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Category: Politics

  • MIL-OSI Asia-Pac: STATE CIVIL SERVICES OFFICERS ATTENDING THE 126TH INDUCTION TRAINING PROGRAMME AT LBSNAA CALL ON THE PRESIDENT

    Source: Government of India

    Posted On: 07 MAR 2025 2:23PM by PIB Delhi

    State civil services officers attending the 126th Induction Training Programme at LBSNAA called on the President of India, Smt Droupadi Murmu at Rashtrapati Bhavan today (March 07, 2025).

    Speaking on the occasion, the President congratulated officers on their promotion and induction into the Indian Administrative Service and said that they should inspire and lead by example in their new role, motivating those around them to strive for excellence in public service.  She advised them to adopt a national and inclusive approach in administrative functioning and implementation of government policies and programs.

    The President said that the essence of governance lies in responsiveness and sensitivity towards the needs of the people. A citizen-centric administration prioritizes the welfare of people, focusing on the poor and deprived. She advised them to ensure that policies and programs are implemented in a way, which addresses their concerns effectively. She said that the decisions that they take and policies that they implement should contribute to the development of our country and the people.

    The President said that as we tackle the challenges of climate change and environmental degradation, it is essential to promote eco-friendly initiatives. At the same time, the benefits of development should reach all sections of society, especially the disadvantaged and marginalized. She urged officers to uphold the principles of sustainability and inclusiveness in their functioning.

    Please click here to see the President’s Speech – 

     

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  • 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: Prime Minister reaffirms commitment to affordable healthcare on JanAushadhi Diwas

    Source: Government of India

    Posted On: 07 MAR 2025 12:20PM by PIB Delhi

    On the occasion of JanAushadhi Diwas, Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi reaffirmed the government’s commitment to providing high-quality, affordable medicines to all citizens, ensuring a healthy and fit India.

    The Prime Minister shared on X;

    “#JanAushadhiDiwas reflects our commitment to provide top quality and affordable medicines to people, ensuring a healthy and fit India. This thread offers a glimpse of the ground covered in this direction…”

     

     

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  • MIL-OSI Asia-Pac: TruthTell Hackathon

    Source: Government of India

    TruthTell Hackathon

    Combatting Misinformation with AI

    Posted On: 07 MAR 2025 11:42AM by PIB Delhi

    Introduction

    The TruthTell Hackathon, part of the Create in India Challenge – Season 1, is designed to develop cutting-edge AI-powered tools for real-time fact-checking during live broadcasts. Supported by prominent organizations like the India Cellular & Electronics Association (ICEA), Ministry of Information & Broadcasting (MIB), Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology (MeitY), and IndiaAI Mission, the hackathon brings together key stakeholders to foster innovation in the media and technology sectors. This initiative is a crucial component of the inaugural WAVES (World Audio Visual & Entertainment Summit).

    The World Audio Visual & Entertainment Summit (WAVES) in its first edition is a unique hub and spoke platform poised for the convergence of the entire Media and Entertainment (M&E) sector. The event is a premier global event that aims to bring the focus of the global M&E industry to India and connect it with the Indian M&E sector along with its talent.

    The summit will take place from May 1-4, 2025 at the Jio World Convention Centre & Jio World Gardens in Mumbai. With a focus on four key pillars—Broadcasting & Infotainment, AVGC-XR, Digital Media & Innovation, and Films-WAVES will bring together leaders, creators and technologists to showcase the future of India’s entertainment industry.

    The TruthTell Hackathon is a key component of Pillar One of WAVES, focusing on Broadcasting and Infotainment. To date, 5,650 participants have registered, including 186 international entries.

    Registration Process and Timeline

    The TruthTell Hackathon invites participants to develop an AI-powered solution to counter misinformation and promote ethical journalism. Participants can join individually or form teams of up to 5, including developers, data scientists and media professionals. Registrations are now closed, with the final date being 21st February 2025.

    • Opening of Registrations: 1st October 2024
    • Deadline for Submissions of Ideas and Prototypes: 21st February 2025
    • Announcement of Top 25: 7th March 2025
    • Mentoring & Tinkering: 8th – 18th March 2025
    • Jury Presentation & Selection of Top 5 Winners: 24th – 28th March 2025
    • WAVES Summit: 1st – 4th May 2025

    Tasks Include:

    1. Dataset Preparation:
      • Analyze data using external fact-checking APIs.
      • Pre-process and clean text-based media content (tokenization, entity extraction).
    2. Developing a Real-time NLP Model:
      • Train machine learning/deep learning models on misinformation datasets.
      • Implement NLP techniques (text classification, sentiment analysis, entity recognition) for real-time text analysis.
    3. Fact-checking Integration:
      • Integrate external fact-checking APIs to verify flagged content.
      • Cross-reference live broadcasts with trusted knowledge databases.
    4. Real-time Data Processing:
      • Set up streaming infrastructure for live broadcast feeds.
      • Implement data pipelines to process new information as it arrives.
    5. Knowledge Graph for Fact-checking:
      • Build and deploy a knowledge graph to track entities and their verified status.
      • Use the graph to detect patterns of misinformation.
    6. Real-time Dashboard for Broadcasters:
      • Create an interactive dashboard displaying real-time alerts, confidence scores, and verification info.
    7. Testing and Validation:
      • Test with live or recorded broadcasts.
      • Validate accuracy using ground-truth data from fact-checking organizations.

    Project Submission Guidelines

    1. Written Proposal:
      • Project Description: Provide a detailed explanation of your proposed tool and its intended functionality.
      • Problem Statement: Clearly describe the specific problem your tool addresses.
      • Target Audience: Identify the intended users or beneficiaries of your tool.
      • Technical Approach: Outline the methods, algorithms, and technologies you will use, with a focus on APIs and datasets provided by the hackathon.
      • Development Timeline: Provide a realistic timeline with key milestones and deadlines.
    2. Prototype:

    Working Prototype: Demonstrate the core functionality of your tool. Ensure it is user-friendly, functional, and showcases the impact of your solution.

      • Key Considerations:
        • Functionality: Ensure it can perform the intended tasks effectively.
        • User Experience: Design an intuitive and easy-to-navigate interface.
        • Completeness: Include all essential features of your tool.
        • Documentation: Provide clear instructions on using your prototype.
    2. Additional Tips:
      • Use clear, concise language.
      • Support claims with evidence and examples.
      • Ensure your proposal is visually appealing and well-formatted.

    Access to Powerful Tools and Technologies

    The TruthTell Hackathon offers a unique opportunity to develop innovative AI-driven solutions to combat misinformation. Participants will have access to powerful tools, mentorship and resources to build their projects. Here are some popular tools and technologies that can be used to develop AI-driven solutions for combating misinformation:

    • Programming Languages:
      • Python (with libraries like TensorFlow, PyTorch, NLTK, Scikit-learn)
      • R, Java, javascript
    • Natural Language Processing (NLP) Libraries:
      • TensorFlow Text, Hugging Face Transformers, SpaCy, Gensim
    • Machine Learning Frameworks:
      • TensorFlow, PyTorch, Keras

    Key Considerations for Development

    • Functionality: Ensure your tool performs its intended tasks effectively.
    • User Experience: Design an intuitive, user-friendly interface.
    • Completeness: Include essential features and components of your tool.
    • Documentation: Provide clear instructions for using your prototype.

    Evaluation Criteria

    The evaluation criteria for the TruthTell Hackathon are as follows:

    1. Innovation: The originality and creativity of the solution.
    1. Impact: The potential of the solution to make a significant impact on combating misinformation.
    1. Technical merit: The quality of the code, data analysis and AI implementation.
    1. Scalability: The ability of the solution to be applied at a larger scale.
    1. User experience: The ease of use and effectiveness of the user interface.
    1. Adherence to ethical guidelines: The compliance of the solution with ethical principles and standards.
    1. Presentation and communication: The clarity and persuasiveness of the project presentation.
    1. Proof of concept (PoC): The demonstration of the solution’s functionality and effectiveness.

    Prizes
    The top 5 winners will be recognized and awarded at the WAVES event, with cash prizes for the winners.

