Category: Scandinavia

MIL-OSI: Municipality Finance issues EUR 1.25 billion benchmark under its MTN programme

Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

Municipality Finance Plc
Stock exchange release
27 January 2025 at 10:00 am (EET)

Municipality Finance issues EUR 1.25 billion benchmark under its MTN programme

Municipality Finance Plc issues EUR 1.25 billion benchmark on 28 January 2025. The maturity date of the benchmark is 14 December 2029. The benchmark bear interest at a fixed rate of 2.625% per annum.

The benchmark is issued under MuniFin’s EUR 50 billion programme for the issuance of debt instruments. The offering circular, the supplemental offering circular and the final terms of the benchmark are available in English on the company’s website at https://www.kuntarahoitus.fi/en/for-investors.

MuniFin has applied for the benchmark to be admitted to trading on the Helsinki Stock Exchange maintained by Nasdaq Helsinki. The public trading is expected to commence on 28 January 2025.

Danske Bank A/S, Citigroup Global Markets Limited, Crédit Agricole Corporate and Investment Bank and Landesbank Baden-Württemberg acts as the Joint Lead Managers for the issue of the benchmark.

MUNICIPALITY FINANCE PLC

Further information:

Joakim Holmström
Executive Vice President, Capital Markets and Sustainability
tel. +358 50 444 3638

MuniFin (Municipality Finance Plc) is one of Finland’s largest credit institutions. The company is owned by Finnish municipalities, the public sector pension fund Keva and the Republic of Finland.
The Group’s balance sheet totals over EUR 50 billion.

MuniFin builds a better and more sustainable future with its customers. MuniFin’s customers include municipalities, joint municipal authorities, wellbeing services counties, corporate entities under their control, and non-profit organisations nominated by the Housing Finance and Development Centre of Finland (ARA). Lending is used for environmentally and socially responsible investment targets such as public transportation, sustainable buildings, hospitals and healthcare centres, schools and day care centres, and homes for people with special needs.

MuniFin’s customers are domestic but the company operates in a completely global business environment. The company is an active Finnish bond issuer in international capital markets and the first Finnish green and social bond issuer. The funding is exclusively guaranteed by the Municipal Guarantee Board.

Read more: https://www.kuntarahoitus.fi/en/

Important Information

The information contained herein is not for release, publication or distribution, in whole or in part, directly or indirectly, in or into any such country or jurisdiction or otherwise in such circumstances in which the release, publication or distribution would be unlawful. The information contained herein does not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy, nor shall there be any sale of, any securities or other financial instruments in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration, exemption from registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such jurisdiction.

This communication does not constitute an offer of securities for sale in the United States. The notes have not been and will not be registered under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”) or under the applicable securities laws of any state of the United States and may not be offered or sold, directly or indirectly, within the United States or to, or for the account or benefit of, U.S. persons except pursuant to an applicable exemption from, or in a transaction not subject to, the registration requirements of the Securities Act.

The MIL Network –

January 27, 2025
MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Government to clean up communities with deposit return scheme for plastic bottles and cans
Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments

Introduction of deposit return scheme will be a step forward in ending the throwaway society and cleaning up Britain
The Government has today (Monday 27 January) pledged to end the throwaway society and clean up Britain, as it implements legislation for the deposit return scheme for drinks containers in England and Northern Ireland.

Once the scheme launches in October 2027, consumers will have a financial incentive to return empty containers to a collection point, such as at their local supermarket, so that the bottle or can will be recycled.

Used in more than 50 countries worldwide as a common-sense means of encouraging people to recycle more single-use bottles and cans, a DRS sees people being paid back for returning the container.

Countries such as Germany, Sweden and the Republic of Ireland have successfully implemented schemes, ensuring valuable materials are collected, recycled and made back into new drinks containers – a truly circular approach easily grasped by the public. The average return rate for European countries with a DRS is 90%, according to global eNGO Reloop, with Germany showing the best results at 98%.

Introducing such a scheme in England, Northern Ireland and Scotland is a simple yet hugely effective way of addressing problems with rubbish building up on our streets and in our rivers and oceans, while also ensuring the public gets money back on their bottle.

Across England, Northern Ireland and Scotland, consumers buy an estimated 30 billion single-use drinks containers each year – including 12 billion plastic drinks bottles and 13 billion drinks cans. An estimated 6.5 billion single-use drinks bottles and cans per year go to waste rather than being recycled, with many ending up littered. Research from the Marine Conservation Society shows 97% of surveyed beaches were polluted with drinks-related items in 2023.

Encouraging everyone to get involved in recycling, the DRS will be introduced in October 2027, with 150ml to three-litre single-use drinks containers made from plastic and metal included in the scheme.

Delivering these reforms and driving investment in the recycling sector delivers on the Government’s Plan for Change through kickstarting growth, ensuring economic stability, greater efficiency, and jobs fit for the future.

Circular Economy Minister Mary Creagh said:

This Government will clean up Britain and end the throwaway society.

This is a vital step as we stop the avalanche of rubbish that is filling up our streets, rivers and oceans and protect our treasured wildlife. Turning trash into cash also delivers on our Plan for Change by kickstarting clean growth, ensuring economic stability, more resilient supply chains, and new green jobs.

Northern Ireland’s Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs Minister Andrew Muir said:

I have ambitious goals to protect our climate, drive green growth and reduce unnecessary waste. The creation of a Deposit Return Scheme plays a key part in delivering those goals.

The introduction of the new parliamentary regulations is a significant step in that process and signals our commitment to move forward together to make those ambitions a reality.

New legislation for England and Northern Ireland has now come into force, enabling the appointment of the scheme administrator – known as the Deposit Management Organisation – in April 2025. This will be a not-for-profit, industry-led body responsible for the administration and day-to-day running of the scheme.

With Scotland’s own regulations also progressing, this marks a major step forward for the introduction of the scheme across the three nations.

The three governments will ensure the scheme is implemented effectively, working closely with businesses to provide the infrastructure and investment to make it a success.

Allison Ogden-Newton OBE, Chief Executive of environmental charity Keep Britain Tidy, said:

A Deposit Return Scheme really is a silver bullet that will get plastic drinks bottles and aluminium cans out of our parks, off our streets and away from our rivers and seas.

Depressingly we litter, burn or bury millions of drinks containers each and every day. This legislation will end all that, save the taxpayer millions in clean-up costs and give recycling a real shot in the arm.

Backed and paid for by producers, this method of retrieval and recycling is tried and tested the world over so at Keep Britain Tidy we are putting out the bunting that this government is committed to make it happen, for us all.

Stephen Moorhouse, Vice President and General Manager of Coca-Cola Europacific Partners GB Business Unit, said:

We’ve been supportive of launching a DRS across the UK for a number of years as they are a proven way of increasing recycling, reducing waste and tackling litter. Therefore, we welcome the clarity provided by the regulation for England and Northern Ireland and are encouraged by recent developments that will ensure an aligned scheme with Scotland, despite wider challenges around a UK-wide approach.

Delivering to the timelines will be challenging but achievable, and now is the time for industry to roll up its sleeves to create a well-designed system that works for businesses, shoppers and the environment.

Association of Convenience Stores chief executive James Lowman said:

We are pleased to have certainty on the DRS regulations so local shops can start to prepare for October 2027 and our communities can realise the benefits of reduced litter and higher quality recycled materials.

Now the real work begins to make the deposit return scheme a success through cross-industry partnership and a planned network of return points that work for customers.

Sandy Luk, Chief Executive at the Marine Conservation Society, said:

Today marks a fantastic win for our seas, as MPs voted in favour of a deposit return scheme in England and Northern Ireland. With plans already in motion in Scotland and the Welsh Government exploring an ambitious scheme to include reuse, this is a great step towards schemes starting across the UK in October 2027.

Last year, 97% of surveyed UK beaches were polluted with bottles and cans, posing threat to marine life like seabirds and seals. Deposit return schemes will not only boost recycling and move us towards a circular economy where nothing is thrown away but also significantly reduce this kind of beach pollution.

We’re excited to support governments and industry in launching these schemes as soon as possible.

Hitting this milestone is another big step forward for the Government’s collection and packaging reforms, which together will support 21,000 new jobs and stimulate more than £10 billion of investment in recycling over the next decade.

The action to clean up Britain doesn’t end there – there is more to come as the Government moves to ensure the throwaway society is ended for good.

Legislation has been laid to ban the sale of single-use vapes from 1 June 2025 and prevent the waste of precious resources – eNGO Material Focus estimates almost five million single-use vapes were either littered or thrown away in general waste every week in 2023.

In December 2024, the Government moved to stop recycling rates stagnating and the reliance on the burning of household waste by announcing that new waste incinerators will only receive planning approval if they meet strict new local and environmental conditions.

The Government has also announced that a £15 million government fund will help deliver thousands of tonnes of food from farms which would otherwise go to waste to those who need it most.

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Published 27 January 2025
MIL OSI United Kingdom –
January 27, 2025
MIL-OSI United Nations: Briefing Security Council on Worsening Situation in Democratic Republic of Congo, Senior Official Says Actions Endangering Civilians, UN ‘Will Not be Tolerated’

Source: United Nations General Assembly and Security Council

Holding an emergency meeting following advances by the 23 March Movement, or M23, towards the city of Goma in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and concurrent attacks on United Nations peacekeepers there, the Security Council heard today that urgent action is needed to address a rapidly deteriorating situation while time remains to do so.

“The United Nations is profoundly concerned by the resumption of hostilities,” said Jean-Pierre Lacroix, Under-Secretary-General for Peace Operations. On 23-24 January, M23 fired on positions of the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO). He reported that, as a result, several blue helmets were “killed in carrying out the tasks entrusted to them by this Council”. He also noted that M23 has significantly extended its territorial gains over the past few weeks and has opened a new front in South Kivu, from which MONUSCO recently withdrew.

“At this critical juncture, with the lives of countless vulnerable civilians, peacekeepers and respect for this Council’s mandate at stake, MONUSCO remains committed to the robust defence of its mandate,” he stated. He stressed that, for its part, the Council “must honour the sacrifices made by the peacekeepers who laid down their lives in pursuit of this noble goal by sending a clear and unequivocal message to M23 and its backers that actions endangering the lives of civilians and UN peacekeepers will not be tolerated.”

Also reporting on the situation was Bintou Keita, Special Representative of the Secretary-General for the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Head of MONUSCO. Noting that M23 and Rwandan forces have penetrated the outskirts of Goma — “causing mass panic and flight amongst the population” — she said that roads are blocked and that M23 has declared Goma’s airspace closed. “In other words, we are trapped,” she said, calling on the Council to “act now” to secure the civilian population, humanitarian-aid workers and all UN personnel.

Calling on the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Rwanda to continue political negotiations in the context of the Luanda Process, she urged: “More than ever, we must find a political solution.” She also called on Rwanda to withdraw its forces from Congolese territory and end support for M23, and on the Democratic Republic of the Congo to “make significant efforts” to neutralize the Democratic Liberation Forces of Rwanda, or FDLR.

Joyce Msuya, Assistant Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Deputy Emergency Relief Coordinator, then stressed that if hostilities spread into Goma, “the impact on civilians could be devastating”. In North and South Kivu, hundreds of civilians have been killed and injured over the last few weeks. Further, hundreds of thousands have fled their homes, humanitarian access remains constrained and hospitals are overwhelmed. Against that backdrop, she urged all parties to “protect civilians and the critical infrastructure they rely on”.

She also urged them to avoid using wide-area explosives and heavy weapons in populated areas. “This will be particularly important should the hostilities spread into Goma, given the risks of conflict in urban areas,” she observed. And, to address the escalating humanitarian crisis “before the situation worsens further”, she called on the Council to end the hostilities, ensure respect for international law and provide adequate funding for humanitarian action.

“The resolution of the conflict in eastern DRC [Democratic Republic of the Congo] must be political, not military,” stated the representative of Sierra Leone, also speaking for Algeria, Guyana and Somalia. The Luanda and Nairobi Processes “remain viable paths to peace”, he said, while underscoring that the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Democratic Republic of the Congo must be respected “by all States and non-State actors alike”. France’s representative, stating that the presence of foreign military forces threatens civilian protection and contributes to displacement, concurred: “Force is not an option.”

Along those lines, China’s representative said: “All external forces should refrain from providing support to M23 and other armed groups to prevent further deterioration.” He also joined other Council members in pointing out that “attacks on peacekeepers may constitute war crimes”. The representative of Greece echoed that, also noting that attacks against MONUSCO peacekeepers constitute a basis for sanctions designations. Also making these points was the representative of the United Kingdom, who observed that “the numbers of those lost and injured is changing by the hour”.

These attacks, stressed Slovenia’s representative, constitute “an attack on peace itself”. Recalling the Council’s recent, unanimous decision to renew MONUSCO’s mandate, she underlined the organ’s responsibility to “stand unequivocally behind [its personnel] in these perilous times and ensure they return safely to their loved ones”. She added: “The international community, and this Council, cannot afford to remain passive in the face of this crisis.” Panama’s representative similarly stated: “History will not judge us on our intentions but, rather, our actions.”

The United Nations must take immediate measures to ensure the safety and security of both civilians and peacekeepers, underscored the representative of Pakistan. Expressing particular concern over a “highly exposed” Pakistani artillery battery near Sake, he stressed that this unit should be quickly redeployed for the safety of its personnel and heavy, expensive equipment. Stating that peacekeepers cannot be expected to implement the “challenging mandate assigned to them by the Council” without adequate support, he also urged the organ to address the root cause of the conflict — the illegal exploitation of natural resources.

On that, Denmark’s representative observed: “The illegal exploitation of natural resources in eastern DRC is a key driver to instability in the Great Lakes region — this must end.” The representative of the United States also expressed concern over the illicit exploitation of mining areas in territories controlled by M23, as did the representative of the Russian Federation: “The struggle to gain access towards strategically important Congolese minerals is one of the reasons for the continuation of the crisis.”

The representative of the Republic of Korea detailed that crisis: “In the past week alone, as [M23] has expanded its territory by 11 per cent, the number of [internally displaced persons] has doubled to 400,000.” He joined other Council members in calling on Rwanda to cease its support for the group and urged both Kinshasa and Kigali to return to dialogue and fully implement their commitments under the Luanda Process. He added: “We recognize the differing interests of the DRC and Rwanda, but further escalation of tensions is simply unacceptable — many lives are at stake.”

Thérèse Kayikwamba Wagner, Minister for Foreign Affairs, International Cooperation and Francophonie of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, meanwhile, took the floor to stress that the situation in her country is “not a conflict like others”. Rather, it is “a declaration of war that no longer hides itself behind diplomatic manoeuvres”, she said, stressing that “Rwanda is preparing to orchestrate a carnage in broad daylight”. She also said that it is “clear that this crisis is directly linked to the economic plunder of our country by Rwanda”.

On that, she said that over 150 tons of coltan are illegally extracted and transported to Rwanda each month, where they are fraudulently labelled for export. Yet, while this illicit commerce finances the military activities of armed groups, it is “only one aspect of the aggression carried out by Rwanda”, she stressed. Others include the systematic targeting of peacekeeping forces, the 24 January assassination of the military governor of North Kivu and the sabotage of the Luanda Process.

Underscoring that the Council “cannot content itself with declarations of concern or simply ‘remaining seized of the matter’”, she said that the organ’s duty is to “defend human life without distinction”. It must therefore order an immediate end to Rwanda’s hostilities, impose targeted sanctions against those responsible for the aggression, impose an embargo on the export of all minerals labelled as Rwandan — particularly coltan and gold — and revoke Rwanda’s status as a troop-contributing country. “History will remember your decision today,” she said.

Meanwhile, Rwanda’s representative stressed: “The current crisis could have been averted had the DRC Government demonstrated a genuine commitment to peace.” While the Luanda Process achieved “significant milestones” — including a ceasefire that came into force on 4 August 2024 — the Government and Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo decided to increase militarization in the country’s east in October 2024. This included the deployment of heavy weaponry and additional troops — 10,000 from Burundi — along the border.

“By prioritizing militarization of the conflict instead of embracing the regional mechanisms that have been put in place to foster a sustainable solution born out of dialogue, the conflict has continued to escalate — leading to the prevailing situation today,” he said. He added that the FDLR has “even moved from being a suppletive force to a strategic ally of the Kinshasa Government”. Further, he said that the President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo has publicly vowed to instigate regime change in Rwanda for two years now.

While stating that “no one should harm peacekeepers”, he expressed concern that MONUSCO is “at the risk of being sucked into a conflict in which it would be a belligerent force”. MONUSCO should therefore focus on protecting civilians instead of fighting alongside Kinshasa’s military coalition. Noting that the situation today mirrors that which occurred 12 years ago, he stressed that “the DRC must play a helpful role — after all, this is a Congolese problem, for which the DRC is looking to outsource its solution.”

“It is with profound regret that this meeting is taking place at a time when a number of peacekeepers have lost their lives in the line of duty,” observed South Africa’s representative. Urging the Council to “send a clear message that peacekeepers’ lives matter”, she underlined the need to “value and safeguard the contribution of those entrusted to carry out the mandates adopted in this chamber”. Extending condolences to all victims’ families, the representative of Uruguay reiterated his country’s “steadfast commitment to peace”.

Angola’s representative pointed to “remarkable progress in the implementation of the Luanda Process”. “We need speedy and unconditional de-escalation of the conflict and genuine, renewed engagement of the parties to explore the ways of overcoming the pending issues,” he added. On that, Burundi’s representative said that the Luanda and Nairobi Processes “set out a clear road map to reach a lasting ceasefire”. Calling on the Council to demand an end to foreign interference and act decisively to guarantee that the Democratic Republic of the Congo can fully exercise its sovereignty and restore peace, he stressed: “Security and stability in Central Africa and beyond are at stake.”

MIL OSI United Nations News –

January 27, 2025
MIL-OSI Europe: Statement on Belarus

Source: Government of Sweden

Statement on Belarus – Government.se

Statement by Maria Malmer Stenergard

Published 26 January 2025

Joint Statement by Nordic Baltic Foreign Ministers on Belarus, 26 January 2025.

The Nordic-Baltic countries support the statement by EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Kaja Kallas on support to the Belarusian people.

The Nordic-Baltic countries stand in solidarity with the Belarusian people who strive for a free, democratic, sovereign and independent Belarus. A future democratic Belarus has a place in the European family. Our countries will continue to support the tireless efforts of the Belarusian democratic forces led by Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya and independent Belarusian civil society both inside and outside Belarus.

The Nordic-Baltic countries continue to support the democratic right of the Belarusian people to choose their leaders through free and fair elections. This requires rule of law, political pluralism, and full respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms as genuine democratic preconditions. None of this is, regretfully, observed in today’s Belarus. Instead, the relentless and unprecedented level of repression, including arbitrary detention and torture, mass human rights violations, severe restrictions to political participation for opponents of the regime and highly restricted access to independent media have deprived the process that took place today of any legitimacy. This is also reflected in the decision of the Belarus’ authorities to invite the OSCE ODIHR mission only 10 days beforehand.

The Nordic-Baltic countries strongly urge the immediate and unconditional release of all political prisoners, and their effective rehabilitation. Aliaksandr Lukashenka continues to lack any democratic legitimacy.

MIL OSI Europe News –

January 27, 2025
MIL-OSI Global: How Jan. 27 came to be International Day of Commemoration in Memory of the Victims of the Holocaust

Source: The Conversation – Canada – By Robert Jan van Pelt, Professor, School of Architecture, University of Waterloo

When, in the late 1980s, I began my research on the architectural history of the Auschwitz death camp, Jan. 27 wasn’t marked on any official calendar as a special day of commemoration.

Since then, as a historian who has focused on the history of the Holocaust in general and the history of Auschwitz in particular, and who has with collaborators curated the Auschwitz exhibition now showing in Toronto, I have seen changes in terms of how the Holocaust generally, and Auschwitz in particular, is publicly remembered and commemorated.

Jan. 27 is now identified as an annual International Day of Commemoration in Memory of the Victims of the Holocaust. On Jan. 27 1945, the Red Army liberated some 7,000 remaining prisoners in Auschwitz, located in south-central Poland. How was this date chosen, and what issues or reflection might it raise?

Poland

With 1.1 million murdered victims — of whom one million were Jews — Auschwitz was the most murderous of the German death camps. It had already become by the mid-1970s a powerful symbol of the Holocaust.

Yet during the Cold War, European nations commemorated the dead of the Second World War on dates that were anniversaries of the end of the war. In Poland, a profoundly Roman Catholic country, the observances of the victims of the war were held on All Saints Day or, since 1955, the Sunday closest to the Ides of April, not Jan. 27.

In the early 1990s, the Polish government led by President Lech Walesa decided to make the 50th anniversary of the arrival of the liberating Red Army at the gates of Auschwitz into a major international commemoration in 1995.

Seventeen heads of state, including German Federal President Roman Herzog, attended the occasion on Jan. 27, 1995. It was, in a sense, a “coming-out” of the now firmly democratic Polish Republic. At that time, Warsaw was eyeing membership of NATO and the EU, which had been formally established by means of the Maastricht Treaty two years earlier.

In the 1995 commemoration, Jews were largely invisible — in fact, Walesa forgot to mention the Jews in his speech.

Dates in the Hebrew calendar

Among Jews, primarily in North America and Israel, Holocaust commemorations are typically associated with three dates in the Hebrew (lunar) calendar:

1. The ninth day of the Jewish month of Av: Since time immemorial, Jews commemorated on this day the destruction of the First Temple (in 586 BCE) and the destruction of the Second Temple (in 70 CE).

2. The 10th day of the Jewish month of Tevet: This day, King Nebuchadnezzar II began the siege of Jerusalem that was to lead to the destruction of the First Temple. Traditionally on this day, Jews say the prayer of the dead for family members whose date of death is unknown. As the date of death of most of the Jews murdered in the Holocaust is indeed unknown, the 10th of Tevet became quite prominent in Israel as a date of Holocaust commemoration.

3. The 27th day of the Jewish month of Nisan: This day, established in 1953 as Yom Hashoah (Shoah Day) by the Israeli government, coincides with the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, which is a point of great pride to Jews. Thus, Yom Hashoah was meant to commemorate not only the depth of the catastrophe, but at the same time one of the few points of light within the Holocaust.

In American society, a custom arose in the 1980s to hold a commemorative day of the Holocaust in the period that stretches from the Sunday preceding Yom Hashoah to the Sunday following Yom Hashoah, creating a clear link with the Jewish practice. In Canada, Jews mobilized to introduce provincial days of remembrance, insisting that they would follow Jewish practice and be held on Yom Hashoah.

Germany

Months after the 1995 Polish commemoration, the leaders of the allied nations and Germany gathered in Berlin on May 8, 1995 to observe the 50th anniversary of the end of the Second World War. German President Herzog noted that while many Germans still remembered May 8 as a day of defeat, in fact that day had opened a door to a future of peace and co-operation in Europe.

However, some Germans believed that it was now time to move on and stop talking about the the Nazis, the war and the Holocaust.

Herzog decided something had to be done to force continued engagement with the Nazi past, and to shut up revisionists who stressed German victimhood. He proclaimed Jan. 27 as Day of Commemoration of the Victims of National Socialism. It was a politically astute move. He knew that in any discussion about the meaning of the Third Reich, the name “Auschwitz” was the ultimate trump card that could not be beaten.

Sweden, U.K., EU, UN

In 1998, Swedish Prime Minister Göran Persson declared Jan. 27 to be an official day of Holocaust Remembrance. This move was to lay the groundwork for a larger Swedish-led inter-governmental educational initiative founded to combat rising antisemitism.

In support of this project, which lead to the Stockholm Declaration and the establishment of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA), the British and Italian governments adopted Jan. 27 as a day of commemoration in 1999 and 2000.

A few years later, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia — plus Malta and Cyprus — joined the EU. Until then, it had consisted of countries that had been either stable liberal democracies since 1945, or had become such in the 1970s.

Most of the new members had been communist-ruled. There was nervousness about the baggage they would bring — especially persistent antisemitism. On Jan. 27, 2005, the European Parliament called on the European Council, Commission and member states to make Jan. 27 European Holocaust Memorial Day, to be observed across the EU.

The effects were profound: Aleida Assmann, a prominent historian of collective memory, observed that pan-European importance of the Jan. 27 day of commemoration since 2005 confirmed the Holocaust as a common “europäischer Gründungsmythos” or European foundation narrative

Later in 2005, the General Assembly of the United Nations made Jan. 27 an annual International Day of Commemoration in Memory of the Victims of the Holocaust. The resolution establishing the date invoked the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and reaffirmed “that the Holocaust, which resulted in the murder of one third of the Jewish people, along with countless members of other minorities, will forever be a warning to all people of the dangers of hatred, bigotry, racism and prejudice.”

What to think of Jan. 27?

While deeply committed to the study of the history of Auschwitz and profoundly engaged with the commemoration of both the Holocaust in general and Auschwitz in particular, if forced to choose, I have a clear preference for Yom Hashoah over Jan. 27.

Jan. 27 as a day of commemoration emerged from initiatives taken by non-Jews at the highest political level, without much consultation with Jews.

A few of my now-deceased Auschwitz survivor friends told me that the entire Jan. 27 date should be cancelled as it has no or little meaning for Jews, and it certainly had no meaning for them as Auschwitz survivors, because they had been taken away from Auschwitz in a death march before the arrival of the Red Army.

Yet now it exists, and better to work with it. All the good reasons why Auschwitz became a symbol of the Holocaust are still valid — especially the fact that it ties a very complex series of events to a real place that everyone can visit.

But I would like to invite all who gather on Jan. 27 to remember the Holocaust to consider also its profoundly political origins. And I hope that they will decide to also attend a similar event a few months later, on Yom Hashoah.

Robert Jan van Pelt is curator for the Auschwitz exhibit at the ROM.

– ref. How Jan. 27 came to be International Day of Commemoration in Memory of the Victims of the Holocaust – https://theconversation.com/how-jan-27-came-to-be-international-day-of-commemoration-in-memory-of-the-victims-of-the-holocaust-248104

MIL OSI – Global Reports –

January 27, 2025

MIL-OSI: Infinera Corporation Reports Third Quarter 2024 Financial Results

Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

SAN JOSE, Calif., Nov. 05, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Infinera Corporation (NASDAQ: INFN) today released financial results for its third quarter ended September 28, 2024.

GAAP revenue for the quarter was $354.4 million compared to $342.7 million in the second quarter of 2024 and $392.4 million in the third quarter of 2023.

GAAP gross margin for the quarter was 39.8% compared to 39.6% in the second quarter of 2024 and 40.3% in the third quarter of 2023. GAAP operating margin for the quarter was (3.1)% compared to (8.7)% in the second quarter of 2024 and 2.0% in the third quarter of 2023.

GAAP net loss for the quarter was $(14.3) million, or $(0.06) per diluted share, compared to net loss of $(48.3) million, or $(0.21) per diluted share, in the second quarter of 2024, and net loss of $(9.4) million, or $(0.04) per diluted share, in the third quarter of 2023.

Non-GAAP gross margin for the quarter was 40.4% compared to 40.3% in the second quarter of 2024 and 41.9% in the third quarter of 2023. Non-GAAP operating margin for the quarter was 3.5% compared to (1.3)% in the second quarter of 2024 and 7.7% in the third quarter of 2023.

Non-GAAP net income for the quarter was $0.3 million, or $0.00 per diluted share, compared to non-GAAP net loss of $(14.0) million, or $(0.06) per diluted share, in the second quarter of 2024, and non-GAAP net income of $19.9 million, or $0.08 per diluted share, in the third quarter of 2023.

During the three-months ended September 28, 2024, the Company generated positive cash flow from operations of $44.5 million and ended the quarter with cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash of $115.6 million.

A further explanation of the use of non-GAAP financial information and a reconciliation of each of the non-GAAP financial measures to the most directly comparable GAAP financial measure can be found at the end of this press release.

Infinera CEO, David Heard said “Our team delivered another quarter with continued sequential improvements in our financial metrics and critical service provider and webscaler design wins across our ICE-X coherent pluggables, next-generation line systems, software, and ICE7 solutions. In addition, in October we signed a non-binding preliminary memorandum of terms with the U.S. Department of Commerce for an award under the CHIPS and Science Act that, together with other federal and state incentives, could result in more than $200 million in funds for Infinera.”

“Looking ahead, our customers remain excited about our pending acquisition by Nokia as they look forward to the combined company accelerating the pace of innovation in the industry. We are making good progress on the steps required to close the transaction, including receiving stockholder approval and attaining U.S. antitrust and CFIUS approval. There are still other regulatory approvals pending, but we believe we remain on track to close the deal in the first half of 2025,” continued Mr. Heard.

Pending Merger with Nokia

On June 27, 2024, Infinera, Nokia Corporation, a company incorporated under the laws of the Republic of Finland (“Nokia”) (NYSE: NOK) and Neptune of America Corporation, a Delaware corporation and wholly owned subsidiary of Nokia (“Merger Sub”) entered into an Agreement and Plan of Merger (as it may be amended, modified or waived from time to time, the “Merger Agreement”) that provides for Merger Sub to merge with and into Infinera (the “Merger”), with Infinera surviving the Merger as a wholly owned subsidiary of Nokia. The transaction is expected to close in the first half of 2025.

In light of the proposed transaction with Nokia, and as is customary during the pendency of an acquisition, Infinera will not be providing financial guidance during the pendency of the acquisition.

Third Quarter 2024 Investor Slides to be Made Available Online

Investor slides reviewing Infinera’s third quarter of 2024 financial results will be furnished to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) on a Current Report on Form 8-K and published on Infinera’s Investor Relations website at investors.infinera.com.

