. You remember, earlier, breaking news of serial bomb blasts used to be shown on TV, there used to be special programmes on the network of sleeper cells. Today, all this has disappeared from both the TV screen and the Indian soil. Otherwise, earlier when you used to travel by train or go to the airport, you used to get warnings like, if there is an unclaimed bag lying there, do not touch it, today these 18-20 year old young people may not have heard that news. Today, Naxalism is also counting its last breaths in the country. Earlier, more than a hundred districts were in the grip of Naxalism, but today it is limited to less than two dozen districts. This was possible only when we worked with the spirit of nation first. We brought governance to the grassroot level in these areas. Within no time, thousands of kilometers long roads were built in these districts, schools and hospitals were built, 4G mobile network reached and the country is seeing the results today.

    Friends, 

    Today, Naxalism is being cleared from the jungles due to the decisive decisions of the government, but now it is spreading its roots in the urban centers. Urban Naxals have spread their network so fast that the political parties which were opposed to urban Naxals, whose ideology was once inspired by Gandhiji and which was connected to the roots of India, today Naxals have made inroads in such political parties. Today, the voice of Urban Naxals and their own language is heard there. From this, we can understand how deep their roots are. We have to remember that Urban Naxals are staunch opponents of both India’s development and our heritage. By the way, Arnab has also taken up the responsibility of exposing Urban Naxals. Development is necessary for a developed India and strengthening the heritage is also necessary. And that is why we have to be cautious of Urban Naxals.

    Friends, 

    Today’s India is touching new heights while facing every challenge. I am confident that all of you at Republic TV Network will always give a new dimension to journalism with the spirit of Nation First. With this belief that you should continue to catalyze the aspiration of a developed India through your journalism, I thank you very much and wish you all the best. Thank you!

     

    DISCLAIMER: This is the approximate translation of PM’s speech. Original speech was delivered

    MIL OSI Asia Pacific News –

  • MIL-OSI Asia-Pac: Text of the Vice-President’s address at the inaugural ‘Murli Deora Memorial Dialogues’ (Excerpts)

    Source: Government of India (2)

    Posted On: 06 MAR 2025 10:30PM by PIB Delhi

    We had such a feast, both of governance and leadership. Shinde Ji, you have stolen the thunder. I am wonderstruck whether I can add anything. I may only repackage it. I recall every moment I spent with Shinde Ji, but more when me and my wife, went to his residence and had the good fortune to perform puja.

    His address is remarkably relevant, full of depth, assessment of contemporary scenario and challenges. He speaks of spinal experience he has gained from worker to leader and a leader is always a leader. It doesn’t matter in a cricket team you play at which number.

    I am absolutely elated that a leader has such a sacrificial attitude. My congratulations to you.

    We have amongst us, Shrimati Hema Deora Ji. I was greatly touched because she is privy to the hand holding which I received as a young parliamentarian from Shri Murli Deora Ji. I was elected to Parliament in 1989 and that was a big change. Congress had lost power and I was a Union Minister. He was a congressman. He took me to then Bombay, now Mumbai, and he helped me and introduced me to people who matter in industry and in the Marwadi community. When she revealed this briefly I had vivid recollection of those days. A man of sterling qualities, Murli Deora Ji. Ma’am your presence matters to us. I’m sure you will have the good occasion to see your son perform in Rajya Sabha. Eknath Shinde Ji has sent a jewel to Rajya Sabha. He marks his addresses with due diligence, thorough study, calm and composed. I’m sure you’ll be in Chairman’s Gallery to applaud him someday.

    We have amongst us distinguished Members of Parliament. Though the audience is absolutely very imminent and each one of you matters to me hugely but I don’t believe in taking risks. Therefore I must recognise presence of Members of Parliament. One on the dais, Shri Milind Deora Ji. A stalwart of politics in the State and the Nation, Shri Ashok Chauhan Ji. Shri G.K. Vasan Ji, whose father had handheld me in a similar manner as Murli Deora Ji. Young, energetic, youthful, but in third term, Shrikant Shinde Ji. I hope I don’t miss any parliamentarian otherwise, I may suffer at their hands

    Shri Raghavendra Singh, President Kotak Mahindra Bank is energy capsule has great administrative capacities, but what I gather from him, having known him, for the third generation, is full of positivity. I must recognize presence of some who are present here, Shri Ashok Hinduja Ji is here, We have Shri Uday Kotak Ji.

    I’ll come to Amrita Ji a little later because she is much beyond the spouse of the Chief Minister for me. His Holiness Syedna Sahab Ji.

    Shri Gauranga Das, Shri Gaur Gopal Das, they both are from ISCON. People in Industry, Shri Pranav Adani, Shri Neeraj Bajaj, Mr. Jalas Dhani, and let me tell you, everyone who is present here, I am greatly indebted, but never miss a journalist if he is your friend. You may suffer at his hands forever. I am referring to none other than Sanjay Pugalia, whom I have known for more than four decades. We had such a wonderful cricket match and India is in the finals so why not remember Surya Kumar Yadav? He’s known as Mr. 360 degrees

    Now, Amrita ji. Amrita ji, you have created a problem for me because of a condition I set for Devendra Fadnavis, that I will receive him at Upa-Rashtrapati Niwas as only if he is accompanied by Amrita ji. Every time he makes excuse, please ensure. I would love to receive both of you at Upa-Rashtrapati Niwas, where I have had the great occasion to receive Shinde Ji.

    Now, ladies and gentlemen, I come to the inaugural lecture.

    It is an absolute honour and privilege to deliver the Murli Deora Memorial Lecture Dialogue, dedicated to one of the finest public figures in politics, who nurtured friendships all his life. He bridged the differences and was loved by all. In his life, he missed one thing. He had no adversaries that was his stature. Murali bhai, as fondly reminisced by his peers, exemplified public spirit and dedication.

    He was a statesman in the mould of a politician, a rare blend of foresight and pragmatism. From being the youngest mayor of Bombay, now Mumbai, to serving seven terms in Parliament, he showed deep commitment to democratic values and public service. His belief in dialogue, debate, discussion, deliberation, consensual approach, cooperative approach, coordination, are being missed now.

    Murli Deora will always be remembered for his proactive efforts to save the country from the hazards of smoking. He approached the highest Court of the land, sought affirmative intervention to secure a ban on smoking at public places. Life of Murli Deora Ji was a testament to the idea of leadership, that this idea is not a pedestal but a pilgrimage, a journey of service to the last, the least and the lonely.

    I commend, ladies and gentlemen, Milind Deora, a senior parliamentarian, former Union Minister, and his friends for organising this annual feature as a befitting tribute to Murli Ji. The theme “Leadership and Governance” is indeed thought provoking as also of great contemporaneous relevance.

    Bharat, home to one sixth of humanity, is the oldest, largest and most vibrant and functional democracy. Bharat is the only Nation in the world that has constitutionally structured democratic institutions from village to National level.

    First, I focus on the source of Governance in Democracy. Our Constitution’s Preamble indicates ‘We The People’ as the foundational source and premise of Governance. Preamble of the Constitution also reveals purpose of governance being Justice, Equality, Fraternity for all.  We must appreciate the contours of ‘We The People’  the ultimate repository of sovereignty. A sovereignty that we cannot afford to dilute or to be taken away.

    We the people through electoral platforms constitute Parliament, Legislatures, panchayats, municipalities and elect the President and the Vice- President. The sanctity of this repository of sovereignty is essential for democratic governance. Imagine what will befall us if we are deprived of our sovereignty. The integrity of ‘We the People’ in the present times is being stressed and challenged and the challenge is surfacing in multiple ways. Leadership faces a daunting task to preserve and sustain this.

    Let me advert to some worrying trends. There are many, I am referring only to some. The Nation houses millions of illegal migrants causing a demographic upheaval. Millions of illegal migrants are in this country making a huge demand on our health services, education services. They are depriving our people of employment opportunities. Such elements have alarmingly secured electoral relevance in some areas and their securing electoral relevance is shaping the essence of our democracy. Emerging dangers can be evaluated through historical reference where Nations were swept off their ethnic identity by similar demographic invasions.

    As a matter of fact there are countries where demographic invasion resulted in complete eclipse of ethnicity where ethnicity was in complete majority.

    Ladies and gentlemen, this malaise, far more severe than COVID, is aggravatingly intersected with conversions through allurements, with vulnerable sections trying to be trapped, the marginalised, the tribal, the weaker become easy prey to these temptations and allurements.

    Faith is your own, faith is dictated by conscience. The Indian constitution gives freedom of faith but if this faith is held hostage by temptations, it is according to me, defacing freedom of faith. The concerning objective behind these pernicious designs is to detrimentally vary and ultimately eclipse ‘We the people’s’ identity and secure for themselves a majoritarianism position. I’m sure no one will disagree. This danger has to be thwarted.

    This is too serious an onslaught to be either countenanced or overlooked. Just reflect for a moment the change that has taken place in our demography in the last two decades. Look at some of the areas where impregnable fortresses emerged.

    The theme “Leadership and Governance” is indeed thought provoking as also of great contemporaneous relevance.

    Bharat, home to one sixth of humanity, is the oldest, largest and most vibrant and functional democracy. Bharat is the only nation in the world that has constitutionally structured democratic institutions from village to national level.

    First, I focus on the source of Governance in Democracy. Our Constitution’s Preamble indicates ‘We The People’ as the foundational source and premise of Governance. The Preamble of the Constitution also reveals purpose of governance being Justice, Equality, Fraternity for all.  We must appreciate the contours of ‘We The People’ – the ultimate repository of sovereignty.

    A sovereignty that we cannot afford to dilute or to be taken away.

    The power of ‘We the people’ cannot suffer any sacrilege or dilution. Leadership must engage in overdrive, generating National consensus to preserve the sanctity of ‘We the people’ and work in togetherness, in tandem, to neutralise all misadventures against it.

    ‘We The People’ faces onslaughts from within and without. Forces inimical to Bharat have converged to systemically weaken nationalistic spirit. Constitutional institutions face orchestrated public ridicule as part of political strategy. Even the Presidency isn’t spared. Tarnishing institutions, especially on foreign land, is against our culture, is against our national interest.

    Every citizen has the power of social media. I beseech everyone in the interest of this country to be alive to these trends and make contributions. Anti-national narratives gain evil-inspired momentum. Misinformation aimed at destabilising the nation is rising.

    We had the painful occasion to see it during COVID. The pandemic that shook the world, then a nation of over 1.3 billion faced it by innovative mechanisms initiated by the Prime Minister and it was successfully handled. The entire global fraternity, as I call it, in Bharat, while tackling pandemic at home, lent assistance to hundreds of other countries. But some amongst us did not spare any effort to run us down. Such category of people who are recipe for chaos need to be exposed. Leadership must navigate this challenge through citizens’ mindset response.

    Friends, Bharat is a global beacon of inclusivity and thrives with unity in diversity. This calls for all to prioritise nation first. Commitment to nationalism marks freedom and democracy.

    No interest, partisan, economic, or personal, can justifiably be the ground to compromise national interest.

    Ladies and gentlemen, Issues of constitutional clarity, whether Constitution is categorical, our founding fathers have given us the path. On issues like language, common civil code, seats of divisions are being sown. The response of the government emanates from constitutional

    prescriptions.

    We have to work in overdrive to see that these issues that are premised on our Constitution are not politicised to the detriment of the Nation.

    Leadership must seek national consensus and public awareness to sensitize people of the dangers that are inherent in such approaches. India’s civilizational ethos offer a rich repository of leadership principles that predate modern governance theories by millennia.

    Our Vedic knowledge offers insight for leadership. Leadership in public life requires vision, character, and commitment to nationalism. We have seen what wonders visionary leadership can do in the last 10 years. The nation has navigated from a disturbed scenario of gloom to one of hope and possibility.

    We must always remember, ladies and gentlemen, we are the land of Vedas, Upanishads, Ramayan, Mahabharat, Srimad Bhagavad Gita and the wisdom therein guides us all throughout.

    The Bhagvad Gita provides timeless leadership lessons through Lord Krishna’s counsel to Arjuna.

    “यद्यदाचरति श्रेष्ठस्तत्तदेवेतरो जनः।

    स यत्प्रमाणं कुरुते लोकस्तदनुवर्तते॥”

    “Whatever a great man does, others follow. Whatever standard he sets by his exemplary acts, the world pursues.”

    This verse underscores the profound responsibility of leaders, because they are naturally taken as torchbearers, role models whose actions shape the course of the society.

    But a challenge that is coming to society from these people is very dangerous. An informed mind, having held credible positions, trades on the ignorance of people to monetise politically. And that happened on many occasions in the last ten years. People in authority, who presided over our financial institutions for long, had no qualms in indicating to the world that India can never register economic rise beyond 5%. And we had one and a half times of that, that very year. On such matters, ladies and gentlemen, our memory should not be short.

    Kautilya’s Arthashastra, perhaps the world’s earliest comprehensive treatise on statecraft and governance, offers sophisticated insights on leadership.

    I quote “The king shall consider as good not what pleases himself but what pleases his subject.”

    This ancient wisdom resonates with modern governance principles, where true leadership transcends self-interest to embrace collective welfare. We all have seen this development. We need to continue it.

    Let us reflect on what is there in our civilisational essence and ethos. Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam, Sarvajan Hitaaya, Sarvajan Sukhaaya.

    These are the twin pillars of governance from our scriptures, and look at how it translated for the entire world to know. During India’s presidency of G20, one earth, one family, one future, this was universally accoladed and accepted.

    Friends, democracy flourishes with expression and dialogue. Abhivyakti or samvad are its jewels. One is incomplete without the other. Expression complements dialogue and the other way round. If you believe in the right of expression without taking note of the dialogue, then you miss the point. In the process you indicate, I alone am right, to the exclusion of every other thought. And that is why we have emanated from our scriptures, Anantavada. This is essential. Inalienable facet of good governance, judgemental response to different viewpoints, differing viewpoints, a point that is different than yours, reflects absolutism. And absolutism has no place in democracy. Democracy requires consensual approach.  The other point of view must be considered. And there should be an effort for convergence to an agreed viewpoint.

    Constituent Assembly debates exemplify this approach. For little less than three years, in 18 sessions, Constituent Assembly deliberated very contentious issues, very divisive issues that took recourse to dialogue, debate, discussion, and deliberation.

    There never was an occasion for disruption or disturbance but when we find such a big change taking place. Disruption is being weaponized as a political strategy to make Parliament or legislatures dysfunctional. This does not augur well for the health of democracy and in some situations, it will pronounce death knell of democracy. If these temples of democracy do not perform constitutional ordainment, then people in the country are bound to be concerned and worried.

    I, as Chairman of the Council of States, express my deep anguish. And I appeal to people at large, academia, intellectuals, those in business, trade, commerce and industry, those in media, public servants, to create a mindset to put pressure on Parliamentarians and representatives. You perform because there can be no vacuum in democracy. If the legitimate platform of debate is dysfunctional. People will take to the streets. They have to voice their concerns in one way or the other.

    Ladies and gentlemen, coming to another challenge. Last 10 years, the nation has witnessed exponential economic upsurge, phenomenal infrastructural growth, deep digitization, technological penetration, unknown before. Global institutions are accommodating Bharat as a favorite destination of investment and opportunity. The rural landscape has been revolutionized with every house having toilet, electric connection, pipe water is on the way, gas connection, road connectivity, health and education centers. And people therefore have gravitated to politics of development as indicated by Eknath Shinde Ji. In that scenario, this phenomenal success story during the last 10 years brings with it a great challenge. On one hand, no nation in the world has this kind of growth as Bharat has had in the last 10 years.

    India at the moment on account of this growth is the most aspirational nation in the world. Imagine a country of 1.4 billion with that kind of demographic dividend getting into aspirational mode. The leadership has to perform at rocket speed. Because there can be restiveness, restlessness. And therefore I call upon every person, do not look at the government alone. Your opportunity basket is flattening every day, blossoming. When you look at surface of the sea, or deep sea, or ground surface, or deep ground, or sky, or space.

    India’s performance has increased your participation. Blue economy or space economy, you can take to that area.

    Good governance requires that we prevent problems, we preempt problems. It is not merely solving a problem. We must have a full diagnosis. Why should a problem be there at all? Real-time delivery is quintessential.

    There was a time not long ago when power corridors were infested with lies and agents, corrupt elements, who extra-legally leveraged decision-making. Patronage was the password for a contract or a job. But on account of introduction of technology, expedition service delivery, transparent and accountable mechanism. These power corridors now are fully sanitised. The world is looking to India for generating transparency, accountability, quick service delivery, people-centric policies in their countries

    Ladies and gentlemen, I see one concern, and that concern is across the political spectrum. There is emergence of a new strategy, and the strategy is of appeasement or being placatory.

