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Category: Science

  • MIL-OSI Global: Planned blackouts are becoming more common − and not having cash on hand could cost you

    Source: The Conversation – USA – By Jay L. Zagorsky, Associate Professor Questrom School of Business, Boston University

    Are you prepared for when the power goes out? To prevent massive wildfires in drought-prone, high-wind areas, electrical companies have begun preemptively shutting off electricity. These planned shutdowns are called public safety power shutoffs, abbreviated to PSPS, and they’re increasingly common. So far this year, we’ve seen them in Texas, New Mexico and California.

    Unlike regular power failures, which on average last only about two hours while a piece of broken equipment is repaired, a PSPS lasts until weather conditions improve, which could be days. And these shutoffs come at a steep price. In 2010 alone, they cost California over US$13 billion. A 2019 analysis of shutoffs in Placer County, California, found that they harmed 70% of local businesses.

    I am a business school professor who studies how people pay for things, including during emergencies. As I point out in my new book “The Power of Cash: Why Using Paper Money is Good for You and Society,” many people have abandoned paper money and switched to electronic payments such as credit cards and mobile apps. This can become a big problem during an emergency, since these systems need electricity to operate. The switch to electronic payments is making the world less resilient in the face of increasing numbers of major natural disasters.

    So if a public safety power shutoff strikes and you don’t have any cash, you may be doubly vulnerable. On the other hand, keeping cash can protect you – and not just you and your family, but also local businesses and your community. After all, keeping the economy moving during shutoffs reduces the financial damage they cause.

    Why do they keep turning off the power, anyway?

    It’s all about risk.

    The world has experienced a number of very destructive wildfires recently. In 2025, large parts of Los Angeles burned to the ground, with over 18,000 buildings destroyed or damaged. In 2023, wildfires in Hawaii killed over 100 people. Massive wildfires have also occurred recently in South Korea, Portugal and Australia.

    Governments, people whose houses burned and insurance companies are all looking for someone to blame and pay for the damage. Climate change, which is increasing the world’s average temperatures and drying out trees and grass, is setting the conditions. Since Mother Nature cannot be sued, utilities make handy scapegoats with deep pockets. Electrical utilities are sued because their power lines, transformers and other equipment often start blazes.

    So to prevent lawsuits as well as fires, power companies are increasingly turning off the power when the conditions are ripe for a catastrophic blaze. There’s no uniform set of standards for when to impose a shutdown, but in general, power companies do it when there are hot, dry and windy conditions. For example, a PSPS is triggered in Hawaii if there’s a drought, wind gusts are over 45 miles per hour and relative humidity is under 45%.

    Power shutoffs are a relatively new idea. They were proposed in California in 2008 and first allowed in 2012.

    Since then, power companies across the entire western U.S. from Texas to Hawaii have adopted these plans. Shutoff plans also stretch from southern border states such as Arizona to northern border states such as Idaho and Montana.

    Shutting off the power is a huge problem, since it causes massive disruption to communities. People depend on power to run medical equipment, work and keep communities safe. Even people with a desperate need for electricity, such as those on medical life support, are not immune to a safety shutoff.

    How to prepare for a PSPS

    As the world warms, the chance of being caught in a preemptive power shutoff increases. What can you do to minimize the impact?

    Having solar panels won’t protect you: Utilities shut off customers with solar panels to block those panels from pushing power onto the grid, since the whole goal is to shut off the grid. The only way for you to still have power is to buy a battery storage system and a transfer switch, which allows you to take your system completely off the grid. But this is very expensive.

    Getting a portable generator is only a partial solution for a multiday shutoff, since most last only six to 18 hours on a single tank of gas. Plus, generators run very hot, which creates its own fire risk.

    Another way to minimize the impact of both a power shutoff and a wildfire is to create a small disaster relief kit, or “go bag.” Creating one is relatively inexpensive. It should contain key items such as water, your medicines, some shelf-stable food – and importantly, some cash. Even some government websites forget to mention this.

    It’s also important to use paper money before a shutoff happens. I have all too frequently seen gas station attendants, supermarket checkout clerks and restaurant servers have no idea how to handle cash.

    Recently at my local supermarket, for example, I paid with a $20 bill. The cashier had to ask another employee which kinds of coins to use to make change. If people don’t know how to handle cash during normal times, it ceases to be useful during emergencies.

    As the world warms, public safety power shutoffs will occur more frequently. The shutoffs clearly highlight the trade-off between economic and social disruption versus preventing dangerous wildfires. These shutoffs show there are no easy solutions – only hard choices.

    There are a few sensible and easy steps to take to reduce the impact of these shutoffs. One is to understand that during one of the very moments you might really need to spend money, modern payment systems fail. Holding and frequently using old-fashioned cash is a simple and low-cost way to protect yourself and your family.

    Jay L. Zagorsky does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

    – ref. Planned blackouts are becoming more common − and not having cash on hand could cost you – https://theconversation.com/planned-blackouts-are-becoming-more-common-and-not-having-cash-on-hand-could-cost-you-253319

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

    April 2, 2025

  • MIL-OSI Global: GOP lawmakers eye SNAP cuts, which would scale back benefits that help low-income people buy food at a time of high food prices

    Source: The Conversation – USA – By Tracy Roof, Associate Professor of Political Science, University of Richmond

    A shopper who gets SNAP benefits shops for groceries at a supermarket in Bellflower, Calif., on Feb. 13, 2023. AP Photo/Allison Dinner

    Congress may soon consider whether to cut spending on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, the main way the government helps low-income Americans put food on the table. The Conversation U.S. asked Tracy Roof, a political scientist who has researched the history of government nutrition programs, to explain what’s going on and why the effort to reduce spending on SNAP benefits, which can be used to purchase groceries, could falter.

    Why does it look like the federal government may cut SNAP spending?

    Conservative critics of SNAP believe that the U.S. spends too much on the program, which cost the federal government US$100 billion in the 2024 fiscal year.

    Federal spending on SNAP, however, has been falling since it peaked at $119 billion in 2022, before extra pandemic-related benefits ended.