Contacts:

Media:
Anna Vue
Tel. +1 (916) 595-8157
avue@infinera.com

Investors:
Amitabh Passi, Head of Investor Relations
Tel. +1 (669) 295-1489
apassi@infinera.com

About Infinera

Infinera is a global supplier of innovative open optical networking solutions and advanced optical semiconductors that enable carriers, cloud operators, governments, and enterprises to scale network bandwidth, accelerate service innovation, and automate network operations. Infinera solutions deliver industry-leading economics and performance in long-haul, submarine, data center interconnect, and metro transport applications. To learn more about Infinera, visit www.infinera.com, follow us on X and LinkedIn, and subscribe for updates.

Infinera and the Infinera logo are registered trademarks of Infinera Corporation.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains certain forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Forward-looking statements generally relate to future events or Infinera’s future financial or operating performance. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements because they contain words such as “anticipate,” “believe,” “could,” “estimate,” “expect,” “intend,” “may,” “should,” “will,” and “would” or the negative of these words or similar terms or expressions that concern Infinera’s expectations, strategy, priorities, plans or intentions. Forward-looking statements in this press release include, but are not limited to, statements regarding the amount Infinera could receive in government funding; and statements related to the Merger, including the timing of completion of the Merger and the future performance and benefits of the combined business.

These forward-looking statements are based on estimates and information available to Infinera as of the date hereof and are not guarantees of actual or future performance; actual results could differ materially from those stated or implied due to risks and uncertainties. The risks and uncertainties that could cause Infinera’s results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements include statements related to the Merger, including whether the Merger may not be completed or completion may be delayed, and if the Merger Agreement is terminated, there may be a required payment of a significant termination fee by either party; the receipt of necessary approvals to complete the Merger; the possibility that due to the Merger, and uncertainty regarding the Merger, Infinera’s customers, suppliers or strategic partners may delay or defer entering into contracts or making other decisions concerning Infinera; the significance and timing of costs related to the Merger; the impact on us of litigation or other stockholder action related to the Merger; the effects on us and our stockholders if the Merger is not completed; demand growth for additional network capacity and the level and timing of customer capital spending and excess inventory held by customers beyond normalized levels; delays in the development, introduction or acceptance of new products or in releasing enhancements to existing products; aggressive business tactics by Infinera’s competitors and new entrants and Infinera’s ability to compete in a highly competitive market; supply chain and logistics issues and their impact on our business, and Infinera’s dependency on sole source, limited source or high-cost suppliers; dependence on a small number of key customers; product performance problems; the complexity of Infinera’s manufacturing process; Infinera’s ability to identify, attract, upskill and retain qualified personnel; challenges with our contract manufacturers and other third-party partners; the effects of customer and supplier consolidation; dependence on third-party service partners; Infinera’s ability to respond to rapid technological changes; failure to accurately forecast Infinera’s manufacturing requirements or customer demand; failure to secure the funding contemplated by grants Infinera may receive from governments, agencies or research organizations, or failure to comply with the terms of those grants; Infinera’s future capital needs and its ability to generate the cash flow or otherwise secure the capital necessary to meet such capital needs; the effect of global and regional economic conditions on Infinera’s business, including effects on purchasing decisions by customers; the adverse impact inflation and higher interest rates may have on Infinera by increasing costs beyond what it can recover through price increases; restrictions to our operations resulting from loan or other credit agreements; the impacts of any restructuring plans or other strategic efforts on our business; Infinera’s international sales and operations; the impacts of foreign currency fluctuations; the effective tax rate of Infinera, which may increase or fluctuate; potential dilution from the issuance of additional shares of common stock in connection with the conversion of Infinera’s convertible senior notes; Infinera’s ability to protect its intellectual property; claims by others that Infinera infringes on their intellectual property rights; security incidents, such as data breaches or cyber-attacks; Infinera’s ability to comply with various rules and regulations, including with respect to export control and trade compliance, environmental, social, governance, privacy and data protection matters; events that are outside of Infinera’s control, such as natural disasters, acts of war or terrorism, or other catastrophic events that could harm Infinera’s operations; Infinera’s ability to remediate its recently disclosed material weaknesses in internal control over financial reporting in a timely and effective manner, and other risks and uncertainties detailed in Infinera’s SEC filings from time to time; and statements of assumptions underlying any of the foregoing. More information on potential factors that may impact Infinera’s business are set forth in Infinera’s periodic reports filed with the SEC, including its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 30, 2023, filed with the SEC on May 17, 2024, and its Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended June 29, 2024, as filed with the SEC on August 2, 2024, as well as subsequent reports filed with or furnished to the SEC from time to time. These SEC filings are available on Infinera’s website at www.infinera.com and the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov. Infinera assumes no obligation to, and does not currently intend to, update any such forward-looking statements.

Use of Non-GAAP Financial Information

In addition to disclosing financial measures prepared in accordance with U.S. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (“GAAP”), this press release and the accompanying tables contain certain non-GAAP financial measures that exclude in certain cases stock-based compensation expense, amortization of acquired intangible assets, restructuring and other related costs, warehouse fire recovery, merger-related charges, foreign exchange (gains) losses, net, and income tax effects. Infinera believes these adjustments are appropriate to enhance an overall understanding of its underlying financial performance and also its prospects for the future and are considered by management for the purpose of making operational decisions. In addition, the non-GAAP financial measures presented in this press release are the primary indicators management uses as a basis for its planning and forecasting of future periods. The presentation of this additional information is not meant to be considered in isolation or as a substitute for gross margin, operating expenses, operating margin, net income (loss) and net income (loss) per common share prepared in accordance with GAAP. Non-GAAP financial measures are not based on a comprehensive set of accounting rules or principles and are subject to limitations.

For a description of these non-GAAP financial measures and a reconciliation to the most directly comparable GAAP financial measures, please see the table titled “GAAP to Non-GAAP Reconciliations” and related footnotes.

Infinera Corporation
Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations
(In thousands, except per share data)
(Unaudited)

	Three months ended						Nine months ended
	September 28, 2024			September 30, 2023			September 28, 2024			September 30, 2023
Revenue:
Product	$	276,214		$	316,613		$	778,008		$	931,057
Services		78,184			75,756			226,051			229,615
Total revenue		354,398			392,369			1,004,059			1,160,672
Cost of revenue:
Cost of product		170,693			190,312			494,248			577,152
Cost of services		42,515			40,209			121,910			124,889
Amortization of intangible assets		—			3,528			—			10,621
Restructuring and other related costs		(24	)		—			652			—
Total cost of revenue		213,184			234,049			616,810			712,662
Gross profit		141,214			158,320			387,249			448,010
Operating expenses:
Research and development		73,283			76,846			225,223			237,234
Sales and marketing		35,715			41,075			118,357			124,406
General and administrative		34,160			29,368			101,114			89,762
Amortization of intangible assets		2,257			2,976			6,769			10,088
Merger-related charges		6,954			—			15,471			—
Restructuring and other related costs		(157	)		400			4,105			2,621
Total operating expenses		152,212			150,665			471,039			464,111
Income (loss) from operations		(10,998	)		7,655			(83,790	)		(16,101	)
Other income (expense), net:
Interest income		874			546			2,789			1,734
Interest expense		(8,764	)		(7,608	)		(25,556	)		(21,795	)
Other gain (loss), net		8,485			(7,540	)		(8,910	)		10,586
Total other income (expense), net		595			(14,602	)		(31,677	)		(9,475	)
Loss before income taxes		(10,403	)		(6,947	)		(115,467	)		(25,576	)
Provision for income taxes		3,910			2,466			8,528			12,510
Net loss	$	(14,313	)	$	(9,413	)	$	(123,995	)	$	(38,086	)
Net loss per common share:
Basic	$	(0.06	)	$	(0.04	)	$	(0.53	)	$	(0.17	)
Diluted	$	(0.06	)	$	(0.04	)	$	(0.53	)	$	(0.17	)
Weighted average shares used in computing net loss per common share:
Basic		235,832			228,077			233,905			225,465
Diluted		235,832			228,077			233,905			225,465

Infinera Corporation
GAAP to Non-GAAP Reconciliations
(In thousands, except percentages)
(Unaudited)

	Three months ended														Nine months ended
	September 28, 2024					June 29, 2024					September 30, 2023				September 28, 2024					September 30, 2023
Reconciliation of Gross Profit and Gross Margin:
GAAP as reported	$	141,214		39.8	%	$	135,594		39.6	%	$	158,320	40.3	%	$	387,249		38.6	%	$	448,010		38.6	%
Stock-based compensation expense⁽¹⁾		2,084		0.6	%		1,777		0.5	%		2,515	0.7	%		5,754		0.5	%		7,672		0.7	%
Amortization of acquired intangible assets⁽²⁾		—		—	%		—		—	%		3,528	0.9	%		—		—	%		10,621		0.9	%
Restructuring and other related costs⁽³⁾		(24	)	(0.0)	%		703		0.2	%		—				652		0.1	%		—		—	%
Warehouse fire recovery⁽⁴⁾		—		—	%		—		—	%		—	—	%		—		—	%		(1,985	)	(0.2)	%
Non-GAAP as adjusted	$	143,274		40.4	%	$	138,074		40.3	%	$	164,363	41.9	%	$	393,655		39.2	%	$	464,318		40.0	%

Reconciliation of Operating Expenses:
GAAP as reported	$	152,212				$	165,403				$	150,665			$	471,039				$	464,111
Stock-based compensation expense⁽¹⁾		12,305					8,024					13,230				32,967					41,721
Amortization of acquired intangible assets⁽²⁾		2,257					2,256					2,976				6,769					10,088
Restructuring and other related costs⁽³⁾		(157	)				3,948					400				4,105					2,621
Merger-related charges⁽⁵⁾		6,954					8,517					—				15,471					—
Non-GAAP as adjusted	$	130,853				$	142,658				$	134,059			$	411,727				$	409,681

Reconciliation of Income (Loss) from Operations and Operating Margin:
GAAP as reported	$	(10,998	)	(3.1)	%	$	(29,809	)	(8.7)	%	$	7,655	2.0	%	$	(83,790	)	(8.3)	%	$	(16,101	)	(1.4)	%
Stock-based compensation expense⁽¹⁾		14,389		4.1	%		9,801		2.8	%		15,745	3.9	%		38,721		3.8	%		49,393		4.3	%
Amortization of acquired intangible assets⁽²⁾		2,257		0.6	%		2,256		0.7	%		6,504	1.7	%		6,769		0.7	%		20,709		1.8	%
Restructuring and other related costs⁽³⁾		(181	)	(0.1)	%		4,651		1.4	%		400	0.1	%		4,757		0.5	%		2,621		0.2	%
Warehouse fire recovery⁽⁴⁾		—		—	%		—		—	%		—	—	%		—		—	%		(1,985	)	(0.2)	%
Merger-related charges⁽⁵⁾		6,954		2.0	%		8,517		2.5	%		—	—	%		15,471		1.5	%		—		—	%
Non-GAAP as adjusted	$	12,421		3.5	%	$	(4,584	)	(1.3)	%	$	30,304	7.7	%	$	(18,072	)	(1.8)	%	$	54,637		4.7	%

	Three months ended									Nine months ended
	September 28, 2024			June 29, 2024			September 30, 2023			September 28, 2024			September 30, 2023
Reconciliation of Net Income (Loss):
GAAP as reported	$	(14,313	)	$	(48,287	)	$	(9,413	)	$	(123,995	)	$	(38,086	)
Stock-based compensation expense⁽¹⁾		14,389			9,801			15,745			38,721			49,393
Amortization of acquired intangible assets⁽²⁾		2,257			2,256			6,504			6,769			20,709
Restructuring and other related costs⁽³⁾		(181	)		4,651			400			4,757			2,621
Warehouse fire recovery⁽⁴⁾		—			—			—			—			(1,985	)
Merger-related charges⁽⁵⁾		6,954			8,517			—			15,471			—
Foreign exchange (gains) losses, net⁽⁶⁾		(8,039	)		11,690			7,527			10,099			(9,903	)
Income tax effects⁽⁷⁾		(788	)		(2,604	)		(894	)		(3,775	)		2,072
Non-GAAP as adjusted	$	279		$	(13,976	)	$	19,869		$	(51,953	)	$	24,821

Weighted Average Shares Used in Computing GAAP Net Income (Loss) per Common Share:
Basic		235,832			234,349			228,077			233,905			225,465
Diluted⁽⁸⁾		235,832			234,349			228,077			233,905			225,465

Weighted Average Shares Used in Computing Non-GAAP Net Income (Loss) per Common Share:
Basic		235,832			234,349			228,077			233,905			225,465
Diluted⁽⁹⁾		240,502			234,349			257,219			233,905			228,735

Reconciliation of Adjusted EBITDA ⁽¹⁰⁾:
Non-GAAP net income (loss)	$	279		$	(13,976	)	$	19,869		$	(51,953	)	$	24,821
Add: Interest expense, net		7,890			7,370			7,062			22,767			20,061
Less: Other gain (loss), net		446			507			(13	)		1,189			683
Add: Income tax effects		4,698			2,529			3,360			12,303			10,438
Add: Depreciation		13,501			13,285			13,498			39,975			38,694
Non-GAAP as adjusted	$	25,922		$	8,701		$	43,802		$	21,903		$	93,331

Net Income (Loss) per Common Share: GAAP
Basic	$	(0.06	)	$	(0.21	)	$	(0.04	)	$	(0.53	)	$	(0.17	)
Diluted⁽⁸⁾	$	(0.06	)	$	(0.21	)	$	(0.04	)	$	(0.53	)	$	(0.17	)

Net Income (Loss) per Common Share: Non-GAAP
Basic	$	0.00		$	(0.06	)	$	0.09		$	(0.22	)	$	0.11
Diluted⁽⁹⁾	$	0.00		$	(0.06	)	$	0.08		$	(0.22	)	$	0.11

⁽¹⁾	Stock-based compensation expense is calculated in accordance with the fair value recognition provisions of Financial Accounting Standards Board Accounting Standards Codification Topic 718, Compensation – Stock Compensation effective January 1, 2006. The following table summarizes the effects of stock-based compensation related to employees and non-employees (in thousands):

		Three months ended						Nine months ended
		September 28, 2024		June 29, 2024		September 30, 2023		September 28, 2024		September 30, 2023
Cost of revenue		$	2,084	$	1,777	$	2,515	$	5,754	$	7,672
Research and development			4,623		4,497		5,734		14,232		17,557
Sales and marketing			3,241		2,611		3,706		9,139		11,371
General and administration			4,441		916		3,790		9,596		12,793
Total operating expenses			12,305		8,024		13,230		32,967		41,721
	Total stock-based compensation expense	$	14,389	$	9,801	$	15,745	$	38,721	$	49,393

⁽²⁾	Amortization of acquired intangible assets consists of developed technology and customer relationships acquired in connection with the acquisitions of Coriant and Transmode AB. GAAP accounting requires that acquired intangible assets are recorded at fair value and amortized over their useful lives. As this amortization is non-cash, Infinera has excluded it from its non-GAAP gross profit, operating expenses and net income measures. Management believes the amortization of acquired intangible assets is not indicative of ongoing operating performance and its exclusion provides a better indication of Infinera’s underlying business performance.
⁽³⁾	Restructuring and other related costs are primarily associated with the reduction of headcount and the reduction of operating costs. In addition, this includes accelerated amortization on operating lease right-of-use assets due to the cessation of use of certain facilities. Management has excluded the impact of these charges in arriving at Infinera’s non-GAAP results as they are non-recurring in nature and its exclusion provides a better indication of Infinera’s underlying business performance.
⁽⁴⁾	Warehouse fire losses were incurred due to inventory destroyed in a warehouse fire in the third quarter of fiscal year 2022. Recoveries are recorded when they are probable of receipt. Management has excluded the impact of this loss and subsequent recoveries in arriving at Infinera’s non-GAAP results as it is non-recurring in nature and its exclusion provides a better indication of Infinera’s underlying business performance.
⁽⁵⁾	Merger-related charges represent costs incurred directly in connection with the pending merger with Nokia. Management has excluded the impact of these charges in arriving at Infinera’s non-GAAP results as they are non-recurring in nature and the exclusion of these charges provides a better indication of Infinera’s underlying business performance.
⁽⁶⁾	Foreign exchange (gains) losses, net, have been excluded from Infinera’s non-GAAP results because management believes that this expense is not indicative of ongoing operating performance and its exclusion provides a better indication of Infinera’s underlying business performance.
⁽⁷⁾	The difference between the GAAP and non-GAAP tax provision is due to the net tax effects of above non-GAAP adjustments. Management believes the exclusion of these tax effects provides a better indication of Infinera’s underlying business performance.
⁽⁸⁾	The GAAP diluted shares include potentially dilutive securities from Infinera’s stock-based benefit plans and convertible senior notes. These potentially dilutive securities are added for the computation of diluted net income per share on a GAAP basis in periods when Infinera has net income on a GAAP basis, as its inclusion provides a better indication of Infinera’s underlying business performance.

For purposes of calculating GAAP diluted earnings per share, we used the following net loss and weighted average common shares outstanding (in thousands, except per share data):

			Three months ended									Nine months ended
			September 28, 2024			June 29, 2024			September 30, 2023			September 28, 2024			September 30, 2023
GAAP net loss for basic earnings per share			$	(14,313	)	$	(48,287	)	$	(9,413	)	$	(123,995	)	$	(38,086	)
Interest expense related to the convertible senior notes, net of tax				—			—			—			—			—
GAAP net loss for diluted earnings per share			$	(14,313	)	$	(48,287	)	$	(9,413	)	$	(123,995	)	$	(38,086	)

Weighted average basic common shares outstanding				235,832			234,349			228,077			233,905			225,465
Dilutive effect of restricted and performance share units				—			—			—			—			—
Dilutive effect of 2024 convertible senior notes^(a)				—			—			—			—			—
Dilutive effect of 2027 convertible senior notes^(b)				—			—			—			—			—
Dilutive effect of 2028 convertible senior notes^(c)				—			—			—			—			—
Weighted average dilutive common shares outstanding				235,832			234,349			228,077			233,905			225,465

GAAP net loss per common share:
Basic			$	(0.06	)	$	(0.21	)	$	(0.04	)	$	(0.53	)	$	(0.17	)
Diluted			$	(0.06	)	$	(0.21	)	$	(0.04	)	$	(0.53	)	$	(0.17	)

	^(a)	For the three-months ended September 28, 2024, June 29, 2024, and September 30, 2023, there were 1.4 million, 1.9 million and 1.9 million shares, respectively, excluded from the calculation of diluted net loss per share, due to their anti-dilutive effect. For the nine-months ended September 28, 2024, and September 30, 2023, there were 1.7 million, and 7.1 million shares, respectively, excluded from the calculation of diluted net loss per share, due to their anti-dilutive effect.
	^(b)	For each of the three-months ended September 28, 2024, June 29, 2024, and September 30, 2023, there were 26.1 million shares excluded from the calculation of diluted net loss per share, due to their anti-dilutive effect. For each of the nine-months ended September 28, 2024, and September 30, 2023, there were 26.1 million shares excluded from the calculation of diluted net loss per share, due to their anti-dilutive effect.
	^(c)	For each of the three-months ended September 28, 2024, June 29, 2024, and September 30, 2023, there were no shares excluded from the calculation of diluted net loss per share. For the nine-months ended September 28, 2024, there were no shares excluded from the calculation of diluted net loss per share. For the nine-months ended September 30, 2023, there were 1.2 million shares excluded from the calculation of diluted net loss per share, due to their anti-dilutive effect.
⁽⁹⁾	The non-GAAP diluted shares include the potentially dilutive securities from Infinera’s stock-based benefit plans and convertible senior notes. These potentially dilutive securities are added for the computation of diluted net income per share on a non-GAAP basis in periods when Infinera has net income on a non-GAAP basis as its inclusion provides a better indication of Infinera’s underlying business performance. Refer to the diluted earnings per share reconciliation presented below.

For purposes of calculating non-GAAP diluted earnings per share, we used the following net income (loss) and weighted average common shares outstanding (in thousands, except per share data):

			Three months ended							Nine months ended
			September 28, 2024		June 29, 2024			September 30, 2023		September 28, 2024			September 30, 2023
Non-GAAP net income (loss) for basic earnings per share			$	279	$	(13,976	)	$	19,869	$	(51,953	)	$	24,821
Interest expense related to the convertible senior notes, net of tax				—		—			1,359		—			—
Non-GAAP net income (loss) for diluted earnings per share			$	279	$	(13,976	)	$	21,228	$	(51,953	)	$	24,821

Weighted average basic common shares outstanding				235,832		234,349			228,077		233,905			225,465
Dilutive effect of restricted and performance share units				4,670		—			1,123		—			2,005
Dilutive effect of employee stock purchase plan				—		—			—		—			70
Dilutive effect of 2024 convertible senior notes^(a)				—		—			1,899		—			—
Dilutive effect of 2027 convertible senior notes^(b)				—		—			26,120		—			—
Dilutive effect of 2028 convertible senior notes^(c)				—		—			—		—			1,195
Weighted average dilutive common shares outstanding				240,502		234,349			257,219		233,905			228,735

Non-GAAP net income (loss) per common share:
Basic			$	0.00	$	(0.06	)	$	0.09	$	(0.22	)	$	0.11
Diluted			$	0.00	$	(0.06	)	$	0.08	$	(0.22	)	$	0.11

	^(a)	For the three-months ended September 28, 2024, and June 29, 2024, there were 1.4 million, and 1.9 million shares, respectively, excluded from the calculation of diluted net income (loss) per share, due to their anti-dilutive effect. For the three-months ended September 30, 2023, there were no shares excluded from the calculation of diluted net income per share. For the nine-months ended September 28, 2024, and September 30, 2023, there were 1.7 million, and 7.1 million shares, respectively, excluded from the calculation of diluted net income (loss) per share, due to their anti-dilutive effect.
	^(b)	For each of the three-months ended September 28, 2024, and June 29, 2024, there were 26.1 million shares excluded from the calculation of diluted net income (loss) per share, due to their anti-dilutive effect. For the three-months ended September 30, 2023, there were no shares excluded from the calculation of diluted net income per share. For each of the nine-months ended September 28, 2024, and September 30, 2023, there were 26.1 million shares excluded from the calculation of diluted net income (loss) per share, due to their anti-dilutive effect.
	^(c)	For each of the three-months ended September 28, 2024, June 29, 2024, and September 30, 2023, there were no shares excluded from the calculation of diluted net income (loss) per share. For each of the nine-months ended September 28, 2024, and September 30, 2023, there were no shares excluded from the calculation of diluted net income (loss) per share.
⁽¹⁰⁾	Adjusted EBITDA is a non-GAAP supplemental measure of operating performance that does not represent and should not be considered an alternative to operating loss or cash flow from operations, as determined by GAAP. Infinera’s adjusted EBITDA is calculated by excluding the above non-GAAP adjustments, interest expense, net, other gain (loss), net, income tax effects and depreciation expenses. Management believes that adjusted EBITDA is an important financial measure for use in evaluating Infinera’s financial performance, as it measures the ability of our business operations to generate cash.

Infinera Corporation
GAAP to Non-GAAP Reconciliations
(In thousands)
(Unaudited)

Free Cash Flow

We define free cash flow as net cash provided by (used in) operating activities in the period minus the purchase of property and equipment made in the period.

Free cash flow is considered a non-GAAP financial measure under the SEC’s rules. Management believes that free cash flow is an important financial measure for use in evaluating Infinera’s financial performance, as it measures our ability to generate additional cash from our business operations. Free cash flow should be considered in addition to, rather than as a substitute for, net loss as a measure of our performance or net cash provided by (used in) operating activities as a measure of our liquidity. Additionally, our definition of free cash flow is limited and does not represent residual cash flows available for discretionary expenditures due to the fact that the measure does not deduct the payments required for debt service and other obligations. Therefore, we believe it is important to view free cash flow as supplemental to our entire statement of cash flows.

	Three months ended									Nine months ended
	September 28, 2024			June 29, 2024			September 30, 2023			September 28, 2024			September 30, 2023
Net cash provided by (used in) operating activities	$	44,563		$	(59,954	)	$	(29,793	)	$	8,635		$	(30,142	)
Purchase of property and equipment		(24,090	)		(14,582	)		(13,318	)		(46,748	)		(40,900	)
Free cash flow	$	20,473		$	(74,536	)	$	(43,111	)	$	(38,113	)	$	(71,042	)

Infinera Corporation
Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets
(In thousands, except par values)
(Unaudited)

	September 28, 2024			December 30, 2023
ASSETS
Current assets:
Cash and cash equivalents	$	115,089		$	172,505
Short-term restricted cash		42			517
Accounts receivable, net		288,265			381,981
Inventory		356,119			431,163
Prepaid expenses and other current assets		162,560			129,218
Total current assets		922,075			1,115,384
Property, plant and equipment, net		231,190			206,997
Operating lease right-of-use assets		39,359			39,973
Intangible assets, net		18,050			24,819
Goodwill		237,509			240,566
Long-term restricted cash		446			837
Other long-term assets		57,128			50,662
Total assets	$	1,505,757		$	1,679,238
LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY
Current liabilities:
Accounts payable	$	259,225		$	299,005
Accrued expenses and other current liabilities		137,078			110,758
Accrued compensation and related benefits		48,683			85,203
Short-term debt, net		10,473			25,512
Accrued warranty		12,635			17,266
Deferred revenue		116,332			136,248
Total current liabilities		584,426			673,992
Long-term debt, net		667,205			658,756
Long-term accrued warranty		12,554			15,934
Long-term deferred revenue		21,626			21,332
Long-term deferred tax liability		1,770			1,805
Long-term operating lease liabilities		44,563			47,464
Other long-term liabilities		39,767			43,364
Commitments and contingencies
Stockholders’ equity:
Preferred stock, $0.001 par value Authorized shares – 25,000 and no shares issued and outstanding		—			—
Common stock, $0.001 par value Authorized shares – 500,000 as of September 28, 2024 and December 30, 2023 Issued and outstanding shares – 236,296 as of September 28, 2024 and 230,994 as of December 30, 2023		236			231
Additional paid-in capital		2,012,820			1,976,014
Accumulated other comprehensive loss		(30,409	)		(34,848	)
Accumulated deficit		(1,848,801	)		(1,724,806	)
Total stockholders’ equity		133,846			216,591
Total liabilities and stockholders’ equity	$	1,505,757		$	1,679,238

Infinera Corporation
Condensed Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows
(In thousands)
(Unaudited)

	Nine months ended
	September 28, 2024			September 30, 2023
Cash Flows from Operating Activities:
Net loss	$	(123,995	)	$	(38,086	)
Adjustments to reconcile net loss to net cash provided by (used in) operating activities:
Depreciation and amortization		46,744			59,403
Non-cash restructuring charges and other related costs		32			1,183
Amortization of debt issuance costs and discount		2,750			2,970
Operating lease expense		6,905			6,402
Stock-based compensation expense		38,721			49,393
Other, net		139			(683	)
Changes in assets and liabilities:
Accounts receivable		92,364			89,248
Inventory		74,527			(82,983	)
Prepaid expenses and other current assets		(48,141	)		16,811
Accounts payable		(57,127	)		(27,798	)
Accrued expenses and other current liabilities		(5,386	)		(46,163	)
Deferred revenue		(18,898	)		(59,839	)
Net cash provided by (used in) operating activities		8,635			(30,142	)
Cash Flows from Investing Activities:
Purchase of property and equipment		(46,748	)		(40,900	)
Net cash used in investing activities		(46,748	)		(40,900	)
Cash Flows from Financing Activities:
Proceeds from issuance of 2028 Notes, net of discount		—			98,751
Repayment of 2024 Notes		(18,747	)		(83,446	)
Payment of debt issuance cost		—			(2,108	)
Proceeds from asset-based revolving credit facility		50,000			—
Repayment of asset-based revolving credit facility		(40,000	)		—
Repayment of mortgage payable		(354	)		(381	)
Principal payments on finance lease obligations		(469	)		(784	)
Payment of term license obligation		(7,882	)		(7,720	)
Proceeds from issuance of common stock		5			14,931
Tax withholding paid on behalf of employees for net share settlement		(1,860	)		(2,217	)
Net cash (used in) provided by financing activities		(19,307	)		17,026
Effect of exchange rate changes on cash		(862	)		(8,551	)
Net change in cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash		(58,282	)		(62,567	)
Cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash at beginning of period		173,859			189,203
Cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash at end of period⁽¹⁾	$	115,577		$	126,636

Infinera Corporation
Condensed Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows
(In thousands)
(Unaudited)

	Nine months ended
	September 28, 2024		September 30, 2023
Supplemental disclosures of cash flow information:
Cash paid for income taxes, net	$	18,205	$	9,955
Cash paid for interest	$	25,967	$	21,579
Supplemental schedule of non-cash investing and financing activities:
Property and equipment included in accounts payable and accrued liabilities	$	26,779	$	18,529
Transfer of inventory to fixed assets	$	—	$	1,207
Unpaid term licenses (included in accounts payable, accrued liabilities and other long-term liabilities)	$	16,380	$	16,510

⁽¹⁾Reconciliation of cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash to the condensed consolidated balance sheets (in thousands):

	September 28, 2024		September 30, 2023
Cash and cash equivalents	$	115,089	$	123,927
Short-term restricted cash		42		1,725
Long-term restricted cash		446		984
Total cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash	$	115,577	$	126,636

Infinera Corporation
Supplemental Financial Information
(Unaudited)

		Q4’22			Q1’23			Q2’23			Q3’23			Q4’23			Q1’24			Q2’24			Q3’24
GAAP Revenue $(Mil)		$	485.9		$	392.1		$	376.2		$	392.4		$	453.5		$	306.9		$	342.7		$	354.4
GAAP Gross Margin %			37.1	%		37.5	%		38.0	%		40.3	%		38.6	%		36.0	%		39.6	%		39.8	%
	Non-GAAP Gross Margin %⁽¹⁾		38.7	%		38.8	%		39.3	%		41.9	%		39.6	%		36.6	%		40.3	%		40.4	%
GAAP Revenue Composition:
Domestic %			61	%		60	%		58	%		59	%		68	%		54	%		58	%		60	%
International %			39	%		40	%		42	%		41	%		32	%		46	%		42	%		40	%
Customers >10% of Revenue			1			—			1			1			1			—			—			2
Cash Related Information:
Cash from Operations $(Mil)		$	(0.6	)	$	(1.8	)	$	1.4		$	(29.7	)	$	79.6		$	24.0		$	(59.9	)	$	44.5
Capital Expenditures $(Mil)		$	8.3		$	16.8		$	10.8		$	13.3		$	21.4		$	8.1		$	14.6		$	24.0
Depreciation & Amortization $(Mil)		$	19.8		$	19.6		$	19.8		$	20.0		$	19.4		$	15.4		$	15.6		$	15.7
DSOs⁽²⁾			79			78			79			76			77			79			76			74
Inventory Metrics:
Raw Materials $(Mil)		$	48.7		$	67.6		$	85.4		$	110.4		$	133.6		$	132.5		$	119.4		$	105.2
Work in Process $(Mil)		$	66.6		$	71.8		$	71.9		$	69.9		$	68.4		$	68.6		$	68.7		$	67.6
Finished Goods $(Mil)		$	259.6		$	273.6		$	270.1		$	276.6		$	229.2		$	219.6		$	196.1		$	183.3
Total Inventory $(Mil)		$	374.9		$	413.0		$	427.4		$	456.9		$	431.2		$	420.7		$	384.2		$	356.1
Inventory Turns⁽³⁾			3.4			2.4			2.2			2.1			2.5			1.8			2.0			2.3
Worldwide Headcount			3,267			3,351			3,365			3,369			3,389			3,323			3,334			3,340
Weighted Average Shares Outstanding (in thousands):
Basic			219,921			222,393			225,922			228,077			230,509			231,533			234,349			235,832
Diluted			258,030			265,921			262,712			257,219			259,210			260,980			265,591			267,999

⁽¹⁾	Non-GAAP adjustments include stock-based compensation expense, amortization of acquired intangible assets, restructuring and other related costs and warehouse fire recovery. For a description of this non-GAAP financial measure, please see the section titled, “GAAP to Non-GAAP Reconciliations” of this press release for a reconciliation to the most directly comparable GAAP financial measures. For reconciliations of prior periods that are not otherwise provided herein, see the prior period earnings releases available on our Investor Relations webpage.
⁽²⁾	Infinera calculates DSO based on 91 days. Fiscal year 2022 was 53 weeks and the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2022 was 98 days. When calculation is based on 98 days, DSO was 85 days for the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2022.
⁽³⁾	Infinera calculates non-GAAP inventory turns as annualized non-GAAP cost of revenue, which is calculated as GAAP cost of revenue less stock-based compensation expense, amortization of acquired intangible assets, restructuring and other related costs and warehouse fire recovery, as illustrated in the reconciliation of gross profit above, divided by the average inventory for the quarter.