    Now, election is important in Democracy but not the end of it. Our scriptures have indicated means are as important as the end.

    And the governments, we are in a state where financial position is very strong. The financial capital of the country, a global center for business and trade, but some governments that took recourse to this appeasement and placatory mechanisms are finding it very difficult to sustain in power, but one consequence is very categorical and those in economics know it.

    We have stalwarts of economics sitting here and that is if there is excessive spending on electoral promises, then the state’s ability to invest in infrastructure is correspondingly reduced. This is detrimental to the growth scenario.

    And therefore, I would call upon leadership of all political parties in the interest of democratic values to generate a consensus that engages into such kind of electoral promises that can be performed only at the cost of CAPEX expenditure of the state.

    I should not be misunderstood, ladies and gentlemen, because while the Indian Constitution has given us right of equality, it does provide in Article 14, 15 and 16 an acceptable category of affirmative governance, affirmative action, the reservation for SC, ST, for those who are in the economically weaker section. That is sanctified.

    There are exceptional situations for rural India, for the farmer, where affirmative steps are required to be taken. But this is very distinct from the other aspects I was talking about. This is not placatory or appeasing. It is justifiable economic policy. And therefore, it is good leadership that can take a call, where to draw the line in the fiscal sense in the matter of political foresight and leadership spine.

    There is another aspect on which we need to focus. National debate is required so that we take note of the shift from Democracy to Emocracy. Emotion-driven policies, emotion-driven debates, discourses threaten good governance. Historically, populism is bad economics. And once a leader gets attached to populism it is difficult to get out of the crisis. And therefore, the central factor has to be the good of the people, the largest good of the people, and the lasting good of the people. Empower people to empower themselves rather than empower them momentarily, because that affects their productivity.

    Our institutions are very critical. Our institutions must continue to be relevant. Political leadership must address declining relevance of institutions due to disruption and divisive politics. We have an example before us, as I said earlier. We have the legacy of our Constitution being negotiated through dialogue without acrimony. Today’s leaders should consult this spirit.

    Parliament is much beyond ideological discourse. Its democracy is a temple where discussions should focus on progress and people’s welfare. Sliding parliamentary institutions into irrelevance is a challenge to democracy and our existence. It is worrisome when disruption and disturbance are weaponised, as I said. A dysfunctional Parliament, particularly in Bharat, that is the world’s oldest, largest, and most vibrant democracy, is injustice to the people. Our people deserve much better from our parliamentarians.

    From this sacred place, I urge parliamentarians and legislators to soul-search. Democracy cannot function when expression and dialogue are compromised, while citizens must hold representatives accountable. For eternal vigilance remains freedom’s price. Institutional perimeters must be maintained. Judicial overreach into executive governance disrupts democratic values. I do not mean to reflect more on it, but I affirm governance is the sole prerogative of the executive and this is premised because executive is accountable to the people, to the legislature, every five years or before, the executive has to go to the people to get their approval. And every action taken by the executive is amenable to legislature intervention but if this executive function is performed by any other institution, including judicial, it will be difficult to look for accountability and, furthermore the wherewithal, the information, the database, that help arrive at a decision cannot be available at other institutions other than the executive.

    Leadership is purpose driven and not position of power. It has been said in Upanishad. The Ishavasya Upanishad ईशवस्य उपनिषद counsels: “तेन त्यक्तेन भुञ्जीथाः” (Ten Tyakten bhunjitha)– “Enjoy through renunciation.”

    Our leaders will have to embrace this philosophy. Selfless service in governance by blending India’s timeless wisdom with today’s needs create Tagore’s vision. Rabindranath Tagore has said, I tread where mind is without fear and head is held high.

    “सत्यमेव जयते नानृतम्”, which emanates from Mundaka Upanishad, it says, truth alone must survive and nothing else. The Rig Veda, moving together in harmony principle, must be our North Star.

    ****

    JK/RC/SM

    (Release ID: 2108969) Visitor Counter : 146

    MIL OSI Asia Pacific News –

  • MIL-OSI Asia-Pac: Text of the Vice-President’s address at ‘Murli Deora Memorial Dialogue’ (Excerpts)

    Source: Government of India

    Posted On: 06 MAR 2025 10:30PM by PIB Delhi

    We had such a feast, both of governance and leadership. Shinde Ji, you have stolen the thunder. I am wonderstruck whether I can add anything. I may only repackage it. I recall every moment I spent with Shinde Ji, but more when me and my wife, went to his residence and had the good fortune to perform puja.

    His address is remarkably relevant, full of depth, assessment of contemporary scenario and challenges. He speaks of spinal experience he has gained from worker to leader and a leader is always a leader. It doesn’t matter in a cricket team you play at which number.

    I am absolutely elated that a leader has such a sacrificial attitude. My congratulations to you.

    We have amongst us, Shrimati Hema Deora Ji. I was greatly touched because she is privy to the hand holding which I received as a young parliamentarian from Shri Murli Deora Ji. I was elected to Parliament in 1989 and that was a big change. Congress had lost power and I was a Union Minister. He was a congressman. He took me to then Bombay, now Mumbai, and he helped me and introduced me to people who matter in industry and in the Marwadi community. When she revealed this briefly I had vivid recollection of those days. A man of sterling qualities, Murli Deora Ji. Ma’am your presence matters to us. I’m sure you will have the good occasion to see your son perform in Rajya Sabha. Eknath Shinde Ji has sent a jewel to Rajya Sabha. He marks his addresses with due diligence, thorough study, calm and composed. I’m sure you’ll be in Chairman’s Gallery to applaud him someday.

    We have amongst us distinguished Members of Parliament. Though the audience is absolutely very imminent and each one of you matters to me hugely but I don’t believe in taking risks. Therefore I must recognise presence of Members of Parliament. One on the dais, Shri Milind Deora Ji. A stalwart of politics in the State and the Nation, Shri Ashok Chauhan Ji. Shri G.K. Vasan Ji, whose father had handheld me in a similar manner as Murli Deora Ji. Young, energetic, youthful, but in third term, Shrikant Shinde Ji. I hope I don’t miss any parliamentarian otherwise, I may suffer at their hands

    Shri Raghavendra Singh, President Kotak Mahindra Bank is energy capsule has great administrative capacities, but what I gather from him, having known him, for the third generation, is full of positivity. I must recognize presence of some who are present here, Shri Ashok Hinduja Ji is here, We have Shri Uday Kotak Ji.

    I’ll come to Amrita Ji a little later because she is much beyond the spouse of the Chief Minister for me. His Holiness Syedna Sahab Ji.

    Shri Gauranga Das, Shri Gaur Gopal Das, they both are from ISCON. People in Industry, Shri Pranav Adani, Shri Neeraj Bajaj, Mr. Jalas Dhani, and let me tell you, everyone who is present here, I am greatly indebted, but never miss a journalist if he is your friend. You may suffer at his hands forever. I am referring to none other than Sanjay Pugalia, whom I have known for more than four decades. We had such a wonderful cricket match and India is in the finals so why not remember Surya Kumar Yadav? He’s known as Mr. 360 degrees

    Now, Amrita ji. Amrita ji, you have created a problem for me because of a condition I set for Devendra Fadnavis, that I will receive him at Upa-Rashtrapati Niwas as only if he is accompanied by Amrita ji. Every time he makes excuse, please ensure. I would love to receive both of you at Upa-Rashtrapati Niwas, where I have had the great occasion to receive Shinde Ji.

    Now, ladies and gentlemen, I come to the inaugural lecture.

    It is an absolute honour and privilege to deliver the Murli Deora Memorial Lecture Dialogue, dedicated to one of the finest public figures in politics, who nurtured friendships all his life. He bridged the differences and was loved by all. In his life, he missed one thing. He had no adversaries that was his stature. Murali bhai, as fondly reminisced by his peers, exemplified public spirit and dedication.

    He was a statesman in the mould of a politician, a rare blend of foresight and pragmatism. From being the youngest mayor of Bombay, now Mumbai, to serving seven terms in Parliament, he showed deep commitment to democratic values and public service. His belief in dialogue, debate, discussion, deliberation, consensual approach, cooperative approach, coordination, are being missed now.

    Murli Deora will always be remembered for his proactive efforts to save the country from the hazards of smoking. He approached the highest Court of the land, sought affirmative intervention to secure a ban on smoking at public places. Life of Murli Deora Ji was a testament to the idea of leadership, that this idea is not a pedestal but a pilgrimage, a journey of service to the last, the least and the lonely.

    I commend, ladies and gentlemen, Milind Deora, a senior parliamentarian, former Union Minister, and his friends for organising this annual feature as a befitting tribute to Murli Ji. The theme “Leadership and Governance” is indeed thought provoking as also of great contemporaneous relevance.

    Bharat, home to one sixth of humanity, is the oldest, largest and most vibrant and functional democracy. Bharat is the only Nation in the world that has constitutionally structured democratic institutions from village to National level.

    First, I focus on the source of Governance in Democracy. Our Constitution’s Preamble indicates ‘We The People’ as the foundational source and premise of Governance. Preamble of the Constitution also reveals purpose of governance being Justice, Equality, Fraternity for all.  We must appreciate the contours of ‘We The People’  the ultimate repository of sovereignty. A sovereignty that we cannot afford to dilute or to be taken away.

    We the people through electoral platforms constitute Parliament, Legislatures, panchayats, municipalities and elect the President and the Vice- President. The sanctity of this repository of sovereignty is essential for democratic governance. Imagine what will befall us if we are deprived of our sovereignty. The integrity of ‘We the People’ in the present times is being stressed and challenged and the challenge is surfacing in multiple ways. Leadership faces a daunting task to preserve and sustain this.

    Let me advert to some worrying trends. There are many, I am referring only to some. The Nation houses millions of illegal migrants causing a demographic upheaval. Millions of illegal migrants are in this country making a huge demand on our health services, education services. They are depriving our people of employment opportunities. Such elements have alarmingly secured electoral relevance in some areas and their securing electoral relevance is shaping the essence of our democracy. Emerging dangers can be evaluated through historical reference where Nations were swept off their ethnic identity by similar demographic invasions.

    As a matter of fact there are countries where demographic invasion resulted in complete eclipse of ethnicity where ethnicity was in complete majority.

    Ladies and gentlemen, this malaise, far more severe than COVID, is aggravatingly intersected with conversions through allurements, with vulnerable sections trying to be trapped, the marginalised, the tribal, the weaker become easy prey to these temptations and allurements.

    Faith is your own, faith is dictated by conscience. The Indian constitution gives freedom of faith but if this faith is held hostage by temptations, it is according to me, defacing freedom of faith. The concerning objective behind these pernicious designs is to detrimentally vary and ultimately eclipse ‘We the people’s’ identity and secure for themselves a majoritarianism position. I’m sure no one will disagree. This danger has to be thwarted.

    This is too serious an onslaught to be either countenanced or overlooked. Just reflect for a moment the change that has taken place in our demography in the last two decades. Look at some of the areas where impregnable fortresses emerged.

    The theme “Leadership and Governance” is indeed thought provoking as also of great contemporaneous relevance.

    Bharat, home to one sixth of humanity, is the oldest, largest and most vibrant and functional democracy. Bharat is the only nation in the world that has constitutionally structured democratic institutions from village to national level.

    First, I focus on the source of Governance in Democracy. Our Constitution’s Preamble indicates ‘We The People’ as the foundational source and premise of Governance. The Preamble of the Constitution also reveals purpose of governance being Justice, Equality, Fraternity for all.  We must appreciate the contours of ‘We The People’ – the ultimate repository of sovereignty.

    A sovereignty that we cannot afford to dilute or to be taken away.

    The power of ‘We the people’ cannot suffer any sacrilege or dilution. Leadership must engage in overdrive, generating National consensus to preserve the sanctity of ‘We the people’ and work in togetherness, in tandem, to neutralise all misadventures against it.

    ‘We The People’ faces onslaughts from within and without. Forces inimical to Bharat have converged to systemically weaken nationalistic spirit. Constitutional institutions face orchestrated public ridicule as part of political strategy. Even the Presidency isn’t spared. Tarnishing institutions, especially on foreign land, is against our culture, is against our national interest.

    Every citizen has the power of social media. I beseech everyone in the interest of this country to be alive to these trends and make contributions. Anti-national narratives gain evil-inspired momentum. Misinformation aimed at destabilising the nation is rising.

    We had the painful occasion to see it during COVID. The pandemic that shook the world, then a nation of over 1.3 billion faced it by innovative mechanisms initiated by the Prime Minister and it was successfully handled. The entire global fraternity, as I call it, in Bharat, while tackling pandemic at home, lent assistance to hundreds of other countries. But some amongst us did not spare any effort to run us down. Such category of people who are recipe for chaos need to be exposed. Leadership must navigate this challenge through citizens’ mindset response.

    Friends, Bharat is a global beacon of inclusivity and thrives with unity in diversity. This calls for all to prioritise nation first. Commitment to nationalism marks freedom and democracy.

    No interest, partisan, economic, or personal, can justifiably be the ground to compromise national interest.

    Ladies and gentlemen, Issues of constitutional clarity, whether Constitution is categorical, our founding fathers have given us the path. On issues like language, common civil code, seats of divisions are being sown. The response of the government emanates from constitutional

    prescriptions.

    We have to work in overdrive to see that these issues that are premised on our Constitution are not politicised to the detriment of the Nation.

    Leadership must seek national consensus and public awareness to sensitize people of the dangers that are inherent in such approaches. India’s civilizational ethos offer a rich repository of leadership principles that predate modern governance theories by millennia.

    Our Vedic knowledge offers insight for leadership. Leadership in public life requires vision, character, and commitment to nationalism. We have seen what wonders visionary leadership can do in the last 10 years. The nation has navigated from a disturbed scenario of gloom to one of hope and possibility.

    We must always remember, ladies and gentlemen, we are the land of Vedas, Upanishads, Ramayan, Mahabharat, Srimad Bhagavad Gita and the wisdom therein guides us all throughout.

    The Bhagvad Gita provides timeless leadership lessons through Lord Krishna’s counsel to Arjuna.

    “यद्यदाचरति श्रेष्ठस्तत्तदेवेतरो जनः।

    स यत्प्रमाणं कुरुते लोकस्तदनुवर्तते॥”

    “Whatever a great man does, others follow. Whatever standard he sets by his exemplary acts, the world pursues.”

    This verse underscores the profound responsibility of leaders, because they are naturally taken as torchbearers, role models whose actions shape the course of the society.

    But a challenge that is coming to society from these people is very dangerous. An informed mind, having held credible positions, trades on the ignorance of people to monetise politically. And that happened on many occasions in the last ten years. People in authority, who presided over our financial institutions for long, had no qualms in indicating to the world that India can never register economic rise beyond 5%. And we had one and a half times of that, that very year. On such matters, ladies and gentlemen, our memory should not be short.

    Kautilya’s Arthashastra, perhaps the world’s earliest comprehensive treatise on statecraft and governance, offers sophisticated insights on leadership.

    I quote “The king shall consider as good not what pleases himself but what pleases his subject.”

    This ancient wisdom resonates with modern governance principles, where true leadership transcends self-interest to embrace collective welfare. We all have seen this development. We need to continue it.

    Let us reflect on what is there in our civilisational essence and ethos. Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam, Sarvajan Hitaaya, Sarvajan Sukhaaya.

    These are the twin pillars of governance from our scriptures, and look at how it translated for the entire world to know. During India’s presidency of G20, one earth, one family, one future, this was universally accoladed and accepted.

    Friends, democracy flourishes with expression and dialogue. Abhivyakti or samvad are its jewels. One is incomplete without the other. Expression complements dialogue and the other way round. If you believe in the right of expression without taking note of the dialogue, then you miss the point. In the process you indicate, I alone am right, to the exclusion of every other thought. And that is why we have emanated from our scriptures, Anantavada. This is essential. Inalienable facet of good governance, judgemental response to different viewpoints, differing viewpoints, a point that is different than yours, reflects absolutism. And absolutism has no place in democracy. Democracy requires consensual approach.  The other point of view must be considered. And there should be an effort for convergence to an agreed viewpoint.

    Constituent Assembly debates exemplify this approach. For little less than three years, in 18 sessions, Constituent Assembly deliberated very contentious issues, very divisive issues that took recourse to dialogue, debate, discussion, and deliberation.

    There never was an occasion for disruption or disturbance but when we find such a big change taking place. Disruption is being weaponized as a political strategy to make Parliament or legislatures dysfunctional. This does not augur well for the health of democracy and in some situations, it will pronounce death knell of democracy. If these temples of democracy do not perform constitutional ordainment, then people in the country are bound to be concerned and worried.