    Some Republican lawmakers are calling for new changes that would cut spending on the program.

    Is there a SNAP budget?

    No.

    Today, SNAP helps nearly 42 million people put food on the table, including 1 in 5 children. Americans can usually qualify for SNAP benefits if their income is under 130% of the federal poverty line. In 2025, that would be $41,795 for a family of four and they have limited savings. Some eligibility guidelines can vary by state.

    The rules are complex. Most adults under the age of 60 are subject to work requirements if they are “able-bodied” and not caring for a child or incapacitated adult. If adults between the ages of 18 and 54 don’t log at least 20 hours of work or another approved activity, their benefits can be cut off. Immigrants without authorization to reside in the U.S. aren’t eligible for SNAP.

    Despite those restrictions on who can get SNAP benefits, there is no set limit to what the federal government can spend on the program. As more people become eligible due to their low incomes and therefore obtain benefits during economic downturns, this spending automatically increases. When the economy improves, it usually declines.

    States administer the program under federal government guidelines. The federal government covers the full cost of benefits low-income people receive through the program, but the states cover roughly half of the administrative costs.

    How can the federal government try to cut SNAP spending?

    There are two main paths to program cuts.

    One is through the farm bill, a legislative package Congress typically renews every four or five years that sets policies for SNAP and programs that support farmers’ incomes. The most recent farm bill expired in 2023. Congress has passed multiple one-year extensions on the measure because lawmakers have been unable to pass a new one.

    The latest extension will expire on Sept. 30, 2025.

    The other option is through the so-called budget reconciliation process underway in Congress. Right now, the primary Republican plan calls for extending $4.5 trillion in tax cuts passed in the first Trump administration and making up to $2 trillion in spending cuts over the next decade.

    The House took the first step in this process by narrowly passing a budget blueprint on Feb. 25. This plan requires the House Agriculture Committee to cut $230 billion in spending over 10 years. While it does not force the committee to cut SNAP specifically, the program accounts for $1 trillion of the $1.3 trillion spent over a decade that the committee oversees – leaving few alternatives.

    What kinds of changes might cut costs?

    Most Republicans appear to favor changing how benefits are calculated and imposing stricter work requirements.

    Today, the value of SNAP benefits that participants in the program can get are calculated based on the “thrifty food plan,” a blueprint for a low-cost, nutritionally adequate diet. A family of four, for example, can get benefits of up to $939 a month if they have no income.

    The Biden administration updated that plan in 2021 in a way that increased monthly SNAP benefits by 23%, not counting the short-term pandemic adjustments to the program. Republican lawmakers want to prevent future changes to the thrifty food plan that might again sharply increase benefits.

    Another proposal would roll back the 2021 change in the thrifty food plan. This would cut current benefits and save $274 billion over a decade. One hitch is that House Agriculture Committee Chair G.T. Thompson has promised no cuts to monthly SNAP benefits.

    Many Republicans would like to stiffen the work requirements by requiring work of recipients who are up to age 65 or are the parents of children who are more than six years old. They also could limit the ability of states to make exceptions in places that don’t have enough jobs.

    Other options include limiting states’ flexibility to offer benefits to people with incomes that are a little higher than 130% of the federal poverty level, capping the monthly benefit for larger households to the amount available to a family of six, and shifting more of the program’s costs to the states.

    Other proposals would crack down on fraud and benefit overpayments. Those steps would be likely to achieve a tiny fraction of the spending reductions the GOP seeks.

    How popular do you think these changes would be?

    The food insecurity rate, which reflects the number of people who worry about getting enough to eat or who report skipping meals or buying less nutritious food because of costs, has been high in recent years. Polls show most Americans support increasing SNAP benefits, not cutting them.

    Angry constituents have recently turned out to protest potential benefit cuts to programs such as Medicaid and SNAP at town hall meetings held by members of Congress.

    Food prices are climbing, and there are growing concerns that a recession could be around the corner. As in earlier downturns, that would probably mean that more people would be eligible for SNAP benefits.

    Food banks, already struggling to meet demand and facing federal spending cuts, have warned they will not be able to fill gaps caused by reduced SNAP spending or new limits on benefits.

    What are some of the obstacles in the way of huge cuts?

    Getting the House and the Senate to agree on a budget bill that curbs SNAP spending will be very tricky, to say the least.

    Republicans have a very small majority in the House and they would need almost every vote. There are seven House Republicans from areas where over 20% of all residents get SNAP benefits, making it hard for them to vote for changes that would reduce or restrict the program’s scale.

    Other House Republicans, especially those expressing concerns about the national debt, are likely to insist that this spending be cut. It is unclear who will win this tug-of-war.

    There’s another complication. If substantial SNAP cuts are made in the current budget process, it could make reaching a compromise on a new farm bill even harder than it’s been in recent years. And while the budget can be passed without any votes from Democrats in Congress, the farm bill will require some bipartisan support.

    Tracy Roof has previously received funding from Virginia Humanities and several foundations associated with presidential archives to study the history of the food stamp program.

    – ref. GOP lawmakers eye SNAP cuts, which would scale back benefits that help low-income people buy food at a time of high food prices – https://theconversation.com/gop-lawmakers-eye-snap-cuts-which-would-scale-back-benefits-that-help-low-income-people-buy-food-at-a-time-of-high-food-prices-208556

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

    April 2, 2025

  • MIL-OSI Global: America the secular? What a changing religious landscape means for US politics

    Source: The Conversation – USA – By David Campbell, Packey J. Dee Professor of American Democracy, University of Notre Dame

    Conventional wisdom about nonreligious Americans’ voting misses some important distinctions. Sarah Rice/Getty Images

    After climbing for decades, the percentage of Americans with no religion has leveled off. For the past few years, the share of adults who identify as atheist, agnostic or “nothing in particular” has stood at about 29%, according to a major study the Pew Research Center released Feb. 26, 2025.

    But this hardly means that the “nones,” or their impact on American life, are going away. In fact, their sheer size makes it likely that they will increase in political prominence.