The MIL Network –

January 26, 2025

MIL-OSI: Aktia’s financial calendar and Annual General Meeting in 2025

Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

Aktia Bank Plc
Stock Exchange Release
6 November 2024 at 7.50 a.m.

Aktia’s financial calendar and Annual General Meeting in 2025

Financial Statement Release 2024

Aktia Bank Plc publishes its Financial Statement Release for 2024 on Wednesday 12 February 2025.

Annual Report 2024

Aktia Bank Plc’s Annual Report 2024 will be published on Thursday 13 March 2025.

Annual General Meeting of Shareholders 2025

Aktia Bank Plc’s Annual General Meeting of Shareholders is planned to be held on Thursday 3 April 2025.

Interim Reports 2025

Interim Report January–March 2025: Wednesday 7 May 2025
Half-year Report January–June 2025: Tuesday 5 August 2025
Interim Report January–September 2025: Thursday 6 November 2025

Aktia Bank Plc

For more information:
Oscar Taimitarha, Director, Investor Relations, tel. +358 40 562 2315

Distribution:
Nasdaq Helsinki Ltd
Mass media
www.aktia.com

Aktia is a Finnish asset manager, bank and life insurer that has been creating wealth and wellbeing from one generation to the next for 200 years. We serve our customers in digital channels everywhere and face-to-face in our offices in the Helsinki, Turku, Tampere, Vaasa and Oulu regions. Our award-winning asset management business sells investment funds internationally. We employ approximately 850 people around Finland. Aktia’s assets under management (AuM) on 30 June 2024 amounted to EUR 14.1 billion, and the balance sheet total was EUR 12.4 billion. Aktia’s shares are listed on Nasdaq Helsinki Ltd (AKTIA). aktia.com.

The MIL Network –

January 26, 2025

MIL-OSI: Aktia Bank Plc’s Interim Report January–September 2024: Stable quarterly result and positive trend in asset management

Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

Aktia Bank Plc
Stock Exchange Release
6 November 2024 at 8.00 a.m.

Aktia Bank Plc’s Interim Report January–September 2024: Stable quarterly result and positive trend in asset management

The quarter in short

Comparable operating profit: EUR 31.5 million, somewhat higher than last year (31.0).
Comparable cost/income ratio: 0.56 (0.55).
Comparable return on equity (ROE): 15.0 (15.8)%; the difference is mainly due to a higher average equity.
Net commission income: 3% higher than last year thanks to higher net income from funds and card operations.
Assets under management: Increased in the quarter, driven by positive net subscriptions and favourable market development.
Net interest income: 7% lower than last year due to the impact of non-standard interest terms for certain corporate accounts and falling interest rates.
Net income from life insurance: Strong development due to good sales, low loss ratio and good investment performance.
Comparable operating expenses: Good cost control despite continued investments in IT.
Credit losses: Provisions decreased compared to last year.
The share of assets under management classified as sustainable under Article 8/9 increased to 98.1% from 95.3% last year.

Outlook 2024 (unchanged)

Aktia’s comparable operating profit for 2024 is expected to be higher than the EUR 104.8 million reported for 2023.

The outlook has been prepared based on the following expectations:

Despite market uncertainty and a probable decline in interest rates, the net interest income is expected to be higher than in 2023.
Net commission income is expected to be somewhat higher than in 2023, provided that the market conditions are favourable.
The life insurance business is expected to develop steadily. However, the result may be affected by changes in market values.
Total operating expenses are expected to remain on approximately the same level as in 2023, given the absence of stability contribution offset by higher expected IT expenses.
Impairments and provisions for credit losses are expected to increase slightly compared to the 2023 level, given the current market situation.

Aleksi Lehtonen, CEO:

I have said in various contexts that only a company with thriving employees can have genuinely satisfied customers. During the year, we have seen the results of Aktia’s employee surveys moving in the right direction. Therefore, it is not surprising – but all the more pleasing – that we have also seen a significant improvement in customer satisfaction.

The very comprehensive EPSI Rating study, published in the third quarter, shows how our customer satisfaction develops and where we stand compared to the sector. Aktia has improved significantly in all the sub-areas covered by the EPSI study, and our overall result is now very close to the “very satisfied” threshold. This year, Aktia was the bank improving the most in the ranking. The study shows that our customers to a large extent are also likely to recommend Aktia.

I am happy and grateful for this feedback and especially for the fact that our customers explicitly feel appreciated and cared for. This is in line with the direct feedback I have received when attending customer meetings: Aktia’s customers appreciate personal service and there exists a strong trust. My message regarding both employee and customer satisfaction is the same: we are moving in the right direction, but there is still work to be done. We can become even better, and we need to prove ourselves worthy of our customers’ confidence every day.

As an asset manager, customer confidence is of the utmost importance to us in our aim to be the best partner for those who want to increase their wealth over time. We fulfil our purpose, to create wealth, by thinking further with our customers and always making sure that our customers have a good wealth plan. Managing and increasing wealth in a well-planned way is to act responsibly, not only for ourselves, but also for those close to us. It should also be noted that a large part of the wealth in Finland will be transferred to the next generation within a decade, which requires a great deal of planning.

Continued stable performance

The financial result remained stable in the third quarter. The comparable operating profit of EUR 31.5 million was well in line with the two previous quarters of 2024 and was 2% higher than in the third quarter of 2023, which was the best quarter last year performance-wise. Our comparable return on equity (ROE) was 15% and the comparable cost-to-income ratio was 0.56 – both again at a better level than our long-term objectives of ROE of at least 12% and cost-to-income ratio below 0.60.

The good result was driven by higher net commission income, strong net income from life insurance and continued cost control. On the other hand, the net interest income for the quarter was still partly burdened by the non-standard corporate interest rates announced in July. We revised the accounts in the third quarter, and the terms for corporate accounts are now up to date.

Positive net subscriptions and improvement in the housing market

The positive development in asset management continued. I am very pleased that customer assets under management continued to increase and especially that net subscriptions were positive during the quarter. Overall, the inflow into Aktia’s own funds has been strong this year and in September, Aktia Fund Management Company was among the best in Finland measured in net subscriptions. The fact that a significant proportion of investments are made in insurance wrappers shows that capitalisation redemption contracts and unit-linked insurance play an important role in our customers’ investment solutions. There is a clear confidence in Aktia’s investment solutions, and the best recognition we can get is when customers trust us to manage their wealth.

There are also encouraging signs in the housing market, and we have noted a growing trend in the number of loan applications, which started to pick up in the summer. In the third quarter, we already saw growth in the loan book among Premium and Private banking customers, although the total loan book decreased slightly as a result of amortisations.

Value creation through updated strategy

As I have mentioned earlier, we are currently reviewing the Group’s overall strategy and long-term financial objectives. Our current strategy period extends to 2025, and now is the time to reflect and choose our priorities for the coming years. The work is progressing well and we look forward to being able to tell about our strategic priorities in more detail. However, the purpose of our activities remains the same: to create prosperity – for our customers, employees, owners, and society as a whole.

Key Figures

(EUR million)	Q3/2024	Q3/2023	∆ %	1–9/2024	1–9/2023	∆ %	Q2/2024	∆ %	1–12/2023
Net interest income	36.1	38.6	-7%	114.0	102.3	11 %	38.8	-7%	140.4
Net commission income	30.9	30.0	3%	91.8	90.6	1 %	30.8	0%	120.4
Net income from life insurance	8.9	5.1	74%	23.9	18.0	33 %	7.4	21%	24.1
Total operating income	76.1	74.3	2%	230.1	212.9	8 %	76.7	-1%	287.4
Operating expenses	-43.1	-40.8	6%	-129.3	-130.1	-1 %	-44.8	-4%	-176.6
Impairment of credits and other commitments	-1.8	-2.3	-23%	-6.3	-4.5	39%	-1.8	-3%	-7.0
Operating profit	31.2	31.0	1%	94.6	78.1	21%	30.1	4%	102.6
Comparable operating income¹	76.1	74.3	2%	230.1	212.7	8 %	76.7	-1%	287.2
Comparable operating expenses¹	-42.8	-40.8	5%	-127.7	-128.7	-1%	-44.1	-3%	-174.2
Comparable operating profit¹	31.5	31.0	2%	96.2	79.2	21%	30.8	2%	104.8
Cost-to-income ratio	0.57	0.55	3%	0.56	0.61	-8%	0.58	-3%	0.61
Comparable cost-to-income ratio¹	0.56	0.55	3%	0.55	0.61	-8%	0.57	-2%	0.61
Earnings per share (EPS), EUR	0.34	0.33	3%	1.05	0.85	23%	0.33	3%	1.12
Comparable earnings per share (EPS), EUR, euro¹	0.34	0.33	4%	1.06	0.86	23%	0.34	1%	1.15
Return on equity (ROE), %	14.9	15.8	-0,9*	15.3	13.7	1,6*	14.5	0,3*	13.3
Comparable return on equity (ROE), %¹	15.0	15.8	-0,8*	15.6	13.9	1,7*	14.9	0,1*	13.6
Common Equity Tier 1 capital ratio (CET1), %²	11.9	11.0	0,9*	11.9	11.0	0,9*	11.5	0,4*	11.3

1) Alternative performance measures
2) At the end of the period
* The change is calculated in percentage points

Briefing for analysts, investors and media

Aktia’s results briefing for analysts, investors and media will be held in English on Wednesday 6 November 2024 at 10.30 a.m. Aktia’s CEO Aleksi Lehtonen and interim CFO Karri Varis will present the results.

The briefing can be viewed live as a webcast or as a recording after the event at https://aktia.videosync.fi/aktia-pankki-oyj-q3-report-2024. Questions can be submitted in writing during the live webcast.

AKTIA BANK PLC

For more information:
Oscar Taimitarha, Director, Investor Relations, tel. +358 40 562 2315

Distribution:
Nasdaq Helsinki Ltd
Mass media
www.aktia.com

Aktia is a Finnish asset manager, bank and life insurer that has been creating wealth and wellbeing from one generation to the next for 200 years. We serve our customers in digital channels everywhere and face-to-face in our offices in the Helsinki, Turku, Tampere, Vaasa and Oulu regions. Our award-winning asset management business sells investment funds internationally. We employ approximately 850 people around Finland. Aktia’s assets under management (AuM) on 30 September 2024 amounted to EUR 14.3 billion, and the balance sheet total was EUR 12.0 billion. Aktia’s shares are listed on Nasdaq Helsinki Ltd (AKTIA). aktia.com.

Attachment

Aktia Bank Plc Interim report 1–9_2024

The MIL Network –

January 26, 2025

MIL-OSI: Report for the nine months ended 30 September 2024

Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

Highlights

Added 33 GWh of annual proportionate power generation in the SE3 and SE4 price areas through acquisitions and increased ownership in existing windfarms.
Power generation amounted to 620 GWh for the reporting period, which was approximately ten percent below expectations, due to lower-than-average wind speeds and voluntary production curtailments during periods of low electricity prices.
Continued progress on the Company’s greenfield projects, with additional land secured and the first projects in the UK and Germany approaching the ready-to-permit stage.

Consolidated financials – 9 months

Cash flows from investing activities amounted to MEUR 39.5 and was positively impacted by the sale of the Leikanger hydropower plant in the second quarter.
Cash flows from operating activities amounted to MEUR -3.6.

Proportionate financials – 9 months

Achieved electricity price amounted to EUR 35 per MWh, which resulted in a proportionate EBITDA of MEUR 6.9.
Proportionate net debt of MEUR 55.9, with significant liquidity headroom available through the MEUR 170 revolving credit facility.

Financial Summary

Orrön Energy owns renewables assets directly and through joint ventures and associated companies and is presenting proportionate financials to show the net ownership and related results of these assets. The purpose of the proportionate reporting is to give an enhanced insight into the Company’s operational and financial results.

Expressed in MEUR	1 Jan 2024- 30 Sep 2024 9 months	1 Jul 2024- 30 Sep 2024 3 months	1 Jan 2023- 30 Sep 2023 9 months	1 Jul 2023- 30 Sep 2023 3 months	1 Jan 2023- 31 Dec 2023 12 months
Consolidated financials
Revenue	18.6	1.6	19.6	2.3	28.0
EBITDA	0.9	-7.1	-4.2	-6.7	-5.1
Operating profit (EBIT)	-11.2	-11.3	-12.6	-9.4	-17.0
Net result	-6.7	-11.1	-15.6	-7.8	-7.6
Earnings per share – EUR	-0.02	-0.04	-0.05	-0.03	-0.03
Earnings per share diluted – EUR	-0.02	-0.04	-0.05	-0.03	-0.03
Proportionate financials¹
Power generation (GWh)	620	164	539	161	765
Average price achieved per MWh – EUR	35	18	49	23	47
Operating expenses per MWh – EUR	18	21	18	20	18
Revenue	22.0	2.9	26.6	3.6	36.2
EBITDA	6.9	-4.9	4.0	-4.3	5.3
Operating profit (EBIT)	-8.1	-10.1	-7.8	-8.2	-11.0

¹ Proportionate financials represent Orrön Energy’s proportionate ownership (net) of assets and related financial results, including joint ventures. For more details see section Key Financial Data in the report for the interim report for the third quarter.

Comment from Daniel Fitzgerald, CEO of Orrön Energy AB
“The third quarter provided many opportunities for our business, in a period characterised by low and volatile electricity prices. We continued to grow our business through selective acquisitions and consolidation opportunities, and continued to lay the foundation for future growth through our greenfield projects across Europe. However, the third quarter was challenging from a revenue and electricity price perspective, impacting our financial results. In the Nordics this was primarily due to lower-than-expected electricity demand, low gas prices and an oversupply of electricity during peak hours. Despite these challenges, we successfully expanded our asset base through strategic acquisitions of shares and assets across wind farms and companies, delivered in line with our cost guidance and maintained high technical availability across our operational portfolio. Orrön Energy’s balance sheet remains robust and we have ample liquidity to continue to invest in growth while withstanding periods with lower electricity prices, allowing us to capitalise on opportunities when markets are weak.

Proportionate power generation amounted to 620 GWh for the reporting period and was below expectations due to lower-than-average wind speeds and voluntary production curtailments during periods of low electricity prices. I am pleased that we continue to achieve high technical availability across our operational assets, reaching an average of 96 percent in the third quarter, which demonstrates that we have the capacity to produce more if not for the weather conditions and low prices. Lower seasonal demand, coupled with high volatility in the electricity markets, resulted in a higher number of hours with low or negative electricity prices across the Nordics this summer. During these periods, we proactively curtailed production for short periods to avoid uneconomical power generation, returning to full operation once prices strengthened. As we move into winter, we expect to see higher demand which should help to strengthen electricity pricing into the fourth quarter this year and the first quarter next year, as already reflected in the futures price. Based on our power generation year to date, we now expect to produce around 900 GWh in 2024, depending on wind speeds and power prices during the fourth quarter.

The third quarter marks one year since the start of the Sudan trial in the Stockholm District Court, which will conclude in early 2026 with a verdict expected around the summer 2026. My view on this case remains unchanged and, if anything, it has strengthened over the past 12 months, and I expect a complete and unequivocal acquittal of all parties involved, given the baseless nature of the allegations. Once the trial is complete, we will no longer need to fund the ongoing legal costs related to this case which reduces our G&A expenses by around MEUR 7 per annum, leading to higher underlying EBITDA for the Company in the long term.

Strategic Growth
We have been active on the M&A front since the start of the summer, adding 33 GWh of annual power generation in the SE3 and SE4 price areas through increased ownership in various wind farms and companies. These investments strengthen our operational portfolio, and we will continue to seek opportunities to further consolidate ownership in assets that are complementary to our existing portfolio.

On the greenfield front, we continue to make good progress with our growth strategy. Having secured additional land, we are now moving closer to the ready-to-permit phase for our first large-scale projects in both the UK and Germany, where market valuations and demand for such projects remain high. Additionally, we have commissioned our first battery project in Sweden and continue to advance a pipeline of projects across wind, solar and batteries in the Nordics.

Financially Resilient
We remain in a financially robust position, with liquidity headroom exceeding MEUR 110. Proportionate revenues and other income amounted to MEUR 2.9 for the third quarter, which was impacted by low electricity prices, resulting in a proportionate EBITDA of MEUR -4.9 for the third quarter and MEUR 6.9 for the reporting period. Due to cost savings and phasing of investments into 2025, we are revising our capital expenditure guidance to MEUR 11 for 2024.

Looking Ahead
Throughout the remainder of the year, we will intensify our efforts on the greenfield side to reach the ready-to-permit phase for our first large-scale projects, while continuing to explore opportunities to capitalise on the current market conditions. Orrön Energy has a resilient financial position, enabling us to withstand periods of low pricing while still investing in accretive growth opportunities and acquisitions. I expect market conditions to improve as we come into the winter months, and over time, I am convinced that we will see further value creation through the growth in our core business and greenfield projects.

Once again, I thank our shareholders for their continued support and look forward to sharing updates as we continue to grow the business.”

Webcast
Listen to Daniel Fitzgerald, CEO and Espen Hennie, CFO commenting on the report and presenting the latest developments in Orrön Energy and its future growth strategy at a webcast held on 8 August 2024 at 14.00 CEST. The presentation will be followed by a question-and-answer session.

Registration for the webcast presentation is available on the website and the below link:
https://vimeo.com/event/4678321/54544efc16

For further information, please contact:

Robert Eriksson
Director Corporate Affairs and Investor Relations
Tel: +46 701 11 26 15
robert.eriksson@orron.com

Jenny Sandström
Communications Lead
Tel: +41 79 431 63 68
jenny.sandstrom@orron.com

Orrön Energy is an independent, publicly listed (Nasdaq Stockholm: “ORRON”) renewable energy company within the Lundin Group of Companies. Orrön Energy’s core portfolio consists of high quality, cash flow generating assets in the Nordics, coupled with greenfield growth opportunities in the Nordics, the UK, Germany and France. With financial capacity to fund further growth and acquisitions, and backed by a major shareholder, management and Board with a proven track record of investing into, leading and growing highly successful businesses, Orrön Energy is in a unique position to create shareholder value through the energy transition.

Forward-looking statements
Statements in this press release relating to any future status or circumstances, including statements regarding future performance, growth and other trend projections, are forward-looking statements. These statements may generally, but not always, be identified by the use of words such as “anticipate”, “believe”, “expect”, “intend”, “plan”, “seek”, “will”, “would” or similar expressions. By their nature, forward-looking statements involve risk and uncertainty because they relate to events and depend on circumstances that could occur in the future. There can be no assurance that actual results will not differ materially from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements due to several factors, many of which are outside the company’s control. Any forward-looking statements in this press release speak only as of the date on which the statements are made and the company has no obligation (and undertakes no obligation) to update or revise any of them, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

Attachment

Q3 Report 2024 ENG

The MIL Network –

January 26, 2025

MIL-OSI: Aktia Bank Plc’s directed share issue as a part of the long-term share savings plan

Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

Aktia Bank Plc
Stock Exchange Release
6 November 2024 at 9.00 a.m.

Aktia Bank Plc’s directed share issue as a part of the long-term share savings plan

As part of the Aktia Group’s employee share savings plan AktiaUna 2024–2025, Aktia Bank Plc has issued a total of 105,167 new shares. The share issue is based on the authorisation by the Annual General Meeting of Shareholders held on 3 April 2024.

Aktia Bank Plc’s share savings plan AktiaUna is open for all employees in the group and a participant is offered the opportunity to save a proportion of his or her salary to be used for acquisition of Aktia shares (so called savings shares). The employee share savings plan is further described in Aktia’s annual and sustainability report.

The new shares are savings shares subscribed for the participants with the participants’ savings accrued during 1 April–30 September 2024. The subscription price is 8.36 euro per share, which is based on the volume weighted average share price on Nasdaq Helsinki Ltd during 1–31 October 2024 with a 10 per cent discount.

The new shares will be entered into the Trade Register approximately on 20 November 2024 and will be applied for public trading on Nasdaq Helsinki Ltd approximately as of 21 November 2024. The number of shares in Aktia after this share issue will increase up to 72,981,696 shares. The share subscription price will be credited in full to the company’s reserve for invested unrestricted equity.

AKTIA BANK PLC

For more information:
Oscar Taimitarha, Director, Investor Relations, tel. +358 40 562 2315

Distribution:
Nasdaq Helsinki Ltd
Mass media
www.aktia.com

Aktia is a Finnish asset manager, bank and life insurer that has been creating wealth and wellbeing from one generation to the next for 200 years. We serve our customers in digital channels everywhere and face-to-face in our offices in the Helsinki, Turku, Tampere, Vaasa and Oulu regions. Our award-winning asset management business sells investment funds internationally. We employ approximately 850 people around Finland. Aktia’s assets under management (AuM) on 30 September 2024 amounted to EUR 14.3 billion, and the balance sheet total was EUR 12.0 billion. Aktia’s shares are listed on Nasdaq Helsinki Ltd (AKTIA). aktia.com.

The MIL Network –

January 26, 2025
MIL-OSI: Kvika banki hf.: Publication of Q3 Financial Results on Wednesday 6 November

Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

The Board of Directors of Kvika banki hf. is set to approve the financial statements of the Group for the third quarter and the first nine months of 2024 at a board meeting on Wednesday 6 November. The financial statements will subsequently be published after domestic markets have closed.

A meeting to present the results to shareholders and market participants will be combined with Kvika’s Capital Markets Day which will be held the next day, at 12:00 on Thursday 6 November in Harpa’s Northern Lights Hall and through a live webcast.

The presentation will be conducted in Icelandic and a recording of the meeting with English subtitles will later be made available on Kvika’s website.

For further information please contact Kvika’s investor relations at ir@kvika.is

The MIL Network –

January 26, 2025
MIL-OSI Global: Scott Moe won in Saskatchewan promising economic prosperity, but does that truly help citizens?

Source: The Conversation – Canada – By Iryna Khovrenkov, Associate Professor, Johnson Shoyama Graduate School of Public Policy, University of Regina

After winning the recent provincial election, the Saskatchewan Party’s Scott Moe promised a “strong economy, bright future.”

But does a strong economy necessarily guarantee a bright future?

Between 1998 and 2018, Saskatchewan’s gross domestic product (GDP) grew by 45 per cent, making it the fourth largest in Canada.

Even after the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, Saskatchewan led the nation in economic growth, registering a hike of six per cent.

Over the same 20 years, however, Saskatchewan’s well-being increased by only 13 per cent, according to the Saskatchewan Index of Wellbeing.

This lag in well-being has only amplified the struggles of the province’s citizens in terms of drug use, youth mental health, homelessness and hate crimes.

Evidently, and despite its impressive magnitude, Saskatchewan’s economic growth alone does not fully reflect the province’s progress in terms of citizen well-being.

What is well-being?

Well-being is a multi-dimensional concept that goes beyond the level or rate of growth of GDP and can illuminate ongoing major policy challenges. GDP, on the other hand, is one-dimensional, developed prior to the Second World War and well before today’s significant policy concerns.

As defined by the Saskatchewan Index of Wellbeing, it’s achieved when people are physically, emotionally and spiritually healthy; economically secure; have a strong sense of identity, belonging and place; and have the confidence and capacity to engage as citizens.

Well-being encompasses many aspects that make our lives good — happiness and wellness at the personal level, strong social capital and belonging at the community level. These aspects can then form a strong foundation to tackle larger issues at the societal level such as social justice and environmental sustainability.

International well-being initiatives

Many countries, including Canada with its Canadian Index of Wellbeing, have not only developed well-being frameworks but many now routinely collect and publish well-being indicators.

A handful of jurisdictions — like France, Italy and Sweden — have also begun including quality-of-life measures as benchmarks of their progress.

New Zealand even formally budgets for well-being and released its first Wellbeing Budget in 2019.

Regardless of geography or political structure, one common motivation for developing these well-being frameworks is a recognition that economic metrics such as GDP are insufficient to measure a country’s human and environmental progress.

Read more:
Australia’s wellbeing budget: what we can – and can’t – learn from NZ

A well-being approach to policy

For an effective path forward, citizen well-being should be a guiding principle for government leaders. Community Initiatives Fund and Heritage Saskatchewan, joint forces behind the Saskatchewan Index of Wellbeing, have long called on decision-makers to incorporate well-being into policy.

The federal government has recently introduced the Quality-of-Life Framework as its first step towards integrating well-being into policymaking. But are these efforts reaching local governments, which carry a regulatory duty of fostering citizen well-being?

I partnered with the Community Initiatives Fund and Heritage Saskatchewan to survey more than 25 per cent of rural and urban municipalities in Saskatchewan on what’s facilitated or hindered the adoption of well-being into policy in their communities.

We learned that only 17 per cent of our participating municipalities adopted a well-being approach in their official community plans, although 55 per cent of them consider community well-being elements when developing policies and budgets.

Additionally, 46 per cent are interested in adopting a well-being approach but have cited lack of financial and human resources, time, community and team support as key challenges in shifting to a well-being approach.

Finally, we learned that arts, culture and sports amenities were identified as a pressing community need by 36 per cent of our respondents, compared to only six per cent referencing economic sustainability and growth.

Our findings also support existing evidence that rural communities become stronger when they value well-being more than economic growth.

The five elements of a well-being economy. (ICLEI Europe YouTube Channel)

Municipal action required

As the government level closest to the people, municipalities matter. Services provided by local authorities define citizens’ well-being and their quality of life. Also, local efforts have the potential to inspire province-wide change.

With urban municipalities in Saskatchewan gearing up for their own elections on Nov. 13, it’s a good time to consider prioritizing community well-being.

In the words of Jacinda Ardern, the former prime minister of New Zealand: “Growth alone does not lead to a great country …. so it’s time to focus on those things that do.”

For real change to occur, well-being should lie at the heart of policymaking.

The research project about well-being in municipal policy is a product of a partnership between Iryna Khovrenkov at the University of Regina, Tracey Mann at Community Initiatives Fund and Ingrid Cazakoff at Heritage Saskatchewan. The financial support of Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council Partnership Engage Grant number 892-2021-3028 is gratefully acknowledged.