    I, as Chairman of the Council of States, express my deep anguish. And I appeal to people at large, academia, intellectuals, those in business, trade, commerce and industry, those in media, public servants, to create a mindset to put pressure on Parliamentarians and representatives. You perform because there can be no vacuum in democracy. If the legitimate platform of debate is dysfunctional. People will take to the streets. They have to voice their concerns in one way or the other.

    Ladies and gentlemen, coming to another challenge. Last 10 years, the nation has witnessed exponential economic upsurge, phenomenal infrastructural growth, deep digitization, technological penetration, unknown before. Global institutions are accommodating Bharat as a favorite destination of investment and opportunity. The rural landscape has been revolutionized with every house having toilet, electric connection, pipe water is on the way, gas connection, road connectivity, health and education centers. And people therefore have gravitated to politics of development as indicated by Eknath Shinde Ji. In that scenario, this phenomenal success story during the last 10 years brings with it a great challenge. On one hand, no nation in the world has this kind of growth as Bharat has had in the last 10 years.

    India at the moment on account of this growth is the most aspirational nation in the world. Imagine a country of 1.4 billion with that kind of demographic dividend getting into aspirational mode. The leadership has to perform at rocket speed. Because there can be restiveness, restlessness. And therefore I call upon every person, do not look at the government alone. Your opportunity basket is flattening every day, blossoming. When you look at surface of the sea, or deep sea, or ground surface, or deep ground, or sky, or space.

    India’s performance has increased your participation. Blue economy or space economy, you can take to that area.

    Good governance requires that we prevent problems, we preempt problems. It is not merely solving a problem. We must have a full diagnosis. Why should a problem be there at all? Real-time delivery is quintessential.

    There was a time not long ago when power corridors were infested with lies and agents, corrupt elements, who extra-legally leveraged decision-making. Patronage was the password for a contract or a job. But on account of introduction of technology, expedition service delivery, transparent and accountable mechanism. These power corridors now are fully sanitised. The world is looking to India for generating transparency, accountability, quick service delivery, people-centric policies in their countries

    Ladies and gentlemen, I see one concern, and that concern is across the political spectrum. There is emergence of a new strategy, and the strategy is of appeasement or being placatory.

    Now, election is important in Democracy but not the end of it. Our scriptures have indicated means are as important as the end.

    And the governments, we are in a state where financial position is very strong. The financial capital of the country, a global center for business and trade, but some governments that took recourse to this appeasement and placatory mechanisms are finding it very difficult to sustain in power, but one consequence is very categorical and those in economics know it.

    We have stalwarts of economics sitting here and that is if there is excessive spending on electoral promises, then the state’s ability to invest in infrastructure is correspondingly reduced. This is detrimental to the growth scenario.

    And therefore, I would call upon leadership of all political parties in the interest of democratic values to generate a consensus that engages into such kind of electoral promises that can be performed only at the cost of CAPEX expenditure of the state.

    I should not be misunderstood, ladies and gentlemen, because while the Indian Constitution has given us right of equality, it does provide in Article 14, 15 and 16 an acceptable category of affirmative governance, affirmative action, the reservation for SC, ST, for those who are in the economically weaker section. That is sanctified.

    There are exceptional situations for rural India, for the farmer, where affirmative steps are required to be taken. But this is very distinct from the other aspects I was talking about. This is not placatory or appeasing. It is justifiable economic policy. And therefore, it is good leadership that can take a call, where to draw the line in the fiscal sense in the matter of political foresight and leadership spine.

    There is another aspect on which we need to focus. National debate is required so that we take note of the shift from Democracy to Emocracy. Emotion-driven policies, emotion-driven debates, discourses threaten good governance. Historically, populism is bad economics. And once a leader gets attached to populism it is difficult to get out of the crisis. And therefore, the central factor has to be the good of the people, the largest good of the people, and the lasting good of the people. Empower people to empower themselves rather than empower them momentarily, because that affects their productivity.

    Our institutions are very critical. Our institutions must continue to be relevant. Political leadership must address declining relevance of institutions due to disruption and divisive politics. We have an example before us, as I said earlier. We have the legacy of our Constitution being negotiated through dialogue without acrimony. Today’s leaders should consult this spirit.

    Parliament is much beyond ideological discourse. Its democracy is a temple where discussions should focus on progress and people’s welfare. Sliding parliamentary institutions into irrelevance is a challenge to democracy and our existence. It is worrisome when disruption and disturbance are weaponised, as I said. A dysfunctional Parliament, particularly in Bharat, that is the world’s oldest, largest, and most vibrant democracy, is injustice to the people. Our people deserve much better from our parliamentarians.

    From this sacred place, I urge parliamentarians and legislators to soul-search. Democracy cannot function when expression and dialogue are compromised, while citizens must hold representatives accountable. For eternal vigilance remains freedom’s price. Institutional perimeters must be maintained. Judicial overreach into executive governance disrupts democratic values. I do not mean to reflect more on it, but I affirm governance is the sole prerogative of the executive and this is premised because executive is accountable to the people, to the legislature, every five years or before, the executive has to go to the people to get their approval. And every action taken by the executive is amenable to legislature intervention but if this executive function is performed by any other institution, including judicial, it will be difficult to look for accountability and, furthermore the wherewithal, the information, the database, that help arrive at a decision cannot be available at other institutions other than the executive.

    Leadership is purpose driven and not position of power. It has been said in Upanishad. The Ishavasya Upanishad ईशवस्य उपनिषद counsels: “तेन त्यक्तेन भुञ्जीथाः” (Ten Tyakten bhunjitha)– “Enjoy through renunciation.”

    Our leaders will have to embrace this philosophy. Selfless service in governance by blending India’s timeless wisdom with today’s needs create Tagore’s vision. Rabindranath Tagore has said, I tread where mind is without fear and head is held high.

    “सत्यमेव जयते नानृतम्”, which emanates from Mundaka Upanishad, it says, truth alone must survive and nothing else. The Rig Veda, moving together in harmony principle, must be our North Star.

    ****

    JK/RC/SM

    (Release ID: 2108969) Visitor Counter : 27

    MIL OSI Asia Pacific News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: What they’re saying: Governor Newsom’s state of emergency to fast-track wildfire prevention projects

    Source: US State of California 2

    Mar 6, 2025

    SACRAMENTO – Foresters, firefighters, community leaders and wildfire experts are applauding Governor Gavin Newsom’s state of emergency proclamation to remove red tape and increase the pace and scale of forest management in California. 

    Following the devastation of the Los Angeles firestorms and with the risk of wildfire increasing statewide, Governor Newsom over the weekend proclaimed a state of emergency to fast-track critical projects protecting communities from wildfire, ahead of peak fire season. 

    Here is a snapshot of what leaders are saying across the state:

    Doug Teeter, Butte County Supervisor: “Devastating wildfires unfortunately have greatly affected our State’s citizens and environment. I applaud the Governor’s commitment to reduce the bureaucratic bottleneck CEQA has become.”

    Graham Knaus, Chief Executive Officer, California State Association of Counties: “This is absolutely the right move from Governor Newsom. Counties are ready to move quickly to address wildfire risks. The next step in recognizing that fire season is now year-round is to codify these orders in state law.”

    Brian K. Rice, President, California Professional Firefighters: “Governor Newsom’s actions demonstrate a meaningful commitment to safeguarding our communities from the escalating threat of wildfires. By streamlining essential forest management projects and cutting through delays, this decisive action not only enhances public safety but also ensures that our firefighters can operate under safer conditions when responding to future incidents. Such proactive measures are crucial in mitigating the severity of wildfires and protecting both lives and property across California.”​

    Patrick Blacklock, Chief Executive Officer, Rural County Representatives of California: “Federal and State policy backed by the preponderance of science is clear that we need to accelerate the pace and scale of forest treatments if we are to reduce the risk of catastrophic wildfire and improve the health of our forests. This EO is a significant step forward and we stand ready to collaborate with the Governor’s Administration to implement it.”

    Assemblymember David Tangipa (R-Fresno): “I’ll be the first to give credit where it’s due—thank you Governor Newsom for suspending CEQA as our communities face the threat of massive wildfires. Now, we must act fast to create buffer zones between urban, wild lands and critical infrastructure. We don’t have any time to waste!”

    Michael Wara, Senior Research Scholar, Stanford University: “Newsom trying to get more wildfire safety work done this year, addressing a critical issue for California.”

    Pete Jackson, VP/GM, Green Diamond Resource Company: “As a Registered Professional Forester, a forest landowner, and the Vice President/General Manager of Green Diamond Resource Company’s California Timberlands, I support Governor Newsom’s proclamation of a state emergency to remove barriers to increasing the pace and scale of fuels treatment projects. Fire touches the lives of all Californians. This unprecedented emergency necessitates immediate action to protect communities and their homes, businesses, working forests, watersheds, and wildlife. We can solve this problem together. Let’s get to work.”

    Matt Dias, President and CEO, CalForests: “The Governor’s Proclamation of Emergency supporting prevention activities is one of the critical and necessary actions to protect lives, communities and forests in an era of increasing frequency and intensity of wildfires across California.”

    Paul Mason, VP Policy and Incentives, Pacific Forest Trust: “To prevent destructive wildfires California needs to increase the use of prescribed fire by at least an order of magnitude. We’re excited to help rethink how California can improve the permitting for prescribed fire. Fire is both natural and inevitable, and when we are proactive we can have more fire under conditions that give good outcomes rather than always fighting fire under the worst conditions.”

    Randi Spivak, Center for Biological Diversity: “The Governor’s order is strategic.”

    J. Lopez, Member of the California Board of Forestry and Fire Protection: “The Governor’s proclamation underscores the paramount importance of expediting the implementation of science-based resource management practices that safeguard and preserve natural and cultural resources, protect our towns and cities, and restore the traditional way of life for Californians.”

    Seth Schalet, CEO, Santa Clara County FireSafe Council: “Governor Newsom’s recent Executive Order is intended to fast-track fuel reduction projects across the state. As a 501(c)3 nonprofit, a non-state entity covered in the EO, this allows us to accelerate shovel ready projects that normally would go through the lengthy CEQA process, so more fuel treatments and escape routes can be started before this year’s fire weather kicks in. One project we lead in Santa Clara County, the 110,000-acre West Santa Clara Landscape Resilience Project will leverage Governor Newsom’s EO by utilizing the California Vegetation Treatment Plan to implement ecologically restorative fuel reduction treatments across more than 110,000 acres in western Santa Clara County. These strategically placed treatments will focus on the Wildland Urban Interface and areas where high fuel loads are impacting the health of ecosystems.”

    Christopher Anthony, former Chief Deputy Director of CAL FIRE & Wildfire Advisor: “I applaud Governor Newsom’s efforts to accelerate forest health and community risk reduction efforts to address the increasing size and severity of wildfires. Streamlining regulatory barriers will protect lives, property and the unique natural resources of the State. This effort will also guard against the downstream economic impacts wildfire can have on local communities. The Emergency Proclamation clears hurdles allowing the return of low-intensity, beneficial fire to fire adapted ecosystems across California, ensures community wildfire mitigation efforts can be implemented quickly, and expedites the reduction of hazardous vegetation from within and around communities. We have no other choice than to move forward with a sense of urgency to stabilize property loss and create a future where beneficial fire, not destructive fire, is the dominant contributor to annual area burned.”

    California Biomass Energy Alliance: “CBEA applauds the Governor Newsom’s call for a state of emergency to expedite forest management projects in order to protect lives. CBEA is prepared to work with the state on removal of that wood waste and converting some of it to renewable energy.”

    Joe Smailes and Lawrence Camp, Forest Landowners of California: “Forest Landowners of California (FLC) represents the nonindustrial forest landowners of the state of California. These landowners, estimated to be approximately 100,000 individuals, own and manage approximately 20 percent of California’s forested landscape. Historically, administrative burden and costs have slowed the pace and scale of vegetation management to reduce the risk of wildfire, maintain water quality, preserve wildlife habitat and store carbon. We strongly endorse the Governor’s proposals as set forth in his Executive Order issued on March 1, 2025.”

    Press Releases, Recent News

    Recent news

    Mar 5, 2025

    News What you need to know: Governor Newsom has directed his Office of Emergency Services to coordinate with key partners during this next round of winter weather to strategically preposition critical resources to protect the public.  Los Angeles, California – As…

    Mar 4, 2025

    News What you need to know: California enforcement officials have seized an estimated retail value of $534 million of unlicensed cannabis in 2024. Since 2019, officials have seized approximately $2.8 billion in illegal cannabis. Sacramento, California – Reinforcing…

    Mar 1, 2025

    News What you need to know: Governor Newsom is proclaiming a state of emergency to fast-track critical forest management projects – part of the state’s ongoing efforts to protect communities from catastrophic wildfire. SACRAMENTO – Following the devastation of the Los…

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI: Lithium Carbonate Futures Now Live for Trading on Abaxx Exchange

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    TORONTO, March 07, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Abaxx Technologies Inc. (CBOE:ABXX)(OTCQX:ABXXF) (“Abaxx” or the “Company”), a financial software and market infrastructure company, indirect majority shareholder of Abaxx Singapore Pte Ltd. (“Abaxx Singapore”), the owner of Abaxx Commodity Exchange and Clearinghouse (individually, “Abaxx Exchange” and “Abaxx Clearing”), and producer of the SmarterMarkets™ Podcast, today announced that its three regional, physically-deliverable Lithium Carbonate futures contracts are now live for trading.

    The energy transition is driving demand for battery metals to unprecedented levels, while countries race to secure critical supply chains — yet commodity futures markets have not kept pace with these new realities. Globally, lithium carbonate demand is projected to grow by 16% per year through 2030, according to the IEA¹, reinforcing the need for transparent price benchmarks and effective risk management tools. Abaxx’s Lithium Carbonate futures establish the first USD-denominated, physically-deliverable benchmark for lithium carbonate outside of China, offering transparent price discovery, precise hedging, and supply chain optimization in a market shaped by geopolitical shifts and evolving trade flows.

    Each regional contract is US dollar-denominated, physically deliverable DAP (Delivered at Place, as defined by Incoterms 2020), representing 1 tonne of lithium carbonate, with delivery locations at ports in Singapore, Rotterdam, and Baltimore.

    “Lithium carbonate sits at a critical point in the supply chain — between spodumene and hydroxide — where a benchmark price is most needed,” said Sacha Lifschitz, Head of Battery Materials at Abaxx Exchange. “By introducing a physically-deliverable contract with a direct delivery mechanism, we’re ensuring alignment with real-world trade flows. With contracts for lithium carbonate deliverable in Singapore, Rotterdam, and Baltimore, market participants now have access to pricing that reflects the market conditions specific to each region, creating a more transparent and effective pricing tool for the industry.”

    Abaxx’s suite of futures contracts for energy, environmental markets and battery metals is open for trading 14 hours a day, Monday through Friday. Visit abaxx.exchange/resources-clearing-members-brokers for a full list of clearing firms and execution brokers.

    About Abaxx Technologies
    Abaxx is building Smarter Markets — markets empowered by better financial technology and market infrastructure to address our biggest challenges, including the energy transition. In addition to developing and deploying financial technologies that make communication, trade, and transactions easier and more secure, Abaxx is an indirect majority-owner of subsidiaries Abaxx Exchange and Abaxx Clearing, recognized by MAS as a “recognised market operator” (RMO) and “approved clearing house” (ACH), respectively.

    Abaxx Exchange and Abaxx Clearing are a Singapore-based commodity futures exchange and clearinghouse, introducing centrally cleared, physically deliverable commodities futures and derivatives to provide better price discovery and risk management tools for the commodities critical to our transition to a lower-carbon economy.

    For more information please visit abaxx.tech, abaxx.exchange and smartermarkets.media.

    For more information about this press release, please contact:

    Steve Fray, CFO
    Tel: +1 647-490-1590

    Media and investor inquiries:

    Abaxx Technologies Inc.
    Investor Relations Team
    Tel: +1 246 271 0082
    E-mail: ir@abaxx.tech

    ¹ International Energy Agency (IEA), Critical Minerals Data Explorer, Stated Policies Scenario. Available at: https://www.iea.org/data-and-statistics/data-tools/critical-minerals-data-explorer.

    Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Information

    This press release includes certain “forward-looking statements” which do not consist of historical facts. Forward-looking statements include estimates and statements that describe Abaxx’s future plans, objectives, or goals, including words to the effect that Abaxx expects a stated condition or result to occur. Forward-looking statements may be identified by such terms as “seeking”, “should”, “intend”, “predict”, “potential”, “believes”, “anticipates”, “expects”, “estimates”, “may”, “could”, “would”, “will”, “continue”, “plan” or the negative of these terms and similar expressions. Since forward-looking statements are based on current expectations and assumptions and address future events and conditions, by their very nature they involve inherent risks and uncertainties. Although these statements are based on information currently available to Abaxx, Abaxx does not provide any assurance that actual results will meet respective management expectations. Risks, uncertainties, assumptions, and other factors involved with forward-looking information could cause actual events, results, performance, prospects, and opportunities to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information.