    It will presumably come as no surprise that many secular voters lean to the political left. It may, however, be surprising to learn that a fairly large number of nonreligious voters supported President Donald Trump in the 2020 and 2024 elections.

    If the above paragraph is a head-scratcher, that is because “nonreligious” and “secular” are often treated as two ways of saying the same thing. But as political scientists who study religion – and the lack thereof – we have found that there is a fundamental difference between the two. While conventional wisdom holds that religious voters are Republicans and nonreligious voters are Democrats, the reality is more complicated.

    Nonreligious vs. secular

    So, what is the difference between people who are nonreligious vs. those who are secular?

    The nonreligious tend to define themselves by what they are not: for example, not belonging to a religion, not attending worship services, not believing in God. In our surveys, many people without a religious affiliation do not cite any particular worldview or philosophy when asked what guides their life.

    Secular people, on the other hand, define themselves by what they are: someone who has embraced a humanistic and even scientific worldview. That is, when asked about where they find truth, they turn to sources such as science and philosophy instead of scripture and religious teachings. Often, they identify as atheist, agnostic or humanist.

    There are secular people, however, who also embrace some aspects of faith. Religiosity and secularity are not in a zero-sum relationship: more of one does not necessarily mean less of the other. In our research, we found many cases of people who belong to a religious congregation yet have a secular worldview: This describes many Jews, mainline Protestants and even Catholics, for example.

    4 groups

    To get a better sense of Americans’ views, for over a decade we have worked on developing questions to identify people with a secular outlook, while also asking about religious commitment, such as how often someone attends services. Our findings culminated in the 2021 book “Secular Surge: A New Fault Line in American Politics.”

    Based on the results, we can divide the U.S. population into four groups: Religionists, Nonreligionists, Secularists and Religious Secularists.

    The Religionists category includes people of all faiths. At 41%, this is the largest group in the United States, but they do not form a majority.

    Secularists make up 27% of the population – larger than the percentage of any single religious tradition. Evangelical Christians, for example, are 23% of the U.S. population, according to Pew, and Catholics are 19%.

    Another 14% of Americans are what we call Religious Secularists: people who identify with and participate in a religious community, yet have a secular worldview. They might attend worship services but consider their religion more as an expression of their culture than a source of teachings to inform their daily decision-making. Some Religious Secularists may describe themselves as agnostic or even atheist.

    Finally, 18% of Americans are Nonreligionists: These are people we described above as not having any religion in their lives, but neither do they have a secular worldview. They are defined by what they are not, not what they are.

    Political views

    These four groups vary in whether they are politically engaged – and if so, whom they support.

    In our book about America’s “secular surge” we used data from a nationwide survey in 2017. In 2021, we conducted a second wave of that survey.

    According to data from that survey that we analyzed for this article, Religionists and Secularists are about equally likely to get involved in politics: roughly 30% of both groups reported doing something political in the past 12 months, such as attending a rally, volunteering for a candidate or donating money. Nonreligionists were much less likely: only 17%.

    In fact, no matter the form of civic engagement – voting, volunteering – Nonreligionists were consistently the least likely to be involved. Only 30% of Nonreligionists report belonging to any sort of club or organization, while for the rest of the population, it is closer to 50%.

    In the same 2021 survey, we asked people to rate various politicians on a 0-100 scale, with a higher number meaning a more positive view.

    On average, Religionists rated Trump a 61, the highest of the four groups; Secularists give him the lowest score, at 14. Nonreligionists gave Trump 47 points.

    It would be wrong, however, to call the Nonreligionists an ideologically conservative group.

    Consider their ratings of Bernie Sanders, who caucuses with the Democratic Party but describes himself as a democratic socialist. For three of the groups, support for Sanders was the mirror opposite of their feelings toward Trump, a Republican. Secularists, for instance, gave the Vermont senator a relatively high score of 66, on average; Religionists’ feelings toward him are much cooler, at 32 points.

    By contrast, Nonreligionists gave a nearly identical rating to Trump and Sanders. Given that the two men are at opposite ideological poles, how could Nonreligionists rate them the same? We suspect it is because both figures challenge the status quo.

    In 2024, the Trump campaign worked to mobilize “low-propensity voters”: political jargon for people with the low levels of civic engagement often found among Nonreligionists. Not only are they politically disengaged, they are the most likely to combine being young, male, white and without a college degree.

    A ‘secular left’?

    Secularists, too, are disproportionately young and white. But in other ways they are very different from Nonreligionists. Secularists typically have a college degree and are evenly balanced between women and men. Typically, they are also liberal and highly engaged in politics.

    So how will they shape American politics? The answer may depend on whether Secularists cohere into a movement – a secular left to parallel the religious right.

    Today, highly religious conservatives are a vocal group within American politics, the core of the Republican Party. A generation ago, however, they were a disparate group of people from different Christian denominations, from Baptists to Pentecostals. Many of the religious groups that now march in common cause once had sharp disagreements.

    It remains to be seen whether secular voters will organize in a similar way. Either way, it is safe to say America’s religious composition has changed significantly.

    Don’t assume, however, that a turn away from religion necessarily means a sharp turn toward the political left. We’d caution that the story is more complicated. For now, secular voters lean to the left – but nonreligious voters are up for grabs.

    David Campbell and Geoffrey Layman received funding from the National Science Foundation.

    Geoffrey C. Layman and David E. Campbell received funding from the National Science Foundation.

    – ref. America the secular? What a changing religious landscape means for US politics – https://theconversation.com/america-the-secular-what-a-changing-religious-landscape-means-for-us-politics-249892

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

    April 2, 2025

  • MIL-OSI Global: Land reparations are possible − and over 225 US communities are already working to make amends for slavery and colonization

    Source: The Conversation – USA – By Sara Safransky, Associate Professor, Department of Human and Organizational Development, Vanderbilt University

    Ever since the United States government’s unfulfilled promise of giving every newly freed Black American “40 acres and a mule” after the Civil War, descendants of the enslaved have repeatedly proposed the idea of redistributing land to redress the nation’s legacies of slavery.