    Conclusion

    the TruthTell Hackathon offers a valuable platform for innovation, enabling participants to create AI-driven solutions that combat misinformation and promote ethical journalism. With access to powerful tools, expert mentorship, and a chance to showcase impactful solutions at the WAVES Summit, this event presents an exciting opportunity to make a real difference in the media landscape.

    References

    Click here to see PDF.

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  • 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

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    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 Europe: Written question – Countering Russian influence and defending democracy in Georgia – E-000837/2025

    Source: European Parliament

    Question for written answer  E-000837/2025
    to the Vice-President of the Commission / High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy
    Rule 144
    Krzysztof Brejza (PPE), Antonio López-Istúriz White (PPE), Dariusz Joński (PPE), Michał Szczerba (PPE), Andrzej Halicki (PPE), Pekka Toveri (PPE), Liudas Mažylis (PPE), Miriam Lexmann (PPE), Wouter Beke (PPE), Tomáš Zdechovský (PPE), Ondřej Kolář (PPE), Mika Aaltola (PPE), Łukasz Kohut (PPE), Nathalie Loiseau (Renew), Markéta Gregorová (Verts/ALE), Reinier Van Lanschot (Verts/ALE), Jonas Sjöstedt (The Left), Michał Wawrykiewicz (PPE), Villy Søvndal (Verts/ALE), Lucia Yar (Renew), Rihards Kols (ECR), Petras Auštrevičius (Renew), Dainius Žalimas (Renew), Raphaël Glucksmann (S&D), Kim Van Sparrentak (Verts/ALE), Tobias Cremer (S&D), Ondřej Krutílek (ECR), Elio Di Rupo (S&D), Bogdan Andrzej Zdrojewski (PPE), Andrey Kovatchev (PPE), Andrzej Buła (PPE), Elżbieta Katarzyna Łukacijewska (PPE), Marta Wcisło (PPE), Mirosława Nykiel (PPE), Jagna Marczułajtis-Walczak (PPE), Kamila Gasiuk-Pihowicz (PPE), Sebastian Tynkkynen (ECR), Magdalena Adamowicz (PPE), Inese Vaidere (PPE)

    The worsening democratic conditions in Georgia and alleged efforts to shift the country into Russia’s sphere of influence threaten EU foreign policy and Eastern Partnership stability. Addressing these challenges with urgency is essential to preserving EU values and strategic interests. Parliament’s resolution of 28 November 2024 on Georgia’s worsening democratic crisis following the recent parliamentary elections and alleged electoral fraud calls for targeted sanctions and requires immediate implementation. Given its significance to the common foreign and security policy and the Strategic Compass for Security and Defence, decisive action is necessary to uphold democracy, the rule of law and Georgia’s European aspirations.

    • 1.What measures is the Vice-President of the Commission / High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy (VP/HR), in coordination with the Council and the Commission, taking to ensure the effective implementation of Parliament’s resolution?
    • 2.How is the EU coordinating with the Member States to enforce sanctions on designated individuals, including freezing Bidzina Ivanishvili’s assets, and preventing Georgia from possibly facilitating any sanctions evasion that undermines EU restrictions on Russia?
    • 3.In the light of recent political developments in Georgia, can the VP/HR confirm that the EU will continue to uphold a policy of non-recognition towards the self-appointed authorities of Georgia and reaffirm its recognition of President Salome Zourabishvili as the sole legitimate representative of Georgia?

    Submitted: 25.2.2025

    MIL OSI Europe News –

  • MIL-OSI Europe: Written question – The concept of ‘disinformation’ and the question of oversight in EU policy – E-000854/2025

    Source: European Parliament

    Question for written answer  E-000854/2025
    to the Commission
    Rule 144
    Christine Anderson (ESN)

    The regulation of disinformation has become a central pillar of EU policy, particularly through the Digital Services Act (DSA) and the Code of Practice on Disinformation. However, defining disinformation and enforcing disinformation policy raises fundamental epistemological and political concerns, echoing Juvenal’s timeless question: ‘Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?’ – ‘Who will guard the guards themselves?’

    In an era where scientific understanding evolves, political narratives shift and democratic societies thrive on open debate, the risk of centralised authorities defining ‘truth’ is a matter of great concern. The potential for regulatory overreach, institutional bias or the suppression of dissent under the guise of combating disinformation necessitates robust safeguards.

    • 1.Epistemic authority and accountability: What mechanisms, particularly under the DSA, ensure that the entities defining and regulating disinformation – whether EU institutions, platforms or fact-checking bodies – are themselves subject to independent scrutiny and accountability?
    • 2.Pluralism and the marketplace of ideas: How does the Commission reconcile disinformation regulations with the fundamental need for free and open debate, particularly on politically sensitive or scientifically contested issues?
    • 3.Redress and transparency: What legal and procedural safeguards exist for individuals or organisations whose content is unjustly classified as disinformation, and does the Commission envisage any reforms to enhance transparency with regard to such classifications?

    Submitted: 26.2.2025

    Last updated: 7 March 2025

    MIL OSI Europe News –

  • MIL-OSI Europe: Written question – Strengthening oversight of taxpayer funds by expanding the Committee on Budgetary Control’s access to awarded contracts – E-000846/2025

    Source: European Parliament

    Question for written answer  E-000846/2025
    to the Commission
    Rule 144
    Dick Erixon (ECR), Charlie Weimers (ECR), Beatrice Timgren (ECR), Sebastian Tynkkynen (ECR), Kristoffer Storm (ECR)

    The European Parliament’s Committee on Budgetary Control reviews contracts awarded by Commission Directorates-General as part of the annual discharge procedure, the final approval of the budget implementation for a specific year.

    Despite media reporting that all contracts are examined[1], under current working arrangements the Committee can only examine a very limited selection of awarded contracts. This restriction is justified as necessary to keep documentation requests ‘manageable’ for both the Commission and Parliament and to ensure delivery of contracts in a ‘reasonable’ timeframe.[2]

    However, this limited access means that only a small fraction of awarded contracts undergo scrutiny, raising concerns about transparency and accountability in EU spending.

    Given the challenging fiscal situation in many Member States and growing public demand for greater transparency and oversight of public expenditure:

    • 1.Does the Commission acknowledge the need to make more contracts and supporting documentation available to the Committee on Budgetary Control?
    • 2.Will the Commission reassess the current working arrangements, explore mechanisms to enhance access and ensure that budgetary constraints do not prevent broader scrutiny of awarded contracts?

    Submitted: 26.2.2025

    • [1] https://www.politico.eu/newsletter/brussels-playbook/europes-trump-precautionary-principle/.
    • [2] CONT Committee Secretariat email of 11 February 2025: Lists with grant agreements of DG DEFIS, DG RTD, DG ENV, DG CLIMA, DG AGRI, DG JUST and DG HOME.
    Last updated: 7 March 2025

    MIL OSI Europe News –

  • MIL-OSI Europe: Written question – Greece’s role in the EU’s next Multiannual Financial Framework – E-000883/2025

    Source: European Parliament

    Question for written answer  E-000883/2025
    to the Commission
    Rule 144
    Nikolaos Anadiotis (NI)

    In its Communication on ‘The Road to the next Multiannual Financial Framework’[1], published on 12 February 2025, the Commission sets out the main political and budgetary challenges ahead of the next Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF).

    Although Greece has benefited from the European Structural and Investment Funds, it needs to be supported even further with sufficient resources. It is essential that funding for Greece is secured in the upcoming MFF, in order to support its economy, among other things, and help it to address additional needs relating to the management of migration flows at the EU’s external borders and geopolitical pressures, as well as to deal with a number of challenges such as budgetary constraints, the green transition and the cohesion and agricultural policies.

    In view of the above, can the Commission answer the following:

    • 1.How will it ensure that the new MFF continues to provide sufficient support to the cohesion and agricultural policies for countries such as Greece?
    • 2.Has it made provision for specific funding mechanisms for Member States, with a view to addressing increased migration flows at the EU’s external borders and geopolitical challenges?
    • 3.What initiatives will it take to ensure that the green and digital transition does not adversely affect industry and small and medium-sized entrepreneurship in Greece, but instead boosts the competitiveness of small and medium-sized enterprises?