    Forward-looking information related to Abaxx in this press release includes, but is not limited to: Abaxx’s objectives, goals or future plans, benefits of the introduction of its Lithium Carbonate contracts; introduction of new battery materials products; the delivery of commodities subject to futures contracts; expectations related to the global energy transition; and positive impacts from the growth of global battery metal demand. Such factors impacting forward-looking information include, among others: risks relating to the global economic climate; dilution; Abaxx’s limited operating history; future capital needs and uncertainty of additional financing; the competitive nature of the industry; currency exchange risks; the need for Abaxx to manage its planned growth and expansion; the effects of product development and need for continued technology change; protection of proprietary rights; the effect of government regulation and compliance on Abaxx and the industry; acquiring and maintaining regulatory approvals for Abaxx’s products and operations; the ability to list Abaxx’s securities on stock exchanges in a timely fashion or at all; network security risks; the ability of Abaxx to maintain properly working systems; reliance on key personnel; global economic and financial market deterioration impeding access to capital or increasing the cost of capital; and volatile securities markets impacting security pricing unrelated to operating performance. In addition, particular factors which could impact future results of the business of Abaxx include but are not limited to: operations in foreign jurisdictions, protection of intellectual property rights, contractual risk, third-party risk; clearinghouse risk, malicious actor risks, third- party software license risk, system failure risk, risk of technological change; dependence of technical infrastructure; and changes in the price of commodities, capital market conditions, restriction on labor and international travel and supply chains, and the risk factors identified in the Company’s most recent management discussion and analysis filed on SEDAR+. Abaxx has also assumed that no significant events occur outside of Abaxx’s normal course of business.

    Abaxx cautions that the foregoing list of material factors is not exhaustive. In addition, although Abaxx has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated, or intended. When relying on forward-looking statements and information to make decisions, investors and others should carefully consider the foregoing factors and other uncertainties and potential events. Abaxx has assumed that the material factors referred to in the previous paragraphs will not cause such forward-looking statements and information to differ materially from actual results or events. However, the list of these factors is not exhaustive and is subject to change and there can be no assurance that such assumptions will reflect the actual outcome of such items or factors. The forward-looking statements and information contained in this press release represents the expectations of Abaxx as of the date of this press release and, accordingly, is subject to change after such date. Abaxx undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements and information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law. Accordingly, readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements and information. Cboe Canada does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this press release.

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI Economics: Isabel Schnabel: Interview with wochentaz

    Source: European Central Bank

    Interview with Isabel Schnabel, Member of the Executive Board of the ECB, conducted by Patricia Hecht and Beate Willms on 5 February 2025

    7 March 2025

    Ms Schnabel, do you remember the first time you held money in your hand?

    That must have been during primary school. I often used my pocket money to buy sweets or an ice lolly.

    So money was just a means of payment for you, something that let you buy things?

    Exactly. However, my father placed great importance on me understanding how to deal with money early on – even though as a teenager I wasn’t that interested. He later recommended an apprenticeship at a bank to me when I wasn’t sure what to do after I had finished school. And one of his arguments was that I should learn how to manage money.

    Did you have the impression he was particularly concerned because you were a girl?

    Well, he didn’t make the same suggestion to my brother. That bothered me a little. It was just taken for granted that my brother could deal with money. But, at the end of the day, my father’s recommendation may have been one of the reasons why I ended up in a male-dominated field.

    Is it true that women engage too little with money?

    I do think so. On average, women have a lower level of financial literacy than men. That’s a problem. It can lead to them making suboptimal financial decisions and possibly ending up in financial difficulties. For example, women are more at risk of poverty in old age. So financial planning is particularly important for women.

    Are women themselves to blame for being financially worse off?

    There are many structural reasons, for example interrupted career paths due to becoming a mother or caring for elderly relatives. In addition, women are significantly more likely to work part-time. These factors contribute to women having lower incomes and smaller pensions. The insufficient engagement with financial matters is also linked to traditional gender roles. However, there’s also an element of individual responsibility. Just as one needs to think about one’s health, one needs to also deal with finances. Today, there are plenty of ways to get informed, for example, through podcasts or YouTube channels, to name just a few.

    Today you are one of the people responsible for deciding on the financing conditions for 350 million people in the euro area, because it’s the ECB’s task to keep inflation in check. Out of the 26 members of the Governing Council, only two are women – Christine Lagarde and you. Is the monetary policy that you pursue different from that of the men?

    Research shows that men and women do behave differently when it comes to economic issues. So it is possible that monetary policy may change when more women join the decision-making bodies. What is key here is diversity – also in terms of views and experiences. That’s what makes decision-making more robust.

    How do financial decisions made by men and women differ?

    Women tend to be more risk-averse in their financial decisions and they are more afraid of losses. This, for example, leads them to invest less in the stock market and thus achieve lower returns. Women also have less confidence in their financial decision-making. So improving financial literacy would be particularly important for women.

    Is there a feminist monetary policy?

    To be honest, I haven’t really thought about this. Monetary policy used to focus primarily on the economy as a whole, for instance on aggregate economic activity or consumption. Meanwhile, research has evolved and is now looking more into the underlying heterogeneity. We know, for instance, that poorer people are particularly affected by rising energy and food prices. There are likely also noticeable differences across genders.

    What are you doing to attract more women to the ECB?

    As an institution, we have a keen interest in equal opportunities. This does not always mean a fifty-fifty distribution, but we aim to represent the society for which we make our decisions and to use the entire talent pool available. This is why we have set targets at all levels of hierarchy. In order to achieve those, around half of all new hires and promotions should be women, as long as we are below our targets.

    What else are you doing?

    We try to remove barriers. Often this concerns obstacles like a lack of childcare. The ECB offers good childcare facilities, starting at infancy, and we also have a European School. Additionally, we noticed that women applied for promotions less frequently than men. When reading a vacancy notice, women have more doubts than men whether they fulfill all the criteria perfectly. We are now more explicitly encouraging women to apply. This strategy has proven to be very successful.

    Are salary differences transparent at the ECB?

    We are part of the public service, which means that we follow a clear salary structure that depends on qualifications and tasks. Then there are various allowances, which depend on things like staff members’ family situation but not on their gender.

    How do you deal with the responsibility for decisions that affect the lives of so many people?

    When I learnt in 2019 that I would be nominated for the ECB’s Executive Board, I had just arrived by train at Bonn’s main station. I saw the people on the platform and thought – in the future, I will have to make decisions affecting all these people! That’s a completely different role from that of a researcher, and one that carries a lot of responsibility. I take my job extremely seriously and try to take all decisions to the very best of my knowledge.

    You worked at different universities in Germany and the United States for 15 years, became a professor in 2007, and you were also a member of the German Council of Economic Experts. Throughout your career, you were always one of few women – often the only one, as in the case of the ”wise (wo)men”.

    The higher you go, the fewer women there are. That is still the case. And it shapes the style of communication. An example was the research seminars at university, where all the professors were men and the tone was often very harsh and aggressive. As a young researcher, that bothered me, and I know my female colleagues felt the same.

    How did you deal with it?

    I simply accepted it at the time, but it made me feel insecure. You need to have confidence in your career potential. Some women are better at handling a male-dominated environment than others. But there are also women who have a different type of personality. Some of my female colleagues left the university back then.

    Does the tone change when there is another woman in the room?

    Yes, it changes the entire tone of the conversation. This is especially true when an institution or committee is led by a woman, as is the ECB. Christine Lagarde can set the tone here. I am really impressed by how she manages to create such an inclusive and friendly climate.

    Is there something like female solidarity between the two of you?

    Absolutely. We have a close personal relationship. We also talk about private matters and we trust each other. She listens to my concerns. I can always approach her and she finds time for me even though she is extremely busy.

    Is it different with your male colleagues?

    There are a number of male colleagues with whom I have a similarly trusting relationship, but it is indeed different. There is greater emotional closeness among women.

    How important are women’s networks in your field?

    Very important. It took me a long time to understand that. Today, I am part of many informal women’s networks. It is particularly important to invite younger women and to support each other. Former US Secretary of State, Madeleine Albright, once said there is a special place in hell for women who don’t help other women. We must support each other rather than seeing each other primarily as competitors. I myself benefited from having a female mentor who later became a colleague at the University of Mainz.

    You do that too. During the pandemic, your colleague Isabella Weber – a left-leaning economist from the University of Massachusetts who was then in her mid-30s – suggested tackling inflation with strategic price controls. As this contradicted the textbooks, Nobel laureate Paul Krugman, among others, publicly dismissed her idea as “truly stupid”.

    I found this treatment of Isabella Weber intolerable. And I had the impression that a man would have been treated differently. That simply shouldn’t be the case. Although I didn’t share the view on price controls, we must be open to consider unconventional ideas. It was probably also about maintaining power and thought leadership. In general, I would find it disastrous if women were discouraged from challenging the mainstream because of this.

    Have you yourself ever felt that people were treating you differently because you are a woman?

    I experience this constantly on social media. I am sometimes besieged with sexist comments and I then mute those people. But I don’t experience this in my immediate professional environment.

    But did you suffer from any disadvantages because of being a woman?

    At the beginning of my career, during my studies, I was firmly convinced that it didn’t matter whether one was a man or a woman. I thought I just had to be good enough, and then I would make it. At that time, I wasn’t particularly positive about the promotion of women. It took a while before I realised that there were a number of gender-specific barriers. For example, during my entire university studies in Germany, I didn’t have a single female professor. So I had no role models. These issues became more obvious when I had children. I have three daughters, which means that I was either pregnant or breastfeeding for around six years. The time between the ages of 32 and 38 were very exhausting for me. And that was precisely the critical phase for progressing in an academic career. When I arrived at the office completely rushed in the morning, I already had my first major task behind me. I sometimes struggled with that. Travelling also wasn’t easy when the children were small. I wasn’t very keen on it either, as I wanted to be with my family.

    How did you manage it nonetheless?

    My doctoral advisor Martin Hellwig played a major role in this. He had helped me to build up networks already during my doctoral studies – before I had children. At the time, I hadn’t yet realised how important that was. When the children came, he gave me complete flexibility.

    How soon did you return to work?

    Very quickly. With the first child, I was back at my computer right away. With the second, I took my daughter to the office in the beginning. By the time of the third child, I was already a professor, so I brought her with me when commuting by train from Bonn to Mainz during the breastfeeding period. Just getting the stroller into those old trains was a real challenge. All of the commuters knew me – the woman with the baby! At university, I had many people to support me. I sometimes recruited students to look after my baby while I was teaching. I even breastfed during office hours.

    Did your husband bring the children to work too?

    No, because I was breastfeeding. But it wouldn’t have been possible without him. My husband has always been very involved in our family work, even more so than me in recent years. I now work in Frankfurt, but our family is still in Bonn. Besides, we have had a wonderful nanny for over 20 years, who has been with us every day and helped us tremendously.

    Not everyone can afford a nanny.

    At the beginning, almost an entire salary went to that. But it’s sometimes overlooked that paid childcare is also an investment. It allows you to stay on your career path. And I always knew that my children were very well taken care of. That’s why I rarely had a guilty conscience.

    Did you have to make compromises because of your dual role as a mother and as an economist?

    Constantly. One must not have the expectation of being absolutely perfect in each role at all times. Otherwise, you will fail to live up to your own standards. But that wasn’t always easy for me.

    What did you have to compromise on?

    Mostly on my personal needs – I didn’t have much time for myself. And the same was true for my husband. But we also learned to be efficient. In the evenings, we would sometimes put our children to bed with their tights on to speed things up in the morning.

    Have you ever been accused of being a “raven mother” (bad mother)?

    Subtly, yes. But I didn’t take on that role. The paediatrician and author Remo Largo once said, in essence, that the most important thing was to be happy as a parent and a good role model. Children imitate what they see. And I believe I am a good mother to my daughters.

    It took you a few years to call yourself a feminist. Where do your daughters stand on that today?

    My daughters grew up knowing that women can achieve anything they want. Of course they complained from time to time that I wasn’t at home as much as other mothers. But they really like what I do and take it as motivation. My daughters are true feminists who will speak up when they are disadvantaged. I wouldn’t have had the confidence to do that at their age, but of course the world has also changed in that regard.

    And how do you introduce them to the topic of money?

    My husband and I are both economists and we have often talked about how to deal with money. But they tended to find financial investment rather tedious. Today, two of my daughters are studying economics, so they have automatically come closer to these topics.

    Mark Zuckerberg recently said that companies needed more “masculine energy”. Do you find that worrying, also in relation to your daughters?

    That worries me a lot. There’s a risk that society will go backwards, even though we are far from where we want to be. In the United States, this is currently more pronounced than it is here. But it’s spilling over. For the ECB, I can say that we stand firmly behind our diversity and inclusion strategy.

    MIL OSI Economics –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: International Women’s Day: Liz Saville Roberts calls for stronger protections against violence and harassment at work

    Source: Party of Wales

    ‘We must use all the powers we have at our disposal to keep women safe’ – Liz Saville Roberts MP

    Today (Thursday 6 March), ahead of International Women’s Day, Plaid Cymru’s Westminster leader, Liz Saville Roberts MP has delivered a speech in Parliament urging stronger protections against gender-based violence and harassment in the workplace.

    Highlighting the urgent need for action, Ms Saville Roberts introduced the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 (Amendment) Bill, which is set for its second reading on 7 March.

    Developed in collaboration with the Suzy Lamplugh Trust and Rights of Women, the Bill seeks to amend the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 to place a legal requirement on employers to take proactive measures to prevent violence and harassment in the workplace.

    It also provides enhanced protections for women and girls and requires the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) to develop and publish a comprehensive framework on workplace violence and harassment.

    Currently, the HSE does not classify gender-based violence as a workplace hazard and is not regarded as the primary authority for issues such as harassment, bullying, or domestic abuse in professional settings. This Bill would change that, ensuring that gender-based violence is addressed as a serious workplace safety issue.

    During a debate in the House of Commons to note International Women’s Day, Liz Saville Roberts MP said:

    “When we talk about a gender equal society, let’s be clear about where we mean. In the home, in public spaces, in the workplace.

    “A 2023 TUC poll found that three in five women had experienced sexual harassment, bullying or verbal abuse in the workplace.

    And reports of sexual assault, rape, stalking and coercive control from colleagues make up 56% of calls made to Rights of Women’s Sexual Harassment at Work advice line. But as it stands, protections are limited.

    “The Workers Protection Act 2023 created a “preventative duty” for employers to take reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment in the workplace.

    “But an automatic investigation into a breach of this duty only takes place after an individual successfully brings a claim of sexual harassment. And many other forms of gender-based violence in the workplace are excluded.

    “Meanwhile, the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 already places a duty on employers to ensure the health, safety, and welfare of employees at work.

    “So why not use the toughest mechanism we have in the workplace to tackle workplace gender-based harassment and violence too?

    “That’s exactly what my Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 (Amendment) Bill, developed with the brilliant Suzy Lamplugh Trust and Rights of Women, seeks to do.”

    Ms Saville Roberts closed:

    “If these are the differences we wish to make to women’s lives in the workplace, let us use all the powers we have at our disposal and make them work for women more effectively than they presently do.”

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Scotland games on free-to-air TV a ‘Great result for fans’

    Source: Scottish Greens

    07 Mar 2025 Sport

    Football is for everyone.

    More in Sport

    The Scottish Greens have hailed news that the Scotland Men’s National Football Team games are set to return to free-to-air TV, with the BBC agreeing a deal to become the main broadcaster of matches.

    According to reports, the BBC has secured broadcasting rights for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. The negotiations follow the withdrawal of private online broadcaster Viaplay.

    A campaign led by Scottish Green MSP Gillian Mackay to bring back free-to-view football received nearly 10,000 signatures. Ms Mackay also raised it with BBC Scotland’s Chief Executive in a Parliamentary evidence session.

    Ms Mackay said:

    “This is a great result and will be celebrated by fans all across Scotland. I am delighted that we will finally be able to watch the run up to the next world cup on free-to-view telly.

    “The Scottish Greens have joined supporters groups in calling for this for years, with thousands of people signing our petition and urging the BBC to take over the contract.

    “It’s a really important day for our national sport. Football should be for everyone, not just for those who can afford to enjoy it from behind a costly paywall.