    Land-based reparations are also a form of redress for the territorial theft of colonialism.

    Around the world, politicians tend to dismiss calls for such initiatives as wishful thinking at best and discrimination at worst. Or else, they are swatted away as too complex to implement, legally and practically.

    Yet our research shows a growing number of municipalities and communities across the U.S. are quietly taking up the charge.

    We are geographers who since 2021 have been documenting and analyzing over 225 examples of reparative programs underway in U.S. cities, states and regions. Notably, over half of them center land return.

    These efforts show how working locally to grapple with the complexity of land-based reparations is a necessary and feasible part of the nation’s healing process.

    The Evanston effect

    Evanston, Illinois, launched the country’s first publicly funded housing reparations program in 2019.

    In its current form, Evanston’s Restorative Housing Program has provided disbursements to more than 200 recipients. All are Black residents of Evanston or direct descendants of residents who experienced housing discrimination between 1919 and 1969. Benefits include down payment assistance and mortgage assistance as well as funds to make home repairs and improvements.

    The goal is to redress the harm Evanston caused during these 50-plus years of racial discrimination in public schools, hospitals, buses and segregated residential zoning. During that same period, banks in Evanston, as in other U.S. cities, also refused to give Black residents mortgages, credit or insurance for homes in white neighborhoods.

    “I always said you can keep the mule,” program beneficiary Ron Butler told NBC News in 2024. “Give me the 40 acres in Evanston.”

    Reparations that focus on land, housing and property are about more than making amends for centuries of racial discrimination. They help to restore people’s self-determination, autonomy and freedom.

    Following Evanston’s lead, in 2021 a group of 11 U.S. mayors created Mayors Organized for Reparations and Equity, a coalition committed to developing pilot reparations programs. Members include Los Angeles, Austin and Asheville.

    The cities act as sites to generate ideas about how reparation initiatives could be scaled up nationally. Each mayor is advised by committees made up of representatives from local Black-led organizations.

    Colonial reparations

    In recent years the city of Eureka, in Northern California, has been returning some territory to its Native inhabitants.

    Indigenous people often call this process rematriation; it’s part of a broader effort to restore sovereignty and sacred relationships to their ancestral lands.

    In 2019, after years of petitioning by members of the Wiyot people, the Eureka City Council returned 200 acres of Tuluwat Island, a 280-acre island in Humboldt Bay where European settlers in 1860 massacred about 200 Wiyot women and children.

    “It’s a sovereignty issue, a self-governance issue,” said Wiyot tribal administrator Michelle Vassel in a November 2023 radio interview.

    Minneapolis’ sale of city lots to the Red Lake Nation for $1 in 2023 is another example of how city governments can make amends for past Indigenous displacement and removal. Plans to develop the low-cost lots include a cultural center for Red Lake people, an opioid treatment center and potentially housing.

    The Red Lake Reservation once included 3.3 million acres. The 1889 Dawes Act forced the Red Lake Band to cede all but 300,000 acres. The federal government later returned some land, but today the reservation is still only a quarter of its original size.

    Reparations are critical to racial equity

    These initiatives may sound like a drop in the bucket considering the vast harms committed over centuries of slavery and colonization. Yet they prove that governments can craft targeted, achievable and meaningful policies to address colonialism and enslavement.

    The state of Minnesota transferred Upper Sioux Agency State Park back to the Dakota people in 2023 in an effort to make amends for a war and historic slaughter there.
    AP Photo/Trisha Ahmed

    They also tackle a frequent critique of reparations, which is that slavery and colonialism happened centuries ago. Yet their effects continue to harm Black and Native communities generations later. Today, white households in the U.S. have roughly nine times the wealth of typical Black households.

    One explanation for this racial disparity is that Black households earn 20% less than their white counterparts. But a more meaningful driver is what scholars call the “intergenerational transmission chain” – that is, the role that gifts and inheritance play in wealth generation.

    That’s why reparations – with both land and money – are so critical to creating racial equity.

    Still, reparations programs do raise a host of complex, practical questions. Which kinds of historic racial injustice take priority, and what form should repair take? Who qualifies for the benefits?

    Community-based land reparations

    Reparations don’t have to come from the government.

    In recent years, more than a hundred community-based organizations across the U.S. have introduced their own initiatives to redistribute land and wealth to make amends for past injustices.

    Makoce Ikikcupi, in the Minnesota River Valley, is a community reparations program led by Dakota peoples. Since 2009, the group has been collecting funds to buy back portions of the Dakota homeland. One revenue source is voluntary contributions from descendants of Europeans who colonized that land. This fundraising strategy is sometimes called “real rent” or “back rent.”

    The group purchased its first 21-acre parcel of land in 2019, where it is building traditional earth lodges, with plans for several self-sustaining Dakota villages.

    “We consider our donation…‘back rent,’” reads the testimony of one monthly contributor, Josina Manu, on the group’s webpage. He calls the reclamation of Dakota land a “vital” step “towards creating a just world.”

    Fair compensation for eminent domain

    Many communities are also working together to repair the legacies of anti-Black racism.

    In the 1960s, the city of Athens, Georgia, used eminent domain to build dormitories for the University of Georgia. Paying below market value, it demolished an entire Black neighborhood called Linnentown.

    In early 2021, following petitioning from former Linnentown residents who’d lost their homes, the City Council unanimously passed a resolution recognizing their neighborhood’s destruction as “an act of institutionalized white racism and terrorism resulting in intergenerational Black poverty.”

    Because Georgia law prohibits government entities from making payments to individuals, a community group stepped in to organize compensation.

    The result is Athens Reparations Action, a coalition of churches and community organizations. Formed in 2021, it had raised $120,000 by 2024 to distribute among the 10 families who are Linnentown survivors and descendants.

    Backlash

    Our research also tracks legal challenges to the reparations initiatives we are studying.

    Conservative groups such as Judicial Watch have filed dozens of retaliatory lawsuits against several of them, including Evanston’s Restorative Housing Program. A 2024 class action complaint alleges that the program discriminates based on race, violating the equal protection clause of the U.S. Constitution.