– ref. Scott Moe won in Saskatchewan promising economic prosperity, but does that truly help citizens? – https://theconversation.com/scott-moe-won-in-saskatchewan-promising-economic-prosperity-but-does-that-truly-help-citizens-242574

MIL OSI – Global Reports –

January 26, 2025
MIL-OSI: Serstech Secures 9.7 MSEK Orders from Chilean Partner Aerotech

Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

Serstech has today received two orders totaling 9.7 MSEK from its Chilean partner, Aerotech. The orders include the Serstech Arx mkII and ChemDash software, with delivery and invoicing scheduled for the fourth quarter of 2024.

The final recipients of these orders are the Carabineros and the Investigations Police of Chile (PDI). PDI is the nation’s primary civilian police force specializing in criminal investigations, intelligence operations, and counterterrorism, with a particular focus on areas such as drug trafficking and organized crime.

These orders represent the fourth and fifth in 2024 from Chilean law enforcement through Aerotech, underscoring the growing demand for Serstech’s solutions in the region.

For further information, please contact:

Stefan Sandor,

CEO, Serstech AB Phone: +46 739 606 067

Email: ss@serstech.com

or

Thomas Pileby,

Chairman of the Board, Serstech AB Phone: +46 702 072 643

Email: tp@serstech.com

or visit: www.serstech.com

This is information that Serstech AB (publ.) is obliged to make public pursuant to the EU Market Abuse Regulation. The information was submitted for publication, through the agency of the contact person set out above at 18:50 CET on November 4, 2024.

Certified advisor to Serstech is Svensk Kapitalmarknadsgranskning AB (SKMG).

About Serstech

Serstech delivers solutions for chemical identification and has customers around the world, mainly in the safety and security industry. Typical customers are customs, police authorities, security organizations and first responders. The solutions and technology are however not limited to security applications and potentially any industry using chemicals of some kind could be addressed by Serstech’s solution. Serstech’s head office is in Sweden and all production is done in Sweden.

Serstech is traded at Nasdaq First North Growth Market and more information about the company can be found at www.serstech.com

The MIL Network –

January 26, 2025
MIL-OSI: Nokia Corporation: Repurchase of own shares on 04.11.2024
Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

Nokia Corporation
Stock Exchange Release
4 November 2024 at 22:30 EET

Nokia Corporation: Repurchase of own shares on 04.11.2024

Espoo, Finland – On 4 November 2024 Nokia Corporation (LEI: 549300A0JPRWG1KI7U06) has acquired its own shares (ISIN FI0009000681) as follows:

Trading venue (MIC Code) Number of shares Weighted average price / share, EUR*

XHEL 1,657,264 4.35

CEUX 300,000 4.35

BATE – –

AQEU – –

TQEX – –

Total 1,957,264 4.35

* Rounded to two decimals

On 25 January 2024, Nokia announced that its Board of Directors is initiating a share buyback program to return up to EUR 600 million of cash to shareholders in tranches over a period of two years. The first phase of the share buyback program started on 20 March 2024. On 19 July 2024, Nokia decided to accelerate the share buybacks by increasing the number of shares to be repurchased during the year 2024. The post-increase repurchases in compliance with the Market Abuse Regulation (EU) 596/2014 (MAR), the Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2016/1052 and under the authorization granted by Nokia’s Annual General Meeting on 3 April 2024 started on 22 July 2024 and end by 31 December 2024 with a maximum aggregate purchase price of EUR 600 million for all purchases during 2024.

Total cost of transactions executed on 4 November 2024 was EUR 8,521,536. After the disclosed transactions, Nokia Corporation holds 182,796,988 treasury shares.

Details of transactions are included as an appendix to this announcement.

On behalf of Nokia Corporation

BofA Securities Europe SA

About Nokia
At Nokia, we create technology that helps the world act together.

As a B2B technology innovation leader, we are pioneering networks that sense, think and act by leveraging our work across mobile, fixed and cloud networks. In addition, we create value with intellectual property and long-term research, led by the award-winning Nokia Bell Labs.

Service providers, enterprises and partners worldwide trust Nokia to deliver secure, reliable and sustainable networks today – and work with us to create the digital services and applications of the future.

Inquiries:

Nokia Communications
Phone: +358 10 448 4900
Email: press.services@nokia.com
Maria Vaismaa, Global Head of External Communications

Nokia Investor Relations
Phone: +358 40 803 4080
Email: investor.relations@nokia.com

Attachment
- Daily Report 2024-11-04
The MIL Network –
January 26, 2025
MIL-OSI United Nations: Human Rights Committee Adopts Report on Views Concerning Individual Communications on Colombia, Ecuador, Finland, Greece, New Zealand, Sweden, Türkiye, Turkmenistan and Ukraine

Source: United Nations – Geneva

The Human Rights Committee today adopted a follow-up progress report on individual communications, presented by the Special Rapporteur for follow-up on Views, which concerned communications on Colombia, Ecuador, Finland, Greece, New Zealand, Sweden, Türkiye, Turkmenistan and Ukraine.

José Manuel Santos Pais, Special Rapporteur for follow-up on Views, said one individual communication on Colombia concerned a case of enforced disappearance by parliamentary groups. The State party was urged to conduct an independent, thorough and effective investigation of the disappearances of Mr. Anzola and Mr. Molina and prosecute and punish those responsible; release these people if they were still alive; if they were dead, hand-over their remains to their family; and ensure effective reparation, including adequate compensation, and medical and psychological rehabilitation for the authors for the violations suffered. The State party was also under an obligation to prevent similar violations from occurring in the future and to ensure that any forced disappearances gave rise to prompt, impartial and effective investigations. The State party had established a search and investigative unit, but one Committee member noted that many measures had not been implemented and there seemed to be no urgency. The Committee recommended ongoing follow-up dialogue.

A second communication on Colombia involved the killing of a trade unionist. The Committee recommended that the State party promptly conduct a thorough, effective, impartial, independent and transparent investigation into the circumstances surrounding the murder, to establish the truth; provide the family members who were the authors with detailed information about the results of the investigation; and provide adequate compensation to the family members, including sufficient compensation to cover the reasonable legal expenses they have incurred. The State party had reported that it would proceed with the compensation procedure and had published the Committee’s Views publicly. However, it was reported that the State party had not conducted the criminal investigation in a way conducive to the identification of the perpetrators or to shed light on the reasons behind the murder. The Committee therefore recommended follow-up dialogue.

Regarding Ecuador, the communication concerned criminal conviction and the seizure of assets. The Committee recommended making full reparation to the persons whose rights had been violated and ensuring that due process was followed in the relevant suits at law. The State party had outlined that the Committee had not recommended restitution but called for ensuring effective remedy. It was acknowledged that partial reparation had been granted by the courts, with an appeal still pending. There were several conflicting interests in regards to this case. The Committee decided to close the case with partial satisfaction of the Committee’s Views, because the Views issued did not address directly the return of assets to the author, but gave them the possibility to contest the decisions, which had occurred.

On Finland, the communication related to the right to vote for elections at the Sami Parliament. The Committee had requested effective remedy, including to make full reparation to individuals whose rights had been violated. The State party was obligated to review the Act on the Sami Parliament with a view to ensuring that the criteria for eligibility to vote in Sami Parliament elections was defined and applied in a manner that respected the right of the Sami people to exercise their internal self-determination. A detailed proposal sent to the State party had requested several measures, but the authors had not received any written responses to their proposals. The Committee recommended ongoing follow-up dialogue.

The communication for Greece concerned conscientious objection to compulsory military service. Remedies proposed by the Committee included expunging the author’s criminal record, reimbursing all sums paid as fines, providing him with adequate compensation, taking all steps necessary to prevent similar violations in the future, and reviewing the legislation with a view to ensuring the effective guarantee of the right to conscientious objection. The Committee noted there were some positive steps taken, however, some human rights violations remained unaddressed. Contentious objectors still faced discrimination, and in some cases punishment, including fines and imprisonment. The State was requested to continue follow-up dialogue and was encouraged to look further into the matter.

On New Zealand, the communication concerned compensation for wrongful arrest and detention. The Committee recommended providing the author with adequate compensation and taking all steps to prevent similar violations from occurring in the future, including by reviewing its domestic legislation, to ensure that individuals who had been unlawfully arrested or detained as a result of judicial acts could apply to receive adequate compensations. The State party had requested a consultation process with civil society, but there was no timeline provided and no deadline for the subsequent report to be submitted to the Committee. The absence of legislative action demonstrated a lack of willingness on behalf of the State party to fulfil its obligations. In this regard, the Committee recommended follow-up dialogue and would request a meeting with a representative of the State party during a future session.

Regarding Sweden, the communication concerned deportation to Albania. The Committee had recommended that Sweden review the authors’ claims, taking into account the State party’s obligations under the Covenant and the Committee’s present Views, and refrain from expelling the authors to Albania while their requests for asylum were under reconsideration. The State party heeded to the Committee’s recommendations and therefore the Committee decided to close the follow-up dialogue with a note of satisfactory implementation of the Committee’s Views.

In the individual communication on Türkiye, which concerned conscientious objection to military service by Jehovah’s Witnesses, the Committee recommended expunging their criminal records, providing them with adequate compensation, and avoiding similar violations of the Covenant in the future. The State party submitted that it had made amendments regarding crimes related to compulsory military services, and had also abolished the military courts, which the Committee described as a welcome development. However, the author reported that their criminal records had not been expunged, they had not been provided with compensation, and they were still subject to military conscription. Given this, the Committee recommended follow-up dialogue.

On Turkmenistan, the communication included conscientious objection to compulsory military service. The Committee’s recommendations included expunging the author’s criminal record, providing them with adequate compensation, including by reimbursing any legal costs, and taking steps to prevent similar violations from occurring in the future, including by reviewing the legislation of the State party, for instance by providing for the possibility of alternative service of a civilian nature. The author’s counsel had stated that neither he nor the author were aware of any steps taken by the State party to implement the Committee’s Views. One Expert noted there was no convincing evidence that the State party had contemplated compensation of any kind to the author. The Committee decided to close the follow-up dialogue with a note of unsatisfactory implementation of the Committee’s recommendation.

On Ukraine, the communication concerned the impossibility of having life sentence reviewed. The Committee recommended providing the author with a meaningful review of his sentence of life imprisonment on the basis of a clear and predictable procedure, providing him with adequate compensation, and taking all steps necessary to prevent similar violations in the future. Due to the escalating conflict in Ukraine, the author requested that his life imprisonment be replaced with a fixed term imprisonment, which did not exceed 15 years of imprisonment, however, this was rejected by the Supreme Court. In this regard, the Committee recommended follow-up dialogue, but noted positively, that the State party had prepared legislation allowing for any convicted person to have their life sentence considered by the court.

In closing remarks, Mr. Santos Pais said it was his last report as Rapporteur on follow-up to Views. The report on follow-up to Views was essential in monitoring the Committee’s Views and ensuring victims had access to effective remedies. It also ensured accountability for States under the Optional Protocol. He thanked all those who had contributed to the report which was very much a team effort.

The Human Rights Committee’s one hundred and forty-second session is being held from 14 October to 7 November 2024. All the documents relating to the Committee’s work, including reports submitted by States parties, can be found on the session’s webpage. Meeting summary releases can be found here. The webcast of the Committee’s public meetings can be accessed via the UN Web TV webpage.

The Committee will next meet in public at 3 p.m. on Thursday, 7 November to close its one hundred and forty-second session.

Produced by the United Nations Information Service in Geneva for use of the media;
not an official record. English and French versions of our releases are different as they are the product of two separate coverage teams that work independently.

CCPR24.024E

MIL OSI United Nations News –

January 26, 2025
MIL-OSI USA: Virginia Company and Two Senior Executives Charged with Illegally Exporting Millions of Dollars of U.S. Technology to Russia

Source: US State Government of Utah

Eleview International Inc., Oleg Nayandin, 54, of Fairfax, Virginia, and Vitaliy Borisenko, 39, of Vienna, Virginia, made their initial appearance today in the Eastern District of Virginia pursuant to a now unsealed complaint charging them with conspiracy to violate the Export Control Reform Act.

“As alleged, the defendants — a Virginia company and two of its senior executives — conspired through three evasion schemes to circumvent the export restrictions imposed on Russia following its invasion of Ukraine,” said Assistant Attorney General Matthew G. Olsen of the Justice Department’s National Security Division. “U.S. companies are responsible for complying with laws that protect our national security. The National Security Division is committed to holding accountable individuals and companies who violate these laws and place financial profit over our collective security.”

“This company allegedly used not one, not two, but three different schemes to illegally transship sensitive American technology to Russia,” said Assistant Secretary for Export Enforcement Matthew S. Axelrod of the Department of Commerce, Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS). “Today’s charges, against both the company and two top executives, are a prime example of our work to bring to justice both the companies and the corporate executives alleged to have circumvented our rules in search of a fatter bottom line.”

“We must not allow critical systems and technologies to be transferred to anyone who may use them against America and our global partners,” said U.S. Attorney Jessica D. Aber for the Eastern District of Virginia. “Guarding against these transfers is imperative, and violations of the laws that protect our national security will be met with ardent prosecution.”

“Export control evasion schemes put the American public at risk by concealing the true recipient,” said Special Agent in Charge Derek W. Gordon of Homeland Security Investigations Washington, D.C. “In this instance, HSI, working in partnership with our colleagues at Department of Commerce’s Office of Export Enforcement, uncovered this scheme was supporting a sanctioned country, thus threatening our national security and the safety of other countries. HSI is dedicated to preventing technology with military applications from falling into the wrong hands.”

According to the complaint, between approximately March 2022 and June 2023, Eleview International Inc. (Eleview), allegedly a Virginia-based company that operated a freight consolidation and forwarding business; Nayandin, the owner, president, and CEO of Eleview; and Borisenko, who oversaw the day-to-day operations of Eleview’s freight forwarding business, conspired to illegally export goods and technology from the United States to Russia by transshipping them through three countries bordering or near Russia.

As alleged, the defendants operated an e-commerce website that allowed Russian customers to order U.S. goods and technology directly from U.S. retailers, who shipped the items to Eleview’s warehouse in Chantilly, Virginia. The defendants then consolidated the packages before shipping them to the Russian customers, often using other freight forwarders as intermediaries, in exchange for a fee. After the Department of Commerce imposed stricter export controls in response to Russia’s further invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the defendants began shipping items to purported end users in Turkey, Finland, and Kazakhstan, knowing that the items were ultimately destined for end users in Russia. To facilitate these illegal exports, the defendants made numerous false statements to the Department of Commerce and other freight forwarders about the end users and ultimate consignees of the items in these shipments.

As part of the conspiracy, the defendants engaged in three export-control evasion schemes, each specific to a different intermediary country. In the Turkey scheme, the defendants exported about $1.48 million worth of telecommunications equipment to a false end user in Turkey, knowing that the equipment was intended for a Russian telecommunications company that supplied the Russian government, including the Federal Security Service, or FSB. The telecommunications equipment that the defendants illegally exported as part of the Turkey scheme had military applications, including use by the Russian military to create and expand communication networks in its war effort against Ukraine.

In the Finland scheme, the defendants exported about $3.45 million worth of goods purchased to Russia through Eleview’s e-commerce website to a false end user in Finland that neither purchased nor sold goods. Before consolidating the packages into larger pallets for shipment to Finland, the defendants affixed to each package a label with a Russian postal service tracking number so that the Russian postal service could easily ship the package to the customer in Russia. The goods that the defendants illegally exported as part of the Finland scheme included “high priority” items that the Department of Commerce has identified as particularly significant to Russian weaponry, including the same type of electronic component found on Russian “suicide” drones used to destroy Ukrainian tanks and jets.

In the Kazakhstan scheme, the defendants exported about $1.47 million worth of goods to Russia through an entity in Kazakhstan that advertises its ability to deliver goods to Russia. The goods that the defendants illegally exported as part of the Kazakhstan scheme included controlled dual-use items.

If convicted, Nayandin and Borisenko each face a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

The BIS and Homeland Security Investigations are investigating the case.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Gavin R. Tisdale and Amanda St. Cyr for the Eastern District of Virginia and Trial Attorney Garrett Coyle of the National Security Division’s Counterintelligence and Export Control Section are prosecuting the case with past assistance provided by then-First Assistant U.S. Attorney Raj Parekh.

The case is being coordinated through the Justice and Commerce Departments’ Disruptive Technology Strike Force and the Justice Department’s Task Force KleptoCapture. The Disruptive Technology Strike Force is an interagency law enforcement strike force co-led by the Justice and Commerce Departments designed to target illicit actors, protect supply chains, and prevent critical technology from being acquired by authoritarian regimes and hostile nation states. Task Force KleptoCapture is an interagency law enforcement task force dedicated to enforcing the sweeping sanctions, export restrictions and economic countermeasures that the United States has imposed, along with its allies and partners, in response to Russia’s unprovoked military invasion of Ukraine.

A criminal complaint is merely an allegation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

MIL OSI USA News –

January 26, 2025
MIL-OSI: CoinShares Announces Q3 2024 Results
Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

5^thNovember 2024 | SAINT HELIER, Jersey | CoinShares International Limited (“CoinShares” or “the Group”) (Nasdaq Stockholm: CS; US OTCQX: CNSRF), the leading European investment company specialising in digital assets, has today published its results for the quarter ending 30^th September 2024.

Jean-Marie Mognetti, Chief Executive Officer of CoinShares said:

“In Q3 2024, we concentrated on executing our strategy and preparing for a promising Q4 and the upcoming year. A key achievement was the change in our accounting policy for digital assets. We now record movements on digital assets at fair value through profit and loss, enhancing the transparency of our financial statements. This change enables a wide range of investors to have a better understanding of CoinShares’ financial performance and health.

We have concurrently implemented bitcoin as a treasury management instrument, thus demonstrating our commitment to our investment thesis. Consequently, we now rank among the select few publicly traded companies globally that have opted to maintain bitcoin holdings (78 BTC at the end of Q3) on our balance sheet.”

Q3 2024 financial highlights
- Total Revenue, Gains & Other Income for Q3 2024 of £25.8 million (Q3 2023: £15.2 million)
- EBITDA for Q3 2024 of £15.4 million (Q3 2023: £8.3 million)
- Net profit for Q3 2024 of £14.2 million (Q3 2023: £6.7 million)
Q3 2024 operational highlights
- Asset Management: The CoinShares Physical ETP platform closed the quarter with nearly $80 million in net flows, marking its second-largest quarterly inflow since 2021. We launched a new multi-asset ETP in partnership with finanzen.net to enhance our visibility in the German retail market. In the United States, the CoinShares-Valkyrie business line had its second-best quarter, achieving $61 million in net inflows, mainly from BRRR and WGMI products. Integration of this business line into the wider CoinShares Group is largely complete, and we anticipate it becoming a meaningful contributor to overall Group value, with full stride expected in 2025.
- Capital Markets & Hedge Fund Solutions: Following the successful rollout of our algorithmic trading platform, MATRIX, our development team is optimising its performance and connectivity, enabling signal ingestion from multiple sources and opening doors to new collaborations. This allows our quantitative research team to focus on new alpha generation strategies to drive future performance for our Capital Markets and Funds divisions. Concurrently, our Hedge Fund Solutions division is preparing to launch an equity long-short fund focused on crypto equities, leveraging our BLOCK Index expertise; the product is ready to launch pending market demand, currently being assessed by our sales teams in the United States and Europe.
- Principal Investments: Despite a decrease of approximately £1.9 million in the Group’s Principal Investment portfolio during Q3—primarily due to an extension of the CS2 fund’s life that delays the receipt of our recognized carried interest and results in a corresponding discount—we have observed positive developments in some of our smaller investments. These include the conversion of one of our SAFEs (Station 70) and the change in status of GTSA to that of an Electronic Money Institution.
- Accounting Policy Change: An important development this quarter concerns our accounting policies for digital asset holdings; historically, our financial statements were distorted by classifying digital assets as intangibles under IFRS, resulting in profit or loss after tax figures that differed markedly from our total comprehensive income and impacting the readability of our accounts. As our organisation has evolved and our activities have diversified significantly, we are now able to classify our digital assets so that their fair value movements are taken through profit and loss, allowing us to present financial statements that provide a more understandable view of our financial performance—easily reconciled to our EBITDA—a transition we’ve been eager to make and are pleased to have finally achieved.
Full details of the Q3 results, inclusive of financial information on each of the Group’s business units, are included within the full report, available here.

Download the Swedish Executive Summary here.

ABOUT COINSHARES

CoinShares is the leading European investment company specialising in digital assets, that delivers a broad range of financial services across investment management, trading and securities to a wide array of clients that includes corporations, financial institutions and individuals. Focusing on crypto since 2013, the firm is headquartered in Jersey, with offices in France, Sweden, Switzerland, the UK and the US. CoinShares is regulated in Jersey by the Jersey Financial Services Commission, in France by the Autorité des marchés financiers, and in the US by the Securities and Exchange Commission, National Futures Association and Financial Industry Regulatory Authority. CoinShares is publicly listed on the Nasdaq Stockholm under the ticker CS and the OTCQX under the ticker CNSRF.

For more information on CoinShares, please visit: https://coinshares.com
Company | +44 (0)1534 513 100 | enquiries@coinshares.com
Investor Relations | +44 (0)1534 513 100 | enquiries@coinshares.com

This information is information that CoinShares International Limited (publ) is obliged to make public pursuant to the EU Market Abuse Regulation and the Securities Markets Act.

The information was submitted for publication, through the agency of the contact person set out above, at 07:00 CEST on November 5, 2024.

PRESS CONTACT

CoinShares
Benoît Pellevoizin
bpellevoizin@coinshares.com

M Group Strategic Communications
Peter Padovano
press@coinshares.com

Attachment
- COINSHARES_2024_Q3_Final
The MIL Network –
January 26, 2025

MIL-OSI Asia-Pac: Year End Review 2024: Department of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation,

Source: Government of India (2)

Posted On: 25 JAN 2025 10:14AM by PIB Delhi

The Department of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation, Ministry of JalShakti has been working relentlessly towards achieving the vision and mission of making India a ‘Water Secure Country’ as envisioned by Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi. The Ministry of Jal Shakti, formed in 2019 by bringing together all water related departments and organizations under one umbrella Ministry, has been playing a pivotal role in implementation of a focused strategy towards making India ‘Water Secure’ while ensuring optimal utilization of precious and scarce water resources across the nation. During the year2024, the Department of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation has undertaken several new initiatives and achieved significant outcomes/milestones. Following is some of the key achievements of the Department in 2024:

National Mission forClean Ganga (NMCG)

National Mission for Clean Ganga, in the year 2024, completed 25 projects which resulted in the completion of a cumulative total of 303 projects, sofar, and also sanctioned 39 new projects amounting to ₹ 2,056 crore, bringing the cumulative total to 488 projects sanctioned worth ₹ 39,730 crore. In sewerage infrastructure, 12 projects for the creation/ rehabilitation of 305 MLD sewage treatment capacity have been sanctioned between January to December 2024. In the same period, 16 projects for the creation/ rehabilitation of 750 MLD sewage treatment capacity have been completed. Till date, a total of 203 sewerage infrastructure projects have been sanctioned in the Ganga Basin for the creation of 6,255 MLD sewage treatment capacity and the laying of a 5,249 km sewer network.

Other key achievements during the year 2024 are as follows:

(A) Inauguration and Laying of Foundation Stones Sewerage infrastructure projects by Hon’ble Prime Minister (Under Nirmal Ganga)

On 25^thJanuary 2024, the Hon’ble Prime Minister inaugurated the following projects with a cumulative cost of ₹ 790.5 Crores from Bulandshahr, Uttar Pradesh.

Construction of 30 MLD STP at Masani, Mathura (under Hybrid Annuity-basedPPP (HAM) model under Namami Gange Program), Rehabilitation of existing (30 MLD at Trans Yamuna and 6.8 MLD STP at Masani, Mathura) total 36.8 MLD and Construction of 20 MLD TTRO plant (Tertiary Treatment and Reverse Osmosis Plant), Masani, Mathura

Construction of 58 MLD STP with 264 km and sewerage Network at Moradabad

On 1st March 2023, the Hon’ble Prime Minister inaugurated three projects worth
₹ 575 crore from Hooghly, West Bengal. These projects include, 40 MLD STP work with Interception & Diversion at Bally, West Bengal, 60 MLD STP work with Interception & Diversion at Kamarhati and Baranagar Municipalities, West Bengal and 65 MLD STP work with Interception & Diversion at Howrah.

On 2^nd March 2024, the Hon’ble Prime Minister inaugurated twelve projects worth ₹ 2,189 crore from Aurangabad, Bihar. These projects include 60 MLD STP and 162 km sewerage network at Saidpur, Patna, 60 MLD STP at Pahari, Patna, 93 km sewerage network at Pahari Zone IVA (S), Patna, 116 km sewerage network at Pahari Zone V, Patna, 180 km sewerage network at Beur, Patna, 96 km sewerage network at Karmalichak, Patna, 11 MLD STP at Barh, Patna, 10 MLD STP at Sultanganj, Bhagalpur, 9 MLD STP at Naugachia, Bhagalpur, 3.50 MLD STP at Sonepur, Saran, 32 MLD STP at Chhapra, Saran.

On 10^th March 2024, the Hon’ble Prime Minister inaugurated three sewage projects worth ₹ 1,114 crore from Azamgarh, Uttar Pradesh. These projects include 72 MLD STP and I&D network work at Naini (District-G, 42 MLD), Phaphamau (District-F, 14 MLD) and Jhunsi (16 MLD), Prayagraj, 30 MLD STP and I&D network work at Jaunpur and 45 MLD STP and I&D network work at Etawah.

On 2^nd October 2024, the Hon’ble Prime Minister inaugurated and laid the foundation stone for ten sewage treatment plant (STP) projects with a total cost of ₹ 1,555 crore. Among these, five projects worth ₹ 534.25 crore were inaugurated across Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. Additionally, laid the foundation stone for five more projects across Bihar, Jharkhand, and Uttar Pradesh, amounting to ₹ 1,021 crore.

(B) Inauguration and Laying of Foundation Stones Sewerage infrastructure projects by Hon’ble Union Minister of Jal Shakti (Under Nirmal Ganga)

On 4^th January 2024, the Hon’ble Union Minister for Jal Shakti inaugurated 14 MLD Sewage Treatment Plant (STP) with a 2.4 km Interception & Diversion (I&D) Network worth ₹ 77.36 crores in Baghpat, Uttar Pradesh.

On 18^th January 2024, the Hon’ble Union Minister for Jal Shakti laid the foundation stone for the 220 MLD Meerut sewage treatment plant (STP) with interception and diversion (I&D) project worth ₹ 370 crore in Meerut, Uttar Pradesh.

Training on Occupational Health & Safety Audit

NMCG organized 9 virtual safety training program and trained more than 1,500 officials on “Occupational Health and Safety Audit (OHSA)” From January 2024 to December 2024, to ensure workplace safety and compliance.

Activities Under Biodiversity Conservation (Under Aviral Ganga)

The programme has sanctioned projects focused on protecting and rehabilitating fishery, turtles, crocodiles, and dolphins. Projects Sanctioned in the year 2024 are as under :

Advancing Rescue System for the protection of stranded Ganges river Dolphins.
Conservation, Reintroduction, and Rehabilitation of threatened Turtles along ganga basin.

· Expanding Conservation Breeding Programme of Freshwater Turtle and Gharial at Kukrail Rehabilitation Centre, Lucknow

NMCG, in partnership with CIFRI, has successfully implemented fish ranching programs for Indian Major Carps and other species. In 2024, notable achievements include – Ranching of Indian Major Carps (IMC): 49.25 lakhs, Mahseer: 7,370, Hilsa: 42,117 and Hilsa tagging: 1,387 nos.

Important Activities (under Jan Ganga)

Launch of Namami Niranjana Abhiyan: NMCG launched the “Namami Niranjana Abhiyan” on 20^th February 2024, aimed at ensuring the perennial flow of the Niranjana (Falgu) river and bolstering the ongoing efforts of the “Niranjana (Falgu) River Recharge Mission”. The Falgu river, revered as Niranjana in Bodhgaya and Falgu in Gaya, originates from Belgadda in the Simaria block of Chatra district, Jharkhand, holding profound significance in the Hindu Sanatan religion. Pilgrims partake in rituals such as PindDaan and Tarpan for their ancestors using water from the Falgu river.
Celebration of International Day of Yoga: On the occasion of the International Day of Yoga, the National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) organized ‘Ghat Par Yoga’ at BSF Camp, Zero Pushta, Sonia Vihar in Delhi on the bank of River Yamuna on 21^st June, 2024. Over 1,000 people participated in the event including officials and staff from the NMCG, NGOs under the Yamuna Action Plan (YAP-III) of the Delhi Jal Board (DJB), the Border Security Force (BSF), Ganga Vichar Manch, various other NGOs, as well as students and children.
8^thIndia Water Week 2024: The 8^th edition of India Water Week (IWW) 2024 was held during 17-20 September 2024, in New Delhi, on the theme “Partnerships and Cooperation for Inclusive Water Development and Management.” This prestigious international event has become a key platform for collaboration in water resource management. The event was inaugurated by the President of India, alongside Hon’ble Union Minister of Jal Shakti, and Hon’ble Minister of State for Jal Shakti.