    “Ticket prices are skyrocketing and simply getting to the ground is now out of budget for many. I hope that fans and families across our country will now have the option of watching our national team from home.

    “At its best, sport brings communities and families together like nothing else. I hope that free-to-view TV can become a permanent fixture and that young people will be able to grow up watching their heroes in action for years to come.”

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Communities at the heart of Local Government Reorganisation proposals

    Source: City of Derby

    Plans which put communities at the heart of council changes in Derbyshire – keeping local services close to local people, while protecting the county’s historic boundaries – have been outlined.

    The leaders of the eight borough and district councils in Derbyshire, together with the leader of Derby City Council, have set out their initial plans to create two unitary councils to cover the county – one in the north, and one in the south.

    The plans will be presented to the council’s respective decision-making bodies (where required) to approve the submission of interim proposals to Government by 21 March. Public consultation will be held before any final proposals are drawn up.

    This initial work has established two options of equal merit that meet the Government’s requirements.

    In the first option, Amber Valley Borough Council would be part of a northern unitary council, alongside High Peak Borough Council, Derbyshire Dales District Council, Chesterfield Borough Council, North East Derbyshire District Council, and Bolsover District Council.

    A separate southern unitary council would be formed by Derby City Council, South Derbyshire District Council, and Erewash Borough Council.

    In the second option, the structure remains the same, except Amber Valley Borough Council would move from the northern unitary council to join the southern unitary council instead.

    Both options maintain the integrity of the historic county of Derbyshire and reflect the existing boundaries of the borough, district and city councils.

    There will be a consultation process in the spring / summer seeking the views of residents, businesses, community representations and public sector partners to develop and shape proposals further. This will include specific consultation with the residents, businesses and other stakeholders in Amber Valley, to seek views on the borough’s placement in either the northern or southern unitary council.

    The conclusion of this initial phase of activity represents the leaders’ response to the publication of the Government’s English Devolution White Paper which requires all councils in ‘two-tier’ areas like Derbyshire to submit proposals to reorganise into unitary authorities, with outline plans to be submitted to Government by 21 March, and final plans to be submitted in November 2025.

    In a joint statement, the leaders said:

    Local councils provide a vast range of services that impact on everyone’s daily lives – supporting communities and neighbourhoods to thrive and grow, and creating opportunity for our people and places.

    As local leaders we take very seriously this responsibility, and in considering the very complex issues presented by Government’s call to restructure councils we are committed to working together with the shared goal of putting our communities first.

    We have explored a range of options that ensure that Derbyshire’s historic boundaries remain intact, while also creating new unitary councils of the right scale to deliver the best possible services for our communities.

    Our preferred option that meets government criteria involves the creation of two new unitary councils based on the existing geographies of the eight district and borough councils as the key building blocks, alongside the geography of Derby City Council.

    There is also the opportunity for the two new unitary councils to work in genuine partnership and collaborate on the delivery of all local government services, in turn ensuring the best possible value for money to local taxpayers. Most importantly, we believe these authorities would be of the appropriate size – the two councils would serve similarly sized populations of around 500,000 residents – to strike the right balance between retaining the strong local connections we already have with our communities and being financially sustainable.

    Our proposals also result in unitary councils of the right size and blend to engage fully and ensure our voice is heard at the East Midlands Combined County Authority and on key strategic issues close to our borders, whether that be our TransPennine and city links to Manchester and Sheffield in the north or our links to the East Midlands Freeport and Airport in the south.

    We don’t believe Derbyshire County Council’s plans for a single unitary council covering the whole of Derbyshire, excluding Derby, and serving a population of over 800,000 residents is the right approach. The organisation would be too large, and too far removed from the diverse communities that we serve.

    The county council’s plans would create a ‘doughnut effect’ around the city – leading to inefficient delivery of services and stifling economic and housing growth. It would also create significant disparity between the two unitary councils, in terms of both population and taxbase, and would therefore not meet the criteria the Government has set out.

    If local government must change, we want to make sure it does so in a way that keeps local services connected to the people who rely on them – creating councils which are big enough to deliver, and small enough to care.

    We have invited the Leader of Derbyshire County Council to be part of our joint discussions, but this has been declined. As the other local authorities in Derbyshire we have therefore moved quickly to draw up our own plans, which we believe clearly meet the Government’s criteria.

    To guide our final decisions, our proposals will be subject to extensive and meaningful consultation with residents, businesses, our workforces, partner public bodies, and the voluntary sector; ensuring all voices are captured and heard collectively.

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI Russia: Spring festival at the Polytechnic

    Translartion. Region: Russians Fedetion –

    Source: Peter the Great St Petersburg Polytechnic University – Peter the Great St Petersburg Polytechnic University –

    On the eve of March 8, women — doctors of science and professors — received congratulations from the rector of SPbPU Andrey Rudskoy, vice-rectors of the university and directors of institutes. The ceremonial event took place on March 6 in the café “Winter Garden” of the research building “Technopolis Polytech”.

    Women of the Polytechnic University take an active part in the development of the university, education and science. They are engaged in teaching activities, manage laboratories and make important discoveries. Many of them are professors and doctors of science. On the eve of International Women’s Day, the wonderful participants of the meeting were sincerely happy, listening to warm wishes from the men of the Polytechnic, who thanked them for their amazing patience, energy and charm.

    It is a great happiness that there are women professors in our team. This creates a special atmosphere at the university. Dear women, you are wise, deeply gifted, talented. I never tire of repeating how delighted I am that you find time for your family, while still managing to write articles, dissertations, give lectures and perform other duties. You are not only doctors and professors, you have many tasks on your shoulders. I wish you a peaceful sky and happiness in every family. Happy holiday, my dears, – said Andrey Rudskoy.

    The vice-rectors of SPbPU and directors of institutes joined in the congratulations.

    I congratulate you with all my heart on this holiday. You create the coziness and warmth that we all really need. Thank you very much for being there and supporting us. I would like to wish you beauty and a spring mood, – said First Vice-Rector Vitaly Sergeyev.

    It seems to me that in the last few years we have all realized how valuable happiness is. Therefore, I would like to wish you and your loved ones great human happiness. Do what you love, develop creatively, travel, – noted Vice-Rector for International Affairs Dmitry Arsenyev.

    I sincerely wish that everything is fine at home, that your children become part of the large family of polytechnicians, and that everything goes well for you at work. Beauty, health, happiness, – said Vladimir Glukhov, advisor to the rector’s office.

    Director of the Institute of Physical Culture, Sports and Tourism Valery Sushchenko delighted the beautiful ladies by reading a heartfelt poem for them. On this festive day, a string quartet under the direction of Ksenia Mitryaeva created a fairy-tale atmosphere, and the soloist of the musical alliance “Petersburg Baritones” Alexey Myagkov performed songs of the Soviet stage.

    After the formal part, colleagues happily continued communicating in an informal setting.

    As a token of gratitude and in memory of this pleasant meeting, the women scientists of the Polytechnic University were presented with flowers and gifts.

    Photo archive

    Please note: This information is raw content directly from the source of the information. It is exactly what the source states and does not reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.

    MIL OSI Russia News –

  • MIL-OSI Europe: Isabel Schnabel: Interview with wochentaz

    Source: European Central Bank

    Interview with Isabel Schnabel, Member of the Executive Board of the ECB, conducted by Patricia Hecht and Beate Willms on 5 February 2025

    7 March 2025

    Ms Schnabel, do you remember the first time you held money in your hand?

    That must have been during primary school. I often used my pocket money to buy sweets or an ice lolly.

    So money was just a means of payment for you, something that let you buy things?

    Exactly. However, my father placed great importance on me understanding how to deal with money early on – even though as a teenager I wasn’t that interested. He later recommended an apprenticeship at a bank to me when I wasn’t sure what to do after I had finished school. And one of his arguments was that I should learn how to manage money.

    Did you have the impression he was particularly concerned because you were a girl?

    Well, he didn’t make the same suggestion to my brother. That bothered me a little. It was just taken for granted that my brother could deal with money. But, at the end of the day, my father’s recommendation may have been one of the reasons why I ended up in a male-dominated field.

    Is it true that women engage too little with money?

    I do think so. On average, women have a lower level of financial literacy than men. That’s a problem. It can lead to them making suboptimal financial decisions and possibly ending up in financial difficulties. For example, women are more at risk of poverty in old age. So financial planning is particularly important for women.

    Are women themselves to blame for being financially worse off?

    There are many structural reasons, for example interrupted career paths due to becoming a mother or caring for elderly relatives. In addition, women are significantly more likely to work part-time. These factors contribute to women having lower incomes and smaller pensions. The insufficient engagement with financial matters is also linked to traditional gender roles. However, there’s also an element of individual responsibility. Just as one needs to think about one’s health, one needs to also deal with finances. Today, there are plenty of ways to get informed, for example, through podcasts or YouTube channels, to name just a few.

    Today you are one of the people responsible for deciding on the financing conditions for 350 million people in the euro area, because it’s the ECB’s task to keep inflation in check. Out of the 26 members of the Governing Council, only two are women – Christine Lagarde and you. Is the monetary policy that you pursue different from that of the men?

    Research shows that men and women do behave differently when it comes to economic issues. So it is possible that monetary policy may change when more women join the decision-making bodies. What is key here is diversity – also in terms of views and experiences. That’s what makes decision-making more robust.

    How do financial decisions made by men and women differ?

    Women tend to be more risk-averse in their financial decisions and they are more afraid of losses. This, for example, leads them to invest less in the stock market and thus achieve lower returns. Women also have less confidence in their financial decision-making. So improving financial literacy would be particularly important for women.

    Is there a feminist monetary policy?

    To be honest, I haven’t really thought about this. Monetary policy used to focus primarily on the economy as a whole, for instance on aggregate economic activity or consumption. Meanwhile, research has evolved and is now looking more into the underlying heterogeneity. We know, for instance, that poorer people are particularly affected by rising energy and food prices. There are likely also noticeable differences across genders.

    What are you doing to attract more women to the ECB?

    As an institution, we have a keen interest in equal opportunities. This does not always mean a fifty-fifty distribution, but we aim to represent the society for which we make our decisions and to use the entire talent pool available. This is why we have set targets at all levels of hierarchy. In order to achieve those, around half of all new hires and promotions should be women, as long as we are below our targets.

    What else are you doing?

    We try to remove barriers. Often this concerns obstacles like a lack of childcare. The ECB offers good childcare facilities, starting at infancy, and we also have a European School. Additionally, we noticed that women applied for promotions less frequently than men. When reading a vacancy notice, women have more doubts than men whether they fulfill all the criteria perfectly. We are now more explicitly encouraging women to apply. This strategy has proven to be very successful.

    Are salary differences transparent at the ECB?

    We are part of the public service, which means that we follow a clear salary structure that depends on qualifications and tasks. Then there are various allowances, which depend on things like staff members’ family situation but not on their gender.

    How do you deal with the responsibility for decisions that affect the lives of so many people?

    When I learnt in 2019 that I would be nominated for the ECB’s Executive Board, I had just arrived by train at Bonn’s main station. I saw the people on the platform and thought – in the future, I will have to make decisions affecting all these people! That’s a completely different role from that of a researcher, and one that carries a lot of responsibility. I take my job extremely seriously and try to take all decisions to the very best of my knowledge.

    You worked at different universities in Germany and the United States for 15 years, became a professor in 2007, and you were also a member of the German Council of Economic Experts. Throughout your career, you were always one of few women – often the only one, as in the case of the ”wise (wo)men”.

    The higher you go, the fewer women there are. That is still the case. And it shapes the style of communication. An example was the research seminars at university, where all the professors were men and the tone was often very harsh and aggressive. As a young researcher, that bothered me, and I know my female colleagues felt the same.

    How did you deal with it?

    I simply accepted it at the time, but it made me feel insecure. You need to have confidence in your career potential. Some women are better at handling a male-dominated environment than others. But there are also women who have a different type of personality. Some of my female colleagues left the university back then.

    Does the tone change when there is another woman in the room?

    Yes, it changes the entire tone of the conversation. This is especially true when an institution or committee is led by a woman, as is the ECB. Christine Lagarde can set the tone here. I am really impressed by how she manages to create such an inclusive and friendly climate.

    Is there something like female solidarity between the two of you?

    Absolutely. We have a close personal relationship. We also talk about private matters and we trust each other. She listens to my concerns. I can always approach her and she finds time for me even though she is extremely busy.

    Is it different with your male colleagues?

    There are a number of male colleagues with whom I have a similarly trusting relationship, but it is indeed different. There is greater emotional closeness among women.

    How important are women’s networks in your field?

    Very important. It took me a long time to understand that. Today, I am part of many informal women’s networks. It is particularly important to invite younger women and to support each other. Former US Secretary of State, Madeleine Albright, once said there is a special place in hell for women who don’t help other women. We must support each other rather than seeing each other primarily as competitors. I myself benefited from having a female mentor who later became a colleague at the University of Mainz.

    You do that too. During the pandemic, your colleague Isabella Weber – a left-leaning economist from the University of Massachusetts who was then in her mid-30s – suggested tackling inflation with strategic price controls. As this contradicted the textbooks, Nobel laureate Paul Krugman, among others, publicly dismissed her idea as “truly stupid”.

    I found this treatment of Isabella Weber intolerable. And I had the impression that a man would have been treated differently. That simply shouldn’t be the case. Although I didn’t share the view on price controls, we must be open to consider unconventional ideas. It was probably also about maintaining power and thought leadership. In general, I would find it disastrous if women were discouraged from challenging the mainstream because of this.

    Have you yourself ever felt that people were treating you differently because you are a woman?

    I experience this constantly on social media. I am sometimes besieged with sexist comments and I then mute those people. But I don’t experience this in my immediate professional environment.

    But did you suffer from any disadvantages because of being a woman?

    At the beginning of my career, during my studies, I was firmly convinced that it didn’t matter whether one was a man or a woman. I thought I just had to be good enough, and then I would make it. At that time, I wasn’t particularly positive about the promotion of women. It took a while before I realised that there were a number of gender-specific barriers. For example, during my entire university studies in Germany, I didn’t have a single female professor. So I had no role models. These issues became more obvious when I had children. I have three daughters, which means that I was either pregnant or breastfeeding for around six years. The time between the ages of 32 and 38 were very exhausting for me. And that was precisely the critical phase for progressing in an academic career. When I arrived at the office completely rushed in the morning, I already had my first major task behind me. I sometimes struggled with that. Travelling also wasn’t easy when the children were small. I wasn’t very keen on it either, as I wanted to be with my family.

    How did you manage it nonetheless?

    My doctoral advisor Martin Hellwig played a major role in this. He had helped me to build up networks already during my doctoral studies – before I had children. At the time, I hadn’t yet realised how important that was. When the children came, he gave me complete flexibility.

    How soon did you return to work?

    Very quickly. With the first child, I was back at my computer right away. With the second, I took my daughter to the office in the beginning. By the time of the third child, I was already a professor, so I brought her with me when commuting by train from Bonn to Mainz during the breastfeeding period. Just getting the stroller into those old trains was a real challenge. All of the commuters knew me – the woman with the baby! At university, I had many people to support me. I sometimes recruited students to look after my baby while I was teaching. I even breastfed during office hours.

    Did your husband bring the children to work too?

    No, because I was breastfeeding. But it wouldn’t have been possible without him. My husband has always been very involved in our family work, even more so than me in recent years. I now work in Frankfurt, but our family is still in Bonn. Besides, we have had a wonderful nanny for over 20 years, who has been with us every day and helped us tremendously.

    Not everyone can afford a nanny.

    At the beginning, almost an entire salary went to that. But it’s sometimes overlooked that paid childcare is also an investment. It allows you to stay on your career path. And I always knew that my children were very well taken care of. That’s why I rarely had a guilty conscience.

    Did you have to make compromises because of your dual role as a mother and as an economist?

    Constantly. One must not have the expectation of being absolutely perfect in each role at all times. Otherwise, you will fail to live up to your own standards. But that wasn’t always easy for me.

    What did you have to compromise on?

    Mostly on my personal needs – I didn’t have much time for myself. And the same was true for my husband. But we also learned to be efficient. In the evenings, we would sometimes put our children to bed with their tights on to speed things up in the morning.

    Have you ever been accused of being a “raven mother” (bad mother)?

    Subtly, yes. But I didn’t take on that role. The paediatrician and author Remo Largo once said, in essence, that the most important thing was to be happy as a parent and a good role model. Children imitate what they see. And I believe I am a good mother to my daughters.

    It took you a few years to call yourself a feminist. Where do your daughters stand on that today?