    These legal challenges are part of the broader front of conservative-led assaults on voting rights, affirmative action and critical race theory. Like reparations, all are efforts to grapple with the U.S.’s historical mistreatment of Black, Indigenous and other people of color.

    Attacking those initiatives is an attempt to preserve what scholar Laura Pulido calls “white innocence.” We expect more of them under a second Trump term already defined by its assault on antidiscrimination policies and programs.

    So far, none of Trump’s decrees has targeted reparations specifically. For now, reparations are still legal and constitutional – and possible.

    Sara Safransky has received funding from the National Science Foundation, the Social Science Research Council, the Wenner-Gren Foundation, and the American Council of Learned Societies, however, I have not received funding from these organizations for the research project discussed in this article. The only grant I’ve received to fund this research is an internal grant from Vanderbilt University.

    Elsa Noterman has received funding from the National Science Foundation, the American Council of Learned Societies, and the British Academy. However, I have not received funding from these organizations for the research project discussed in this article. The only grant I have received to fund this research is an internal grant from Queen Mary University of London.

    Madeleine Lewis has received research funding from the Society for Community Research and Action. However, that funding is not related to the research project mentioned in the article.

    – ref. Land reparations are possible − and over 225 US communities are already working to make amends for slavery and colonization – https://theconversation.com/land-reparations-are-possible-and-over-225-us-communities-are-already-working-to-make-amends-for-slavery-and-colonization-246106

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

    April 2, 2025

  • MIL-OSI Russia: HSE Opens Applications for Online Master’s Programs

    Translartion. Region: Russians Fedetion –

    Source: State University Higher School of Economics – State University Higher School of Economics –

    The admissions campaign for 32 master’s programs of the HSE online campus started on April 1, five of which are opening enrollment for the first time. We tell you more about which programs are available for study entirely online.

    The Higher School of Economics is the leader among universities in the Russian Federation and the CIS in terms of the number of educational programs implemented online and the number of students studying in them. Since the launch of the country’s first English-language online Master’s degree program, Master of Data Science, in 2020, the number of students admitted to the first year has increased 12-fold.

    In December 2024, HSE was among the 11 global universities that are leaders in online education according to the Online Learning Rankings 2024 of Times Higher Education magazine, and also became the only Russian university to win gold.

    In 2025, five more new programs will be added to the portfolio, most of which are cross-disciplinary and meet the needs of emerging markets.

    The program “Applied Linguistics: Foreign Language Teaching and Translation in the Digital Environment” includes two specializations to choose from. Students can study digital methods of teaching foreign languages or the development of educational programs EdTech and professionally oriented automated translation and language localization. The program “Instructional Design: Theory and Practice of Learning”, which is close in scope, will train specialists capable of designing educational experiences and developing programs, courses and training materials.

    Another new online program, “Chinese Language in Intercultural Business Communication,” is aimed at training personnel with knowledge of the Chinese language, cultural and social aspects, as well as business approaches for effective interaction with partners from China in order to build business, scientific, and educational contacts between the countries.

    The Digital Marketing program will provide future masters with knowledge and skills at the intersection of marketing, data analysis and digital technologies for the implementation of advertising campaigns in the digital environment. And graduates of the Digital Engineering for Computer Games program will have competencies in developing games and gaming software with in-depth knowledge of engine features.

    A total of 32 programs became available for submission of documents from April 1, most of which are implemented entirely online, and for three, in addition to the online track, an offline track is also available. Applicants can choose an unlimited number of educational programs. The acceptance of documents for the online master’s program will last until August 8 or September 15, depending on the chosen program.

    Master’s programs with application deadline until August 8, 2025:

    «Big data analytics“;

    «Artificial Intelligence in Marketing and Product Management“;

    «Artificial intelligence“;

    «Applied Linguistics: Foreign Language Teaching and Translation in the Digital Environment“, HSE University – St. Petersburg (new program);

    «Applied social psychology“;

    «Design and development of high-load information systems“, National Research University Higher School of Economics – Saint Petersburg;

    «Psychoanalysis and psychoanalytic psychotherapy» (offline and online tracks);

    «Psychoanalysis and psychoanalytic business consulting» (offline and online tracks);

    «Digital Engineering for Computer Games» (new program);

    «Economic analysis“.

    Programs for which application submission is available until September 15, 2025:

    «Investments in financial markets“;

    «Data Engineering“;

    «Interactive design“;

    «IT lawyer“, HSE University – Perm;

    «Cybersecurity“;

    «Chinese Language in Intercultural Business Communication» (new program);

    «Master of Science in Data Science“;

    «Marketing management“;

    «Instructional Design: Theory and Practice of Learning» (new program);

    «Management in creative industries“;

    «Innovative Business Management“;

    «Organization and Project Management“, HSE University – Nizhny Novgorod;

    «Strategic Communications Management“;

    «Digital Product Management“;

    «Digital Urbanism and City Analytics“;

    «Digital Marketing“, HSE University – Nizhny Novgorod (new program);

    “Artifice to the intelligentsian Andi Computer Vision”, National Research University Higher School of Economics – Nizhny Novgorod;

    “Date analysts And Social Statistix“;

    “Lay those“;

    “Master of Busineses Analytics“;

    “Master of the Finance“;

    “Master of OF InterNATIONAL BUSINESS” (offline and online tracks).

    For each program is installed list of entrance examinations, the most common format is a portfolio competition. All of them are held remotely. Training is carried out according to standards: 2 years are allocated for a master’s degree. Upon completion of the final qualifying work, graduates will receive a state diploma indicating full-time education in Russian and English. You can sign up for a consultation to learn more about the programs, the possibility of obtaining an educational loan, and ask other questions at page.