Ganga Utsav- A River Festival 2024: On 4^th November 2024, the 8th edition of Ganga Utsav was organized by NMCG at scenic Chandi Ghat in Haridwar to promote the conservation of the Ganga River, emphasize its cultural and spiritual importance, and raise public awareness about cleanliness. The event was inaugurated by Hon’ble Union Minister of Jal Shakti in the august presence of the Hon’ble Union Minister of State for Jal Shakti, Hon’ble Uttarakhand Minister for Women & Child Welfare, Secretary, DoWR, RD & GR, Ministry of Jal Shakti, and DG, NMCG. This eighth edition of the event was the first time held on the riverbank, with celebrations extending across more than 110 districts in the Ganga basin states.The event featured participants from diverse spheres, including students, scientists, spiritual leaders, and more.
9^th India Water Impact Summit: The 9^th India Water Impact Summit (IWIS) & 2^nd Climate Investments and Technology Impact Summit were organised jointly by NMCG & c-Ganga from 4^th to 6^th December 2024 at Bharat Mandapam, New Delhi.

International Collaboration

Meeting with German Delegates: On 9^th May 2024, a meeting was held with the Deputy Head of the Economic Division, German Embassy to discuss the current status of projects aimed at rejuvenating the Ganga River, supported through bilateral cooperation between India and Germany.
Workshop on Strengthening Quality Infrastructure for Water Monitoring of the Ganges River II: NMCG in association with Physikalisch- Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB) under Indo-German Technical Cooperation Programme organised a 6-day training programme from 22^nd July to 31^st July 2024.
Inception Workshop for District Ganga Plans: On 5^th July 2024, NMCG in association with GIZ organized an inception workshop for the District Ganga Plans. The workshop aimed to create comprehensive District Ganga Plans (DGPs) based on a River Basin Management approach, which has been prepared for four pilot districts.
Smart Laboratory for Clean Rivers (SLCR): The Smart Lab for Clean Rivers (SLCR) has been set up under the Green Strategic Partnership between India and Denmark to bring global solutions on current challenges in the field of clean river water, conduct collaborative research and development to fit in real environment through Living lab approach and creation of platform between Government authorities, academic institutions and technology providers for knowledge sharing and co-creation to achieve clean river water.
Meeting of the Joint Review Committee: On 9^th October 2024, the first meeting of the Joint Review Committee (JRC) under the India-Israel Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was held under the chairmanship of DG, NMCG, to address priority areas such as reducing non-revenue water, urban water management through IoT and AI, wastewater treatment, and sewage sludge management.

Development of knowledge products (Under Gyan Ganga)

The ‘River Atlas for Ganga Main Stem Districts’, an in-house developed knowledge product of the GKC was launched by the Hon’ble Minister of Jal Shakti on 09^thDecember 2024 during the 13th Empowered Task Force Meeting. The atlas comprises maps of River Ganga and its tributaries, covering five main stem states in the Ganga basin – Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, and West Bengal. This comprehensive Atlas is essential for the effective implementation of policies and programs and accurate planning and informed decision-making.

National Water Mission (NWM)

MoU with Girganga Parivar Trust (Girganga) has been signed on 22.10.2024 on Pro bono basis. They have committed to build 11,111 bore well recharge and 11,111 check dams.
MoU with Sarkaritel.com/jalprahari.in has been signed on 13.12.2024 on Pro bono basis. They have committed for generating awareness on Water Conservation in the public.
MoU with Vyakti Vikas Kendra India (VVKI), the Art of Living has been signed on 16.12.2024 on Pro bono basis. They have committed for creating of Water recharge structure with the help of implementing many River Rejuvenation Programs through Government scheme MGNREGA

Central Water and Power Research Station, Pune
Central Soil and Material Research Station, New Delhi
National Institute of Hydrology, Roorkee
Central Water Commission, New Delhi

Publication of research/ technical reports – 281 Nos.
Organisation of Trainings and workshops – 94 Nos.
Training of people for capacity building- 2623 persons
Publication of high impact technical report & research papers – 18 Nos.

13 new research schemes has been recommended by Standing Advisory Committee and approved by Secretary (WR).
The research project “Hydro-geological Assessment and Socio-Economic implications of Depleting Water Resources in tourist towns of Uttarakhand” has been completed.
The research project “Irrigation Efficiency Improvement through On–farm Water Management” has been completed.
The research project “Dynamic Downscaling to study Climate Change Impacts on
Water Resource in India” has been completed.

National Water Development Agency (NWDA): Inter-Linking of Rivers Project

Under National Perspective Plan (NPP) formulated by Government of India, 30 inter-basin water transfer links (16 Peninsular and 14 Himalayan component) have been identified by National Water Development Agency for preparation of Feasibility Reports. Detailed Projects Reports (DPRs) of 11 links, Feasibility Reports (FRs) of 26 links and Pre-Feasibility Reports (PFRs) of all the 30 links have been prepared. The Inter-Linking River (ILR) Programme has been taken up on high priority by Government of India. The works related to ILR projects are already in progress. Five links have been identified as priority links by Govt. of India viz., Ken-Betwa Link Project (KBLP), Modified Parbati-Kalisindh-Chambal Link Project (MPKC) and Godavari-Cauvery (G-C) Link Project (comprising of 3 link systems).

System studies of four link projects viz.; Manas-Sanksoh-Teesta-Ganga (MSTG) link, Ganga-Damodar-Subernarekha (GDS) link, Subernarekha-Mahanadi (SM) link and Farakka-Sunderbans (FS) link have been initiated and the work of these four links has been awarded to IIT, Guwahati, NIT, Patna, NIT, Warangal and NIH, Roorkee respectively. Inception Reports have been submitted in June, 2023 by all the four Institutes. The draft final reports of MSTG and GDS have been submitted by the respective Institutes. The system studies of Mahanadi-Godavari link have been completed by NIH, Roorkee and the Final Report has been submitted in May, 2023. Awarding of work for system studies of southern linkage initiated, however, it may be taken up after finalization of quantity of water that can be transferred from MSTG, GDS, FS and SM link projects to Mahanadi river, as per system studies.

Ken-Betwa Link Project (KBLP): is the first inter-linking of rivers (ILR) project for which implementation has been initiated. The project will be of immense benefit to the water starved Bundelkhand Region, spread across the States of Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh which includes districts of Panna, Tikamgarh, Niwari, Chhatarpur, Sagar, Damoh, Datia, Vidisha, Shivpur&Raisen and Banda, Mahoba, Jhansi & Lalitpur respectively. The status of KBLP is as given below:

Subsequent to signing of tripartite agreement in year, 2021, Govt. of India approved implementation of the project in December, 2021 at an estimated cost of Rs. 44,605 Crore with central support of Rs. 39,317 Crore.
With allocation of budget under RE of FY 2021-22, the implementation of the project has started.
Steering Committee and Ken-Betwa Link Project Authority (KBLPA) were been constituted vide Gazette Notification dated 11.02.2022.
KBLPA HQ Office is set up at Bhopal with three more offices at Chhatarpur, Panna and Jhansi, which are fully functional with regular CEO/ACEOs, Director (Fin.) and other officials.
Six meetings of Steering Committee and Six meetings of KBLPA have been held so far.
Initially the focus is on land acquisition, R&R, fulfilling the compliances to the conditions of forest clearance and wildlife clearance.
Greater Panna Landscape Council (GPLC) under Chief Secretary, Govt. of MP has been constituted for implementation of Landscape Management Plan through various stakeholders. Its first meeting was held on 05.09.23. Sub-Committee of GPLC was constituted on 16.10.2023 and its 1^st& 2^nd meetings were held on 17.10.2023 & 29.11.2023 respectively.
Planning for an Integrated Research and Learning Centre (IRLC) at Panna has already been initiated by WII.
The Monitoring Committee for R&R works of KBLP under Secretary, DoLR, MoRD has been constituted.
Collector, Chhattarpur has made payment of Rs. 197.23 Crore to the affected Families. Whereas, Collector Panna has made payment of Rs.76.82 Crore to the affected families of Panna. The remaining Land Acquisition Payment for Private land in both the districts are in Progress.
The work for engagement of Project Management Consultant (PMC) is in process. 9 bids were received for PMC, Result of Technical Evaluation of Bids was published on the CPP Portal on 22.08.2024. The Financial Proposals of the 5 technically qualified firms were opened on 10.09.2024. 20 meetings of Consultancy Evaluation Committee (CEC) for hiring PMC have been held so far. 20^th meeting of CEC was held on 11.09.2024 for financial evaluation of bids. After financial and technical evaluation of bids received, recommendations of the CEC have been submitted to DoWR,RD&GR, MoJS for approval on 13.09.2024.
A Technical Advisory Group for KBLP (TAG-KBLP) for KBLPA has been constituted to review and advise KBLPA on various planning and technical matters on implementation of various components of the link project. 10 meetings of TAG have been held so far.
The tender document for the main component of the project i.e. Daudhan dam and its Appurtenant works (EPC mode) was finalized by Technical Advisory Group of KBLP and the Tender Evaluation Committee (TEC) and floated on CPP portal on 11.08.2023. The complete proposal of technical and financial evaluation of bids was sent to Ministry of Jal Shakti that has been approved by Ministry. Subsequently, KBLPA has issued Letter of Acceptance to M/s NCC Limited for the work of Daudhan dam on 28.11.2024.
Stage–II Forest Clearance for diversion of 6017.00 ha of forest land for development of KBLP has been accorded by MoEF& CC on 03.10.2023.
The draft tender for EPC execution of Ken-Betwa Link Canal is prepared in two packages and circulated to State Governments of MP and UP for their comments/suggestions. Suggestions from Govt. of UP have been received.
PTR has accepted total 6017 ha non-forest land Transferred/ Mutated. Notification of 6017 ha has been completed by Forest Department under section-29 of Indian Forest Act-1927 and has been published.
Land in submergence: 3239 ha (Govt. Land: 1784.67 ha + Private Land 1454.33 ha) of land is coming under submergence area of Daudhan Dam. Private land of 1454.33 ha and Government land of 1604.429 ha has been mutated in favour of WRD, MP. Balance 180.241 ha Government land is likely to be transferred to WRD, MP soon.
Land Acquisition for Ken Betwa Link canal (99 villages of MP and 10 villages of UP) is under progress.
The work on State specific components like Lower Orr, Kotha Barrage and Bina Complex Multipurpose Project is already in progress. Head Works of Lower Orr has been completed whereas Head Works for Kotha & Bina are ongoing.

Cumulative Progress (%) upto December, 2024

Lower Orr : 67.00
Kotha Barrage: 59.00
Bina Complex: 50.20

The preparation of DPRs of components of UP likes two barrages, renovation and modernization of Tanks of Mahoba district, renovation and modernization of three weirs and ken command system is in progress.
Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi Ji laid the Foundation Stone of KBLP on 25.12.2024 at Khajuraho (Madhya Pradesh).
The project is planned to be completed in 8 years by March, 2030.

Modified Parbati-Kalisindh-Chambal Link Project (MPKC):

PFR has been circulated to concerned States. The work of DPRs is under progress.
Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) has been signed on 28.01.2024 amongst States of MP, Rajasthan and Govt. of India.
Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) of Modified Parbati-Kalisindh-Chambal link project has been signed on 05.12.2024 amongst States of MP, Rajasthan and Govt. of India. Subsequently Hon’ble Prime Minister declared the signing of the agreement on 17^th December, 2024 at Rajasthan.

Godavari-Cauvery (G-C) Link Project (comprising of 3 link systems):

Modified proposal for transfer of 4189 MCM of water from Godavari along with supplementation in Krishna basin through Bedti-Varda link (524 MCM) has been studied by NWDA.
Draft DPR of the modified /revised proposal has circulated to the concerned State/UT during Jan., 2024.
Draft MoA has been prepared for implementation of the project and circulated to concerned State/UT for perusal and observation during April, 2024.
Concerted efforts are being made for building up consensus amongst the States/UT for signing of MoA for the early implementation of this link project.

8^th India Water Week 2024:

IWW-2024 was successfully organized/held from 17^th to 20^th September, 2024 at Bharat Mandapam, Pragati Maidan, New Delhi.
The theme of the 8^th India Water Week is “Partnerships and Cooperation for Inclusive Water Development and Management”.
The mega event was inaugurated by the Hon’ble President of India.
The four-day multi-disciplinary conference comprises of Ministerial Plenary, Global Water Leaders’ Plenary (2), Country Forum (4), Water Leaders Forum (9), Practitioner’s Forum (8), Startup Forum, Youth Forum, Water Convention (18) one-day study tour and concurrently organized exhibition. Denmark, Australia and Israel were the Partner Countries. There were 15 Partner States viz.; Tamil Nadu, Odisha, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Kerala, Haryana, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, J&K, Madhya Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka and Telangana.

More than 4500 delegates from India & abroad participated in the IWW-2024. About 215 delegates from 40 countries participated in the conference. Parallel to the conference, in the exhibition 143 Exhibitors from Central, States Government, Public Sector undertakings, Private Firms, NGOs, Startups and Schools etc. showcased their technologies.

Central Water Commission (CWC)

(i) Central Water Commission has undertaken sedimentation assessment studies of selected reservoirs located in various States using Satellite Remote Sensing technique under the plan scheme “Research & Development Programme in Water Sector”. It is planned to take up the studies in respect of 80 reservoirs during 2021-26. Accordingly, the work of carrying out the study for the first batch of 40 reservoirs was outsourced. Due to non-availability of either the desired water levels or satellite data for a reservoir on date of satellite pass, study in respect of 31 reservoirs was feasible which has been completed and reports published during 2022 to 2024. Besides this sedimentation studies in respect of 30 reservoirs have been completed in-house using Remote Sensing Techniques. Furthermore, a Google Earth Engine-based tool has also been developed by CWC officers, in-house under Smart Water Resources Modelling Organization (SWRMO) – Centre for Excellence, to automate the assessment of sedimentation in the live storage zone of reservoir.

(ii) A World Bank (WB) and Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) team conducted the Mid-Term Review (MTR) mission for the Second Dam Rehabilitation and Improvement Project (DRIP-2) between January 17 and May 3, 2024. The mission held discussions with Implementing Agencies (IAs) in Bhubaneshwar (Odisha), Surat (Gujarat), and New Delhi and undertook field visits to selected dams in Gujarat (Ukai) and Odisha (Hirakud, Rengali). The wrap-up meeting was held in New Delhi, chaired by Joint Secretary, D/o WR, RD&GR, Ministry of Jal Shakti (MoJS) and attended by Project Director, Central Water Commission (CWC), members of the Central Project Management Unit (CPMU), the Engineering and Management Consultant (EMC), and representatives of all Implementing Agencies (IA). As part of the mission, a detailed exercise on the use of the rapid risk assessment tool for Indian dams, in compliance with the National Dam Safety Act 2021, was carried out between March 5 and May 3, 2024.

(iii) The quarterly dialogues on Coastal Area Management, initiated as per the direction of the Chairman, Central Water Commission (CWC) was held in April and May 2024.These dialogues brought together stakeholders from various levels of government, research institutions, and relevant departments to discuss pressing issues such as coastal erosion, salinity ingress, and the need for robust data collection and management. The dialogues provided a platform for sharing information, best practices, and innovative solutions from all stakeholders. As an outcome of the Quarterly Dialogue, CWC has published a report titled “Status Report on Coastal Area Management- An Indian Perspective, Region Issues & Remedial Measures”. The report provides a comprehensive overview of the challenges and initiatives related to coastal management in India. The report highlights the significant impacts of coastal erosion and salinity ingress, emphasizing the need for robust data collection, effective mitigation strategies, and increased collaboration among stakeholders.

(iv) A Smart Water Resources Modelling Organization acts as Centre of Excellence to grow as a pioneering hub for developing in-house expertise and innovation in tackling diverse problem statements and studies in water sector and directly reports to Chairman, CWC.

(v) Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed on 06.06.2024between Central Water Commission (CWC) and IIT, Roorkeefor research work related to Irrigation Efficiency Assessment, Water Accounting studies, Cropped Area Mapping, Water Auditing, Urban Flood Forecasting & Risk Management, Urban Flood Inundation & Hazard Mapping, etc. These works will be carried out through mutual consultations and collaboration, leveraging the expertise and resources of both institutions.

(vi) A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) has been signed between Central Water Commission (CWC) and Space Application Centre (SAC) in the field of hydrology and water resources management, leveraging remote sensing and collaborative research efforts for mutual benefit on 08^th July,2024.

(vii) Support for Irrigation Modernization Program (SIMP): Central Water Commission (CWC), DoWR, RD & GR has taken up an initiative Support for Irrigation Modernization Program (SIMP) with technical assistance from theAsian Development Bank (ADB) to modernize Major/ Medium Irrigation (MMI) projects in the country.

(viii) SIMP is proposed to be taken up in 4 phases. SIMP Phase-1 concluded on 31.12.2021 under which 4 MMI projects have been identified for inclusion under 1st batch of projects for preparation of Irrigation Modernization Plans (IMPs) out of the 57 proposals received from 14 States and 2 UTs. The entire process including the preparation of IMPs, Detailed Project Report (DPRs), detailed designs and final implementation/ project execution is expected to be completed by Phase-4. Implementation of the project would lie with the concerned States who would have an option to either fund it from their own resources or they can avail loan facility from ADB or any other financial institutions.

(ix) SIMP Phase-2 was initiated from November 2022. Irrigation Modernization Plan (IMP) of four projects namely VanivilasaSagara Project, Karnataka, Palkhed Project Maharashtra, Purna Project, Maharashtra and Loharu Lift Irrigation Project, Haryana have been prepared. As a 1st step for preparation of IMPs, FAO developed RAP-MASSCOTE (Rapid Appraisal Procedure-Mapping System and Services for Canal Operation Techniques) workshops were organized to assess the present status of the identified four projects. The findings of RAP MASSCOTE workshops and issues related to Batch 1 SIMP projects were discussed in a mid-term workshop organized by ADB and CWC on 09.06.2023 at New Delhi.

For capacity building under SIMP phase-II, the following activities were organized:

From 6th to 10th November 2023, a five days training on modernization and design of Pipe Distribution Networks (PDN) was organized at Panchkula/ Chandigarh. 22 Engineers from Karnataka, Maharashtra, Haryana, Punjab and CWC participated in the training.
On 15th and 20th December 2023, a Webinar on Irrigation Modernization and Design of PDN Systems was organized.
A Training on Asset Management Planning for Irrigation Schemes was held from 8^th to 12^th January 2024 at WALMI, Aurangabad.
A training on new technologies in Agriculture and Water Practices was held from 22^nd to 25^th January 2024 at HIRMI, Kurukshetra, Haryana.

The Preliminary Project Reports (PPR) of all the four projects has been submitted by ADB to the concerned project authorities. PPR of Loharu, Haryana is under process with Govt department. PPR of Palkhed and Purna, Maharashtra is under process in Planning Department of Haryana, PPR of VVS, Karnataka is under process with state finance Govt of Maharashtra.

PPRs are to be finalized by the states and submitted to DEA. After necessary approval from DEA, action for phase-3 will be taken up for preparation of DPRs.

(x) A Training program on the application of Rapid Risk Assessment tool, in association with the World Bank for the officers of the core group was held during April 22, 2024 – May 3, 2024 at Auditorium, 1st floor, CWC Library Building, Near Sewa Bhawan, Sector-1, R K Puram, New Delhi. Total 66 officials nominated by CWC, NDSA and States / DRIP IAs for taking forward the assignment of carrying out the Rapid Risk Assessment of specified dams in the country.

GLOF and Flood forecasting activities: –

CWC finalized the criteria for Risk Indexing of Glacial Lakes in the Indian Himalayan Region in September 2024, which provide a comprehensive methodology for identifying and categorizing Glacial Lakes based on factors such as Glacial Lake size, Glacial Lake type, Side slope, Snout distance from GL etc. and the potential socio-economic impacts of a Glacial Lake Outburst Flood.

In the year 2024, 2 new stations (Inflow) have started functioning. Currently CWC is providing flood forecast at 340 stations (200-level forecasting stations & 140-inflow forecasting stations). During the period from 1st April to 30.11.2024, 10415 (i.e. 7093 Level and 3322 Inflow) forecasts were issued, out of which 9947 (95.5%) forecasts were found within the accuracy limit (±0.15m for level forecast and ±20% for inflow forecast).During flood season, CWC operates the Central Flood Control Room on 24×7 basis at its headquarter in New Delhi and 36 Divisional Flood Control Rooms spread throughout the country for monitoring flood situation. On an average, about 10,000 forecasts are issued during flood season every year by the CWC. Normally, these forecasts are issued 6 to 30 hours in advance, depending upon the river terrain and location of the flood forecasting sites and their base stations. In addition to conventional flood forecasting techniques, mathematical model forecasting based on rainfall-run off methodology is being used for some areas. This has enabled CWC to issue 7-day advance flood advisory.

Automated online 7-day flood advisory for all the level and inflow forecasting stations is maintained. “Flood Situation for next seven days” in respect of stations likely to be above warning level has been added in the “Daily Flood Situation Report cum Advisory” based on the 7-day advisory.

Flood Plain Zoning

In order to have a reasonable degree of protection, floods need to be managed through both structural & non-structural measures so as to reduce the losses. Non-structural measures are planned activities to modify susceptibility due to flood related damages. These are meant to keep people away from floods. Flood Plain Zoning is one of the main non-structural measures for management of floods worldwide.

A technical committee under the chairmanship of Member (RM) was constituted during November 2022 for formulation of ‘Technical Guidelines on Flood Plain Zoning’ . After due deliberations, the committee submitted the guidelines to Ministry. The guidelines is presently under circulation to the states for their comments/review. Once implemented, these guidelines shall serve as a valuable document in guiding the states in framing their own legislation in protecting their rivers from future encroachments.

Hydrological Studies:

The success of a project is largely governed by the hydrological inputs. The success of a project is largely governed by the hydrological inputs. The Hydrological Studies Organization (HSO), a specialized unit under Design and Research (D&R) Wing of CWC, carries out hydrological studies in respect of the water resources projects in the country. The inputs in Detailed Project Report (DPR) or Pre- Feasibility (PFR) stage are made available in the form of:

Water availability/yield studies.
Design flood estimation.
Sedimentation studies.
Diversion flood studies.

The country has been divided into 7 zones and further into 26 hydro- meteorologically homogeneous sub-zones and flood estimation models are developed for each subzone to compute the design flood in ungauged catchments. So far, flood estimation reports covering 24 sub-zones have been published. During the year 2024- 25, technical examinations of hydrological aspects of DPRs in respect of 88 projects have been carried out in CWC. Out of this, 46 projects have been cleared and comments were issued for 17 projects. Rest of the projects are under examination.

Some of the major works carried out during this period are:

• Flood frequency analysis & carrying capacity of Yamuna River from Hathnikund Barrage to Delhi.

• Hydrology Chapter for Bakchachuu HEP, Ringyang HEP, &RimbiKhola HEP has been submitted.

• 100 yr& 500 yr Return Period flood of Chandrawal River under Ken Betwa Link project.

• Water Availability of the untapped catchment between alignment of feeder canal, Mahalpur barrage and Navnera Barrage Under MPKC link.

Technical Assistance / Advice tendered

HSO has provided secretariat assistance to various technical/ expert committees for undertaking special studies on various aspects related to water resources development and management. Some of the important contributions during the year 2024- 25 are as under:

Hydrological Studies for Ponnaiyar River Basin, to resolve the interstate issue between Tamil Nadu and Karnataka.
Hydrological modeling for heavy rainfall across the Yamuna River catchment in July 2023 caused significant runoff and discharge, leading to rapid water level rises. In this study estimated submergence areas for different return-period floods, analyzed embankment overtopping, and identified drainage congestion and afflux of existing structures using 2-D modeling for the river reach between 21 km upstream of Wazirabad barrage and 10 km downstream of Okhla barrage.

Hydrological modeling for tackling issues related to high intensity rainfall, riverine flood, drainage and interrelated issues in urban areas.

Planning and Design of Water Resources Projects

CWC is actively associated with design of majority of the mega water resources projects in India and neighboring countries, viz., Nepal and Bhutan by way of design consultancy or in the technical appraisal of the projects. At present CWC is provided design consultancy to 94 projects. Out of this, 31 projects (including 3 from neighboring countries) are at construction stage, 35 projects (including 2 from neighboring countries) are at DPR stage and 28 projects involve special problems.

National Committee on Seismic Design Parameters: –

The National Committee on Seismic Design Parameters (NCSDP) was constituted by MoWR Order dated 21 st October, 1991 with the objective to recommend the seismic design parameters for the proposals received from the dam owners. Member (D&R), CWC is the chairman of the committee with 12 other experts from various engineering disciplines from different technical institutions and Government organizations as its members. Director (FE&SA), CWC is the member Secretary of NCSDP. The 38th meeting of NCSDP was held on 10.05.2024 at CWC, New Delhi under the Chairmanship of Member (D&R) wherein six projects were cleared.

Further, a special meeting of NCSDP was held on 05.06.2024 wherein the Guideline for Preparation and Submission Of Site-Specific Seismic Study Report of River Valley Project To National Committee On Seismic Design Parameters was revised comprehensively to be in line with the International practices.

National Register of Large Dams:

Before enactment of Dam Safety Act 2021, Dam Safety Organisation (DSO) , CWC compiled and maintained the register of large dams across the country in the form of National Register of Large Dams (NRLD) based on information provided by State Govts. / PSUs. After enactment of Dam Safety Act 2021, the NDSA has been mandated to maintain National level database of all specified dam in the country. The National Register of Specified (Large) Dams 2023 was released by Hon’ble Vice President of India in International Conference on Dam Safety held during 14th-15th September 2023 at Jaipur. As per NRLD- 2023, there are 6138 constructed and 143 under construction dams in the country. The NRLD, 2023 is available on CWC’s website and can be accessed by l ink- https:// cwc. gov. in/ publication/nrld.

Technical Examination of Instrumentation aspects of the projects:

Hydroelectric project:-

Detailed Project Report (DPR)/ construction drawings of 29 river valley projects in various States/ countries namely Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Meghalaya, Odisha, Sikkim Uttarakhand, West Bengal, Jammu & Kashmir, Bhutan and Nepal were examined, out of which 4 projects have been cleared with respect to instrumentation aspects and remaining 25 projects are at various stages of examination.

Pumped storage Project:-

Detailed Project Report (DPR)/ construction drawings of 42 river valley projects in various States/ countries namely Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh were examined, out of which 6 projects have been cleared with respect to instrumentation aspects and for remaining 36 projects, clearance from instrumentation aspects is no longer required as per the latest CEA guidelines.

Standing Technical Advisory Committee of CSMRS

The Standing Technical Advisory Committee (STAC) was constituted under the Chairmanship of Member (D&R), CWC for providing an overall perspective and guidance in technical scrutiny of research schemes being undertaken at CSMRS. The STAC is composed of 11 members drawn from various public sector institutions and is headed by Member (D& R), CWC. The 39th Standing Technical Advisory Committee (STAC) meeting of CSMRS was held on 25.10.2024

Other Seismic works:

Work related to technical evaluation and critical examination of web-based tool Seismic Hazard Assessment Information System (SHAISYS) being developed by IIT Roorkee and CWPRS Pune under DRIP is being carried out. A meeting is proposed on 18th December 2024 under the chairmanship of Member (D&R), CWC with the expert of IIT Roorkee at CWC, New Delhi regarding way forward for development of SHAISYS.

CWC Activities under National Hydrology Project (NHP):

Study on “Physical based Mathematical Modelling for estimation of Sediment Rate and Sediment Transport in Seven River Basin” has been completed.

Extended Hydrological Prediction (multi week forecast) for Yamuna, Narmada and Cauvery basins is in progress.

Reservoir Sedimentation Studies using Hydrographic survey for 32 reservoirs” under Phase-I has been completed. Works of Phase II: Consists of 87 reservoirs in 10 states (Rajasthan, Gujrat, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Telangana, and Odisha is under progress.
Supply, Installation, Testing & Commissioning (SITC) of 93 Nos. ADCP (14 + 29 + 50 in three phases) for the measurement of discharge at the HO sites of CWC has been completed. Further procurement of additional 46 no’s ADCP and 8 no’s Total station is in under progress.
Supply, Installation, Testing & Commissioning (SITC) of 32 velocity radar sensors for modernization of discharge observations has been completed.
7 no’s of Water Quality Equipment (ICP-MS and GC-MS) have been commissioned and installation & Commissioning of 3 more Water Quality Equipment (1 GC-MS and 2 ICP-MS) is under process.
Consultancy services for “Early Flood Warning System Including Inundation Forecast in Ganga Basin” is in progress.
Consultancy services for Development of Decision Support System near to real time for Integrated Reservoir Operation System of Ganga Basin” has been completed.
Real Time Data Acquisition System (RTDAS) for Narmada Control Authority (NCA) and Arunachal Pradesh comprising of network of 48 & 50 no’s hydro meteorological Stations respectively has been commissioned.
Reservoir Sedimentation Studies using Hydrographic survey for 32 reservoirs” under National Hydrology Project, Phase-I have been completed and reports published and under Phase II studies in respect of 87 reservoirs are taken up.

DAM REHABILITATION AND IMPROVEMENT PROJECT (DRIP) Phase-II and III

Dam Rehabilitation and Improvement Project (DRIP) is an externally aided project with financial assistance from the World Bank, targeting rehabilitation of some of the selected dams of the Country along with accompanying institutional strengthening component.

Dam Rehabilitation and Improvement Project (Phase-II & III):

Based on the success of DRIP Phase- I, Ministry of Jal Shakti initiated another externally funded scheme, DRIP Phase-II and Phase-III. The Union Cabinet has approved the Scheme on October 29, 2020.