    My daughters grew up knowing that women can achieve anything they want. Of course they complained from time to time that I wasn’t at home as much as other mothers. But they really like what I do and take it as motivation. My daughters are true feminists who will speak up when they are disadvantaged. I wouldn’t have had the confidence to do that at their age, but of course the world has also changed in that regard.

    And how do you introduce them to the topic of money?

    My husband and I are both economists and we have often talked about how to deal with money. But they tended to find financial investment rather tedious. Today, two of my daughters are studying economics, so they have automatically come closer to these topics.

    Mark Zuckerberg recently said that companies needed more “masculine energy”. Do you find that worrying, also in relation to your daughters?

    That worries me a lot. There’s a risk that society will go backwards, even though we are far from where we want to be. In the United States, this is currently more pronounced than it is here. But it’s spilling over. For the ECB, I can say that we stand firmly behind our diversity and inclusion strategy.

    MIL OSI Europe News –

  • MIL-OSI Europe: Written question – Socio-economic consequences of the new ‘EU ETS 2’ emissions-trading system – E-000578/2025

    Source: European Parliament

    Question for written answer  E-000578/2025/rev.1
    to the Commission
    Rule 144
    Marie-Luce Brasier-Clain (PfE), Ondřej Knotek (PfE), Jaroslav Bžoch (PfE), Branko Grims (PPE), Kateřina Konečná (NI), Anna Bryłka (PfE), Dominik Tarczyński (ECR), Julie Rechagneux (PfE), Ewa Zajączkowska-Hernik (ESN), Filip Turek (PfE), Barbara Bonte (PfE), Philippe Olivier (PfE), Jean-Paul Garraud (PfE), Diana Iovanovici Şoşoacă (NI), Gilles Pennelle (PfE), Roman Haider (PfE), Valérie Deloge (PfE), Malika Sorel (PfE), Angéline Furet (PfE), Nikola Bartůšek (PfE), Sebastian Tynkkynen (ECR)

    On 22 January 2025, Donald Tusk, the Polish Prime Minister, presented his government’s priorities to MEPs in Strasbourg. He expressed concern at the introduction of a new carbon-trading system, EU ETS 2, which will apply to emissions from road transport and heating. In his words: ‘[h]igh energy prices might bring the downfall of many democratic governments’ in the EU.

    Several Member States, including France, have already criticised the viability of this measure, risking as it does driving up energy bills of businesses and households in this difficult socio-economic climate, when the Green Deal is being criticised from all sides owing to its detrimental effects on growth and prosperity and the lack of true safeguards.

    In response to Mr Tusk’s comments, can the Commission therefore say:

    • 1.whether it is considering, under the aegis of the Polish Presidency, reviewing or even repealing the regulation on this new emissions-trading system?
    • 2.whether it has conducted a detailed impact assessment of its socio-economic consequences and the expected effects of its ‘Social Climate Fund’, which is intended to compensate for the increases in future bills?

    Supporter[1]

    Submitted: 7.2.2025

    • [1] This question is supported by a Member other than the authors: Julien Leonardelli (PfE)

    MIL OSI Europe News –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Council budget for 2025/26 agreed

    Source: City of Liverpool

    Councillors have approved Liverpool City Council’s budget for the next year.

    It will see an additional £15.3 million invested in the delivery of frontline services for residents.

    The budget includes an extra £1.5 million for neighbourhood services to help tackle issues such as flytipping, street cleansing and blight.

    The aim is to build on improvements which have seen a 25 per cent drop in complaints about street cleansing and weeding over the last year.

    Changes have included regular maintenance, litter picking and cleansing at 58 new locations, including central reservations, roundabouts and traffic islands; additional litter picks in areas including Kirkdale, Anfield, Picton and Dingle; and monthly cleansing of 850 communal bin stations.

    There is also £500k for the School Streets programme to improve road safety around primary schools.

    An additional £52 million is being set aside to deal with increased demand for adult and children’s social care, temporary housing and home to school transport. The Council has a legal duty to provide adult and children’s services, and they account for 63 per cent of spending.

    Council Leader, Cllr Liam Robinson, said: “This is the most positive budget we have been able to present for some time due to the new government giving greater certainty to councils including future multi-year settlements and a bigger share of funding towards cities like Liverpool.

    “The budget continues our investment in the issues we know local people care about such as street cleansing, waste management and improving recycling rates, which is why we are bringing these services back in-house.

    “Like all councils, we continue to face real pressures in areas such as adult and children’s social care, temporary housing and home to school transport, and will continue to work with sector partners to suggest longer term solutions to the Government.“

    Deputy Council Leader and Cabinet Member for Finance, Resources and Transformation, Councillor Ruth Bennett, said: “We are continuing to make great strides in improving our own financial management to drive up income and make the most of every pound. This is helping manage the demand pressures we face in areas such as social care.

    “This rigorous approach is increasing Council Tax collection levels, reducing outstanding Business Rates and cutting the amount of outstanding debt we are owed.”

    Council Tax bills will rise by 4.99 per cent in Council Tax, including two per cent ringfenced for adult social care. The majority of households in Liverpool – 59 per cent – live in Band A properties, and will see the charge for the council services element of their bill rise by £84.04 per year.

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Joint statement on Local Government Reorganisation in Derbyshire – 7 March

    Source: City of Derby

    Joint statement from 

    Amber Valley Borough Council

    Bolsover District Council

    Chesterfield Borough Council

    Derby City Council

    Derbyshire Dales District Council

    Erewash Borough Council

    High Peak Borough Council

    North East Derbyshire District Council

    South Derbyshire District Council

    “Local councils provide a vast range of services that impact on everyone’s daily lives – supporting communities and neighbourhoods to thrive and grow, and creating opportunity for our people and places.

    “As local leaders we take very seriously this responsibility, and in considering the very complex issues presented by Government’s call to restructure councils we are committed to working together with the shared goal of putting our communities first.

    “We have explored a range of options that ensure that Derbyshire’s historic boundaries remain intact, while also creating new unitary councils of the right scale to deliver the best possible services for our communities.

    “Our preferred option that meets government criteria involves the creation of two new unitary councils based on the existing geographies of the eight district and borough councils as the key building blocks, alongside the geography of Derby City Council.

    “There is also the opportunity for the two new unitary councils to work in genuine partnership and collaborate on the delivery of all local government services, in turn ensuring the best possible value for money to local taxpayers. Most importantly, we believe these authorities would be of the appropriate size – the two councils would serve similarly sized populations of around 500,000 residents – to strike the right balance between retaining the strong local connections we already have with our communities and being financially sustainable.

    “Our proposals also result in unitary councils of the right size and blend to engage fully and ensure our voice is heard at the East Midlands Combined County Authority and on key strategic issues close to our borders, whether that be our TransPennine and city links to Manchester and Sheffield in the north or our links to the East Midlands Freeport and Airport in the south.

    “We don’t believe Derbyshire County Council’s plans for a single unitary council covering the whole of Derbyshire, excluding Derby, and serving a population of over 800,000 residents is the right approach. The organisation would be too large, and too far removed from the diverse communities that we serve.

    “The county council’s plans would create a ‘doughnut effect’ around the city – leading to inefficient delivery of services and stifling economic and housing growth. It would also create significant disparity between the two unitary councils, in terms of both population and taxbase, and would therefore not meet the criteria the Government has set out.

    “If local government must change, we want to make sure it does so in a way that keeps local services connected to the people who rely on them – creating councils which are big enough to deliver, and small enough to care.

    “We have invited the Leader of Derbyshire County Council to be part of our joint discussions, but this has been declined. As the other local authorities in Derbyshire we have therefore moved quickly to draw up our own plans, which we believe clearly meet the Government’s criteria.

    “To guide our final decisions, our proposals will be subject to extensive and meaningful consultation with residents, businesses, our workforces, partner public bodies, and the voluntary sector; ensuring all voices are captured and heard collectively.”

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Prison expanded to create UK’s largest jail and keep public safe

    Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments

    Press release

    Prison expanded to create UK’s largest jail and keep public safe

    More dangerous criminals will be taken off the streets thanks to a 700-place expansion which will turn a Suffolk jail into the UK’s largest.

    • three new houseblocks to be built at HMP Highpoint in Suffolk by summer 2027
    • key milestone in efforts to deliver 14,000 extra prison places nationwide by 2031
    • part of Government’s Plan for Change to create safer streets

    The three new, four-storey houseblocks at HMP Highpoint will boost its capacity by more than 50 percent– and is the latest step in Government action to create safer streets.  

    The houseblocks will include innovative workshops and teaching facilities to train prisoners with skills to secure a job on release and turn their backs on crime for good. The new cells will be fully operational by summer 2027. 

    The construction is a significant milestone in the Government’s plan to deliver 14,000 more prison places by 2031 to lock up dangerous offenders and keep the public safe.   

    Minister for Prisons, Probation and Reducing Reoffending, Lord James Timpson said: 

    This government is fixing the broken prison system it inherited – wasting no time in getting shovels in the ground to deliver the spaces needed to protect the public. 

    These new houseblocks have been designed with a laser-focus on cutting crime and are a major step in our plan to deliver 14,000 more prison places by 2031.  

    But we cannot simply build our way out of this crisis, which is why we’re also reviewing sentencing so we can lock up dangerous offenders, cut crime and make our streets safer.

    HMP Highpoint Prison Governor Nigel Smith said: 

    The expansion at Highpoint will provide much-needed prisoner places in our region.

    The new accommodation will provide a safe and secure environment for us to rehabilitate prisoners and get them ready for release.  

    We are pleased that the construction work has officially begun and we look forward to working with our contractors to get things delivered.

    The build will be delivered by Wates Group, a leading family-owned development, building and property maintenance company. Once completed Highpoint will be the largest prison in terms of land size in North-West Europe and the largest in the UK based on prisoner population. 

    It will help provide an economic boost to East Anglia with hundreds of jobs created during construction and over 200 permanent jobs at the prison once built. Construction alone will bring investment into local businesses with 30% of materials/subcontractors coming from within a 50-mile radius. 

    Phil Shortman, Regional Managing Director at Wates said:   

    We are proud to be involved in the major programme of delivering much-needed prison spaces.  

    Through the construction of this project, around 2,000 building components have been crafted in prison workshops, providing meaningful employment opportunities, helping develop valuable skills and supporting brighter futures.  

    We look forward to continuing our collaboration with the government delivering additional prison capacity with a focus on rehabilitation, sustainability and social value for the local community.

    The development is part of the government’s 10-year prison capacity strategy published in December. It includes 6,400 places through new houseblocks and 6,500 places via new prisons. One thousand rapid deployment cells will be rolled out across the estate while more than 1,000 existing cells will be refurbished. 

    A 1,500-capacity prison in Yorkshire, HMP Millsike, will be opened in the coming weeks. The government is investing £2.3 billion to deliver these prison builds, while a further £500 million will go towards vital building maintenance across prisons and the probation service.     

    The strategy will work alongside the Independent Sentencing Review to ensure the most serious offenders can always be sent to prison to protect the public.    

    Notes to editors 

    Updates to this page

    Published 7 March 2025

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: expert reaction to study looking at butter or vegetable oils and mortality

    Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments

    A study published in JAMA Internal Medicine looks at butter and plant based oils intake and mortality.

    Prof Sarah Berry, Professor of Nutritional Sciences, King’s College London, said:

    “The study shows that high butter consumption is linked to increased cancer and total mortality, whereas plant-based oils are linked to a lower risk of overall mortality and death due to cardiovascular disease and cancer.

    “This research is very timely.  Social media is currently awash with influencers promoting butter as a health food and claiming that seed oils are deadly.  This large-scale, long-term study finds the reverse.  The authors produce further evidence that seed oil consumption is linked to improved health and that butter – delicious as it is – should only be consumed once in a while.

    “In a sane world, this study would give the butter bros and anti-seed oil brigade pause for thought, but I’m confident that their brand of nutri-nonsense will continue unabated.”

    Dr Louise Flanagan, Head of Research for the Stroke Association, said: 

    “Stroke is the fourth leading cause of death in the UK and a leading cause of adult disability – but, fortunately, nine out of 10 strokes can be prevented.  High blood pressure is the cause of around half of all strokes.

    “This study covered a wider range of plant oils than previous research to find that greater consumption of rapeseed oil, soybean oil or olive oil is associated with an overall lower risk of death.  It is positive to see other plant oils being considered in this way as olive oil has been a focus of much research in the past.

    “The suggestion to switch from butter to plant oils is achievable for many people.  However, it was only olive oil that was associated with a lower risk of death due to cardiovascular disease, including stroke.  Olive oil is typically more expensive than other oils like rapeseed which means that its potential health benefits could be out of financial reach for some.

    “The study didn’t consider what eating both butter and plant oils means in terms of health risks, which is likely to be what many people naturally do.  This is potentially something which could be considered in future studies.

    “The Stroke Association encourages people to maintain a healthy diet, exercise regularly, not smoke and monitor alcohol intake, which can help to maintain healthy blood pressure.  Anyone with concerns should speak to their GP.”

    Prof Parveen Yaqoob, professor of nutritional science at the University of Reading, said:

    “The link between diets high in saturated fat, particularly animal-based fat such as butter and lard, and higher mortality has been argued for decades.  I have seen American adverts from the 1960s extolling the virtues of American housewives “polyunsaturating” their husbands when they come home from work.  This is a fun historical reminder of the link between the food industry and dietary health messages, as well as showing how much woman have had to fight for social progress.

    “This latest research provides strong additional data to support the ‘healthier fats’ theory.  The research followed a large cohort of health workers in America over many years.  The use of food frequency questionnaires means that we are relying on the participants to remember what they have eaten and how much, which we know can be an unreliable indicator of actual dietary patterns.

    “The scientists for this study highlight that not all vegetable oils are equal.  Although butter was being replaced by corn oil and sunflower oil, which are polyunsaturated, in the 1960s and 70s, the oils they are talking about in the research – olive, canola and soybean – are mainly monounsaturated.  The researchers suggests that these are more beneficial than the polyunsaturated fats, and refer to the Mediterranean diet, which is higher in monounsaturated fats such as olive oil, for that reason.  While many Western diets shifted away from saturated fat to polyunsaturated fat in the 1970s, the oils that we consume more often now contain more monounsaturates, which seem to be more beneficial.  Given that there are some plant-based oils that are high in saturates – such as palm oil and coconut oil – it is important to consider them separately.

    “Recent dietary fads have suggested a re-examination of evidence on dietary fat.  People who are confused about these conflicting messages about their diet should focus on broader, well-established advice, which can be summarised as: eat more fresh vegetables.”

    Prof Tom Sanders, Professor emeritus of Nutrition and Dietetics, King’s College London, said:

    “This important study shows that people who chose to eat butter don’t live as long as those who chose to eat vegetable oils.  It is a well conducted prospective study of 221,054 health professionals who were in their fifties when enrolled and followed up for 33 years.  Dietary intakes were assessed every 4 years.  The study reports that those who had the highest intake of butter were 15% more likely to die prematurely (from both cardiovascular disease and cancer).  In comparison the opposite was true (a 16 % reduction in relative risk of all-cause mortality), for participants who had the highest intake of vegetable oil.  The same relationship was seen for olive oil, soybean oil and canola oil (rapeseed oil).

    “The strength of the study is the long period of follow-up, repeated measures of dietary intake and adjustment in the statistical analysis for other factors such as smoking habit and obesity.  The findings do not apply to sunflower, palm or coconut oils which were not consumed to any significant extent in this study.  The limitations are that this an observational study not a randomised controlled trial.  Furthermore, the findings with regard to health professionals may differ from the general population because they are better informed about healthy lifestyle choices.

    “Butter is high in saturated fat, contains some trans fatty acids but is very low in polyunsaturated fats.  Whereas unhydrogenated soybean, canola and olive oils are low in saturated fatty acids but high in unsaturated fats.  Replacement of butter with these vegetable oils is well documented to lower blood cholesterol, particularly that associated with low density lipoprotein (LDL) by about 10%.  This change in LDL cholesterol would be predicted to reduce the relative risk of death by about 3% which is much less than what was observed in this study.  It remains possible that a higher intake of polyunsaturated fatty acids (especially linoleic acid) from the vegetable oil may have played a role in reducing risk by a variety of mechanisms.  An alternative explanation may be that health professionals who are sensible follow prevailing healthy eating and lifestyle advice compared to those who don’t.

    “The take home message is that it is healthier to choose unsaturated vegetable oils rather than butter.  This is particularly relevant as there has been much negative publicity about vegetable oils on social media, which are based on unfounded claims of potential harmful effects, rather than deaths as described in the present study.”