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

    MIL OSI Russia News –

    April 2, 2025

  • MIL-OSI USA: Jay Bhattacharya Begins Tenure as 18th Director of the National Institutes of Health

    Source: US Department of Health and Human Services – 2

    News Release
    Tuesday, April 1, 2025

    Jayanta “Jay” Bhattacharya, M.D., Ph.D., took office today as the 18th Director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). President Trump nominated Dr. Bhattacharya for the position on Nov. 26, 2024, and the U.S. Senate confirmed him on March 25, 2025.
    As Director, Dr. Bhattacharya will oversee the nation’s medical research agency. Dr. Bhattacharya will play an instrumental role in shaping the agency’s activities and outlook and ensuring they align with the President’s Make America Healthy Again Commission.
    “Under Dr. Bhattacharya’s leadership, NIH will restore its commitment to gold-standard science,” said HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. “I’m excited to work with Dr. Bhattacharya to ensure NIH research aligns with our Administration’s priorities — especially tackling the chronic disease epidemic and helping to Make America Healthy Again.”
    “Chronic diseases such as cancer, heart disease, diabetes and obesity continue to cause poor health outcomes in every community across the United States. Novel biomedical discoveries that enhance health and lengthen life are more vital than ever to our country’s future,” said Dr. Bhattacharya. “As NIH Director, I will build on the agency’s long and illustrious history of supporting breakthroughs in biology and medicine by fostering gold-standard research and innovation to address the chronic disease crisis.”
    A renowned doctor, researcher and health economist, Dr. Bhattacharya held a tenured professorship in the medical school at Stanford University in California. Dr. Bhattacharya’s research has focused on population aging and chronic disease, particularly on the health and well-being of vulnerable populations. During the pandemic, Dr. Bhattacharya coauthored the Great Barrington Declaration, which called for opening schools and lifting lockdowns while better protecting older populations who were most vulnerable to the disease. 
    Encouraging different perspectives will be central to Dr. Bhattacharya’s approach to leading NIH as part of his larger mission to restore public trust in science. Alongside Secretary Kennedy, he will champion innovative, cutting-edge research that fuels near-term solutions for patients while balancing investments in basic science.
    Dr. Bhattacharya earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in economics from Stanford University. He then completed medical school and earned a Ph.D. in economics at Stanford University. He replaces Matthew J. Memoli, M.D., who has served ably as the Acting NIH Director since Jan. 22, 2025.
    About the National Institutes of Health (NIH): NIH, the nation’s medical research agency, includes 27 Institutes and Centers and is a component of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. NIH is the primary federal agency conducting and supporting basic, clinical, and translational medical research, and is investigating the causes, treatments, and cures for both common and rare diseases. For more information about NIH and its programs, visit www.nih.gov.
    NIH…Turning Discovery Into Health®
    ###

    MIL OSI USA News –

    April 2, 2025

  • MIL-OSI: Study Finds Brain Training Also Helps Caregivers of Dementia Patients

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    SAN FRANCISCO, April 01, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — While a particular brain training app —BrainHQ from Posit Science — has already been shown to prevent cognitive decline and improve brain health in older adults, researchers at the University of Rochester and Stanford University have now found that the same app can improve cognitive health in family members who are providing care to loved ones with Alzheimer’s Disease and related dementias.

    “Anyone who has been a family caregiver knows how mentally demanding and exhausting that vital role is,” observed Dr. Henry Mahncke, CEO of Posit Science. “We applaud the independent researchers who designed and ran this new study for taking these issues seriously and for recognizing that the benefits of BrainHQ shown in studies of other populations could also address the brain health challenges experienced by caregivers.”

    According to the Alzheimer’s Association, each year more than 11 million Americans are providing an estimated 18.4 billion hours of unpaid care (valued at more than $346 billion) to people living with dementia.

    The chronic stress of caregiving, this new study notes, is known to be associated with many health risks for caregivers, including accelerated cognitive aging (declines in attention, processing speed, and memory), greater risks of ill health and mortality, as well as diminished emotional well-being. Family caregivers are often older adults themselves, with challenges in adapting to the ongoing stressors of caregiving. Such stressors include watching a family member’s declining functional ability and increasing neuropsychiatric symptoms (apathy, mood disturbance, and agitation), as well as behavioral changes. Those stressors are often compounded by feelings of loss of a significant relationship with a loved one, as well as by family conflict around care.

    In this randomized controlled study published in Innovation and Aging, a peer-reviewed journal of the Gerontological Society of America, the researchers reported they had enrolled 195 caregivers (aged 55-85) and randomized them into either the intervention group, which was assigned five exercises organized as a regimen on the BrainHQ app, or into an active control group, which was assigned educational videos (e.g., public television series on cooking, travel, or history, and other documentaries) that participants self-selected from a study website. Participants in both groups were asked to engage in their assigned activity for 30 minutes per session, across 3 sessions per week, for 8 weeks (12 hours, in total).

    All participants were assessed (at baseline, after 8 weeks, and at 6- and 12-month follow-ups) on measures of processing speed and attention, working memory under stress, and emotion reactivity to laboratory and caregiving stressors.

    The researchers found that the BrainHQ group had significantly improved processing speed and attention performance as compared to the active control group, and these differences persisted through the 6-month follow-up. In the 6-month follow-up, working memory performance under stress was significantly better among the BrainHQ compared to the active control group. At 12 months, caregivers in the BrainHQ group reported less negative emotion in response to behavioral symptoms of their care recipient. There were no group differences on acute emotion reactivity to the laboratory stressor at any time point.

    The researchers conclude, “Evidence from this clinical trial suggests that with continued development, targeted, neuroplasticity-based cognitive training has strong potential to strengthen stress adaptation and emotional resilience in caregivers of a family member with ADRD” [Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias].

    BrainHQ exercises have shown benefits in more than 300 studies. Such benefits include gains in cognition (attention, speed, memory, decision-making), in quality of life (depressive symptoms, confidence and control, health-related quality of life) and in real-world activities (health outcomes, balance, driving, workplace activities). BrainHQ is offered by leading health and Medicare Advantage plans, by leading medical centers, clinics, and communities, and by elite athletes, the military, and other organizations focused on peak performance. Consumers can try a BrainHQ exercise for free daily at https://www.brainhq.com.