The scheme has provision for rehabilitation of 736 dams located in 19 States (Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Goa, Gujarat, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Manipur, Meghalaya, Odisha, Punjab, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, West Bengal, and three Central Agencies (Central Water Commission, Bhakra Beas Management Board, and Damodar Valley Corporation). It is a State Sector Scheme with Central component, with duration of 10 years, to be implemented in two Phases i.e. Phase- II and Phase-III, each of six years duration with an overlap of two years. The budget outlay is Rs 10,211 Cr (Phase II: Rs 5107 Cr; Phase III: Rs 5104 Cr) with rehabilitation provision of 736 dams. Out of this cost, Rs. 7,000 crore is an external loan and Rs. 3,211 crores would be borne by the respective participating States and the three Central agencies. The funding pattern of scheme is 80:20 (Special Category States), 70:30 (General Category States) and 50:50 (Central Agencies). The scheme also has provision of Central Grant of 90% of loan amount for special category States (Manipur, Meghalaya and Uttarakhand). The DRIP Phase-II and III Scheme is 10 years duration, proposed to be implemented in two Phases, each of six-year duration with two years overlapping. Each Phase has external assistance of US$ 500 M. The Phase-II of the scheme is being co-financed by World Bank and Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), with funding of US$ 250 million each. The loan agreement by World Bank was signed on August 04, 2021 with 10 States (Gujarat, Kerala, MP, Maharashtra, Manipur, Meghalaya, Rajasthan, Odisha, Tamil Nadu, and Chhattisgarh) and became effective from 12th October, 2021. In addition to 10 States, four States (Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal and Karnataka) have been notified by World Bank for inclusion under this scheme in June 2022 and their loan declared effective in January 2023.

The loan agreement by AIIB was signed on 19th May, 2022 with 10 States (Gujarat, Kerala, MP, Maharashtra, Manipur, Meghalaya, Rajasthan, Odisha, Tamil Nadu, and Chhattisgarh) and declared effective on 29th December, 2022 by AIIB.

Inclusion of four States (Andhra Pradesh, Goa, Punjab, Telangana) and two Central Agencies (BBMB and DVC) is under process.

Important project achievements include approval of PSTs of 139 dams costing Rs 3715 Cr by the World Bank. The contract(s) amounting approximately Rs 2906 Cr have been awarded by various Implementing Agencies and an amount of Rs 1487 Cr spent as on 30.11.2024 on various project activities including dam rehabilitation, institutional strengthening and project management activities

A training on DRIP Ph-II &Ph-III was given to 40 officers of Punjab WRD on 12th June 2024 at Shahpur Kandi. Few topics were covered like Overview of DRIP Ph-II &Ph-III scheme; dam structural problems & their identification; Procurement procedures; Hydro-Mechanical structural problems; PST preparation; Financial Management of DRIP scheme etc.

A three days training on DFR organized during 8th to 10th July, 2024, in which 22 participants from seven (7) states and CWC participated.

The Management Information System (MIS-with 05 modules) was officially rolled out to SPMU on 14^th August 2024. In this regard a virtual MIS demonstration was organized on 14th August 2024 in which concerned officials of CPMU, SPMU, and EMC participated.

2^nd meeting of National Level Steering Committee (NLSC) on DRIP Phase-II and III chaired by Secretary, DoWR, RD and GR were held on 25.09.2024 at New Delhi to discuss the progress and issues of DRIP Scheme.

3^rd meeting of Technical Committee of DRIP Phase II and III was held on 18.10.2024 under the chairmanship of Member (D&R), CWC at Dehradun, Uttarakhand in which nodal officer and Project Director of DRIP IAs participated. Deliberations in respect of technical matters with regard to pertaining to implementation of the scheme were held during the meeting.

National Task Force for Integrated Water Resources Development and Management

National Task Force for Integrated Water Resources Development and Management (NTFIWRDM) has been set up by DoWR, RD & GR vide its OM dated 25.11.2024.

Sustainable development of water resources and its efficient management is the key to water security and economic growth. As a country, aspiring to be the world leader with the most powerful economy, challenges like increasing population, economic growth, industrialization and urbanization are bound to result in increased and conflicting demands for various purposes across the country. Moreover, the vagaries of climate change have already started to affect the water sector adversely. In the wake of ever-growing challenges in the water resources sector, it has become necessary to prospectively assess the projected water use for various purposes. In view of above, Department of Water Resources, RD & GR has set up a National Task Force for Integrated Water Resources Development and Management (NTFIWRDM) on 25.11.2024 under the chairmanship of Hon’ble Member, Niti Aayog with members from various Govt. Departments and experts from different organisations; thereby comprehensively covering various domains of water resources. Chief Engineer, BPMO, CWC is the Member Secretary of the NTFIWRDM. The NTFIWRDM – 2024 is expected to complete its work within 24 months, with interim reports submitted at yearly intervals.

(xxii) LIST OF IMPORTANT PUBLICATIONS OF CWC during 2024

Sl. No.	Publication	Released during
1	Water Sector at a Glance-2022	Aug-2024
2	Water & Related Statistics-2023	Sept-2024
3	Water Sector at a Glance-2023	Sept-2024
4	National Register of Major & Medium Irrigation Projects in India-2024	Sept-2024
5	Compendium on Sedimentation of Reservoirs in India	August 2024
6	Assessment of Area Affected Due to Floods in India	July 2024
7	Report on Flood Damage Statistics (1953-2022)	July 2024
8	Assessment of Area Affected Due to Floods in India [Part II: Assessment at Sub-District Level]	September 2024
9	Criteria for Risk Indexing of Glacial Lakes in Indian Himalayan Region	September 2024
10	Status Report on Coastal Area Management – An Indian Perspective, Regional Issues & Remedial Measures	September 2024

Central Ground Water Board (CGWB):

National Aquifer Mapping and Management Programme (NAQUIM)

Central Ground Water Board (CGWB) is implementing National Aquifer Mapping and Management program (NAQUIM), which envisages mapping of aquifers (water bearing formations), their characterization and development of Aquifer Management Plans to facilitate sustainable management of ground water resources. Out of 32 lakh sq km of the entire country, entire mappable area of 25 sq lakh km has been covered under this programme. NAQUIM outputs are shared with various stakeholders including the District Authorities. Building on the experiences of the NAQUIM, the NAQUIM 2.0 has been initiated from the year 2023-24 which emphasizes on detailed mapping and implementable management plans for identified priority areas. CGWB has completed 68 such studies (covering nearly 40,000 sq km) in year 2024.

In order to create infrastructure for data generation under NAQUIM, a Project has been approved by the Public Investment Board (PIB) with an outlay of Rs 805 Cr for implementation by CGWB during the period 2022-2026. As of now, tenders amounting approximately Rs. 550 Cr have been awarded.

One of the components of the project involves the construction of 7000 piezometers and the installation of Digital Water Level Recorders with telemetry devices for strengthening and automation of groundwater monitoring networks in the country. Construction of piezometers for strengthening groundwater monitoring has been initiated in 15 states (Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, MadhyaPradesh, Chhattisgarh, UttarPradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, WestBengal, Odisha and Jammu&Kashmir). A total of 1796 piezometers have been constructed till 31st December 2024.

Another component of the project involves construction of 1135 Exploratory Wells (EW) and Observation Wells (OW) for completing the data gap in the NAQUIM project area for which work has been initiated under all awarded packages in 11 states (Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal, Odisha, Assam). A total of 319 EW/OWs have been constructed till 31st December 2024.

Ground Water Resources

The Ground Water Resource Assessment for the water year 2024 was carried out jointly by Central Ground Water Board (CGWB) and States/UTs, through the web-based automated application “INDIA-GROUNDWATER RESOURCE ESTIMATION SYSTEM (IN-GRES) for the entire country. The assessment provides the state wise ground water resource scenario and insights required to adopt an integrated and sustainable ground water management in the Country.

As per the assessment, the total annual groundwater recharge in the country has been assessed as 446.90 billion Cubic Meter (BCM). The annual extractable ground water resource has been assessed as 406.19 BCM. The annual groundwater extraction for all uses is 245.64 BCM. The average stage of groundwater extraction for the country stands at 60.47 %. Out of the total 6746 assessment units (Blocks/ Mandals/ Talukas) in the country, 4951 (73.4 %) assessment units are categorized as ‘Safe’. 711 (10.5 %) assessment units are categorized “Semi-critical’’, 206 (3.05 %) assessment units, have been categorized as ‘Critical’ and 751 (11.1%) assessment units have been categorized as ‘Over-exploited’. Apart from these, there are 127 (1.8%) assessment units, which have been categorized as ‘Saline’ as major part of the ground water in phreatic aquifers in these units is brackish or saline.

Key Highlights:

Total Annual GW Recharge has increased (15 BCM) substantially and Extraction has declined (3 BCM) in 2024 from 2017 assessment. There is slight reduction in recharge and increase in extraction in the present assessment year compared to the preceding year.
Recharge from Tanks, Ponds and WCS has shown a consistent increase in the last five assessments. In the year 2024, it has increased by 0.39 BCM w.r.t. 2023.
With respect to the year 2017, there is an increase of 11.36 BCM in recharge from Tanks, Ponds & WCS (from 13.98 BCM in 2017 to 25.34 BCM in 2024).
The percentage of Assessment Units under Safe Category have increased from 62.6% in 2017 to 73.4 % in 2024 (The percentage of Safe assessment units was 73.14 % in 2023).
The percentage of Over Exploited Assessment units have declined from 17.24 % in 2017 to 11.13 % in 2024 (The percentage of OE Assessment units was 11.23% in 2023)

The Union Minister for Jal Shakti released “National Compilation of Dynamic Ground Water Resources of India 2024” on 31^st December, 2024.

High resolution aquifer mapping and management in Arid areas of India

The Central Ground Water Board (CGWB) has undertaken high resolution aquifer mapping in the arid regions of Rajasthan, Gujarat, and Haryana using advanced heliborne geophysical surveys. Under Phase I of the project, an area of 97,637 sq. km has been surveyed, covering 40,313-line km across 92 blocks in these states.
Based on the heliborne geophysical survey results, Gram Panchayat-level information of saturated/de-saturated, saline/fresh aquifers, groundwater potential zones, drilling sites, and managed aquifer recharge sites has been identified. Detailed reports have been prepared for 39 out of 92 blocks, comprising 20 blocks in Gujarat, 11 in Rajasthan, and 8 in Haryana.
A Coffee Table Book on the Summary of the findings of Heliborne Survey Phase I was released on 19.09.2024 in India Water Week-2024 at Bharat Mandapam, New Delhi by the Hon’ble Minister of State, Jal Shakti.

Artificial Recharge Activities

Groundwater augmentation through artificial recharge in identified water stressed areas of Rajasthan, comprising Jodhpur, Jaisalmer, Alwar, Jhunjhunu & Sikar districts of Rajasthan has been taken up in three phases

Phase-1: Two large dams have been constructed:
- Zoned Earth Fill Dam with Clay Core, Indroka, Mandore, Jodhpur
- Concrete Gravity Dam, Bastawa Mata, Balesar, Jodhpur.
Phase-2: 82 WHS (Stone Masonary Check Dams (MCD), Anicuts, Concrete Check Dams (CCD & Recharge shafts) have been constructed in certain water stressed blocks of Jodhpur, Jaisalmer and Sikar district.
Phase-3: 39 WHS (Check Dam, Anicut, Model Talab) have been constructed certain water stressed blocks in Jodhpur, Jaisalmer, Sikar, Jhunjhunu and Alwar districts of Rajasthan to know the concentrated effect of artificial recharge.

Regulation of Ground Water extraction

The primary role of Central Ground Water Authority (CGWA) is to regulate groundwater resource exploitation in the country. The Authority has been regulating groundwater development and management by way of issuing ‘No Objection Certificates’ for groundwater extraction to industries, infrastructure projects, Mining Projects, registration of drilling rigs etc., and framed guidelines in this connection.

Development of a new portal for NoC issuance to ground water users i.e. BhuNeer APP, which is an advanced version of the application processing software of CGWA for issuing NOC to ground water users of Industries, Infrastructure & Mining projects and Bulk Water Supply. The motto of developing this portal is to provide users a smooth experience with new features and functionalities.

Rajiv Gandhi National Ground Water Training & Research Institute (RGNGWTRI)

It is the training wing of CGWB and functions as a `Centre of Excellence’ with the national role of capacity building of Officers and Officials of CGWB, other Central Govt. Depts., State Govt. Depts., Public Sector Undertakings, Non-Governmental Organizations, Academic institutions and other stake holders through three arms -Tier I (National Level), Tier II (State Level) and Tier III (Block level) trainings.

During the last 10 years, from 2012-13 to 2024-25(As on 24.12.2024) a total of 1711 training courses (Tier-I, Tier-II & Tier-III) were organized (Male 83,330 + Female 30,369 = 1,13,699 Participants) by RGNGWTRI, Raipur.
The institute has also conducted Four trainings for foreign nationals, during the last 10 years

Development of three Indigenous Softwares as part of Smart India Hackathon (SIH) 2022- a significant step towards Atmanirbhar Bharat

Smart India Hackathon (SIH), a nationwide initiative envisioned under the leadership of Hon’ble Prime Minister is an important mega annual event among students to provide solutions through innovations for specific challenges identified by different organizations. It is an annual event organized by the Ministry of Education’s Innovation Cell, All India Council for Technical Education, along with partners. Based on problem statements shared by CGWB and under the mentorship of CGWB scientists, following three software applications were developed by engineering students as a part of Smart India Hackathon (SIH)

Hydra-Q: A Standalone desktop application for analysis, visualization and interpretation of hydrochemical data.
Aqua Probe: A Standalone desktop application for Pumping Test data analysis.
OASIS-G: Online application System for Stable Isotope Studies-Ground Water

The software applications can be accessed / downloaded from CGWB website (https://www.cgwb.gov.in/freewares-groundwater-data-analysis).

These freeware applications will be useful for students, researchers and groundwater professionals. So far, the software that are used for such kind of analysis are developed mostly in countries other than India. This is a significant step towards Atmanirbhar Bharat and is likely to reduce India’s dependence on foreign software.

Aquifer Management for Augmentation and Sustainability of Urban Water Supply- Faridabad

CGWB has taken up a study on augmentation of water supply to Faridabad city through sustainable ground water development in active Yamuna flood plain in 2024. CGWB has signed MoU with Faridabad Metropolitan Development Authority (FMDA)

Ground Water Quality Analysis

The comprehensive assessment of Ground Water Quality conducted by the Central Ground Water Board (CGWB) provides valuable insights that can guide remedial actions and inform future planning by various stakeholders. Notably, this report on Ground Water Quality is the first to implement a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for groundwater quality monitoring, which ensures consistency in data collection, analysis, and interpretation. Additionally, the use of internationally recognized methods significantly bolsters the credibility and technical rigor of the findings. On December 31, 2024, Sh. CR Paatil, Hon’ble Union Minister of Jal Shakti, unveiled the Annual Groundwater Quality Report, 2024.

Key Highlights:

In terms of cation chemistry, calcium dominates the ion content, followed by sodium and potassium. For anions, bicarbonate is the most prevalent, followed by chloride and sulphate. This indicates that overall water in the country is of Calcium-Bicarbonate type.
Some regions face sporadic contamination of nitrates, fluoride, and arsenic.
Seasonal trends observed in parameters like Electrical Conductivity (EC) and fluoride provide evidence of positive monsoon recharge effects, which improve water quality.
From an agricultural perspective, the analysis of Sodium Adsorption Ration (SAR) and Residual Sodium Carbonate (RSC) reinforces the generally favorable suitability of groundwater for irrigation, with over 81% of samples meeting safe thresholds. However, localized issues of high sodium content and RSC values demand targeted interventions to prevent long-term soil degradation.
100% of ground water samples in North-Eastern States are in excellent category for irrigation.

Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana (PMKSY)

Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana (PMKSY) for 2021-26 with an outlay of ₹93,068 Crore to benefit about 22 lakh farmers

Against a target of 34.63 Lakh Ha irrigation potential of 25.80Lakh Ha (approx.74.5%) created through AIBP works of the prioritized projects during 2016-17 to 2023-24
Nine (09) new MMI projects and two (02) new National projects have been further included under PMKSYAIBP.

Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana (PMKSY)- Accelerated Irrigation Benefit Programme (AIBP):

The Government of India on 27.07.2016 approved funding of the 99 prioritized irrigation projects (and 7 phases) with an estimated balance cost of Rs. 77,595 Crore (Central share- Rs. 31,342 crores; State share- Rs. 46,253 crores) for completion in phases. The works include both the AIBP and CAD works. Funding arrangement for both Central Assistance (CA) and State Share made through NABARD under Long Term Irrigation Fund (LTIF). Targeted Irrigation Potential to be created under the scheme is 34.63 Lakh ha. An expenditure of Rs. 68891 crore (upto March 2024) has been reported to be incurred by the concerned State Governments on these projects since 2016-17. In January 2020, Ministry of Finance conveyed the continuation of ongoing centrally sponsored scheme up-to 31.03.2021.

Physical Progress: Against the target of 34.63 Lakh Ha. Irrigation Potential of about 25.80 Lakh ha. has been created through AIBP works of the prioritized projects during 2016-17 to 2023-24. The potential created during 2024-25 shall be available only after the end of cropping season.

Project Completed under PMKSY-AIBP: AIBP works of 62 prioritized projects out of identified 99 projects (and 7 phases) were reported to be completed till date.

The Government of India has approved implementation of Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana (PMKSY) for 2021-26 with an outlay of ₹93,068 Crore on date 15-Dec-2021 to benefit about 22 Lakh farmers. The Union Cabinet has approved central support of ₹37,454 Crore to States and ₹20,434.56 Crore of debt servicing for loan availed by Government of India for irrigation development during PMKSY 2016-21. Accelerated Irrigation Benefit Programme, ‘Har Khet Ko Paani’ and Watershed Development components have been approved for continuation during 2021-26. Total additional irrigation potential creation targeted during 2021-26 under AIBP is 13.88 Lakh hectare. Apart from focused completion of 60 ongoing projects including their 30.23 lakh hectare command area development, 9 additional projects have been taken up till date. Also, two national projects, namely Renukaji Dam Project (Himachal Pradesh) and Lakhwar Multipurpose Project (Uttarakhand) have also been included for central funding of 90% of works of water component under the scheme.

Inclusion of new Major/Medium Irrigation (MMI) projects as well as funding of National Projects under AIBP.

Financial progress requirement is dropped for inclusion of a project underAIBPand only physical progress of 50% to be considered.

Advanced stage (50% physical progress) criteria are relaxed for projects having command area of 50% or more in Drought Prone Area Programme (DPAP), tribal, Desert Development Programme (DDP), Flood prone, Tribal area, Flood prone area, left wing extremism affected area, Koraput, Balangir and Kalahandi (KBK) region of Odisha, Vidarbha& Marathwada regions of Maharashtra and Bundelkhand region of Madhya Pradesh & Uttar Pradesh, as also for Extension Renovation Modernization (ERM) projects and also for States with net irrigation below national average.

Reimbursement is allowed for due central assistance in subsequent year also.

Project completion permitted with physical progress of 90% or more.

Online Management Information System (MIS) has been developed for monitoring of the projects. A nodal officer for each of the 99 priority projects has been identified who updates the physical and financial progress of the project regularly in the MIS.

GIS based Application has been developed for geo-tagging of project components. Remote Sensing Techniques have been used for digitization of the canal network of the projects. Further, the Cropped Area estimation in the command of 99 priority projects is being carried out annually through remote sensing.

To resolve the issue of Land Acquisition (LA) and increase water conveyance efficiency, use of Underground Pipeline (UGPL) has been actively promoted. Guidelines for Planning and Design ofPiped Irrigation Network were released by this Ministry in July, 2017.

Pari-passu implementation of Command area development works in the commands of these projects is envisaged to ensure that the Irrigation Potential Created could be utilized by the farmers. New Guidelines bringing focus on Participatory Irrigation Management (PIM) have been brought out. Further, transfer of control and management of irrigation system to the Water Users’ Association (WUA) has been made necessary condition for the acceptance of CADWM completion.

The Financial Progress under PMKSY-AIBP is as follows:

Funds Released	2016-17 to 2023-24	2024-25 (so far)	Total
Central Assistance for AIBP projects including special and National Projects	18550.98	629.22	19180.20
State Share	33830.83	180.60	34011.4
Total	52,381.81	809.82	53191.6

Special Package for Maharashtra: A Special Package approved on 18.07.2018 which provides Central Assistance to complete 83 Surface Minor Irrigation (SMI) projects and 8 Major / Medium Irrigation Projects in drought prone districts in Vidarbha and Marathwada and rest of Maharashtra in phases up to 2023-24 (extended till March-25). The overall balance cost of the said projects as on 1.4.2018 is estimated to be Rs.13651.61 Crore. Total CA is estimated to be Rs. 3831.41 Crore including reimbursement for expenditureduring 2017-18Balancepotentialof 3. 77 Lakh Ha would be created on completion of these schemes. CA of Rs. 2901.63 crores have been released under the scheme so far. Under the scheme, 53 SMI and 2 MMI projects have been reported to be completed by the State Government of Maharashtra. Overall irrigation potential of 1.66 Lakh ha. has been reported to be created through all these projects during 2018-19 to 2023-24. Further potential created during 2024-25 shall be available only after the end of cropping season.

Modernization of Command Area Development & Water Management (M-CADWM):

The Ministry of Jal Shakti is reviewing the CADWM programme to make it more relevant in the current context of water use efficiency and agricultural productivity. The proposed change is a proposed smart irrigation scheme which envisages transforming the existing command (whether rain fed or gravity based) to a Pressurized Piped Irrigation Command (PPIC) by providing pressurized irrigation water from Established source to Farm Gate below Minor (Tertiary) Level Network. This will make the entire command area micro-irrigation ready with robust back-end infrastructure using Surface Water. The farmers shall be empowered by creating a Water User Society, which will also be an “economic entity”.

The Scheme will develop suitable models for different Agro-Climatic zones, integrating various sources of water, and different levels of water availability, covering both areas of assured irrigation and protected irrigation. These models will pave the way for development of a National Plan for Modernization of water management in rural area in general and irrigation services in particular based on integrated, sustainable, efficient and inclusive water management.

Polavaram Irrigation Project: Polavaram Irrigation Project was declared as National Project under Section 90 of AP Reorganization Act, 2014, which came into force on 1^st March 2014. The project with 2467.50 m of earth-cum-rock fill dam and 1121.20 m long spillway aims at irrigating 2.91 Lakh ha in erstwhile East Godavari, Visakhapatnam, West Godavari and Krishna districts besides several other benefits envisaged by it. Central Government is funding 100% of the remaining cost of the irrigation component of the project, as on 01.04.2014. Government of Andhra Pradesh is executing the irrigation component of the project on behalf of Government of India. The approved cost of the Project as per Revised Cost Committee (RCC) is Rs 29,027.95 cr at 2013-14 PL and Rs 47,725.74 cr at 2017-18 PL up to FRL i.e. EL +45.72 m. After declaration as National Project, a sum of Rs. 15,605.96 cr has been released for execution of Polavaram Irrigation Project so far.

The Union Cabinet has approved the revised cost of the PIP in its meeting held on 28.08.2024, with water storage upto EL + 41.15 m at a cost of Rs. 30,436.95 cr with balance central grant for the project limited to Rs. 12,157.53 cr. Further, an amount of Rs. 2,348 cr has been released on 09.10.2024 as advance payment to GoAP on account of execution of Polavaram Irrigation Project in addition to the reimbursement of Rs 15,605.96 cr made to GoAP.

As reported by Water Resource Department, Government of Andhra Pradesh, an expenditure of Rs 18,348.84 cr has been incurred on the project works up to 30.11.2024, after declaration of Polavaram irrigation project (PIP) as National Project.

Atal Bhujal Yojana (Atal Jal)

Atal BhujalYojana (Atal Jal) is a Central Sector Scheme of Government of India with an outlay of Rs 6000 Crore, with focus on community participation and demand side interventions for sustainable ground water management in identified water stressed areas in 8203 water stressed Gram Panchayats of 229 administrative blocks/Talukas in 80 districts of seven States in the country viz. Gujarat, Haryana, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh. The scheme, partly funded by the World Bank, is being implemented from 1.04.2020 for a period of 6 years.

This unique scheme aims at increasing the capacity of States to manage their ground water resources and for ensuring their long-term sustainability with active participation of the local communities through a mix of top-down and bottom-up approaches. It also envisages convergence of various ongoing schemes for implementation of interventions for improving ground water availability with emphasis on demand management and also to inculcate behavioral changes in the community to ensure optimal use of available water resources.

The launch of Atal Bhujal Yojana heralds a change in the Government policy for ground water management by emphasizing the importance of community participation in planning, execution, and monitoring of scheme activities; convergence of ongoing schemes for implementing interventions aimed at improving ground water availability; focus on demand side management through improving water use efficiency and incentivizing participating States for awareness creation among the masses on the importance of ground water.

Atal Bhujal Yojana also envisages improving the capacity of States for ground water governance through strengthening of institutions dealing with ground water management, improving ground water monitoring networks, creation of awareness among the public on the importance and criticality of ground water resources and building the capacity of the grass root level stakeholders to plan and utilize the available resources in a judicious manner. It also addresses the gender perspective by making it mandatory to include women in all activities of the scheme.

Atal Bhujal Yojana is expected to improve ground water conditions in the target areas and to contribute significantly to ensure ground water sustainability for interventions planned under the Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM). It is also expected to contribute to the Hon’ble Prime Minister’s goal of doubling farmers’ income and to result in optimal use of ground water by the stakeholders in the long-run.

Further, to bridge the gap in the data availability at the GP level for better water management across India, Department of Water Resources, River Development & Ganga Rejuvenation in collaboration with Ministry of Panchayati Raj has taken the initiative to expand water budgeting exercise to non-Atal Jal areas as well by their inclusion in the Gram Panchayat Development Plans (GPDPs).

Key achievements under Atal Bhujal Yojana are as follows:

Public disclosure of data in all the Atal Jal GPs through various modes of disclosure viz., central/state web portals, display board at each GP, social media, wall paintings, distribution of pamphlets/brochure, public meetings and Atal Jal Mobile application.
States have used innovative measures like Groundwater Data Information Dissemination Centers, QR codes, social media, etc., to disseminate the groundwater related data to public.
Community led Water Budget and WSPs prepared for all the 8203 GPs and updated on yearly basis.
Groundwater monitoring system has been strengthened at GP level by providing equipment like Digital Water Level Recorders, water level indicators, rain gauges, water quality testing kits, water flow meters etc. In addition, piezometers have been constructed in GPs for monitoring of water levels.
A total of 49 State level, 410 District level, 1152 Block level and 99,406 GP level trainings have been conducted so far.
Awareness and sensitization at GP level through innovative Information Education and Communication practices like narrowcasting in Haryana, folk dances/songs in Karnataka, Jal dindis in Maharashtra, Ratri Choupals in Rajasthan have been used to drive the message of sustainable groundwater management.
Investment of Rs. 4355 Crore towards implementation of interventions proposed under WSPs through convergence.
An area of around 6.7 lakh Hectares has been brought under efficient water use practices including Drip, Sprinkler, Mulching, Crop Diversification etc.
More than 70,000 wells are being monitored for water level at GP level and shared with community.
More than 90,000 existing Water Conservation and Artificial Recharge structures have been mapped.
813 GPs in 47 Blocks have shown improvement in ground water level.
A total of Rs.3420.57 Cr. has been disbursed to the States since the inception of the scheme. A total of Rs.2863.98 Cr. has been utilized by the States since the inception of the scheme.
Sixth meeting of National Level Steering Committee (NLSC) for implementation of Atal Bhujal Yojana was held on 07 June 2024.

Minor Irrigation Statistics: Progress under the scheme “Irrigation Census”:

Minor Irrigation Census conducted quinquennially in order to create a sound and reliable database on groundwater and surface water minor irrigation schemes in the country. The Minor Irrigation Census is conducted under the centrally sponsored scheme “Irrigation Census” with 100% central funding through which State Statistical Cells constituted under different States/UTs are also supported.

The sixth Minor Irrigation Census and the first Census of Water bodies covering all water bodies in the country, both rural and urban have been completed. All India and State-wise report on 6^th Minor Irrigation Census and First Census of Water Bodies has been published and are available at the Department website ‘https://jalshakti-dowr.gov.in’. Key results have been disseminated on Bhuvan portal and the state wise unit level data has also been disseminated on Open Government Data (OGD) platform.

During 2024, the following progress under the scheme “Irrigation Census” has been achieved:

7^th Minor Irrigation Census and 2^nd Census of Water Bodies are underway, along with two new censuses: the 1^st Census of Springs and the 1^st Census of Major and Medium Irrigation Projects, with reference year 2023-24.
An all-India Workshop on these Censuses was held in 2023, with participation from all States and Union Territories. NIC has developed a mobile/web application for these censuses, with pilot testing successfully conducted in Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Odisha, and Meghalaya in month of October, 2024.
Six regional workshops for training of trainers for upcoming censuses are being conducted at regional centers in Tripura, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Rajasthan, and West Bengal from December, 2024 to January, 2025 to provide training to trainers at State level for further capacity building.
Grands-in-aid to States/UTs were released timely on receipt of proposals from eligible States/UTs.