    Submitted: 28.2.2025

    • [1] https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_25_486
    Last updated: 7 March 2025

    MIL OSI Europe News –

  • MIL-OSI Europe: Highlights – Law enforcement cooperation with Latin America – Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs

    Source: European Parliament

    LIBE/DLAT exchange of views on EU-Latin America cooperation © European Parliament 2025

    On 6 March 2025, the LIBE committee held an exchange of views on EU-Latin America cooperation on security matters and the role of parliamentary diplomacy, with the participation of the European Parliament’s Delegation to the Euro-Latin American Parliamentary Assembly (DLAT).

    MIL OSI Europe 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: Advantage Solutions Reports Fourth Quarter and 2024 Results: Transformation Initiatives Continue to Strengthen the Company

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    Delivered Adjusted EBITDA growth through strong execution and cost discipline

    Continued progress on the transformation to enhance capabilities and increase operating efficiencies

    Management expects growth in Revenues and Adjusted EBITDA in 2025

    ST. LOUIS, March 07, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Advantage Solutions Inc. (NASDAQ: ADV) (“Advantage,” “Advantage Solutions,” the “Company,” “we,” or “our”), a leading business solutions provider to consumer goods manufacturers and retailers, today reported financial results for the three and 12 months ended Dec. 31, 2024.

    Unless otherwise noted, results presented in this release are from continuing operations, and comparisons are on a prior year basis. Revenues for the three months were $892.3 million compared with $991.9 million, and net loss was $177.9 million compared to a net loss of $2.7 million. Revenues for the full year were $3,566.3 million compared with $3,900.1 million, and net loss was $378.4 million compared to a net loss of $81.2 million.

    Q4 and 2024 Full Year Financial Highlights

    • Organic revenues(1) in Q4 declined 2.4% and increased 1% for the full year. Adjusted EBITDA increased 8.9% to $94.6 million in Q4 and 1.1% to $356.0 million for the full year compared to the prior year.  
    • Achieved healthy profit performance in 2024 across Experiential Services and Retailer Services, while right-sizing Branded Services to adjust to the demand environment.  
    • The Company remains focused on disciplined capital allocation with 2024 voluntary debt repurchases and share buybacks of approximately $158 million and $34 million, respectively.
    “In 2024, we made solid progress against our ongoing transformation and took operational actions to remain resilient in a dynamic market,” said Advantage CEO Dave Peacock. “We believe we are in a better position today to navigate market uncertainties as we execute on key initiatives designed to increase our operating efficiencies and capabilities, bringing greater speed, precision and insight to our clients, while positioning the company to accelerate growth in the coming years.”

     

       
      Consolidated Financial Summary from Continuing Operations
      (amounts in thousands) Three Months Ended December 31,   Change (Reported)   Organic(1)  
        2024   2023   $   %   %  
      Total Revenues $ 892,285     $ 991,948     $ (99,663 )   (10.0%)   (2.4%)  
      Total Net Loss $ (177,935 )   $ (2,663 )   $ (175,272 )   NMF      
      Total Adjusted EBITDA $ 94,555     $ 86,825     $ 7,730     8.9%      
      Adjusted EBITDA Margin   10.6 %     8.8 %                
                                 
          Year Ended December 31,   Change (Reported)   Organic(1)  
        2024   2023   $   %   %  
      Total Revenues $ 3,566,324     $ 3,900,125     $ (333,801 )   (8.6%)   1.0%  
      Total Net Loss $ (378,404 )   $ (81,211 )   $ (297,193 )   NMF      
      Total Adjusted EBITDA $ 356,014     $ 352,248     $ 3,766     1.1%      
      Adjusted EBITDA Margin   10.0 %     9.0 %                
       

    The complete earnings release can be found here.

    Media Contact: Peter Frost | press@youradv.com
    Investor Contact: Ruben Mella | investorrelations@youradv.com 

    (1)  Excludes ~$76 million and ~$374 million in 4Q’23 and  2023, respectively, related to the deconsolidation of the European JV, which occurred in 4Q’23.
    NMF = Not Meaningful

    Conference Call Details
    Date/Time  Mar. 7, 2025, 8:30 am EST
    Dial-in
    (10 minutes before the call)    		 800-225-9448 within the United States or +1-203-518-9708 outside the United States
    Dial-in Code: ADVQ4
    Webcast Available at: ADV 4Q and 2024 FY Earnings Webcast
    Replay 844-512-2921 within the United States or +1-412-317-6671 outside the United States
    Replay ID: 11158219
       

    About Advantage Solutions

    Advantage Solutions is the leading omnichannel retail solutions agency in North America, uniquely positioned at the intersection of consumer-packaged goods (CPG) brands and retailers. With its data- and technology-powered services, Advantage leverages its unparalleled insights, expertise and scale to help brands and retailers of all sizes generate demand and get products into the hands of consumers, wherever they shop. Whether it’s creating meaningful moments and experiences in-store and online, optimizing assortment and merchandising, or accelerating e-commerce and digital capabilities, Advantage is the trusted partner that keeps commerce and life moving. Advantage has offices throughout North America and strategic investments and owned operations in select international markets. For more information, please visit YourADV.com.

    Included with this press release are the Company’s consolidated and condensed financial statements as of and for the three months and year ended December 31, 2024. These financial statements should be read in conjunction with the information contained in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K, to be filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) on March 7, 2025.

    Forward-Looking Statements

    Certain statements in this press release may be considered forward-looking statements within the meaning of the federal securities laws, including statements regarding the expected future performance of Advantage’s business and projected financial results. Forward-looking statements generally relate to future events or Advantage’s future financial or operating performance. These forward-looking statements generally are identified by the words “may”, “should”, “expect”, “intend”, “will”, “would”, “could”, “estimate”, “anticipate”, “believe”, “predict”, “confident”, “potential” or “continue”, or the negatives of these terms or variations of them or similar terminology. Such forward-looking statements are predictions, projections and other statements about future events that are based on current expectations and assumptions and, as a result, are subject to risks, uncertainties and other factors which could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward looking statements.

    These forward-looking statements are based upon estimates and assumptions that, while considered reasonable by Advantage and its management at the time of such statements, are inherently uncertain. Factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from current expectations include, but are not limited to, market-driven wage changes or changes to labor laws or wage or job classification regulations, including minimum wage; future potential pandemics or health epidemics; Advantage’s ability to continue to generate significant operating cash flow; client procurement strategies and consolidation of Advantage’s clients’ industries creating pressure on the nature and pricing of its services; consumer goods manufacturers and retailers reviewing and changing their sales, retail, marketing and technology programs and relationships; Advantage’s ability to successfully develop and maintain relevant omni-channel services for our clients in an evolving industry and to otherwise adapt to significant technological change; Advantage’s ability to maintain proper and effective internal control over financial reporting in the future; Advantage’s substantial indebtedness and our ability to refinance at favorable rates; and other risks and uncertainties set forth in the section titled “Risk Factors” in the Annual Report on Form 10-K to be filed by the Company with the SEC on March 7, 2025, and in its other filings made from time to time with the SEC. These filings identify and address other important risks and uncertainties that could cause actual events and results to differ materially from those contained in the forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are made. Readers are cautioned not to put undue reliance on forward-looking statements, and Advantage assumes no obligation and does not intend to update or revise these forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law.

    Non-GAAP Financial Measures and Related Information

    This press release includes certain financial measures not presented in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles (“GAAP”), including Adjusted EBITDA from Continuing Operations, Adjusted EBITDA from Discontinued Operations, Adjusted EBITDA by Segment, Adjusted Unlevered Free Cash Flow and Net Debt. These are not measures of financial performance calculated in accordance with GAAP and may exclude items that are significant in understanding and assessing Advantage’s financial results. Therefore, the measures are in addition to, and not a substitute for or superior to, measures of financial performance prepared in accordance with GAAP, and should not be considered in isolation or as an alternative to net income, cash flows from operations or other measures of profitability, liquidity or performance under GAAP. You should be aware that Advantage’s presentation of these measures may not be comparable to similarly titled measures used by other companies. Reconciliations of historical non-GAAP measures to their most directly comparable GAAP counterparts are included below.