    Prof George Davey Smith, FRS FMedSci, Professor of Clinical Epidemiology, University of Bristol, said:

    “Yet again these studies show that the exposure that is accompanied by large differences in other adverse health exposures – e.g. more than double the rate of cigarette smoking in the highest quartile vs lowest quartile of butter consumption is associated with worse health outcomes.  That these differences cannot be taken into account by the statistical models the authors use is well known; measurement error and unmeasured factors ensure this.  It is now more than 30 years since these authors published two high profile papers back to back in the New England Journal of Medicine claiming that vitamin E supplement use would reduce heart disease risk by 40%.  The claims were incorrect, but many people believed them – the story was the headline news in the New York Times – and started taking vitamin E supplements.  However randomised trials later showed this was nonsense: there was no benefit.  This is documented in the first few minutes of this recent talk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8IgpTT5ZXXU&t=2s  As in the conclusion of my blog1 on the same authors’ “dark chocolate” paper, the interesting question this paper raises is “why do supposedly legitimate journals keep publishing papers like this?”.”

    1 https://ieureka.blogs.bristol.ac.uk/2024/12/04/dark-chocolate-diabetes/

    ‘Butter and Plant-Based Oils Intake and Mortality’ by Yu Zhang et al. was published in JAMA Internal Medicine at 21:00 UK time on Thursday 6 March 2025.

    DOI: 10.1001/jamainternmed.2025.0205

    Declared interests

    Prof Sarah Berry: “Sarah has received funding from the Almond Board of California, Malaysian Palm Oil Board and ZOE (Chief scientist at ZOE Ltd, options and consultancy at ZOE Ltd.).”

    Dr Louise Flanagan: “None.”

    Prof Parveen Yaqoob: “Professor Parveen Yaqoob is Deputy Vice-Chancellor, and Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Research & Innovation) of the University of Reading, and professor of nutritional science in the Department of Food and Nutritional Sciences, which has funding from public bodies, charities and businesses to conduct independent scientific research on food and nutrition.

    The Department has done work on dietary fat, including research co-authored by Parveen as part of the DIVAS project: https://research.reading.ac.uk/ifnh/cases/milk-dairy-consumption-risk-cardiovascular-diseases-cause-mortality/  Mostly government or UKRI funded, with industry partners.  The papers listed from that project list grant numbers.

    Work on reducing saturated fat in dairy was a REF case study, which includes grant numbers from BBSRC and MRC, and had industry partners throughout, which is one of the ways in which the research was considered to have impact.

    https://results2021.ref.ac.uk/impact/eefa0a3d-4ba8-4419-8c28-836e06b41eed?page=1.”

    Prof Tom Sanders: “I am a member of the Programme Advisory Committee of the Malaysia Palm Oil Board which involves the review of research projects proposed by the Malaysia government.

    I also used to be a member of the Scientific Advisory Committee of the Global Dairy Platform up until 2015.

    I did do some consultancy work on GRAS affirmation of high oleic palm oil for Archer Daniel Midland more than ten years ago.

    My research group received oils and fats free of charge from Unilever and Archer Daniel Midland for our Food Standards Agency Research.

    Tom was a member of the FAO/WHO Joint Expert Committee that recommended that trans fatty acids be removed from the human food chain.

    Member of the Science Committee British Nutrition Foundation.  Honorary Nutritional Director HEART UK.

    Before my retirement from King’s College London in 2014, I acted as a consultant to many companies and organisations involved in the manufacture of what are now designated ultraprocessed foods.

    I used to be a consultant to the Breakfast Cereals Advisory Board of the Food and Drink Federation.

    I used to be a consultant for aspartame more than a decade ago.

    When I was doing research at King’ College London, the following applied: Tom does not hold any grants or have any consultancies with companies involved in the production or marketing of sugar-sweetened drinks.  In reference to previous funding to Tom’s institution: £4.5 million was donated to King’s College London by Tate & Lyle in 2006; this funding finished in 2011. This money was given to the College and was in recognition of the discovery of the artificial sweetener sucralose by Prof Hough at the Queen Elizabeth College (QEC), which merged with King’s College London. The Tate & Lyle grant paid for the Clinical Research Centre at St Thomas’ that is run by the Guy’s & St Thomas’ Trust, it was not used to fund research on sugar. Tate & Lyle sold their sugar interests to American Sugar so the brand Tate & Lyle still exists but it is no longer linked to the company Tate & Lyle PLC, which gave the money to King’s College London in 2006.”

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI Europe: Assessing the Damage of a Trump-Putin Deal

    Source: Universities – Science Po in English

    This is not the “end of history” heralded by some after 1989, but certainly the end of an era marked by the post-war transatlantic alliance of Western democracies. The Alliance was created at the instigation of the United States; it is being undone by the United States. Trump’s pivot to Russia in dealing with the war in Ukraine closes a 75-year-old chapter in our history. It leaves behind a series of casualties’, not just collateral damage.

    Jacques Rupnik, Research Professor Emeritus at Sciences Po Center for International Studies (CERI) briefly sketched the most important. An article originally published by our partner The Conversation.

    The first casualty is Ukraine

    After the Alliance, first and most obvious is Ukraine. After the roasting given to president Zelensky in the White House, broadcast live to the world, the message is clear: there will be a ‘peace’ negotiated by Trump and Putin (their foreign ministers’ meeting was held in Ryiad) and imposed on the Ukrainians. It’s not a “give and take” negotiation, it is “take it or leave it”. Trump branded as a minor trophy in his speech to the Congress on 4 March 2025, the letter received from the Ukrainian president, revising his defiant stance: “I want peace quickly and am prepared to negotiate now”. “Negotiate”? He has not so far been invited to a negotiation which will be about Ukraine without Ukraine. Chose your historical analogy: Munich where Britain and France abandoned Czechoslovakia to Hitler in 1938 or the Hitler-Stalin pact of August 1939 which divided East European spheres of influence between them.

    In accepting the would-be ‘peace deal’ Ukraine would also give the US access to rare earth in Ukraine (some of it happens to be in Donbas controlled by Russia). In short, Ukraine’s choice, now deprived of US military backing (including intelligence and the capacity to strike in Russian territory), is: do you want to continue fighting on your own with the risk of being gradually exhausted and occupied by Russia or are you willing to cede, say, half of your territory – to the “Donald Trump & Co” mining company? Make-up your mind fast as the US president promised the deal would be settled within hundred days.

    The second casualty is Europe

    The second casualty is Europe or more precisely the political and security predicament inherited from the cold-war era and confirmed during America’s “unipolar moment” (Charles Krauthammer) which followed 1989. The moment was just that, a moment. Until now, the overwhelming majority of EU member-states cherished as an article of faith the idea that the American security umbrella was there and would stay there. That meant clinging to US foreign and security agenda and provide support to US international adventures including the 2003 war in Iraq. The East Europeans in particularly were adamant: you follow the US in the Mesopotamian desert, whether or not you believed the case made for it, but because you considered it as the best investment in your own security just as you were joining NATO. America was and remained the “indispensable nation” as Madeleine Albright put it. For many, particularly in Germany, Trump’s first term in office was seen as a mere parenthesis. Now it is Biden’s presidency which looks like a parenthesis between Trump I and Trump II.

    Macron’s call for European “strategic autonomy” or “European sovereignty” were seen with some suspicion as perhaps another neo-Gaullist ploy to distance Europeans from their American allies. A misperception as what was Macron was proposing was “Eurogaullism”, i.e. not French but European “strategic autonomy”.

    The harsh truth about Trump’s pivot to Russia

    Now the Europeans in a state of shock have to confront some harsh truths about Trump’s pivot to Russia and the Alliance losing its most precious asset: trust. The Nato article 5 guarantee – the principle of collective defence, which means that an attack against one Ally is considered as an attack against all Allies – is still formally there, but the faith in the American guarantee is gone.

    What we have just witnessed is the ‘de-coupling’ between the European and American allies. That had been a long-term objective of Soviet foreign policy during the cold war; it now comes true under Putin. In the 1980’s when the Soviet SS20 medium range missiles were deployed (could hit Western Europe, not the US), West Europeans supported the deployment of American Pershing missiles. French president Mitterrand went to the Bundestag to make the case in the face of a strong pacifist reaction in Germany: “Les missiles sont à l’Est, les pacifistes sont à l’Ouest” (“Missiles are in the East, pacifists are in the West”), Mitterrand said.

    A defining moment for Europeans

    This is now a defining moment for Europeans and it remains to be seen if and how they will rise to the occasion. The Munich conference displayed one, not very encouraging version. J. D. Vance first surprised his audience saying he was more worried about the threat from within (liberalism and its liberal and/or progressive values) than from without (Putin). He chastised the Europeans for not living up to the democratic values, leaving the European establishment present at the conference baffled and amazed: not just the war in Ukraine, but democracy too was now explictly part of the new Atlantic divide. Tensions between popular sovereignty as expressed in elections, and the rule of law with the separation of powers and its constitutional constraints, has been at the center of a more than two centuries old debate on both sides of the Atlantic (back to Tocqueville and his warnings about the “tyrany of the majority”). Vance made the case for the Trumpian version of “populist democracy” attacking the prevailing European version of liberal democracy based on the rule of law. Instead of responding in kind, as Vance rushed off to his meeting with the leader of the extreme right AfD, the president of the Munich conference, Christoph Heussgen, an experienced German diplomat, collapsed in tears. The whipping boy vs the weeping boy. A sad symbolic moment for Europe.

    However, in response to Trump’s pivot to Russia, the Europeans are coming to terms with the fact that they are now on their own. The meeting organised in London on 2 March 2025, suggests that a coalition of the willing is in the making in support of Ukraine and determined to give substance to a European “common security and defense policy” long discussed, now to be implemented.

    Who will be part of it?

    Who will be part of it? France and Britain, because of their military capacity, their nuclear power status and their old strategic culture. The Weimar triangle Paris-Berlin Warsaw is likely be its crucial axis within the EU. Macron has taken an increasingly tough stance on Russia and can claim to be a forerunner in terms of Europe’s “strategic autonomy”. The new German chancellor, Friedrich Merz, has for the first time openly suggested that defense spending should not be constrained by outdated spending limits and that German/European security will have to be envisaged independently of the US.

    Poland’s Donald Tusk, now in charge of EU’s rotating presidency, has been a forerunner in his warnings about Russian expansionist ambitions and is the most explicit among Europeans concerning the effort needed in terms of building a European defense capacity (Poland spends 4,5% of the GDP for defense). The coalition will also include the Nordic countries: Danmark, mobilised in defense of… Greenland (!), Finland and Sweden who know a thing or two about the Russian threat and have now joined Nato only to discover that its founder is on the way out…

    As Tusk aptly put it: “500 million Europeans expect 340 million Americans to protect them against 140 million Russians”. Time for Europeans to take charge of their own destiny.

    MIL OSI Europe News –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Planning application submitted for the regeneration of Druids Heath

    Source: City of Birmingham

    Birmingham City Council has submitted a planning application to regenerate Druids Heath, which will deliver around 3,500 new energy-efficient homes.

    The homes will be built alongside excellent green spaces, new infrastructure and transport links, as well as the revitalisation of commercial and community spaces in Druids Heath.

    The council is committed to building around 1,785 affordable homes as part of the scheme, representing 51% of homes on the development.

    The planning application details how 400 homes will be built as affordable homes, and the council aims to deliver these homes for social rent.

    The remaining affordable homes will be delivered through a partnership agreement with a developer and a Registered Provider.

    Work to appoint the developer is well underway, and it is anticipated that the partnership agreement will be signed in early 2027.

    Councillor Jayne Francis, cabinet member for housing and homelessness, said:

    “I am pleased that we now have a plan in place to deliver a regeneration of Druids Heath and to provide much need new affordable homes to the city.

    “For the past two years, we have been working with the community in Druids Heath to develop a plan to regenerate the area, one that meets the needs of the people who live and work there.

    “Residents have been vital to ensuring this plan delivers for Druids Heath. The most common comment was that the timescales for the plan were too long, so we have changed the plans to deliver faster.

    “This regeneration will build the types of homes we need to tackle climate change, reduce residents fuel bills, and contribute to the city’s net zero ambitions.

    “The plans take advantage of the estate’s key strengths – community spirit and abundance of green space – to make a healthier, more sustainable place to live.

    “Any regeneration will affect people’s homes and can, therefore, be a significant cause of distress for residents. To help, we will appoint independent advisors to advise homeowners throughout the process to ensure our residents feel supported and informed. We will also hold regular in-person drop-in sessions for people to ask any questions.

    “We also understand residents’ concerns about being priced out of the area. For this reason, the council is looking at how we can use different financial models to give residents an opportunity to remain on the estate. We will let residents know more about these models as soon as we are able. It is really important to the council that everyone who wants to stay in Druids Heath can do so.”

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI Banking: Fiber to drive Japan fixed communication services market to over $26 billion in 2029, forecasts GlobalData

    Source: GlobalData

    Fiber to drive Japan fixed communication services market to over $26 billion in 2029, forecasts GlobalData

    Posted in Technology

    Fixed communication services revenue in Japan is expected to grow marginally from $25.4 billion in 2024 to $26.6 billion in 2029, maintaining a sluggish CAGR of 0.9%.  The decline in fixed voice services will continue, while broadband growth remains moderate, driven by increasing fiber adoption but offset by falling cable and xDSL subscriptions, says GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.

    GlobalData’s research reveals that fixed voice service revenue will decline at a CAGR of 0.5% over the 2024-2029 period, given the steady drop in circuit-switched subscriptions and sluggish growth in packet switched (VoIP) subscriptions as users from traditional voice services to OTT/app-based communications.

    Fixed broadband service revenue, on the other hand, is expected to increase at a moderate CAGR of 1.6% over the forecast period, mainly due to growth in FTTH/B subscriptions.

    Neha Mishra, Telecom Analyst at GlobalData, comments: “Fiber lines accounted for about 87% share of the total fixed broadband lines in 2024 and will remain the leading broadband technology through to 2029. This growth in fiber lines will be supported by rising demand for high-speed broadband connectivity and government’s efforts to increase the availability and promote the adoption of FTTH/B services.

    For instance, in 2023, the Japanese government announced its goal to cover 99.9% of households with fiber-optic networks by the end of 2027 while bridging regional disparities in broadband access.

    This increase in FTTH/B subscriptions will however be offset by the continued decline in cable Internet and xDSL subscriptions, keeping growth in the overall fixed broadband service revenues moderated over the forecast period.

    Neha concludes: “NTT Docomo will lead both fixed voice and fixed broadband segments by subscriber share through 2029. The telco’s leading position in the fixed broadband segment is due to its strong presence in the FTTH/B service segment, offering a wide range of tariff plans based on data usage that serve the needs of both entry-level as well as premium users.”

    MIL OSI Global Banks –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Electric boost: over 16,000 electric vehicle chargers on the way for the Midlands

    Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments

    Press release

    Electric boost: over 16,000 electric vehicle chargers on the way for the Midlands

    New chargepoints will power growth, cut emissions and improve lives in the Midlands and beyond.

    • local authorities in the Midlands set to roll out thousands of electric vehicle chargers thanks to more than £40 million in government funding
    • investment to boost charging infrastructure in cities, towns and rural areas, particularly for those without access to driveways
    • comes on top of £2.3 billion to help industry and consumers make a supported switch to electric, creating jobs and delivering the Plan for Change

    Drivers across the Midlands will benefit from more than 16,000 new electric vehicle (EV) chargers as the region secures over £40 million in government investment.

    Future of Roads Minister Lilian Greenwood has today (7 March 2025), confirmed that 13 local authorities across the Midlands, supported by Midlands Connect, have received £40.8 million from the Local EV Infrastructure (LEVI) Fund to roll out thousands of chargers across the region.

    While the charging network continues to grow – with over 10,000 public chargers already available across the Midlands – today’s announcement will provide many more drivers across the Midlands easy access to charging near their home.

    The funding comes on top of over £2.3 billion to help industry and consumers make a supported switch to EVs. This is creating high paid jobs, supporting businesses up and down the country and tapping into a multi-billion pound industry to make the UK a clean energy superpower and deliver the Plan for Change.

    Future of Roads Minister, Lilian Greenwood, said:

    Making charging as seamless and as easy as possible is crucial to making the switch to electric a success and rolling out over 16,000 chargers across the Midlands will make driving an EV cheaper and easier, especially for those without a driveway.

    Electric vehicles will power growth, cut emissions and improve lives in the Midlands and beyond as we continue to deliver our Plan for Change.

    The new chargepoints will boost charging infrastructure across the Midlands, including in smaller towns and rural areas, ensuring that EV owners and those looking to switch can drive with the confidence they will always be close to a chargepoint, no matter where they live.