Flood Management Wing (FM):

Flood Management and Border Areas Programme (FMBAP):

The “Flood Management Programme (FMP)” and “River Management Activities and Works related to Border Areas” (RMBA) under operation during XII Five Year Plan were merged as “Flood Management and Border Areas Programme” (FMBAP) for the period 2017-18 to 2019-20 and further extended up-to March, 2021. Cabinet further approved the continuation of FMBAP scheme during 2021-22 to 2025-26 with an outlay of Rs. 4100 Crore (FMP-Rs. 2940 Crore and RMBA – Rs. 1160 Crore).

Since the inception of FMBAP (till December 2024), Central Assistance of Rs. 7136 crores have been released to States/UTs under FMP component of Flood Management & Border Area Programme (FMBAP) scheme and Central Assistance of Rs. 1258.73 crores have been released to UTs/States under RMBA component of FMBAP scheme.

Completion of balance works of North Koel Reservoir Project: DoWR, RD & GR has taken up the long pending project for completion of balance works of North Koel Reservoir Project, Bihar and Jharkhand. In August, 2017 the Union Cabinet has approved the proposal for balance works of North Koel Reservoir Project at an estimated cost of Rs. 1622.27 crore during three financial years from the start of the project. Subsequently, at the request of both State Governments, certain other components were found necessary to be included in the project. Complete lining of Right Main Canal (RMC) and Left Main Canal (LMC) was also regarded essential from technical considerations to derive envisaged irrigation potential. Thus, the works of Gaya distribution system, lining of RMC and LMC, remodeling of enroute structures, construction of a few new structures and onetime Special Package for R&R of Project Affected Families (PAFs) were to be provided for in the updated cost estimate. Accordingly, Revised Cost Estimate of the project was prepared. Out of the cost of balance works of Rs. 2430.76 crore, the Central would provide Rs.1836.41 crore. The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs has given its approval to the proposal to complete the balance works of North Koel Reservoir Project at a revised Cost of Rs. 2,430.76 crore on 04.10.2023. Project will provide irrigation benefit to 114,021 hectares of land annually in drought prone areas of Aurangabad and Gaya districts of Bihar and Palamau and Garwa districts of Jharkhand. Project also has the provision for supply of 44 MCM water for drinking and industrial water supply. The execution of balance works of the project on turnkey basis by M/s WAPCOS Ltd., a CPSU under DoWR, RD & GR as Project Management Consultant (PMC). 10% works on dam & appurtenant, 100% of additional works of Mohammad Ganjbarrage, 86% works on left main canal and works on Right Main Canal in Jharkhand Portion & 18% works on Bihar portion have been completed.

India and Bangladesh Matters

A Treaty was signed by the Prime Ministers of India and Bangladesh on 12th December, 1996 for the sharing of Ganga/Ganges waters at Farakka during the lean season. As per the Treaty, the Ganga/Ganges waters is being shared at Farakka (which is the last control structure on river Ganga in India) during lean period, from 1^st January to 31^st May every year, on 10-daily basis as per the formula provided in the Treaty. The validity of Treaty is 30 years. The sharing of water as per the Treaty is being monitored by a Joint Committee headed by Members, JRC from both sides. The following India-Bangladesh Joint Committee Meetings have been convened.

The 83^rd meeting of the Joint Committee on sharing of the Ganga/Ganges waters at Farakka was held at Dhaka on 24^th January, 2024 after a visit to the joint observation site at Hardinge Bridge, on 24th January, 2024.
The 84^th meeting of the Joint Committee on sharing of the Ganga/Ganges Waters at Farakka was held at Kolkata on 7^th March, 2024 after visit to the joint observation sites at Farakka on 5^th March, 2024.
The 85^th meeting of the Joint Committee on sharing of the Ganga/ Ganges waters at Farakka was held at Dhaka (Bangladesh) on 14^th November, 2024 for the finalization of Annual Report of the lean/dry season of the year 2024.

During the 83^rd and 84^th Joint Committee meetings, the Indian delegation was led by Mr. Atul Jain, Commissioner (FM), Department of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation Ministry of Jal Shakti. During the 85th Joint Committee meeting, the Indian delegation was led by Mr. Sharad Chandra, Commissioner (FM), Department of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation, Ministry of Jal Shakti, Government of the Republic of India and Member, India-Bangladesh Joint Rivers Commission. The Bangladesh delegation was led by Dr. Mohammad Abul Hossen, Member, India-Bangladesh Joint Rivers Commission, Ministry of Water Resources, Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh.

National River Conservation Directorate (NRCD)

Cleaning of river is a continuous process and Government of India is supplementing the efforts of the State Governments in addressing the challenges of pollution of rivers by providing financial and technical assistance. Assistance is provided to State Governments for abatement of pollution in identified stretches of various rivers (excluding river Ganga and its tributaries) under the Centrally Sponsored Scheme of National River Conservation Plan (NRCP) on cost sharing basis between the Central & State Governments for taking up various pollution abatement works relating to interception & diversion of raw sewage, construction of sewerage systems, setting up of sewage treatment plants, low cost sanitation, river front/bathing ghat development, etc.

Project for ‘Pollution Abetment River Banganga at Katra’ in Jammu & Kashmir at a cost of Rs.92.10 crore was sanctioned.
Project for ‘Pollution Abetment and Conservation of river Mindhola at Surat’ in Gujarat at a cost of Rs.98.51 crore was sanctioned.
Project for ‘Interception & Diversion of Sewerage Water from Existing Drains to Nearest STP for Treatment Purposes in Jodhpur City for Pollution Abatement of River Jojari at Jodhpur’ in Rajasthan at a cost of Rs.13.10 crore was sanctioned.
Project for ‘Sewer rehabilitation of old and deteriorated pipes by Trenchless CIPP Technology for main trunk sewer lines heading towards Nandari and Salawas STPs for pollution abatement of Jojari River at Jodhpur’ in Rajasthan at a cost of Rs.51.99 crore was sanctioned.
Project for ‘Design of Complete Sewerage System and Proposal of Development of New STP for Jhalamand Area, Jodhpur for pollution abatement of river Jojari at Jodhpur’ in Rajasthan at a cost of Rs.53.63 crore was sanctioned.
Project for ‘Establishing and Commissioning of 30 MLD Sewage Treatment Plant (STP) at Nandari for pollution abatement of river Jojari at Jodhpur’ in Rajasthan at a cost of Rs.53.86 crore was sanctioned.
Project for ‘Rejuvenation of Imphal-Manipur River and Faecal Sludge and Septage Management at 27 ULBs’ in Manipur at a cost of Rs.92.39 crore was sanctioned.
Project for ‘Elamkulam sewerage project for rejuvenating Chitrapuzha River through restoration of natural streams/outfalls carrying sewage/pollutants-Construction of STP 17.5 MLD’ in Kerala at a cost of Rs.47.53 crore was sanctioned.
Project for ‘Perandoor Sewerage Project for Rejuvenating Periyar River through Restoration of Natural Streams/Outfalls Carrying Sewage/Pollutants—Construction of 19 MLD STP (Part 1)’ in Kerala at a cost of Rs.49.78 crore was sanctioned.
Project Management Consultant has been appointed for implementation the project of ‘Pollution abatement and conservation of River Nag at Nagpur, Maharashtra’ sanctioned at a cost of Rs.1,926.99 crore with Japan International Cooperation Assistance.
Project for pollution abatement of river Devika and Tawi at Udhampur, Jammu & Kashmir sanctioned for Rs.186.74 crore has been completed 3 sewage treatment plants (STPs) with total capacity of 13.06 mld constructed under NRCP.
Project for pollution abatement of river Tapi at Surat, Gujarat sanctioned for Rs. 971.25 crore has been completed 11 sewage treatment plants (STPs) with total capacity of 208.97 mld constructed under NRCP.
Central Assistance amounting to Rs. 425 crores released to various State Governments/Agencies for implementation of projects under NRCP.
Stakeholder Consultation Workshop on Guidelines for National River Conservation Plan and DPR Preparation held on 06th May, 2024 in the presence of Secretary, DoWR, RD & GR. The recommendation and suggestions of the stakeholders are under review and accordingly will be proposed in the revised guidelines of NRCP and DPR guidelines.
First meeting of the Stakeholder Advisory Committee (SAC) was held on 31.05.2024 under the Chairpersonship of Secretary, DoWR, RD & GR at Nagpur under the project Condition Assessment and Management Plan of Six River Basins (Cauvery, Periyar, Narmada, Mahanadi, Godavari and Krishna).
The project “Assessment of ecological status of 7 rivers viz. Narmada, Mahanadi, Godavari, Cauvery, Periyar, Pamba and Barak for conservation planning” has been entrusted to Wild Life Institute of India (WII) at a sanctioned cost of Rs. 24.56 crore in September, 2020. The project broadly aims to spearhead river conservation in above seven Indian rivers for biodiversity conservation and maintenance of ecosystem services. Intensive ecological studies will be carried out in the seven prioritized river basins of India and ecological status will be assessed. Stake Holders workshops of NRCD- WII held at Bengaluru, Karnataka Cauvery River basin.

External Affairs & International Cooperation (EA&IC)

DoWR, RD & GR has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with different countries on cooperation in the field of water resources management and development. For effective implementation of activities under the various signed MoUs, to enhance the collaboration under the MoU, certain activities were undertaken including Joint Working Group (JWG) meeting, the details of which is as follows –

MoU with Denmark – The MoU between India and Denmark on Cooperation in the field of Water Resources Management was signed on 12.09.2022. Two projects namely “Centre of excellence on Smart Water Resources Management (CoESWaRM)” and “Smart Laboratories on Clean River (SLCR)” have been identified under the MoU. Indian side Joint Working Group was formed on 05.08.2024. First Joint Working Group (JWG) meeting under the MoU was held on 05^th December 2024. In the meeting, it has been agreed to have organizational division at PMU level into two sub-thematic areas under the existing Centre of Excellence (CoE).

MoU with European Union – The MoU between India and the European Union on Water Cooperation was signed on 01.10.2016. Three JWG meetings have been convened so far. Third Meeting of JWG was convened on 12.07.2023 virtually. The 6th EU-India Water Forum meeting was held on 18.09.2024 during the 8th India Water Week in New Delhi. The forum inter-alia explored trilateral collaboration between East Africa, India and the EU to address water challenges in regions like Lake Victoria and Lake Tanganyika.

MoU with Israel: The MoU between India and Israel on Water Resources Management and Development Cooperation was signed on 11.11.2016. A Joint Review Committee (JRC) (Now Steering Committee) has been formed on 20.02.2024 to assess the activities and progress of the projects identified for implementation under the MoU. 1^st meeting of the JRC was convened on 9th Oct 2024 recommending the proposal for the “Establishment of India-Israel Centre of Water Technology (CoWT)”.

MoC with Japan (Water Resources): The Memorandum of Cooperation (MoC) between India and Japan in the area of Water Resources was signed on 11.12.2019. Two meetings of Joint Working Group (JWG) have been convened so far. 2nd JWG meeting was held on 14.11.2024. In the meeting both sides agreed for extension of the MoU and to identifying additional areas for collaboration.

MoU with Morocco- The MoU between India and Morocco on cooperation in the field of Water Resources was signed on 14.12.2017. Four JWG meetings have been convened so far. Fourth JWG meeting was convened on 20.09.2024. It was agreed upon that both the countries will share their experiences, analysis, findings, policies and developments in the field of water resources in its next meeting of JWG.

Bilateral Meetings of Hon’ble Minister of Jal Shakti with the Ministers of Foreign Nations during India Water Week 2024 in New Delhi: –

Denmark: Mr. C.R. Paatil, Hon’ble Minister of Jal Shakti met with H.E. Mr. Morten Bødskov, Denmark’s Minister of Industry, Business and Financial Affairs. Denmark’s Minister reaffirmed Denmark’s commitment to sustainable water solutions and highlighted the expertise of Danish companies in water management. The Hon’ble Minister of Jal Shakti proposed collaborative initiatives to develop scalable technologies for water challenges, suggesting pilot projects at the district level.
Guyana: A significant meeting took place between Mr. C. R. Paatil, Hon’ble Minister of Jal Shakti and Mr. Collin D. Croal, Hon’ble Minister of Housing & Water, Guyana. It was agreed upon that both the countries will share their experiences, policies and developments in the field of water resources
Tanzania: Mr. C. R. Paatil, Hon’ble Minister of Jal Shakti, India met with Mr. Mathew Andrea Kundo, Deputy Minister of Water, Tanzania. The Tanzanian Minister proposed discussions on a new project to transport water from Lake Victoria, estimated at $600 million, to address water challenges in Tanzania. Hon’ble Minister of Jal Shakti assured that this proposal would be deliberated upon in the Ministry positively.
Zimbabwe: A productive meeting took place between Mr. C. R. Paatil, Hon’ble Minister of Jal Shakti and Mr. Vangelis Peter Haritatos, Hon’ble Deputy Minister of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development, Zimbabwe. Zimbabwe’s Minister sought innovative financing options beyond traditional avenues such as EXIM etc. Hon’ble Minister for Jal Shakti assured that these matters would be deliberated upon positively, emphasizing that improvements in Zimbabwe’s irrigation sector would significantly enhance food security across Africa.

Barhmaputra & Barak (B&B) Wing

Expert Level Mechanism (ELM)

During the visit of the Hon’ble President of the People’s Republic of China to India on November 20-23, 2006, it was agreed to set up an Expert-Level Mechanism to discuss interaction and cooperation on provision of flood season hydrological data, emergency management and other issues regarding trans-border Rivers as agreed between them. Accordingly, the two sides have set up the Joint Expert Level Mechanism through a Joint Declaration by both the countries.

The ELM meetings are held alternately in India and China every year. Fifteen meetings of ELM have been held so far. The 15^th meeting of ELM was held at Beijing, China during 13^th-14^th August 2024. The GoI delegation was led by Shri S.K. Sinha, Commissioner (B&B), DoWR, RD & GR, Ministry of Jal Shakti and the Chinese delegation was led by Mr. Hao Zhao, Director General of the International Economic & Technical Cooperation and Exchange Centre, Ministry of Water Resources, People’s Republic of China. Representatives of Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), Central Electricity Authority (CEA) and Central Water Commission (CWC) had also participated in the meeting.

(ii) INDIA-BHUTAN COOPERATION

Joint Group of Expert (JGE) on Flood Management:

A Joint Group of Expert (JGE) on Flood Management has been constituted between India and Bhutan to discuss and assess the probable causes and effects of the recurring floods and erosion in the southern foothills of Bhutan and adjoining plains in India and recommend to both Governments appropriate and mutually acceptable remedial measures. Ten meetings of JGE have been held so far. The 10^th meeting was held during 28^th-29^th February, 2024 at New Delhi, India. The GoI delegation was led by Shri S. K. Sinha, Commissioner (B&B), Department of Water Resources, River Development & Ganga Rejuvenation (DoWR, RD& GR), Ministry of Jal Shakti, GoI and the RGoB delegation was led by Mr. Karma Dupchu, Director, National Centre for Hydrology and Meteorology (NCHM), RGoB.

Joint Technical Team (JTT) on Flood Management:

In accordance with the decision taken during the first meeting of JGE, a Joint Technical Team (JTT) on Flood Management between the two countries was constituted. The purpose of JTT is to assess the field situation and provide technical support to JGE on flood management. Eight meetings of JTT have been held so far. The 8^th meeting of JTT was held during 18^th–20^th November, 2024 at Chalsa, Jalpaigudi, West Bengal. The Indian delegation was led by Shri G.L. Bansal, Chief Engineer, Brahmaputra Basin Organisation (BBO), Central Water Commission, GoI and the Bhutanese delegation was led by Dr. SingayDorji, Chief of Meteorological Services Division (MSD), National Centre for Hydrology and Meteorology, RGoB.

Joint Experts Team (JET) on Flood Forecasting:

A Joint Experts Team (JET) consisting of senior officials from the Government of India and Royal Government of Bhutan(RGoB) continuously reviews the progress and other requirements of a network of 36 hydro-meteorological sites located in the catchments of trans-border rivers Puthimari, Pagladiya, Sankosh, Manas, Raidak, Torsa, Aie and Jaldhaka. So far, JET has met 38 times alternately in India and Bhutan since its reconstitution in 1992 and the last JET meeting i.e. 38^th meeting was held at Mandarmani, West Bengal, India during 10^th-11^th December, 2024.

The Indian delegation was led by Shri Subhrangshu Biswas, Chief Engineer, Teesta&Bagarathi-Damodar Basin Organisation (T&BDBO), Central Water Commission, GoI and the Bhutanese delegation was led by Mr. Karma Dupchu, Director, National Centre for Hydrology and Meteorology (NCHM), RGoB.

13. NERIWALM

The North Eastern Regional Institute of Water and Land Management (NERIWALM), under the Ministry of Jal Shakti, continued its vital contributions to water and land management across North East India in 2024. As the only institute of its kind in the region, it upheld its mandate of capacity building and skill enhancementfor efficient management of water and land resources for irrigation and agriculture.

During the year (January to December, 2024), the institute organized 76 training programmes, reaching 3,173 beneficiaries. Among these were induction-level courses for newly recruited engineers from the Irrigation and Agriculture Departments of Assam, as well as the Brahmaputra Board. A faculty development program on advancements in agriculture and water management was also conducted. NERIWALM collaborated with leading national institutions and agencies to host a two-day National Seminar on Advances in Irrigation Technologies and Management, fostering knowledge exchange and innovation.

In research and development, the institute undertook a diverse range of projects sponsored by state and central government departments. Key initiatives included the preparation of State-Specific Action Plans for 19 states, evaluations of PMKSY-AIBP and PMKSY-HKKP irrigation projects in Assam and Meghalaya, research project on farmer participation in irrigation management in Manipur, studies on good water management practices and study on the impact of climate change on dam-related hydro-geomorphic and social aspects in Arunachal Pradesh.

NERIWALM’s academic program also progressed with the enrollment of 15 students in the M.Tech course on Water Resource Management for the 2024-25 session. The institute further strengthened its credentials by developing e-learning modules on water resource management for the i-GOT platform. NERIWALM was accredited as “EXCELLENT” under the Capacity Building Commission’s National Standards, while its Soil and Water Laboratory achieved NABL accreditation.

14. NATIONAL HYDROLOGY PROJECT

National Hydrology Project (NHP), with support from the World Bank, envisages establishing a system for timely and reliable water resources data acquisition, storage, collation and management. It has pan-India coverage with 48 Implementing Agencies (IAs) {12 from Central Government (including 3 from River Basin Organisations) and 36 from States/ UTs}. It will also provide tools and systems for informed decision making for water resources assessment, planning and management. The National Hydrology Project has been approved with an outlay of Rs. 3,679.77 Crore as a Central Sector Scheme with 100% grant to State Governments and Central Implementing Agencies. The project originally had a duration of 8 years from 2016-17 to 2023-24. However, Department of Expenditure, Ministry of Finance has accorded approval for extension of project till Sept-2025 within the same allocation.

Broad objectives of NHP include: a) To improve the extent, quality, and accessibility of water resources information; b) To create decision support system for floods and basin level resource assessment/planning; and c) To strengthen the capacity of targeted water resources professionals and institutions in India.

Under the ongoing NHP, almost 22960 Real Time Data Acquisition System (RTDAS) surface water and ground water stations have already been installed in the country. Besides, 46 Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) packages have been commissioned; almost 5667 piezometers constructed; 134 stationary as well as mobile water quality labs have been developed/procured/maintained and put into operation;
high-resolution DEMs, CORS network as well as Geoid model have also been developed. Furthermore, Bathymetric surveys of 464 important reservoirs of the country covering 162 BCM have also been taken up under NHP of which 373 studies have already been completed. Further 36 State Data Centres / Regional data centres / knowledge centres, etc. have been completed under the ongoing NHP. The need for development & maintenance of appropriate institutional framework both at the Central as well as State level for water resources information system intended for collection, collation and dissemination of the database was given shape in the ongoing NHP. As envisaged in the Cabinet note, the National Water Resources Informatics Centre (NWIC) has been created in 2018 and is now functional. Additionally, the formation of the State Water Informatics Centres for development of respective State Water Resources Information Systems was expedited in the ongoing NHP. Till date almost 19 SWICs have already been formed with a few more under process. The information system covering hydro-meteorological, hydro-geological, sedimentation, morphological and water quality data is also important in the context of various studies being done under NHP which
include IT Applications, Digital Products, geospatial hydro products, etc.

15. Surface Minor Irrigation (SMI) scheme

Under the Surface Minor Irrigation (SMI) scheme, since 12th plan onwards, 7282 schemes are ongoing with an estimated cost of ₹ 16113.560 crores. Central Assistance (CA) of Rs. 9009.169 crores have been released to states up-to March, 2024. Further, 4965 schemes have been reported to be completed up-to March, 2024. Target irrigation potential creation of these schemes is 11.58 L Ha and out of this, 8.59 L Ha is reported to be created till March, 2024.

16. Repair, Renovation and Restoration (RRR) of Water Bodies scheme

Under the Repair, Renovation and Restoration (RRR) of Water Bodies scheme, since 12th plan onwards, 3075schemes are ongoing with an estimated cost of Rs. 2834.692 crore. Central Assistance (CA) of Rs. 554.279Crore has been released to states up to March, 2024. Further, 2192 water bodies have been reported to be completed up to March, 2024. Target irrigation potential restoration of these schemes is 2.41 L Ha and out of this, 2.00 L Ha is reported to be restored till March, 2024

18. Mass Communication Internship programme

DoWR, RD & GR undertook internship programme in mass communication on during 2024. Students pursuing Degrees or are Research Scholars enrolled in recognized University/Institution in the field of Mass Communication in India are given opportunity to apply as “interns”. The Internship Programme provided short term exposure to “selected candidates” to be associated with the Department’s work related to media/social media activities. The objectives of the programme are to well acquaint the “Interns” with the working of the Department in field of media/social media related activities etc. and simultaneously the “interns” to supplement the process of mass publicity of this Department to create awareness about importance of development and management of water resources in holistic manner.

03 interns were selected for an initial period of 6 months under the program.

*****

Dhanya Sanal K

Director

(Release ID: 2096022) Visitor Counter : 29

MIL OSI Asia Pacific News –

January 26, 2025

MIL-OSI United Kingdom: New tool to make it easier and faster for public to access essential government services online
Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments

GOV.UK Forms, a new tool for faster, more accessible online government forms, will be rolled out nationwide after successful trials showed major time savings and improved efficiency.
GOV.UK Forms to be rolled out across government, making it faster and easier for the public to fill out forms such as applying for emergency travel documents

Tool has already helped over 20,000 armed forces personal apply for veteran badges and victims of the Horizon scandal apply for compensation

With 87 forms live and used by over 1,200 civil servants, GOV.UK Forms marks a key step in the UK government’s digital transformation

People across the country will be able to complete government forms online more quickly and easily, boosting efficiency and speeding up access to support.

The new tool, GOV.UK Forms, has already been used to speed up registration for redress for more than 300 sub-postmasters affected by the Horizon IT scandal by removing the need for lengthy paperwork, print-outs and administrative hurdles – with forms taking less than five minutes to complete.

It’s also been used by the public to register XL Bully dogs and recruit over 400 new volunteer coastguards, with the tool already saving an estimated two years in processing time.

GOV.UK Forms will transform how the public fill out applications and forms on GOV.UK by offering them an online platform to fill in their details instead – meaning they no longer have to rely on clunky PDFs or lengthy paperwork, which is inefficient and less accessible.

The tool will now be rolled out across all government departments after a successful trial and provide civil servants with a digital platform that allows them to create and manage secure, accessible forms online.

Harnessing the power of technology will be crucial to support the government in achieving its mission of making public services work for working people, grow the economy, and make everyone across the country better off.

Minister for AI and Digital Government Feryal Clark will unveil the full rollout of GOV.UK Forms at the Digital Nations Ministerial Summit in Copenhagen, Denmark today.

Speaking on the platform’s success, Minister Clark said:

We’re enabling citizens to access essential government services more easily and securely, whether it’s applying for long overdue compensation or to become a volunteer.

Not only will this modernise how the public interacts with us, but it allows departments to focus resources on improving public services – rather than administrative tasks.

This early success marks the start of our ongoing mission to refine digital tools, building trust and ensuring government works for everyone, everywhere.

Following successful private beta and early access phases, GOV.UK Forms will now enter a ‘public beta’ testing phase, which will mean it is applied more widely where citizens need to share information with the government.

To date, 87 forms have been published, with over 1,200 government users adopting the platform, saving more than two years in processing time.

Christine Bellamy, CEO of the Government Digital Service (GDS) said:

GOV.UK Forms enables people running government services to create online forms in minutes, without the need for coding or design skills.

By enabling teams to replace paper-based forms with digital alternatives that are quicker to process, more secure and more accessible, we’re helping to realise a more modern digital government that helps to give people their time back.

The platform complies with government standards on accessibility and cyber security, enabling all users, including those with access needs, to use the forms easily and securely. It also meets accessibility standards and regularly tests new features to keep the forms easy to use for everyone.

GOV.UK Forms is part of a wide range of initiatives in the government’s digital transformation, enhancing efficiency, security, and accessibility for citizens across the UK.

Minister Clark’s announcement at the summit will mark a pivotal step forward for GOV.UK Forms as it becomes an essential tool in modernising public engagement with government services.

DSIT media enquiries

Email press@dsit.gov.uk

Monday to Friday, 8:30am to 6pm 020 7215 300

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Published 4 November 2024
MIL OSI United Kingdom –
January 26, 2025
MIL-OSI: Municipality Finance issues EUR 20 million notes under its MTN programme

Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

Municipality Finance Plc
Stock exchange release
4 November 2024 at 10:00 am (EET)

Municipality Finance issues EUR 20 million notes under its MTN programme

Municipality Finance Plc issues EUR 20 million notes on 5 November 2024. The maturity date of the notes is 5 November 2035. MuniFin has a right, but no obligation, to redeem the notes early on 5 November 2025. The notes bear interest at a fixed rate of 3.87% per annum until 5 November 2025, after which the interest is paid at 3.00% per annum, unless MuniFin redeems the notes early.

The notes are issued under MuniFin’s EUR 50 billion programme for the issuance of debt instruments. The offering circular, the supplemental offering circular and the final terms of the notes are available in English on the company’s website at https://www.kuntarahoitus.fi/en/for-investors.

MuniFin has applied for the notes to be admitted to trading on the Helsinki Stock Exchange maintained by Nasdaq Helsinki. The public trading is expected to commence on 5 November 2024.

UBS Europe SE acts as the dealer for the issue of the notes.

MUNICIPALITY FINANCE PLC

Further information:

Joakim Holmström
Executive Vice President, Capital Markets and Sustainability
tel. +358 50 444 3638

MuniFin (Municipality Finance Plc) is one of Finland’s largest credit institutions. The company is owned by Finnish municipalities, the public sector pension fund Keva and the Republic of Finland.
The Group’s balance sheet totals over EUR 50 billion.

MuniFin builds a better and more sustainable future with its customers. MuniFin’s customers include municipalities, joint municipal authorities, wellbeing services counties, corporate entities under their control, and non-profit organisations nominated by the Housing Finance and Development Centre of Finland (ARA). Lending is used for environmentally and socially responsible investment targets such as public transportation, sustainable buildings, hospitals and healthcare centres, schools and day care centres, and homes for people with special needs.

MuniFin’s customers are domestic but the company operates in a completely global business environment. The company is an active Finnish bond issuer in international capital markets and the first Finnish green and social bond issuer. The funding is exclusively guaranteed by the Municipal Guarantee Board.

Read more: https://www.kuntarahoitus.fi/en/

Important Information

The information contained herein is not for release, publication or distribution, in whole or in part, directly or indirectly, in or into any such country or jurisdiction or otherwise in such circumstances in which the release, publication or distribution would be unlawful. The information contained herein does not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy, nor shall there be any sale of, any securities or other financial instruments in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration, exemption from registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such jurisdiction.

This communication does not constitute an offer of securities for sale in the United States. The notes have not been and will not be registered under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”) or under the applicable securities laws of any state of the United States and may not be offered or sold, directly or indirectly, within the United States or to, or for the account or benefit of, U.S. persons except pursuant to an applicable exemption from, or in a transaction not subject to, the registration requirements of the Securities Act.

The MIL Network –

January 26, 2025
MIL-OSI: Nokia signs 5G deal extension with Taiwan Mobile
Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

Press Release
Nokia signs 5G deal extension with Taiwan Mobile
- Nokia to modernize Taiwan Mobile’s 5G network and upgrade existing 4G infrastructure with equipment from industry-leading AirScale portfolio.
- Deal to enhance experience for customers in both urban and rural environments with premium capacity and coverage.
- Taiwan Mobile targeting sustainability goals with Nokia’s energy-efficient portfolio.
4 November 2024
Espoo, Finland – Nokia has signed a one-year 5G contract extension with Taiwan Mobile to boost the performance and capacity of Taiwan Mobile’s 5G network as well as upgrade its 4G/LTE network. This will add capacity and coverage and provide a better end-user experience for TWM’s customer base of approximately 10 million including in rural areas. The move comes following the merger of Taiwan Mobile and Taiwan Star last year and will help prepare Taiwan Mobile’s network for the 5G-Advanced era.

Under the deal, Nokia will supply equipment from its industry-leading 5G AirScale portfolio for the first time in Taiwan. This includes Nokia’s next-generation, modular, high-capacity AirScale baseband solutions, Habrok 32 and Osprey 32 Massive MIMO radios and Remote Radio Head products. These are all powered by its energy-efficient ReefShark System-on-Chip technology and combine to provide superior coverage and capacity. The project will see thousands of existing LTE sites modernized for better energy efficiency supporting Taiwan Mobile’s sustainability targets. Taiwan Mobile will also install Nokia’s IPAA+ solution helping them to add additional antennas in constricted urban environments.