    Advantage believes these non-GAAP measures provide useful information to management and investors regarding certain financial and business trends relating to Advantage’s financial condition and results of operations. Advantage believes that the use of Adjusted EBITDA from Continuing Operations, Adjusted EBITDA from Discontinued Operations, Adjusted EBITDA by Segment, Adjusted Unlevered Free Cash Flow, and Net Debt provide an additional tool for investors to use in evaluating ongoing operating results and trends and in comparing Advantage’s financial measures with other similar companies, many of which present similar non-GAAP financial measures to investors. Non-GAAP financial measures are subject to inherent limitations as they reflect the exercise of judgments by management about which expense and income are excluded or included in determining these non-GAAP financial measures. Additionally, other companies may calculate non-GAAP measures differently, or may use other measures to calculate their financial performance, and therefore Advantage’s non-GAAP measures may not be directly comparable to similarly titled measures of other companies.

    Adjusted EBITDA from Continuing Operations, Adjusted EBITDA from Discontinued Operations and Adjusted EBITDA by Segment are supplemental non-GAAP financial measures of our operating performance. Adjusted EBITDA from Continuing Operations and Adjusted EBITDA from Discontinued Operations mean net (loss) income before (i) interest expense (net), (ii) provision for (benefit from) income taxes, (iii) depreciation, (iv) amortization of intangible assets, (v) impairment of goodwill, (vi) changes in fair value of warrant liability, (vii) stock based compensation expense, (viii) equity-based compensation of Karman Topco L.P., (ix) fair value adjustments of contingent consideration related to acquisitions, (x) acquisition and divestiture related expenses, (xi) (gain) loss on divestitures, (xii) restructuring expenses, (xiii) reorganization expenses, (xiv) litigation expenses (recovery), (xv) costs associated with COVID-19, net of benefits received, (xvi) costs associated with (recovery from) the Take 5 Matter, (xvii) EBITDA for economic interests in investments and (xviii) other adjustments that management believes are helpful in evaluating our operating performance. 

    Adjusted EBITDA by Segment means, with respect to each segment, operating income (loss) from continuing operations before (i) depreciation, (ii) amortization of intangible assets, (iii) impairment of goodwill, (iv) stock based compensation expense, (v) equity-based compensation of Karman Topco L.P., (vi) fair value adjustments of contingent consideration related to acquisitions, (vii) acquisition and divestiture related expenses, (viii) restructuring expenses, (ix) reorganization expenses, (x) litigation expenses (recovery), (xi) costs associated with COVID-19, net of benefits received, (xii) costs associated with (recovery from) the Take 5 Matter, (xiii) EBITDA for economic interests in investments and (xiv) other adjustments that management believes are helpful in evaluating our operating performance, in each case, attributable to such segment.

    Adjusted EBITDA Margin means Adjusted EBITDA from Continuing Operations divided by total revenues. 

    Adjusted Unlevered Free Cash Flow represents net cash provided by (used in) operating activities from continuing and discontinued operations less purchase of property and equipment as disclosed in the Statements of Cash Flows further adjusted by (i) cash payments for interest, (ii) cash received from interest rate derivatives, (iii) cash paid for income taxes; (iv) cash paid for acquisition and divestiture related expenses, (v) cash paid for restructuring expenses, (vi) cash paid for reorganization expenses, (vii) cash paid for contingent earnout payments included in operating cash flow, (viii) cash paid for costs associated with COVID-19, net of benefits received, (ix) cash paid for costs associated with the Take 5 Matter, (x) net effect of foreign currency fluctuations on cash, and (xi) other adjustments that management believes are helpful in evaluating our operating performance. Adjusted Unlevered Free Cash Flow as a percentage of Adjusted EBITDA means Adjusted Unlevered Free Cash Flow divided by Adjusted EBITDA from Continuing Operations and Adjusted EBITDA from Discontinued Operations.

    Net Debt represents the sum of current portion of long-term debt and long-term debt, less cash and cash equivalents and debt issuance costs. With respect to Net Debt, cash and cash equivalents are subtracted from the GAAP measure, total debt, because they could be used to reduce the debt obligations. We present Net Debt because we believe this non-GAAP measure provides useful information to management and investors regarding certain financial and business trends relating to the Company’s financial condition and to evaluate changes to the Company’s capital structure and credit quality assessment.

    Advantage Solutions Inc.
    Reconciliation of Net Income (Loss) to Adjusted EBITDA
    (Unaudited)
     
    Continuing Operations Three Months Ended December 31,     Year Ended December 31,  
    (in thousands) 2024     2023     2024     2023  
    Net loss from continuing operations $ (177,935 )   $ (2,663 )   $ (378,404 )   $ (81,211 )
    Add:                      
    Interest expense, net   32,308       45,851       146,792       165,734  
    Benefit from income taxes from continuing operations   (24,745 )     (21,653 )     (62,787 )     (37,648 )
    Depreciation and amortization   51,622       51,420       204,553       208,856  
    Impairment of goodwill and indefinite-lived asset   175,500       43,500       275,170       43,500  
    Gain on deconsolidation of subsidiaries   —       (58,891 )     —       (58,891 )
    Changes in fair value of warrant liability   (225 )     (873 )     (584 )     (286 )
    Stock-based compensation expense (a)   6,794       9,533       31,019       38,933  
    Equity-based compensation of Karman Topco L.P. (b)   1,381       754       723       (2,524 )
    Fair value adjustments related to contingent consideration related to acquisitions (c)   —       665       1,678       11,152  
    Acquisition and divestiture related expenses (d)   39       142       (1,168 )     3,206  
    Restructuring expenses (e)   5,933       —       30,051       —  
    Reorganization expenses (f)   14,820       17,829       88,800       56,133  
    Litigation (recovery) expenses (g)   482       855       (1,940 )     9,519  
    Costs associated with COVID-19, net of benefits received (h)   —       (2 )     —       3,283  
    Costs associated with the Take 5 Matter, net of (recoveries) (i)   764       63       1,845       (1,380 )
    EBITDA for economic interests in investments (j)   7,817       295       20,266       (6,128 )
    Adjusted EBITDA from Continuing Operations $ 94,555     $ 86,825     $ 356,014     $ 352,248  
                                   
    (a) Represents non-cash compensation expense related to performance stock units, restricted stock units, and stock options under the 2020 Advantage Solutions Incentive Award Plan and the Advantage Solutions 2020 Employee Stock Purchase Plan.
    (b) Represents expenses related to (i) equity-based compensation expense associated with grants of Common Series D Units of Karman Topco L.P. made to one of the sponsors of Advantage and (ii) equity-based compensation expense associated with the Common Series C Units of Karman Topco L.P.
    (c) Represents adjustments to the estimated fair value of our contingent consideration liabilities related to our acquisitions, for the applicable periods.
    (d) Represents fees and costs associated with activities related to our acquisitions, divestitures, and related reorganization activities, including professional fees, due diligence, and integration activities.
    (e) Restructuring charges including programs designed to integrate and reduce costs intended to further improve efficiencies in operational activities and align cost structures consistent with revenue levels associated with business changes. Restructuring expenses include costs associated with the Voluntary Early Retirement Program (“VERP”) and employee termination benefits associated with a reduction-in-force (“2024 RIF”) and other optimization initiatives.
    (f) Represents fees and costs associated with various internal reorganization activities, including professional fees, lease exit costs, severance, and nonrecurring compensation costs.
    (g) Represents legal settlements, reserves, and expenses that are unusual or infrequent costs associated with our operating activities.
    (h) Represents (i) costs related to implementation of strategies for workplace safety in response to COVID-19, including employee-relief fund, additional sick pay for front-line associates, medical benefit payments for furloughed associates, and personal protective equipment; and (ii) benefits received from government grants for COVID-19 relief.
    (i) Represents cash receipts from an insurance policy for claims related to the Take 5 Matter and costs associated with investigation and remediation activities related to the Take 5 Matter, primarily professional fees and other related costs.
    (j) Represents additions to reflect our proportional share of Adjusted EBITDA related to our equity method investments and reductions to remove the Adjusted EBITDA related to the minority ownership percentage of the entities that we fully consolidate in our financial statements.