    The MIL Network –

    April 2, 2025

  • MIL-OSI Russia: The results of the conference “Reconstruction and Restoration of Architectural Heritage” were summed up at SPbGASU

    Translartion. Region: Russians Fedetion –

    Source: Saint Petersburg State University of Architecture and Civil Engineering – Presidium of the round table “Additional professional education in restoration”. From left to right: Chairperson of the Russian Association of Restorers, Acting Director of the State Autonomous Cultural Institution of the Leningrad Region “International Restoration Center” Tatyana Chernyaeva; Professor of the Urban Planning Department of SPbGASU Sergey Semenov; First Vice-Rector of SPbGASU Svetlana Golovina; Director of the Higher Engineering School of RUT (MIIT) Boris Igolnikov; General Director of REMMERS LLC Andrey Babich

    The anniversary 5th National (All-Russian) scientific and practical conference with international participation “Reconstruction and Restoration of Architectural Heritage” (RRAN-2025) was held at the Saint Petersburg State University of Architecture and Civil Engineering from March 24 to 28.

    The conference was attended by representatives of the Russian Ministry of Culture, state bodies for the protection of monuments, higher education institutions training architect-restorers, restoration specialists from all over Russia and abroad. The partners of the conference were the Committee for State Control, Use and Protection of Historical and Cultural Monuments (KGIOP) of the Government of St. Petersburg and the Non-Commercial Partnership “Russian Association of Restorers (Rosregionrestavratsiya)”. The conference was held with the participation of the companies “Friedlander Paints”, OOO “REMMERS” and OOO “RUNIT”.

    Plenary session

    At the plenary session “Features of Preservation and Development of Restoration Professions,” those gathered discussed prospects for cooperation, outlined development paths for the industry, and discussed new challenges facing restoration architects.

    Mikhail Mamoshin, chief architect and project manager at Mamoshin Architectural Workshop LLC, spoke about the reconstruction of the Church of the Holy Blessed Princes Boris and Gleb in St. Petersburg. The church was built in 1866–1882 and operated until 1934. Then, for over 40 years, it was used for other purposes, and in 1975, the building was demolished to make way for a new route for the Sinopskaya Embankment. Interest in the reconstruction of this site arose after the publication of an album dedicated to the lost churches of the Northern capital, which was prepared at the Department of Architectural and Urban Heritage of St. Petersburg State University of Architecture and Civil Engineering by Professor Sergei Vladimirovich Semenov and Associate Professor Nadezhda Aleksandrovna Akulova. Later, the Foundation for Assistance to the Restoration of Historical and Cultural Sites in St. Petersburg, with the support of the Union of Architects of St. Petersburg, published the book “The Lost Churches of St. Petersburg”. In 2019, the foundation announced its decision to recreate this temple. The team led by Mikhail Mamoshin was entrusted with carrying out the design work.

    Yulia Bogacheva, Deputy Chairperson of the Committee for State Control, Use and Protection of Historical and Cultural Monuments, gave a report entitled “Heritage Protection and Digitalization”. The audience learned about the KGIOP archive, the funds of which were formed in the 1930s and include documents from the beginning of the 18th century to the present day. In 2015–2017, 2,700 storage units were digitized and placed in the committee’s information system. Olga Olegovna reviewed the main digital systems and technologies used in the implementation of control (supervisory) activities, and emphasized the need for a modern comprehensive solution integrated with regional and federal geographic information systems (GIS). According to the speaker, digital transformation is impossible without the creation of a geographic information system of cultural heritage sites (GIS OKN). The implementation of the project will improve the quality and efficiency of recording, identifying, preserving, using, popularizing and state protection of cultural heritage sites (historical and cultural monuments) in St. Petersburg, and automate information exchange. The KGIOP representative also spoke about plans to develop solutions based on information regulation technologies (IRT) together with SPbGASU for analyzing and assessing the condition of architectural monuments, monitoring the condition of monuments, etc.

    Ekaterina Tribelskaya, head of the architecture department at the Moscow State Academic Art Institute named after V. I. Surikov at the Russian Academy of Arts, presented the architecture department of her university, noting that they are attentive and careful about preserving cultural heritage sites, and research them as part of coursework and diploma theses.

    Anna Smirnova, CEO of Kraski Friedlander LLC, gave a presentation entitled “Brand Cities. Cultural Heritage and Identity in Historical Cities.” The speaker listed the reasons why a city needs its own brand: this will attract investment and tourists, support traditions, create conditions for business development, and much more. In addition, this will preserve important historical foundations of color perception and preserve the identity of the environment.

    Yulia Yankovskaya, Head of the Urban Planning Department at SPbGASU, gave a report entitled “Compositional and Artistic Aspects of Architectural and Urban Planning Design – History and Modernity.” Yulia Sergeevna said that the Russian architectural school has always focused on compositional and artistic training. This is our global brand, which our Western and Eastern colleagues are guided by. Its outstanding representatives worked at SPbGASU – Yuri Kurbatov (1934-2020) and Vladimir Antoshchenkov (1933-2024). Unfortunately, according to Yulia Yankovskaya, this brand has recently begun to lose ground.

    In her presentation, Yulia Sergeevna showed the evolution of compositional training in architecture and architectural education and the development of ideas about extra-leftist form-building in the 20th–21st centuries, emphasizing that this is also a legacy that needs to be known, preserved and developed.

    In addition, Yulia Sergeevna drew the attention of the audience to two new topics discussed at the conference. One of them is monumental art in architecture and urban development. A round table and exhibition at the Faculty of Architecture, which will last until April 4.

    The conference program, in addition to five main sections in a number of areas, also included two round tables, two master classes, a lecture block, and two days of visiting restoration sites in St. Petersburg and its suburbs.

    Round table “Additional professional education in restoration”

    The round table began with a ceremony to sign an agreement on interuniversity cooperation between the Russian University of Transport and SPbGASU. The document was signed by Boris Igolnikov, Director of the Higher Engineering School of the Russian University of Transport (RUT (MIIT)) and Svetlana Golovina, First Vice-Rector of SPbGASU.