    The announcement follows a particularly positive week for electric vehicles, with £120 million confirmed to help drivers and businesses buy zero-emission vans, taxis and electric motorcycles Last week, the department also announced it has rolled out more than 1,400 chargepoints at schools and over 59,000 chargers at offices and workplaces across the country, improving access to chargepoints and fitting charging an EV around people’s everyday lives.

    The UK’s public chargepoint network continues to grow every day, with over 74,000 public chargers now available across the country and a record of nearly 20,000 added last year alone.

    With £200 million announced at 2024 Budget to continue powering the chargepoint rollout and £6 billion of private investment in the pipeline, the UK’s charging network will continue to see hundreds of thousands of chargers added in the coming years, delivering resilient infrastructure so that EV owners can drive with the confidence that they’re always close to a chargepoint.

    With over 382,000 EVs sold in 2024 – up a fifth on the previous year – the UK is the largest EV market in Europe. There’s never been a better time to switch to EVs, with one in 3 used electric cars under £20,000 and 21 brand new electric cars RRP under £30,000.

    Owning an EV is also becoming increasingly cheaper, with drivers able to save up to £750 a year compared to petrol if they mostly charge at home.

    The average range of a new electric car is now 236 miles – that’s about 2 weeks of driving for most people – all the while emitting just one-third of the greenhouse emissions of a petrol car during its lifetime.

    With 24/7 helplines, contactless payments, and up-to-date public chargepoint locations, charging has now become easier than ever.

    Maria Machancoses, CEO of Midlands Connect, said: 

    We are delighted that our collaboration with local authorities has resulted in a significant funding boost for electric vehicle infrastructure across the region. 

    This is a great step in moving towards a reliable electric vehicle charging infrastructure network across the Midlands, which will become increasingly important as we move closer to the 2035 ban on diesel and petrol vehicles.

    We will continue to work with local authorities to accelerate the roll-out of electric vehicle infrastructure across the Midlands.

    Councillor Marc Bayliss, Worcestershire County Council’s Cabinet Member for Highways and Transport, said:

    I’m pleased that Worcestershire, alongside other local authorities, has been successful in this bid for significant funding towards boosting electric vehicle infrastructure.

    It’s hoped, that installing more public charge points , will not only support those who already have an electric vehicle, but also encourage others to make the move towards purchasing one.

    Roads media enquiries

    Media enquiries 0300 7777 878

    Switchboard 0300 330 3000

    Updates to this page

    Published 7 March 2025

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Coventry schools take part in Primary Aspirations Week for the second year running

    Source: City of Coventry

    After a successful first year, the second Coventry Primary Aspirations Week took place this week, running from Monday 3 March to Friday 7 March.

    Coventry City Council worked with partners across the city to bring the event back bigger and better for 2025.

    Primary Aspirations week coincides with National Careers Week, which aims to raise young people’s awareness of future career pathways. Primary Aspirations Week aims to encourage primary school-aged children to think about possible career choices in the future, and how to develop some of the skills they might need to get there.

    Over 1000 children in schools across Coventry took part in in-person events during Primary Aspirations Week 2025, hearing from a wide range of businesses and organisations in the city and beyond. Even more pupils (over 2500) engaged in an online learning session on Monday 3 March!

    The children, aged between 7-11, were given the opportunity to learn about things in a fun way. For example, National Grid gave an insight into their world of work using an interactive app “Now Press Play” which provided a really engaging way of getting children to live the experience of a National Grid employee.  

    NHS Coventry and Warwickshire also hosted a session on giving the children the chance to see who is involved in the care industry when somebody needs medical help. Children asked questions and talked about this could be a possible future career choices for them.

    Councillor Dr Kindy Sandhu, Cabinet Member for Education and Skills, said: “It’s really great to see how Primary Aspirations Week has expanded so much for this year. Once again, the feedback we’ve received from schools and children has been nothing but positive.

    “We really wanted to give more children an opportunity to think about their futures and imagine the types of careers they might want to pursue. We know that children’s aspirations are shaped by their life experiences, so we wanted to create an event that gave children an insight into what they could go onto do after school.”

    Jo Stanley, the headteacher at Little Heath Primary School, which played host one of the events, said: “It was a fabulous opportunity for primary children to hear from external speakers who brought their own experiences and skillset to inspire the children. The morning had an immediate impact on the children to think about their own skills and future aspirations outside of the classroom too. Providing opportunities for children to see and hear that they can set goals for their future career, and they do come true, is invaluable for all Coventry pupils.”

    Organisations that took part in the event included: E.ON, Sky Blues in the Community, National Grid, West Midland’s Fire Service, Coventry Building Society, Ascension Dance Company, NHS Coventry and Warwickshire, Jaguar Land Rover, Severn Trent, Transport for West Midlands, the University of Warwick, Siemens Electrical, Lioncourt Homes, West Midlands Police, NFU, Canal & River Trust, Pet-xi, Sense, Leamington Spa Art Gallery & Museum, Coventry Careers Hub and Coventry City Council.

    Some comments from children at Little Heath were:

    “Listening to the architects about building homes, I now want to become a builder when I grow up.” – Aroosh.

    “It was great fun learning from the visitors.” – Sieanna

    “I enjoyed aspiration day because we got to learn and explore different jobs we can do when we grow up.” – Zuzanna

    “I really enjoyed learning about lots of jobs that helped my everyday life, opening more opportunities.” – Abanoub.

    To keep up to date with the latest news, sign up for our Your Coventry email newsletter or follow the Council on Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), YouTube, Instagram, LinkedIn and TikTok.

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI USA: ICYMI: Secretaries Wright and Burgum Join American Energy Workers in Applauding President Trump’s Leadership & Historic Investment in American Energy Infrastructure

    Source: US Department of Energy

    PLAQUEMINES PARRISH, LOUISIANA—U.S. Secretary of Energy Chris Wright and U.S. Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum, both leaders of the National Energy Dominance Council (NEDC), today joined more than a thousand American energy workers at Venture Global’s Plaquemine LNG Export facility to highlight the impacts of President Trump’s energy agenda. The secretaries joined Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry and Venture Global CEO Mike Sabel in delivering remarks before touring the facility and speaking to the press.

    Thanks to President Trump’s commitment to restoring American energy dominance and day one reversal of the Biden-Harris LNG export permit ban, Sabel announced today that Venture Global would be making an additional $18 billion expansion to the Plaquemine LNG Export facility – making the facility the largest in the United States.

    Less than 50 days into the Trump administration, American energy companies are producing more energy here in the U.S. – lowering prices, providing good-paying jobs, strengthening local communities, and bolstering America’s national security.

    In case you missed it, remarks from Secretary Wright and Burgum are below:

    Secretary Wright:

    America is back.

    You, all of you here today, are bringing America back, making us greater and making us stronger. I could not be more humbled and proud to stand among you today. God bless what you do today and what you do every day.

    I want to also thank President Trump. He worked tirelessly, even putting his own life at risk to go back to Washington to become our president again, to bring commonsense back to Washington, DC. It all left the city. He brought back common sense with a simple agenda unleash American energy, unleash American business, and unleash the American spirit.

    And I see it here today with all of you. He’s from the East Coast. He’s a real estate developer. But instinctually he gets energy. He knows that energy is not one sector of the economy. It’s the sector of the economy that enables everything else, everything else.

    I want to thank the governor of Louisiana. Giant projects like this, they’re not getting built in California, where I lived many years. They’re not getting built in a lot of places. This takes leadership and boldness. This governor of Louisiana has allowed a flourishing in the Louisiana Gulf Coast and across the state. Louisiana today exports more LNG than every state in the United States. This is number one.

    That that that bar is going to be raised even higher because in the next several years, Louisiana will become a larger exporter of liquefied natural gas than any nation on Earth. You could be your own country and be number one.

    Venture global, as we heard from Mike Sable, the great, bold founding CEO, has taken huge risk. They raised money from all across America, from American like us, to build this business and make a bet. Make a bet on American energy production.

    The United States 15 years ago was the largest importer of natural gas in the world. And with bold entrepreneurs and leadership like President Trump, our governor in Louisiana, and Venture Global, today, the United States is the largest net exporter of natural gas in the world and growing strong, growing strong.

    What’s the fastest growing source of energy on the planet by far is natural gas. I looked at this over the last 15 years. Nothing else is close. Oil is second, by the way. The fastest growing sense source of energy in the planet is natural gas. The largest producer of natural gas on the planet is the United States.

    And so hence we’re growing our exports because of your work, because of your efforts, we’re going to increase the prosperity of America, increase the strength of America, increase the opportunities for Americans and for the citizens of the world.

    Where does this gas go? What’s this gas going to do? It’s going to make fertilizer so farmers can grow more food and feed everyone. It’s by far the largest source of electricity in the United States. Natural gas is. It’s to make petrochemicals. All the clothes were wearing the toys. Our cars are our computers. Our phones. Those are all made of natural gas.

    All the uses of natural gas, you can say. In short, they make our lives possible. They allow us to have a modern world and live these wonderful lives we live.

    But that doesn’t fall from heaven. That doesn’t just fall on earth. It has to be made, produced and delivered. And that only happens with hard working people like you. You are changing the world. You are changing people’s lives.

    I’ll end there. I just am humbled to be among you. I’m proud to be among you. I cannot overstate how important what you’re doing is and how aligned it is with the agenda of President Donald Trump. This guy wants America to be great. He wants America to be strong. He wants to lower our cost and expand opportunities for Americans.

    A strong, energized, empowered America is not just good for Americans. It’s good for the world. God bless you. God bless America and God bless President Trump.

    Secretary Burgum:

    What a gorgeous day we have here today. And today is a day of gratitude. And it’s a day of celebration.

    You’ve heard from the great speakers up here, my friend, Governor Jeff Landry. We’ve got two amazing entrepreneurs, Mike and Bob and the amazing Chris Wright. But we’re celebrating today American innovation, American entrepreneurship, and American workers. I stand here before you humbled because I can’t think of anything more patriotic.

    There’s no place I’d rather be than here looking at all of you standing here among this, this creation that you’ve built. And it started with two guys that said, hey, maybe we can do something that’s never been done before. Maybe we can invent a new way to think about how we want to process natural gas. Maybe we can figure out that the U.S., instead of being a net importer, is going to be a net exporter.

    And it was a couple of guys just sitting around a table that came up with the idea of Venture Global. Then you hear, it’s like when only in America, now is going to be one of the most important and influential energy companies in the world. That happens in our country only when we get the government out of the way.

    It happens when we cut red tape. One of our pathways to energy dominance is just unleashing the incredible resources that we have in this country. Getting the red tape, getting the federal government off the back of the worker, off the back of companies, and so that everybody can do the amazing work and build projects like this.

    And so, we’re celebrating that today. But I also said today is a day of gratitude. And I want to bring a message from President Trump to all of you, because President Trump fights for all of you every day. This guy I know everybody here, you work hard, you put in a long day, you go home, you get up and you do it the next day. He respects that. And you know what? He does that too.

    This guy didn’t take a day off for the last 90 days before the election. Then the next day he got up and he didn’t. He didn’t take a day off. He just started jamming all the way through to January 20th. And then since January 20th, he’s gotten more done than any president in the history of the United States ever has in their first month and a half.

    And somebody asked me, what’s it like working for the president? And I said, well said, you guys, you watch football. And they said, yeah, I watch football. I said, well, think about this. Think about the best football team ever assembled. The President Trump is the team owner and he’s the manager, and he’s the head coach, and he’s playing quarterback and he’s running a no huddle offense. And everybody that’s working for him has got to scramble back to the line for the next play, because we’re just going that fast every single day. And the change that he’s driving, the red tape that he’s cutting, it’s absolutely incredible. And one of the things that we’re here today, the announcement today is happening.

    The prior administration had a full-on attack against U.S. energy. They literally were stopping the permitting, killing jobs, killing capital formation, the money to come together to build something like this. And you know what that did that hurt every American and it helped our adversaries. President Trump is fighting for you every day. And he’s fighting because he believes in the we have U.S. energy dominance. It does two things. It builds American prosperity, and it brings peace abroad.

    We’re in two proxy wars right now. And both of our adversaries in those wars, Russia and Iran, Iran funding 24 terrorist groups. They’re funding those wars against us with energy production. With a facility like this where we can sell LNG around the world, we’re literally going to stop war.

    So, when you guys go to work every day, tell yourselves you’re just not doing a job building the most amazing, most technological plant in the planet. The biggest construction project in North America. You’re also building world peace. And the other thing you’re also doing is you’re building prosperity here at home for everybody that’s here.

    And it all starts with one thing, and that’s American energy. And you’re going to say it with me because with energy dominance part of our job is to cut red tape. And the other is we got to get more things flowing through those pipes heading towards Louisiana. And how are we going to do that?

    You know, how we are going to do it is three words. What are we going to do. We’re going to drill, baby drill one more time. What are we going to do. We’re going to drill, baby drill. And when we do that, we’re also going to mine baby, mine. We’re going to get critical minerals going. So, we’re stop buying critical minerals from China. We’re going to map baby, map, and we get the US Geological Survey going back and actually discovering all the resources we have on America’s balance sheet.

    People talk about America’s debt, $36 trillion in debt. Our assets could be 3 to 5 times more than that. But we don’t even know that because we’ve stopped looking for all the resource assets in this country. And we’re going to become an energy powerhouse. And with that, we’re going to bring inflation down for you and your families. And here at home, prosperity in America and world peace abroad.

    That’s what you’re working on every day. How exciting is it to be here with all of you? And again, a message of gratitude for President Trump to you. Nothing more patriotic than American worker that’s working to build energy dominance for this country. Your impact? It carries far and wide. It touches people all over the world. And it certainly helps your kids and your grandkids, and it helps our country reduce our debt, do everything that we’re doing.

    So, a big thank you from President Trump and a big thank you to the innovators and entrepreneurs that built this place and came up with the idea. And none of it happens without all of you. But let’s go. And what’s at the end? I want to say, I will say one thing when you’re doing when we’re doing this today, what are we doing together?

    We’re making America great again. One more time. What are we doing? Making America great again. Thank you. Way to go, venture global. Thank you all.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI China: NPC deputy champions equipment manufacturing industry

    Source: China State Council Information Office

    Cao Tianlan, a deputy to the 14th NPC, poses for a photo outside the Great Hall of the People, Beijing, March 5, 2025. [Photo provided to China.org.cn]

    Cao Tianlan, a deputy to the 14th National People’s Congress (NPC), stressed during the “two sessions” that China must leverage collaborative innovation across industrial chains, digital transformation and Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) partnerships to propel its equipment manufacturing industry toward higher-end, greener and smarter development.

    “China has maintained its position as the world’s largest manufacturing hub for many years, but there remains a gap in transitioning from a manufacturing giant to a manufacturing powerhouse,” Cao explained to China.org.cn. She called for technological innovation and industrial upgrading to drive this critical leap.

    In Cao’s view, collaborative innovation along industrial chains is pivotal for China’s equipment manufacturing sector to achieve leapfrog development. It strengthens cooperation among upstream and downstream enterprises, expands production scale, enhances efficiency and bolsters risk resilience and global competitiveness. She cited the development of China’s first self-developed F-class 50 MW heavy-duty gas turbine (G50) as a prime example. This breakthrough involved collaboration between over 300 upstream and downstream enterprises. Cao highlighted that the G50’s journey from R&D to deployment exemplifies the success of China’s new system for mobilizing resources nationwide to make key technological breakthroughs. 

    She further noted that in 2024, China established its first small and medium-sized gas turbine industrial chain alliance to jointly explore “Chinese solutions” to gas turbine development.

    Cao also emphasized that manufacturing digitization is integral to building a modern industrial system. At Dongfang Electric Corp, where she serves as deputy chief engineer, milestones include China’s first unmanned blade processing workshop, a green high-efficiency welding digital workshop, and an industrial internet platform with intellectual property rights enabling full data interconnectivity. “Moving forward, we will deepen the integration of the digital and real economies through smart technologies and digital upgrades, as well as AI Plus initiatives,” she added.

    Regarding international expansion, Cao acknowledged the achievements of China’s high-end equipment in global markets while underscoring that BRI partner countries have become a focal point for global manufacturing competition. She highlighted landmark projects by Dongfang Electric, cooperated with a power plant in Belarus, and Jirau hydropower station in Brazil, and PV projects in Uzbekistan. These projects have not only upgraded local energy infrastructure but also generated employment and stimulated economic growth. “They have enhanced the global competitiveness of ‘Made in China’ while strengthening mutual trust and cooperation with BRI countries,” she remarked.

    In addition, Cao proposed a standardization strengthening initiative for high-end equipment manufacturing, advocating for a comprehensive industrial chain standards system to promote the global adoption of Chinese standards. She urged active participation in international standardization organizations to boost the competitiveness of China’s high-end energy equipment on the world stage.

    MIL OSI China News –