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI NGOs: UK: JSO judgment shows anti-protest laws must be ‘revised immediately’

    Source: Amnesty International –

    Responding to the Court of Appeal’s judgment on the appeal made by 16 Just Stop Oil protesters against their prison sentences for a range of peaceful protests, Kerry Moscogiuri, Amnesty International UK’s Director of Campaigns, said:

    “Today’s ruling highlights the urgent need for the UK’s protest laws to be revised.

    “It’s good the Court confirmed that the fundamental rights to freedom of expression and assembly will always be relevant to the sentencing of peaceful protesters, and it is welcome that some of the sentences in this case have been reduced. But we are in danger of having laws that only allow for protests that don’t bother anybody, and that treat peaceful protest worse than many violent offences. It’s incredibly unjust that peaceful protesters face being locked up for years.

    “We call on the UK government to drop the new anti-protest laws that they have just tabled themselves and institute a fully independent and public review of the protest laws that have been passed in recent years.”

    Policing protest in the UK

    Today’s ruling involved 16 JSO activists from four separate cases. The decision by the court to conduct the hearing as a single, mass two-day event highlighted the significance of this case – it is rare for so many different appeals to be combined.  

    The right to protest in England and Wales has been eroded in recent years, despite being protected under international law. In 2022, the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act handed police in England and Wales broad powers to shut down protests and expanded criminal offences and punishments for peaceful protest activities, including a maximum 10-year prison sentence for causing ‘public nuisance’ – the offence at the heart of many of the cases decided today.

    This was followed by the even more draconian Public Order Act 2023 and the particularly controversial Serious Disruption Regulations 2023, regulations that were recently found by the High Court to be unlawful, but which remain in place while the Government pursues an appeal.

    Thanks to this authoritarian legislation, police can define almost any demonstration as “seriously disruptive” and impose restrictions on it. Peaceful tactics like locking on, tunnelling and even causing “serious annoyance” were criminalised. New powers were created to issue orders banning people from even attending protests.  

    There has also been a steep rise in the use of facial recognition technology in the policing of protest. This is despite the UK Court of Appeal concluding in 2020 that the legal framework in place at the time for this technology violated human rights.

    Hundreds of protesters have been arrested. Some have received long custodial sentences and many prosecutions remain pending. Following his visit to the UK in January 2024, the UN Special Rapporteur on Environmental Defenders warned that environmental activists face a “severe crackdown” due to the repressive legislative framework and introduction of new criminal charges.

    New stop and search powers, including suspicionless stop and search, can be used against people at or on the way to protests. Existing evidence highlights that stop-and-search powers are disproportionately used against Black and other minoritised people, itself a feature of an institutionally racist policing and criminal justice system. The expansion of these powers serves as a gateway for further racialised police encounters.

    Anti-protest rhetoric and stigmatisation

    Climate change and pro-Palestine protesters in the UK have been heavily stigmatised and their actions used in part as justification for further anti-protest legislation. High-ranking officials labelled disruption created by environmental protests as “a threat to our way of life” and described activists as “using guerilla tactics”.

    Now the new government seems intent on following its predecessor, by introducing yet more anti protest measures in its new Crime and Policing bill. These include a power to criminalise the wearing of facial coverings at a protest, risking discrimination against Muslim women and people with health conditions, and the power for police to require foreign nationals such as student protesters to leave the country as a condition of issuing a caution, without any of the due process protections that apply to enforced removals.

    Existing international human rights standards require Governments not to introduce any measures that place disproportionate restrictions on people’s freedom of expression and assembly – it is accepted that protest by its very nature can be disruptive. 

    As well as calling for the scrapping of recently passed laws, Amnesty hopes the Government will move away from previously used stigmatising discourse and rhetoric, fuelling harmful stereotypes and portraying peaceful protesters in a way that fuels hostility. This includes characterising protesters as criminals, terrorists, threats to public order and security, or a nuisance to be crushed. Amnesty also recommends that regular and systematised data collection and reporting on restrictions imposed by authorities, including the police, is undertaken.

    MIL OSI NGO –

  • 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 United Kingdom: Triple combination medicine deutivacaftor/tezacaftor/vanzacaftor approved for cystic fibrosis

    Source: United Kingdom – Government Statements

    Press release

    Triple combination medicine deutivacaftor/tezacaftor/vanzacaftor approved for cystic fibrosis

    In two randomised phase 3 studies involving 480 participants aged 12 years and over, ivacaftor/tezacaftor/vanzacaftor was found to be as effective at improving lung function as a currently approved triple combination therapy, and more effective at reducing sweat chloride levels. 

    The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has approved the triple combination medicine deutivacaftor/tezacaftor/vanzacaftor (brand name Alyftrek) to treat cystic fibrosis (CF) in people aged six years and older who have specific mutations in the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) gene that have been shown in trials to respond to the therapy. This includes F508del, which is the most common cystic fibrosis causing mutation.  

    Cystic fibrosis is an inherited condition caused by a faulty CTFR gene, which helps regulate the flow of water and chloride in and out of the lungs and other organs. This causes sticky mucus to build up in the lungs and digestive system, which can lead to lung infections and problems with digesting food.  

    Deutivacaftor/tezacaftor/vanzacaftor is a CFTR “modulator”, meaning it is designed to correct the malfunctioning protein made by the CTFR gene in people with cystic fibrosis. 

    Julian Beach, MHRA Interim Executive Director, Healthcare Quality and Access, said:

    “Keeping patients safe and enabling their access to high quality, safe and effective medical products are key priorities for us.  

    “We confirm that the appropriate regulatory standards for the approval of this medicine have been met. 

    “As with all products, we will keep its safety under close review.” 

    David Ramsden, Cystic Fibrosis Trust Chief Executive, said:  

    “Today’s MHRA approval is another important step in making sure as many people with CF as possible can benefit from the best available treatments. 

    “We now hope that NICE will move quickly to complete its assessment of the medicine to enable it to be prescribed on the NHS. 

    “Today is good news, but we never forget that these medicines are not a cure, and do not work for some people. Cystic Fibrosis Trust will not stop until everyone with CF can live a life that’s not limited by their condition.” 

    Deutivacaftor/tezacaftor/vanzacaftor is administered as a tablet once a day.  

    Food or drink containing grapefruit should be avoided during treatment.  

    In two randomised phase 3 studies involving 480 participants aged 12 years and over (studies 121-102 and 121-103), ivacaftor/tezacaftor/vanzacaftor was found to be as effective at improving lung function as ivacaftor/tezacaftor/elexacaftor (Kaftrio), a currently approved triple combination therapy, and more effective at reducing sweat chloride levels.  These findings are supported by additional data from an open‑label, phase 3 study (study 121-105, Cohort B1). 

    The most common side effects in the clinical trials were headache (15.8%) and diarrhoea (12.1%). For the full list of all side effects reported with this medicine, see Section 4 of the Patient Information Leaflet (PIL) or the Summary of Product Characteristics (SmPC) available on the MHRA website.  

    As with any medicine, the MHRA will keep the safety and effectiveness of deutivacaftor/tezacaftor/vanzacaftor under close review.  Anyone who suspects they are having a side effect from this medicine are encouraged to talk to their doctor, pharmacist or nurse and report it directly to the Yellow Card scheme, either through the website (https://yellowcard.mhra.gov.uk/) or by searching the Google Play or Apple App stores for MHRA Yellow Card.  

    Notes to editors   

    1. The new marketing authorisation was granted via a national route on 7 March 2025 to Vertex Pharmaceuticals (Europe) Limited. 

    2. More information can be found in the PIL and SmPC which will be published on the MHRA Products website within 7 days of approval.   

    3. For more information about cystic fibrosis, visit here.   

    4. The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) is responsible for regulating all medicines and medical devices in the UK by ensuring they work and are acceptably safe.  All our work is underpinned by robust and fact-based judgements to ensure that the benefits justify any risks.   