Additionally, Taiwan Mobile will implement Nokia’s industry-leading Carrier Aggregation technology to its network. This combines radio spectrum to significantly boost the data rates offering customers better throughput, capacity, and performance.

Nokia has partnered with Taiwan Mobile for over 20 years and has previously provided 2G, 3G, and 4G mobile networks covering RAN, mobile core, and voice core. Nokia has most recently supported Taiwan Mobile in the deployment of its nationwide 5G infrastructure including over 3,000 new cell sites.

Jamie Lin, President at Taiwan Mobile, said: “This expanded partnership with Nokia marks a significant step forward in our commitment to providing our 10 million customers with the best possible 5G experience, while also supporting the growing needs of over 1 million IoT devices across our network. By leveraging Nokia’s cutting-edge AirScale portfolio, we are not only enhancing network performance and capacity but also reinforcing our dedication to sustainability and advancing our Telco+Tech strategies. This collaboration will enable us to deliver superior connectivity to both urban and rural areas, ensuring that all our customers can enjoy the full benefits of the 5G era.”

Tommi Uitto, President of Mobile Networks at Nokia, said: “Nokia is partnering with Taiwan Mobile to modernize their 5G and 4G networks to deliver enhanced performance and coverage and better customer experience. We are deploying the latest equipment from our energy-efficient AirScale portfolio, which will enable a greener network with reduced environmental impact, contributing to the operator’s sustainability goals.”

Resources and additional information
Webpage: Nokia 5G
Product page: AirScale Radio Access
Product page: MantaRay Network Management
Webpage: Nokia 5G Core
Webpage: Nokia Voice Core

About Nokia
At Nokia, we create technology that helps the world act together.

As a B2B technology innovation leader, we are pioneering networks that sense, think and act by leveraging our work across mobile, fixed and cloud networks. In addition, we create value with intellectual property and long-term research, led by the award-winning Nokia Bell Labs.

With truly open architectures that seamlessly integrate into any ecosystem, our high-performance networks create new opportunities for monetization and scale. Service providers, enterprises and partners worldwide trust Nokia to deliver secure, reliable, and sustainable networks today – and work with us to create the digital services and applications of the future.

Media inquiries
Nokia Press Office
Email: Press.Services@nokia.com

Follow us on social media
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The MIL Network –
January 26, 2025

MIL-OSI: Sydbank share buyback programme: transactions in week 44

Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

Company Announcement No 52/2024

Peberlyk 4
6200 Aabenraa
Denmark

Tel +45 74 37 37 37
Fax +45 74 37 35 36

Sydbank A/S
CVR No DK 12626509, Aabenraa
sydbank.dk

4 November 2024

Dear Sirs

Sydbank share buyback programme: transactions in week 44
On 28 February 2024 Sydbank announced a share buyback programme of DKK 1,200m. The share buyback programme commenced on 4 March 2024 and will be completed by 31 January 2025.

The purpose of the share buyback programme is to reduce the share capital of Sydbank and the programme is executed in compliance with the provisions of Regulation (EU) No 596/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 April 2014 and Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2016/1052 of 8 March 2016, collectively referred to as the Safe Harbour rules.

The following transactions have been made under the share buyback programme:

	Number of shares	VWAP	Gross value (DKK)
Accumulated, most recent Announcement	2,570,000		907,853,910.00
28 October 2024 29 October 2024 30 October 2024 31 October 2024 01 November 2024	17,000 18,000 18,000 18,000 16,000	328.44 319.15 314.67 324.97 329.67	5,583,480.00 5,744,700.00 5,664,060.00 5,849,460.00 5,274,720.00
Total over week 44	87,000		28,116,420.00
Total accumulated during the share buyback programme	2,657,000		935,970,330.00

All transactions were made under ISIN DK 0010311471 and effected by Danske Bank A/S on behalf of Sydbank A/S.

Further information about the transactions, cf Article 5 of Regulation (EU) No 596/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council on market abuse and Commission delegated regulation, is available in the attachment.

Following the above transactions, Sydbank holds a total of 2,657,135 own shares, equal to 4.86% of the Bank’s share capital.

Yours sincerely

Mark Luscombe        Jørn Adam Møller
CEO        Deputy Group Chief Executive

Attachment

SM 52 UK incl. enc

The MIL Network –

January 26, 2025

MIL-OSI United Nations: One month after the tragic school bus crash in Khu Khot, UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for Road Safety to promote and launch the UN-JCDecaux campaign for road safety in Thailand
Source: United Nations Economic Commission for Europe

The UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for Road Safety, Jean Todt, is visiting Bangkok from 30 October to 6 November 2024. During his visit, he will meet with the Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra, key government officials, representatives of the international community, private, and public sectors to promote road safety initiatives and advocate for enhanced measures, particularly on wearing quality helmets. His visit will be also the occasion to launch the UN-JCDecaux campaign #MakeASafetyStatement in the country. The Special Envoy will also speak at the UNESCAP/Alliance française Road Safety Seminar on 4 November. This aligns with the Global Plan for the Decade of Action for Road Safety 2021-2030, aiming to halve road fatalities by 2030.

The visit of the Special envoy comes one month after the tragic bus road crash which caught fire while travelling on an outbound lane in Khu Khot in the Pathum Thani Province, resulting in 23 deaths of which were mainly school students.

The silent pandemic

Every year, the staggering toll of road-related fatalities claims the lives of 1.19 million people, leaving countless others with severe injuries. This silent pandemic overwhelmingly affects developing nations, where over 90% of the road traffic fatalities occur. Furthermore, road crashes are the leading cause of death for children and young adults aged 5–29 years.

According to the World Health Organization, road crashes kill 18,218 people in Thailand each year, representing a road traffic fatality rate of 25/100,000 population, while the rate is in 15.7/100,000 in South-East Asia and 6.5/100,000 in Europe (WHO 2021). Despite the recent efforts of the country, Thailand is still ranked on the top worst countries in term of road fatalities. This is therefore urgent to act for increasing road safety in the country.

“Every life lost to preventable road accidents is a tragedy that reverberates through our communities and our country. This recent tragedy has reminded us of the urgent need for effective and sustained action. Road safety is not merely a matter of law enforcement but a shared societal responsibility. We owe it to our citizens, especially our children, to make our roads safer“, stated the new Prime Minister, H.E. Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra.

Road crashes have a significant social and economic burden, particularly in Thailand. “In addition to the human tragedy, road crashes trap countries into a vicious circle of poverty, costing till 6% of the GDP. Given their social and economic cost, road crashes are jeopardizing the entire sustainable development agenda. Now is the time for change, and I am looking forward to working with the Government of Thailand to stop the carnage on the roads.” stressed the UNSG’s Special Envoy Todt.

Wearing a safe helmet

If the causes of road crashes are multiple such as the non-reliability of the vehicles and of the road’s infrastructure and design, the lack of post-crashes services, weaknesses in the road safety management, a dangerous road user’s behavior is still one of the main reasons costing lives on the road. On the mitigation of the risk factors for the road users, wearing a helmet responding to the UN standards is definitively a game changer. Wearing a quality helmet can reduce the risk of injuries by 69%.

Knowing that Thailand has the highest rate of motorcycle-related deaths in the world, representing more than 70% of the road traffic fatalities in the country, wearing a safe helmet is an absolute emergency.

#MakeASafetyStatement

During his visit in Thailand, the Special Envoy will launch the UN Global Road Safety Campaign, which aims to raise awareness of life-saving road safety measures. Launched globally in cooperation with JCDecaux Global under the motto #MakeASafetyStatement, it will run through 2025 in over 80 countries in the world.

The campaign seeks to reduce risk factors, especially in urban areas, enabling people to walk, live, and enjoy their environment safely. Sixteen global, and dozens of national, celebrities have joined forces to advocate for simple and effective road safety rules. Key messages include wearing a seat belt, driving safely, wearing a helmet, not texting and driving, not driving under the influence or while tired, and respecting pedestrians.

Participating celebrities in the campaign include Football Legend Mr. Didier Drogba, F1 Driver Mr. Charles Leclerc, Oscar-winning actress and UNDP Goodwill Ambassador Ms. Michelle Yeoh, Tennis Legend Mr. Novak Djokovic, Musician Ms. Kylie Minogue, Motorcycle racer Mr. Marc Marquez, Supermodel Ms. Naomi Campbell, Actor Mr. Patrick Dempsey, Musician and Inspirational leader Mr. Youssou N’Dour, Actress Ms. Julie Gayet, Actor Mr. Michael Fassbender, Football icon Mr. Ousmane Dembélé, Double Olympic Champion Ms. Faith Kipyegon, F1 Driver Mr. Mick Schumacher, Actor Jean Reno and Cyclist Champion Tadej Podacar.

Risk factors that are too often neglected

Only seven countries in the world (France, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Luxembourg, Portugal, Sweden) have laws that comply with WHO best practices for all the risk factors – speeding, drink driving, UN-standard motorbike helmet use, seatbelts and child restraint systems.

Media representatives are cordially invited to cover the launch of the campaign, mission and Memorandum of Agreement on Road Safety Cooperation between the Ministry of Transport and the Ministry of Public Health at the press conference on 6 November 2024 at 1.30 PM at the Ministry of Transport (Ratcharotsamosorn Assembly Hall) in Bangkok, with:
- Mr. Suriya Jungroongruangkit, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Transport
- Mr. Somsak Thepsutin, Minister of Public Health
- Mr. Jean Todt, UN Secretary General’s Special Envoy for road safety,
- Ms. Michaela Friberg-Storey, UN Resident Coordinator to Thailand, presents the work of the UN in road safety in Thailand.
- Mr. Arnaud de Ruffray, President of JCDecaux Thailand presents the UN-JCDecaux campaign for road safety in Thailand.
- Ms. Saisunee Jana, Paralympic gold Medalist
About the Special Envoy

The former United Nations Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon, appointed in 2015 Jean Todt as his Special Envoy for Road Safety. He was reconfirmed in this role by United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres, in 2017 and in 2021. In 2018, together with 14 UN organizations, the Special Envoy launched the UN Road Safety Fund (UNRSF). The Special Envoy contributes, among other things, to mobilize sustained political commitment to make road safety a priority; to advocate and raise awareness of UN legal instruments on road safety; to share established good practices in this area; to strive to generate adequate funding through strategic partnerships between the public, private and non-governmental sectors. Special Envoy brochure and X account.

MIL OSI United Nations News –
January 26, 2025
MIL-OSI Banking: US accounts for over half of high-value VC deals announced globally during Q1-Q3 2024, reveals GlobalData

Source: GlobalData

US accounts for over half of high-value VC deals announced globally during Q1-Q3 2024, reveals GlobalData

Posted in Business Fundamentals

The US continues to remain the top destination for venture capital (VC) investments globally. Moreover, it also outpaced peer countries by a significant margin for high-value* VC investments and accounted for more than half of deal volume as well as value of those investments during Q1-Q3 2024. The US accounted for 55.4% share of the total number of high-value VC deals announced globally during Q1-Q3 2024, while its share in terms of the corresponding value stood at 56.4%, according to GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.

Aurojyoti Bose, Lead Analyst at GlobalData, comments: “The US outpaced other nations in terms of both the volume and value of high-value VC deals by a substantial margin. The dominance of the US for high-value VC deals can also be understood from the fact that it was distantly followed by China, which held 12.7% and 16.6% share of high-value VC deal volume and value, respectively, during Q1-Q3 2024.”

An analysis of GlobalData’s Deals Database revealed that the US saw announcement of 209 high-value VC deals during Q1-Q3 2024 with the total valued of these deals pegged at $48.4 billion. Meanwhile, a total of 48 high-value VC deals worth $14.2 billion in terms of disclosed funding value were announced in China during the same period.

Bose adds: “Of the top 10 countries by high-value VC deals volume during Q1-Q3 2024, five were from Europe, three were from the Asia-Pacific region, and two countries were from the North American region.”

The UK occupied the third spot in terms of the volume of high-value VC deals during Q1-Q3 2024, followed by Germany, India, Canada, France, Japan, Sweden, and the Netherlands.

*Valued more than or equal to $100 million

MIL OSI Global Banks –

January 26, 2025
MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Scottish Secretary champions energy sector on visit to Norway
Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments

Ian Murray will make his first official overseas visit to Norway this week, as the UK strengthens its relationship with key international partner.
On this trip Mr Murray will met energy investors to highlight Scotland’s world-leading energy sector and UK Government’s clean energy mission. This follows £125 million allocated in the Budget towards establishing Great British Energy in Aberdeen,

Norway is a key partner for Scotland and the UK, in trade, defence, and energy. The Scottish Secretary’s visit will deepen these ties, to bring benefits to people and businesses in both Scotland and Norway.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer met the Prime Minister of Norway in July, where they discussed the importance of energy security and working together on green energy and renewables.

Following on from this, the Secretary of State will meet a number of Norwegian companies who are investors in wind and low carbon projects. That includes Equinor who are a major supplier of energy to UK households and Operate the Hywind Scotland windfarm off the North East coast of Scotland.

Speaking ahead of his visit, Mr Murray said:

We are committed to maximising Scotland’s influence abroad, and selling ‘Brand Scotland’ across the world. Norway and the UK are key partners in energy, trade and defence, and my visit will help strengthen those ties. Norway is an important provider of clean energy, and of course Scotland’s energy sector is world-leading.

I look forward to meeting a number of energy companies to discuss our journey to clean energy by 2030, the role of GB Energy, and encourage their further investment in Scotland’s green clean future.

Last week the Chancellor’s Budget demonstrated how the UK Government is investing in Scotland’s future and laying the foundations for economic growth across the UK – including through funding for Green Freeports, City and Growth Deals, GB Energy and hydrogen projects.

The visit to Norway will also help cement relations with one of the UK’s most important strategic trade and defence allies. Mr Murray will meet Norwegian ministers, and visit Kongsberg, a world leading defence contractor part owned by the Norwegian Government. Kongsberg supports 3500 jobs in the UK, including in Aberdeen and Dunfermline.

The Secretary of State for Scotland and the Norwegian Ambassador to the UK, Tore Hattrem, recently visited the Royal Navy’s HMS Prince of Wales aircraft carrier. The carrier has recently taken part in Operation Strike Warrior – the biggest maritime training exercise in Europe, involving Norway and other NATO allies, operating under challenging conditions off the west coast of Scotland.

Mr Murray will also meet the Norwegian government to discuss local economic growth, and support to remote communities.

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Published 4 November 2024
MIL OSI United Kingdom –
January 26, 2025
MIL-OSI Europe: Written question – Commission’s response in addressing social dumping following CJEU ruling on Mobility Package – P-002375/2024
Source: European Parliament
31.10.2024

Priority question for written answer P-002375/2024
to the Commission
Rule 144
Charlie Weimers (ECR), Beatrice Timgren (ECR), Dick Erixon (ECR)

A recent judgment[1] by the Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU) has upheld most provisions of the EU Mobility Package, but has annulled the ‘return of vehicle’ requirement, citing insufficient proportionality assessment[2][3]. This provision aimed to mitigate the issue of social dumping and unfair competition by ensuring that vehicles operating in other Member States return periodically to their home country.

Studies indicate that thousands of foreign-registered vehicles operate permanently within Sweden. These operations are continuously ongoing and not of a temporary character at all, thus violating the very definition of cabotage and perpetuating social dumping practices[4].

In light of this development:

1.What action will the Commission take to ensure that social dumping is effectively curbed within the EU transport sector?

2.Will the Commission propose legal changes to strengthen cabotage rules and protect local markets, ensuring fair competition and adherence to social standards?

3.Does the Commission have any opinion on the fact that the CJEU cited insufficient preparatory work as a reason for invalidating the ‘return of vehicle’ rule?

Submitted: 31.10.2024

[1] Judgment of the Court of Justice of 4 October 2024, Republic of Lithuania and Others v Parliament and Council, Joined Cases C-541/20 to C-555/20, ECLI:EU:C:2024:818.

[2] https://curia.europa.eu/juris/document/document.jsf?text=&docid=290673&pageIndex=0&doclang=EN&mode=req&dir=&occ=first&part=1&cid=385475.

[3] https://www.europaportalen.se/notis/2024/10/eu-domstolen-godkanner-i-stort-nya-regler-lastbilstrafik-avvisar-krav-pa-atervandande.

[4] https://www.svt.se/nyheter/inrikes/trots-lagskarpning-hundratals-lastbilar-kor-illegala-transporter-i-sverige.
Last updated: 4 November 2024
MIL OSI Europe News –
January 26, 2025
MIL-OSI Europe: Written question – Promoting equal pay and the freedom to conclude contracts in the Finnish Government’s proposal for an Act on Mediation in Labour Disputes – P-002311/2024
Source: European Parliament
30.10.2024

Priority question for written answer P-002311/2024
to the Commission
Rule 144
Maria Ohisalo (Verts/ALE)

The Parliament of Finland is debating a proposal for an Act on Mediation in Labour Disputes,[1] which in future would prevent the National Conciliator from issuing a proposal for a settlement that is higher than a pay agreement for export industries in labour disputes. From the perspective of the Constitution of Finland and international agreements (including ILO Conventions 87 and 98), the Act will restrict the freedom to conclude contracts and compromise the National Conciliator’s independence and impartiality. The Act will restrict pay adjustments in the public sector and female-dominated industries, which have lagged behind other sectors in terms of pay. This is incompatible with Article 28 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union and Article 11 of the European Convention on Human Rights.

It is the view of Finland’s supreme guardian of the law, the Chancellor of Justice, that the proposal would impinge on the National Conciliator’s independence and impartiality, at least indirectly, thereby also having an indirect impact on the freedom to conclude agreements between parties. Finland’s Ombudsman for Equality is of the opinion that the Government’s proposal is at odds with the objectives of the Constitution and the Finnish Equality Act and predicts that it will increase the gender pay gap even more.

Is the Commission aware of Finland’s intentions, and has the proposal for an Act been evaluated from the point of view of equal pay and transparency, and, if not, does the Commission intend to carry out such an evaluation? Does the Commission think that the Finnish Government has carried out an adequate assessment of its proposal, from the perspective of the freedom to conclude contracts and the freedom of association, for example? If the Finnish Government’s proposal violates these principles, the EU Charter and the European Convention on Human Rights, what will the Commission do about it?

Submitted: 30.10.2024

[1] https://www.eduskunta.fi/FI/vaski/HallituksenEsitys/Sivut/HE_146+2024.aspx.
Last updated: 4 November 2024
MIL OSI Europe News –
January 26, 2025
MIL-OSI Asia-Pac: A high-level Indian Delegation Participated in G-20 DRRWG Ministerial Meeting in Belem, Brazil

Source: Government of India (2)

Posted On: 02 NOV 2024 10:00AM by PIB Delhi

A high-level Indian Delegation, led by Principal Secretary to Prime Minister, Dr. PK Mishra, took part in G-20 Disaster Risk Reduction Working Group (DRRWG) Ministerial Meeting from 30^th October to 1^st November 2024, held in Belem, Brazil.

With the active participation of the Indian Delegation, consensus arrived in finalising the first Ministerial declaration on Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR). In his inventions, during various Ministerial sessions, Dr. PK Mishra shared the progress made by the Government of India in reducing disaster risks and in upscaling disaster financing in India.

Dr. PK Mishra emphasized India’s proactive approach to disaster risk reduction (DRR), on five priorities of DRRWG, which were enunciated during Indian Presidency of G20 i.e. Early warning systems, Disaster resilient infrastructure, DRR financing, Resilient recovery and Nature based solutions. In the disaster resilient infrastructure, he shared Prime Minister’s global initiative of Coalition for Disaster Resilience Infrastructure (CDRI), which has now 40 countries and 7 International Organisations, as members.

The Principal Secretary to Prime Minister reiterated Government of India’s commitment to the Sendai Framework and called for increased international collaboration on knowledge sharing, technology transfer, and sustainable development to enhance disaster resilience globally.

Indian Delegation also participated in Troika meeting with the Ministers of Brazil and South Africa, and held bilateral meetings with ministers from the host country Brazil and other countries namely Japan, Norway, South Africa, South Korea, Germany, and Heads of invited International Organisations.

Responding to the call by UNSG on Extreme Heat, Principal Secretary to the PM, shared experience & steps being taken including the focus on promoting traditional practices to suit local conditions.

The first DRR WG was established on India’s initiative during its Presidency of G20 in 2023. Dr Mishra, congratulated the Brazilian Presidency on its continuation of the DRRWG, and scaling it up to Ministerial level and affirmed India’s support to South Africa on DRRWG on their upcoming G20 Presidency next year.

India’s participation underscores its growing role in global DRR efforts and its commitment to building a safer and more resilient world.

*****

RK/VV/ASH/PS

(Release ID: 2070268) Visitor Counter : 55

MIL OSI Asia Pacific News –

January 26, 2025
MIL-OSI Europe: Statement by Sweden at the 34th International Conference of the Red Cross and Red Crescent

Source: Government of Sweden

Thank you Chair,

We align ourselves with the statement made by the European Union.

As we commemorate the 75th anniversary of the Geneva Conventions, the need to reaffirm the vital rules and principles enshrined in these conventions and their continued relevance is, sadly, more acute than ever.

The ICRC’s Challenges report paints a partly gloomy picture. It reminds us of the need to continuously reaffirm our support for international humanitarian law and the central imperative of protecting civilians, who too often have to pay the highest price in situations of war.

As also pointed out in the Challenges report, new technologies present both opportunities and risks. IHL is as relevant here as in other areas. International law, including international humanitarian law, applies in cyberspace, as it does elsewhere.

Lack of respect for International Humanitarian Law – increasingly as a deliberate strategy of war – continues to be the single most important challenge for protecting people in armed conflict. Respect for these rules must be improved. Accountability is key to ensure compliance, but also to prevent and deter future violations. The work to strengthen the compliance and implementation of International Humanitarian Law therefore requires effective measures to ensure accountability.

To ensure the effective protection of all civilians under IHL we must acknowledge that different groups are affected in different ways. All persons, including women and men, girls and boys, experience armed conflicts differently. Sweden welcomes that the resolutions include clear gender perspectives. Recognizing the distinct needs, vulnerabilities and capacities is essential for both a fair and effective implementation of international humanitarian law and for delivering humanitarian assistance to those in greatest need. This includes investing in women’s leadership in emergency response.

We must also acknowledge the importance of integrating a climate perspective, not least in our work with disaster risk reduction and anticipatory action.

We support the mandate of the ICRC and express our gratitude for their invaluable work., Serving as the guardian of International Humanitarian Law and acting as a neutral intermediary, the ICRC continues to play a pivotal role in current conflicts. We also commend the IFRC, and the national societies for their essential and locally led efforts in prevention, protection, and humanitarian assistance.

MIL OSI Europe News –

January 26, 2025
MIL-OSI USA: U.S. exports of ethane and ethane-based petrochemicals rose 135% from 2014 to 2023
Source: US Energy Information Administration

In-depth analysis

November 4, 2024

Data source: U.S. Energy Information Administration, Petroleum Supply Monthly; and the U.S. Census Bureau
Note: Ethylene derivatives include high-density polyethylene (HDPE), low-density polyethylene (LDPE), ethylene vinyl acetate, polyvinyl chloride (PVC), and other polymers of ethylene not elsewhere specified or included.

U.S. exports of ethane and ethane-based petrochemicals reached an all-time high of 21.6 million metric tons (MMmt) in 2023, up 135% since the United States began exporting ethane in 2014 and 17% more than in 2022, according to data from the U.S. Census Bureau. The rapid expansion of U.S. ethane and ethane-based petrochemical exports has been fueled by the growth in domestic ethane production, which has increased with the country’s natural gas production and the buildout of export and production infrastructure.

Ethane is a natural gas liquid that’s primarily extracted from raw natural gas during processing. It’s mainly used as a feedstock for ethylene production, one of the most important building blocks in the petrochemical industry. Ethylene is a gas used to produce a wide range of products, including plastics, resins, and synthetic rubber.

All elements of the ethane value chain are produced in, consumed in, and exported from the United States, including ethane, ethylene, polyethylene, and other ethylene derivatives. We publish data on U.S. ethane production, exports, and product supplied (deliveries to domestic consumers); the U.S. Census Bureau publishes export data for ethane and ethane-derived products.

The volume of exports of U.S. ethane, ethylene, and various ethylene derivatives is affected by:
- U.S. demand
- U.S. production capacity and production costs
- Importing countries’ downstream processing capacity
- Availability of infrastructure necessary to move these products, which in some cases may require special handling such as cryogenic refrigeration
U.S. ethane exports

The United States started exporting ethane in 2014 via pipeline to petrochemical plants in Canada. In 2016, the United States began exporting ethane to countries in Europe from marine export terminals. U.S. ethane export capacity has increased since 2016 with the completion of two new pipelines and three more marine export terminals—Marcus Hook, Pennsylvania; Morgan’s Point, Texas; and Nederland, Texas. In addition, the number of destination countries continued to grow along with the fleet of specially built tankers.

Data source: U.S. Census Bureau

U.S. ethane exports increased to a record high of 3.0 MMmt in 2023, up 12% from 2022. In 2023, U.S. ethane was mostly exported to China, which accounted for 45% (1.4 MMmt) of U.S. ethane exports, followed by India (16%), Canada (14%), Norway (9%), and the United Kingdom (7%).

U.S. ethane exports to China increased fastest between 2022 and 2023, rising 35% last year. China’s Satellite Petrochemical has begun ethylene production at two new ethane crackers since 2021, which has increased domestic ethane demand in China. Ethane exports to Norway rose the second fastest, rising 32% to 288,000 metric tons in 2023. Other importers of U.S. ethane include Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Mexico, and Sweden.

Data source: Bloomberg L.P.
Note: Ethylene feedstock margins account for coproduct credits, which mainly include propylene, butadiene, benzene, and xylene. Ethane feedstock advantage represents the relative profitability of ethane over naphtha.

Ethane’s high ethylene yields and cost advantages over naphtha in ethylene production have driven export volumes of ethane higher since 2014. Most petrochemical crackers have some flexibility in switching between ethane and naphtha as a feedstock, depending on the relative profitability of each feedstock. In the United States, cracking ethane to produce ethylene has historically generated higher profit margins compared with the margins from cracking naphtha, the most common feedstock in Western Europe and East Asia. Global petrochemical manufacturers looking to secure low-cost ethane feedstock to produce ethylene are developing new petrochemical crackers and associated infrastructure.

U.S. ethylene exports

Data source: U.S. Census Bureau

In the United States, ethane is heated in a steam cracker to break (crack) the ethane molecule to produce ethylene. Ethylene, like ethane, is exported in specialized tankers after being cryogenically cooled. The United States has two ethylene export terminals—Galena Park and Morgan’s Point—both located in Texas on the Houston Ship Channel.

Ethylene export volumes fell 9% from 2022 to 2023 to 1.1 MMmt. In 2023, 36 nations imported U.S. ethylene. China was the largest importer of ethylene from the United States in 2023, accounting for 38% (419,000 metric tons) of all exports. Belgium (19%), Indonesia (16%), Taiwan (6%), and France (5%) rounded out the top five.

As with ethane exports, China was also the fastest-growing destination for ethylene exports. In general, ethylene exports to Asia grew 77% from 2022 to 2023, while exports to Europe fell by more than 50% during the same period amid a weak macroeconomic environment.

U.S. ethylene prices remain at a discount to international prices on average, providing U.S. ethylene producers with a long-term cost advantage and resulting in expanded manufacturing capacity along the U.S. Gulf Coast.

U.S. ethylene-derivative exports

After ethylene is processed by a polymerization reactor or another production unit, petrochemical manufacturers can develop intermediate products such as:
- Low-density polyethylene (LDPE): a thermoplastic used for more flexible plastic products such as dispensing bottles, plastic bags, and trays
- High-density polyethylene (HDPE): a thermoplastic used for more rigid plastic products such as piping, water gallon jugs, cutting boards, and motor oil jugs
- Ethylene alpha olefins: used for products such as flexible packaging, molding, and car applications
The United States exported ethylene derivatives to over 100 nations in 2023. Unlike ethane and ethylene, which require cryogenic cooling to turn them from a gas to a liquid, ethylene derivatives do not require special handling and can be exported or imported through any port or overland route capable of handling containerized traffic.

Data source: U.S. Census Bureau

Total U.S. ethylene-derivative exports grew 20% to 16.9 MMmt from 2022 to 2023, led by a 69% increase (2.2 MMmt) in exports to Asia. U.S. exports to Canada fell by 10% to 1.5 MMmt; exports to Mexico grew 3% to 2.4 MMmt in 2023. Until 2017, North American destinations, particularly Canada and Mexico, accounted for the largest share of U.S. polyethylene and other ethylene-derivative exports.

Canada and Mexico do not impose tariffs on exports of U.S. ethane-derived chemicals because of reciprocal free-trade agreements. These countries also benefit from proximity and being able to import these products over land at lower cost compared with waterborne imports. However, exports to overseas destinations have also grown since 2017, with the exception of 2021 when the global pandemic led to lower demand.

Principal contributors: Jordan Young, Josh Eiermann

MIL OSI USA News –
January 26, 2025

Trading venue (MIC Code)	Number of shares	Weighted average price / share, EUR*
XHEL	1,657,264	4.35
CEUX	300,000	4.35
BATE	–	–
AQEU	–	–
TQEX	–	–
Total	1,957,264	4.35

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U.S. ethane exports

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