    5. The MHRA is an executive agency of the Department of Health and Social Care.   

    6. For media enquiries, please contact the newscentre@mhra.gov.uk, or call on 020 3080 7651.

    Updates to this page

    Published 7 March 2025

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Attorney General James Sues Trump Administration over Mass Firings of Federal Workers

    Source: US State of New York

    EW YORK – New York Attorney General Letitia James and a coalition of 19 other attorneys general today filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration for illegally firing thousands of probationary federal workers, including hundreds in New York. The administration is required to provide advance notice of mass layoffs to employees and states so that states can mobilize resources needed to process unemployment claims and care for unemployed workers. However, as Attorney General James and the coalition argue in their lawsuit, the administration has directed federal agencies to conduct immediate mass terminations of probationary employees without following the law. The resulting unlawful layoffs have upended workers’ lives, disrupted essential services, and forced states to scramble to provide resources for recently fired workers.

    “Whether it’s providing health care to our veterans, keeping our communities safe, or ensuring our children get a quality education, federal employees provide essential services every day,” said Attorney General James. “The Trump administration’s illegal mass firings of federal workers are a slap in the face to those who have spent their careers serving our country. Thousands of workers across New York and the nation are now struggling to pay rent, put food on the table, and care for their loved ones. Today, I am joining my fellow attorneys general in defending the rights of workers who serve our communities and stopping the chaos and confusion this unjust policy is causing.” 

    In New York, these illegal layoffs have impacted workers throughout the state. In the last week of February, 372 federal workers had filed for unemployment in New York. More than 1,000 Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) employees nationwide were fired in February, including workers at VA medical centers in New York. Workers at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) who were fired included seven staffers assigned to New York City’s Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. In Buffalo and Syracuse, more than 100 Internal Revenue Service (IRS) employees have been fired, leaving New Yorkers without a critical resource for assistance with their tax returns at the height of tax season. The regional office of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) in Buffalo also saw major staffing cuts, jeopardizing the rights of workers across Western New York.

    The probationary employees that the Trump administration has targeted are workers who have either been newly hired or have recently been promoted or changed offices. They are generally subject to a probationary period of one or two years.

    In their lawsuit, Attorney General James and the coalition argue that the Trump administration has violated the law by implementing mass layoffs, or Reductions in Force (RIF), without providing states and employees proper advance notice. Federal agencies are required by law to provide at least 60 days of prior written notice before they release any federal civil service employee under a RIF. These notices help states assemble job training programs, staff to process unemployment claims, and other resources to minimize the harm to affected workers and their communities.

    With this lawsuit, Attorney General James and the coalition are seeking a court order to stop further mass layoffs without notice and the reinstatement of all illegally fired federal workers who have been laid off since January 20, 2025.

    “Federal employees are the backbone of our nation’s operations, and their work is absolutely vital to the safety and well-being of every American,” said Congressman Dan Goldman. “The illegal mass firing of probationary employees is an unjust and reckless attack on the very workers who ensure our government functions. The federal workforce deserves our deepest respect, and the targeted layoffs of probationary employees will have a cascading effect, leading to a catastrophic loss of institutional knowledge that will be felt for generations. I applaud New York Attorney General James and the 16 other attorneys general for their bold and decisive action in filing this lawsuit to protect our dedicated federal workers, and, by extension, the integrity of our government.”

    “President Trump and Elon Musk have attacked our dedicated federal workforce, who process benefits for seniors and veterans, protect our natural resources, keep our skies safe, and so much more,” said Congressman Tim Kennedy. “No one is above the law, and today’s lawsuit will help ensure the President is held accountable for disrupting the lives of our civil servants and the hardworking families they serve in Western New York and across the country. I stand by Attorney General James as we come together to combat the Trump Administration’s reckless mass firings.”

    “Workers have rights in the United States, and it’s against the law – and against the interests of the American people who depend on critical services like Social Security – to indiscriminately fire dedicated public workers, including here in Central New York and the Mohawk Valley,” said Congressman John W. Mannion. “Trump and Musk’s efforts to illegally erase a century of hard-fought workplace protections must be stopped. On behalf of every worker in NY-22 – and every senior, veteran, farmer, and constituent who deserves a functioning and responsive government – I wholeheartedly support this legal action by Attorney General James and her counterparts.  We’ll see you in court, Mr. President.”

    “Instead of taking real action to lower costs or keep our communities safe, the Trump administration is gutting the workforce of those who provide care to our veterans, retirement for our seniors, and healthcare to our communities,” said Congressman Joe Morelle. “It’s shameful. I’m proud to support Attorney General James in her efforts to fight back and hold the President accountable.”

    “The Trump-Musk administration’s reckless and unlawful mass firings have been nothing short of a catastrophe—not just for the dedicated federal workers whose livelihoods have been upended, but for the millions of New Yorkers who rely on the essential services they provide,” said Congressman Jerrold Nadler. “If left unchallenged, these firings will undermine the very programs that working families, seniors, and people with disabilities in New York depend on every day. I am grateful that New York Attorney General James has taken swift action to challenge these illegal firings, and I am proud to stand with her and my fellow Congressional Democrats to send a clear message to our federal workers in New York: We stand with you, and we will not stop fighting until these outrageous and harmful actions are fully reversed.”

    Joining Attorney General James in filing today’s lawsuit are the attorneys general of Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Wisconsin, and the District of Columbia.

    MIL OSI USA 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 Europe: Croatian businesses to get financing boost as EIB Group provides €132 million backing to Erste Bank

    Source: European Investment Bank

    • EIB Group offers €132 million in guarantees to Croatia-based Erste&Steiermärkische Bank d.d. to expand financing for range of businesses in the country
    • Package includes guarantees of €100 million from EIB and €32 million from EIF
    • Operation to bolster Croatian Mid-Caps, micro-entrepreneurs and social enterprises

    The European Investment Bank (EIB) Group is providing Croatia-based Erste&Steiermärkische Bank d.d. (ESB) with €132 million in support to expand lending to a range of businesses in the country. The backing is in the form of a €100 million guarantee from the EIB and two portfolio guarantees totalling €32 million from the European Investment Fund (EIF).

    ESB expects to use the EIB guarantee to generate as much as €280 million in new financing for Croatian Mid-Caps. The terms will include lower interest rates for loan recipients and higher risk-taking opportunities for ESB.

    “Ensuring businesses of all sizes have access to financing is fundamental to driving economic growth and stability,” said EIB Vice-President Teresa Czerwińska. “With this guarantee, we are reinforcing our commitment to supporting Croatian Mid-Caps, helping them seize new opportunities for expansion and innovation.”

    The EIF support totalling €32 million aims to bolster ESB lending to Croatian micro-entrepreneurs and social enterprises. It includes guarantees of €19.2 million for micro-entrepreneurs and €12.8 million for social enterprises including non-governmental organisations.

    This part of the package expands EIF-ESB cooperation under the InvestEU programme to bolster financial inclusion, facilitate entrepreneurship and drive sustainable social impact across Croatia. The expanded framework is focused particularly on start-ups and first-time borrowers and allows for favourable loan terms including reduced collateral requirements.

    “Access to finance remains one of the biggest challenges for start-ups and social enterprises,” said EIF Chief Executive Marjut Falkstedt. “On the back of strong demand in the Croatian market, we are renewing our partnership with ESB, increasing financial opportunities for these organisations and ultimately enabling them to contribute to financial and social inclusion in Croatia.”

    The new EIF guarantee for micro-entrepreneurs will enable total ESB lending to them of as much as €24 million. The guarantee for social enterprises will pave the way for total ESB financing to them of up to €16 million.

    “We are very pleased to continue and further deepen our long-standing successful cooperation with EIB Group. So far, in partnership with the EIB and EIF we have provided a total of €926 million in loans to our clients supported by the EIB funding and EIF guarantee instruments. Support for micro-entrepreneurs and social enterprises, as well as medium-sized enterprises, as important drivers of growth and economic development, is one of our key strategic pillars. With this package, we have additional financing instruments which will support client growth, contribute to job creation in our communities and result in realisation of numerous successful projects.” said Erste&Steiermärkische Bank d.d. Member of the Management Board, Mr Hannes Frotzbacher.

    Background information

    The European Investment Bank (ElB) is the long-term lending institution of the European Union, owned by its Member States. It finances investments that contribute to EU policy objectives. EIB projects bolster competitiveness, drive innovation, promote sustainable development, enhance social and territorial cohesion, and support a just and swift transition to climate neutrality.

    The European Investment Fund (EIF) is part of the European Investment Bank Group. It supports Europe’s SMEs by improving their access to finance through a wide range of selected financial intermediaries, such as banks, guarantee and leasing companies, micro-credit providers and private equity funds. The EIF designs and offers equity and debt financing instruments fostering EU objectives in support of entrepreneurship, growth, innovation, research and development, the green and digital transitions, and employment.

    High-quality, up-to-date photos of our headquarters for media use are available here.

    Erste & Steiermärkische Bank d.d. (ESB)  Erste&Steiermarkische Bank d.d. originates from the former strong regional banks – Riječka, Bjelovarska, Trgovačka and Čakovečka banka – and has been operating under this name since 1 August 2003. Today it is a modern bank, ranked No3 on the Croatian market by total assets, and a part of the international Erste Group, one of the leading financial service providers in CEE. What makes Erste Bank different is its employees, their approach to work, innovation, and care for the clients. The Bank has been posting great business results for years, continuously investing in digital development that facilitates innovation and creativity in customer service. By supporting the financial needs of the citizens and financing sound and profitable projects implemented by entrepreneurs and companies contributing to employment growth in the real sector, the Bank adequately supports the development of the entire economy.

    The InvestEU programme provides the European Union with crucial long-term funding by leveraging substantial private and public funds in support of a sustainable recovery and growth. It also helps mobilise private investments for the European Union’s policy priorities, such as the European Green Deal and the digital transition. InvestEU brings together under one roof the multitude of EU financial instruments, making funding for investment projects in Europe simpler, more efficient and more flexible. The InvestEU Fund is implemented through financial partners that will invest in projects using EU budget guarantee of €26.2 billion. That guarantee will back investment projects of the implementing partners, increase their risk-bearing capacity and thus mobilise at least €372 billion in additional investment.

    MIL OSI Europe News –

  • MIL-OSI Europe: Final draft agenda – Wednesday, 12 March 2025 – Strasbourg

    Source: European Parliament

    20 European Semester for economic policy coordination 2025
    Fernando Navarrete Rojas (A10-0022/2025)      – Amendments Wednesday, 5 March 2025, 13:00 17 European Semester for economic policy coordination: employment and social priorities for 2025
    Maravillas Abadía Jover (A10-0023/2025)      – Amendments Wednesday, 5 March 2025, 13:00 62 Action Plan for the Automotive Industry     – Motion for a resolution Wednesday, 26 March 2025, 13:00     – Amendments to motions for resolutions; joint motions for resolutions Friday, 28 March 2025, 12:00     – Amendments to joint motions for resolutions Friday, 28 March 2025, 13:00     – Requests for “separate”, “split” and “roll-call” votes Monday, 31 March 2025, 19:00 61 Parliament’s calendar of part-sessions – 2026     – Amendments Monday, 10 March 2025, 19:00     – Requests for “separate”, “split” and “roll-call” votes Tuesday, 11 March 2025, 16:00 38 Continuing the unwavering EU support for Ukraine, after three years of Russia’s war of aggression     – Motions for resolutions Friday, 7 March 2025, 12:00     – Amendments to motions for resolutions; joint motions for resolutions Tuesday, 11 March 2025, 12:00     – Amendments to joint motions for resolutions Tuesday, 11 March 2025, 13:00     – Requests for “separate”, “split” and “roll-call” votes Tuesday, 11 March 2025, 19:00 48 White paper on the future of European defence     – Motions for resolutions Wednesday, 5 March 2025, 13:00     – Amendments to motions for resolutions; joint motions for resolutions Monday, 10 March 2025, 19:00     – Amendments to joint motions for resolutions Monday, 10 March 2025, 20:00     – Requests for “separate”, “split” and “roll-call” votes Tuesday, 11 March 2025, 16:00 42 The need for EU support towards a just transition and reconstruction in Syria     – Motions for resolutions Friday, 7 March 2025, 12:00     – Amendments to motions for resolutions; joint motions for resolutions Tuesday, 11 March 2025, 12:00     – Amendments to joint motions for resolutions Tuesday, 11 March 2025, 13:00     – Requests for “separate”, “split” and “roll-call” votes Tuesday, 11 March 2025, 19:00 51 Social and employment aspects of restructuring processes: the need to protect jobs and workers’ rights     – Motion for a resolution Wednesday, 5 March 2025, 13:00     – Amendments to motions for resolutions; joint motions for resolutions Friday, 7 March 2025, 12:00     – Amendments to joint motions for resolutions Friday, 7 March 2025, 13:00 60 Democracy and human rights in Thailand, notably the lese-majesty law and the deportation of Uyghur refugees     – Motion for a resolution Monday, 10 March 2025, 20:00     – Amendments to motions for resolutions; joint motions for resolutions Wednesday, 12 March 2025, 13:00     – Amendments to joint motions for resolutions Wednesday, 12 March 2025, 14:00 63 Severe political, humanitarian and human rights crisis in Sudan, in particular the sexual violence and child rape     – Motion for a resolution Monday, 10 March 2025, 20:00     – Amendments to motions for resolutions; joint motions for resolutions Wednesday, 12 March 2025, 13:00     – Amendments to joint motions for resolutions Wednesday, 12 March 2025, 14:00 64 Unlawful detention and sham trials of Armenian hostages, including high-ranking political representatives from Nagorno-Karabakh, by Azerbaijan     – Motion for a resolution Monday, 10 March 2025, 20:00     – Amendments to motions for resolutions; joint motions for resolutions Wednesday, 12 March 2025, 13:00     – Amendments to joint motions for resolutions Wednesday, 12 March 2025, 14:00 Separate votes – Split votes – Roll-call votes Texts put to the vote on Tuesday Friday, 7 March 2025, 12:00 Texts put to the vote on Wednesday Monday, 10 March 2025, 19:00 Texts put to the vote on Thursday Tuesday, 11 March 2025, 19:00 Motions for resolutions concerning debates on cases of breaches of human rights, democracy and the rule of law (Rule 150) Wednesday, 12 March 2025, 19:00

    MIL OSI Europe News –

  • MIL-OSI Europe: Final draft agenda – Thursday, 13 March 2025 – Strasbourg

    Source: European Parliament

    60 Democracy and human rights in Thailand, notably the lese-majesty law and the deportation of Uyghur refugees     – Motion for a resolution Monday, 10 March 2025, 20:00     – Amendments to motions for resolutions; joint motions for resolutions Wednesday, 12 March 2025, 13:00     – Amendments to joint motions for resolutions Wednesday, 12 March 2025, 14:00 63 Severe political, humanitarian and human rights crisis in Sudan, in particular the sexual violence and child rape     – Motion for a resolution Monday, 10 March 2025, 20:00     – Amendments to motions for resolutions; joint motions for resolutions Wednesday, 12 March 2025, 13:00     – Amendments to joint motions for resolutions Wednesday, 12 March 2025, 14:00 64 Unlawful detention and sham trials of Armenian hostages, including high-ranking political representatives from Nagorno-Karabakh, by Azerbaijan     – Motion for a resolution Monday, 10 March 2025, 20:00     – Amendments to motions for resolutions; joint motions for resolutions Wednesday, 12 March 2025, 13:00     – Amendments to joint motions for resolutions Wednesday, 12 March 2025, 14:00 51 Social and employment aspects of restructuring processes: the need to protect jobs and workers’ rights     – Motion for a resolution Wednesday, 5 March 2025, 13:00     – Amendments to motions for resolutions; joint motions for resolutions Friday, 7 March 2025, 12:00     – Amendments to joint motions for resolutions Friday, 7 March 2025, 13:00 Separate votes – Split votes – Roll-call votes Texts put to the vote on Tuesday Friday, 7 March 2025, 12:00 Texts put to the vote on Wednesday Monday, 10 March 2025, 19:00 Texts put to the vote on Thursday Tuesday, 11 March 2025, 19:00 Motions for resolutions concerning debates on cases of breaches of human rights, democracy and the rule of law (Rule 150) Wednesday, 12 March 2025, 19:00

    MIL OSI Europe News –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: New Permanent Secretary to the Scottish Government appointed

    Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments

    News story

    New Permanent Secretary to the Scottish Government appointed

    Joe Griffin has been appointed as the new Permanent Secretary to the Scottish Government.

    Joe Griffin has been appointed as the new Permanent Secretary to the Scottish Government. Joe, who is currently Director General, Strategy & External Affairs in the Scottish Government, was chosen following an open and fair competition chaired by the First Civil Service Commissioner. The appointment has been made by the First Minister of Scotland in agreement with the UK Cabinet Secretary. Joe will take up the post on 7 April 2025. 

    First Minister John Swinney said:

    My thanks go to JP Marks for his devoted public service and leadership of the Civil Service. My Cabinet and I are grateful for the invaluable advice he has provided during his time at the Scottish Government. I join with so many across the Scottish public sector and beyond in wishing JP every success in his new role at HMRC. 

    I welcome Joe Griffin’s appointment as Permanent Secretary to the Scottish Government. He brings a wealth of experience to this role from his distinguished career in the Civil Service. I know from his record of delivery, not least on the massive expansion of early learning and childcare which he led, that Joe will deliver an unyielding focus on delivering for the people of Scotland.

    Cabinet Secretary Sir Chris Wormald said:

    I would like to congratulate Joe on his appointment.  He brings extensive experience from his roles at Scottish Government, including as Director General for Strategy and External Affairs and previously Director General for Education and Justice. Joe is well placed to lead the organisation and provide excellent support to Ministers. 

     I would like to thank JP Marks for his leadership of the Scottish Government over the last three years.

    Joe Griffin said: 

    It is a privilege to be appointed Permanent Secretary and lead the Civil Service in the Scottish Government.  I am grateful to the First Minister and the Cabinet Secretary for this opportunity. 

    My focus will be on working with colleagues and partners to drive progress and deliver the government’s four priorities; eradicating child poverty, growing the economy, tackling the climate emergency, and ensuring high quality and sustainable public services. I look forward to leading the organisation as we deliver in the service of Scotland.

    Updates to this page

    Published 7 March 2025

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: TRA announces Interim CEO and confirms board leadership

    Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments

    News story

    TRA announces Interim CEO and confirms board leadership

    Steve O’Donoghue has been appointed Interim Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Accounting Officer.

    The Trade Remedies Authority (TRA) is pleased to announce that Steve O’Donoghue will be stepping in as Interim Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Accounting Officer.

    From mid-March, the TRA’s CEO, Oliver Griffiths will be moving to take up a new role at Ofcom. Interviews for the permanent CEO successor are taking place and the TRA expects an appointment to be made late March. 

    Steve O’Donoghue joined the TRA as its Director of Corporate Services in February 2021 and was appointed an executive director of the Board in June 2021. Steve brings extensive leadership experience in public sector finance, HR, governance and risk management. 

    Board Non-Executive Directors

    Additionally, the TRA is pleased to confirm that John Hughes and Adam Marshall CBE have renewed a three-year term as Non-Executive Directors (NEDs) on the TRA Board.

    John Hughes was appointed non-executive director and Chair of the Audit and Risk Assurance Committee (ARAC) of the Trade Remedies Authority in June 2021. 

    Adam Marshall was appointed a non-executive member of the Board in June 2021 and appointed as the Senior Independent Director in June 2024.

    Their continued contributions will provide valuable oversight and guidance as the TRA advances its mission of ensuring fair and effective trade remedies for UK industries.

    Updates to this page

    Published 7 March 2025

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Top award for lecturer’s work on access to justice

    Source: Anglia Ruskin University

    Dr Imranali Panjwani, second right, receives his award

    Anglia Ruskin University (ARU) lecturer Dr Imranali Panjwani has received a national award for his important work helping vulnerable groups, including palliative patients at Farleigh Hospice in Chelmsford.

    At a ceremony at Westminster Park Plaza in London this week, Dr Panjwani won the Spirit in the Community category of the prestigious GG2 Leadership & Diversity Awards.

    Deputy Prime Minister, Angela Rayner, paid tribute to the British Asian community, describing them as “some our greatest Britons” as she congratulated winners at the event, which was attended by more than 700 guests, including politicians, entrepreneurs, celebrities and leaders from ethnic minority communities across the UK.

    Dr Panjwani is a Senior Lecturer in Law and works within the Centre for Access to Justice and Inclusion (CAJI) at ARU, which undertakes research and works with communities on current issues and challenges facing access to justice and inclusion in contemporary society.

    Dr Panjwani also works closely with Chelmsford-based Farleigh Hospice, developing spiritual care for palliative patients from varying religious, non-religious and cultural backgrounds.

    His research critically reviews immigration procedures relating to religious, linguistic and cultural evidence, enabling the UK asylum system to assign proper weight to primary source evidence they might otherwise discount.

    His work resulted in 91 asylum seekers from the Middle East, North Africa, India and Southeast Asia being granted leave to remain in the UK. In addition to this work, Dr Panjwani trained 70 local nurses in spiritual healthcare as part of the East of England Palliative Care Network.

    “I am extremely humbled to receive the GG2 Spirit in the Community award. I thank God, my parents, wife and children for their support and sacrifices that I am able to make to help those who live on the margins of society.

    “If we are to forge ahead in these difficult times, we must never forget the golden rule – a rule that transcends religion, race, culture, gender and country, ‘Treat others as you would wish to be treated by them’.”

    Dr Imranali Panjwani, Senior Lecturer in Law at ARU

    The GG2 Leadership & Diversity Awards, now in their 26th year, celebrate the best of ethnic minority talent in Britain and are established as the premier awards for diversity and leadership in the UK.

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • 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 Europe: Media campaign marking 100 years of the women’s movement launched in Kyrgyzstan with OSCE support

    Source: Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe – OSCE

    Headline: Media campaign marking 100 years of the women’s movement launched in Kyrgyzstan with OSCE support

    Women leaders at the press café dedicated to 100 years of the women’s movement in Kyrgyzstan, Bishkek, 6 March 2025. (OSCE/Aliia Zhakypova) Photo details

    On 6 March 2025, an event marking the centenary of the women’s movement in Kyrgyzstan and highlighting the role of women in societal development took place with the support of the OSCE Programme Office and its partners at the National Historical Museum of the Kyrgyz Republic.
    The event brought together representatives from government institutions, the expert community, civil society, and the media. The discussions centred on women’s achievements, their contributions to national progress, and the key challenges that remain on the path to gender equality.
    Speakers reflected on the 1920s and 1930s, when Kyrgyz women played a pivotal role in combating illiteracy, establishing the first schools for girls, and expanding labour rights. Today, women in Kyrgyzstan are increasingly taking on leadership roles in politics, the economy, and public life.
    A key moment of the event was the presentation of the media campaign “100 Stories of Women for the 100th Anniversary of the Women’s Movement.” The initiative honours outstanding Kyrgyz women who have made significant contributions to society. To date, more than 120 stories of female leaders from diverse fields—including politics, science, culture, and business—have been collected.
    “Today’s event underscores the invaluable role women play in the development of Kyrgyzstan. Their stories are not merely a reflection of the past or present but serve as a guiding light for future generations. Women are transforming society, and our duty is to support their aspirations by ensuring equal opportunities in all spheres of life,” remarked Gulmira Okoyeva, a representative of the Ministry of Labour, Social Protection, and Migration of the Kyrgyz Republic.
    Participants discussed the necessary steps to further advance gender equality, identifying key challenges such as:
    The need to strengthen women’s representation in politics and governance;
    The importance of targeted support programmes for female entrepreneurs;
    The necessity of engaging young people in fostering a culture of equality.
    The event concluded with a ceremony honoring the inspiring women featured in the media campaign and the authors of their stories, presenting them with certificates in recognition of their efforts to promote a society where every girl and woman enjoys equal rights and opportunities.
    The press café was organised by the Alliance of Women’s Legislative Initiatives, with technical support from the OSCE Programme Office in Bishkek and the InKoom project, “Promoting the Development of a Fair and Inclusive Society in Kyrgyzstan,” implemented with financial support from the European Union.

    MIL OSI Europe News –