    The parties intend to exchange experience and information, organize internships for students and postgraduates, and hold joint events. Boris Igolnikov reported that the two universities are already actively interacting. The signing of the agreement will allow this interaction to reach a new level.

    Round table “Architecture, art, technology – integration mechanisms in a historical city”

    The focus of the participants of the round table “Architecture, art, technology – integration mechanisms in a historical city” was the digitalization of architectural and urban planning activities, which is being actively implemented at the state level, and its impact on the creative process of the architect and artist.

    Those gathered also considered the role of the architect-restorer, the architect-urban planner, who combines the compositional-artistic historical and creative principles, which are important to take into account when preserving and developing the environment, which is especially important when designing and organizing space and allows for the life of a modern person.

    Participants noted the need for proper management of this process, the inclusion of an urban architect and a restoration architect, the need to correctly set boundaries between areas where digitalization is important and necessary, and those where creative search remains a priority.

    Section “Experience of practical restoration and modern materials (synthesis of science and practice)”

    At the section “Experience of Practical Restoration and Modern Materials (Synthesis of Science and Practice)”, participants presented modern technologies for adapting architectural monuments, ensuring the possibility of their effective and safe operation, taking into account modern requirements. Alexey Kharitonov, associate professor of the Department of Construction Materials Technology and Metrology of SPbGASU, moderator of the section, reported that these technologies provide for minimal intervention in historical structures and materials, as they are based on the continuity of traditional construction techniques.

    “We exchanged experience in selecting restoration materials and technological schemes for conducting work using completed projects as an example. The participants were very interested in discussing the problem of capillary water suction in brick walls: completely new and scientifically substantiated ideas about the mechanism of moistening the walls of buildings and structures made of brickwork were presented. Draft national standards were presented, designed to regulate the requirements for the quality of work on the restoration of brickwork and plaster finishing,” said Alexey Kharitonov.

    Section “Monumental art in urban planning”

    At this section, experts discussed the issues of integrating works of monumental art into architecture and urban planning. If this process is well-established within the framework of restoration and reconstruction of historical monuments, then when including such works of art in modern architecture, the interaction of the architect and the monumental artist often turns out to be insufficient. Experts see the reason for this in the exclusion of this aspect from the educational process of architectural and artistic and architectural and construction universities. As a consequence, there is a lack of cooperation skills and, moreover, an understanding of the role of monumental art in modern architecture and the urban environment.

    “Our colleagues from the Department of Architecture at the V. I. Surikov Moscow State Academic Art Institute told us about training in this type of interaction (work between architects and sculptors as part of a third-year course project and a diploma project (in the latter case, it is optional)). Such interaction is not observed in other educational institutions, so the initiative of the Department of Urban Development at St. Petersburg State University of Architecture and Civil Engineering to include the works of students of monumental painting in projects to transform the urban environment is very important. It is necessary to develop this area both in object design and in architectural-environmental and urban development design,” said Yulia Yankovskaya, moderator of the section.

    Master classes

    The highlights of the conference were the master classes from the company “Friedlander Paints”: “Lime paint as part of a systematic approach to restoration based on the principle of “like to like”” and “Restoration of brick and stonework”. Experienced professionals demonstrated work on restoring the surfaces of architectural monuments, shared advice on working with materials and tools, and original paint application techniques.

    The construction company REMMERS presented an exhibition stand at the conference, telling about its restoration projects, and the magazine Vestnik Restoratsii, which it publishes. The publication was of great interest to the conference participants and students of SPbGASU.

    Visiting restoration sites

    Thematic excursions were organized for the conference participants. In the Yusupov Palace on the Moika Embankment, they viewed the ceremonial interiors that had recently undergone restoration. In the building of the St. Petersburg Conservatory, they got acquainted with the progress of the restoration work that was being completed. They viewed restoration objects in one of the palace and park suburbs of St. Petersburg – in Peterhof.

    During the conference, specialists were also able to undergo advanced training.

    Those gathered came to a general consensus on the need to create a single center for the development of restoration technologies.

    Following the conference, a collection of scientific articles will be published.

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

    MIL OSI Russia News –

    April 2, 2025

  • MIL-OSI Asia-Pac: Fisheries Practices in the Bay of Bengal

    Source: Government of India

    Posted On: 01 APR 2025 3:31PM by PIB Delhi

    The Department of Fisheries (DoF), Government of India (GoI) has taken several initiatives to ensure sustainable fisheries practices in India’s EEZ including in the Bay of Bengal region.  This includes the implementation of a uniform fishing ban for a period of 61 days, from 15th April to 14th June on the East Coast and from 1st June to 31st July on the West Coast in the Indian Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) to protect the breeding stock. Similar fishing bans are implemented within the territorial waters by Coastal States/Union Territories including in the Bay of Bengal region. During the fishing ban period, financial assistance is provided by the Government towards livelihood and nutritional support for socio-economically backward, active traditional fishers.  

    The DoF, GoI has notified the ‘National Policy on Marine Fisheries (NPMF), 2017’ towards responsible and sustainable fishing across the country including the Bay of Bengal region.   The DoF, GoI has also issued orders to prohibit destructive fishing practices like bull or pair trawling and the use of artificial lights/LED lights for fishing in the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), and similar prohibitions are also imposed within territorial waters by the coastal States/UTs. Further, necessary provisions are made by the State Government in their respective Marine Fishing Regulation Acts Rules (Amendments) for the installation of Turtle Excluder Devices (TED) for the protection of sea turtles.  Besides, the flagship scheme Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana (PMMSY) implemented by the Department inter alia envisages support towards the installation of artificial reefs along the coast, sea ranching, and mariculture including seaweed cultivation, all of which add to the sustainability. In addition, India as a member of the Bay of Bengal Programme (BOBP)-IGO has been actively taking various initiatives in cooperation with other member countries for sustainable fisheries practices like the adoption of the National Plan of Action for Sharks, Ecosystem Approach to Fisheries Management (EAFM) and Bay of Bengal Large Marine Ecosystem (BOBLME) Project.

    The NPMF, 2017 inter alia emphasizes that Information Technology (IT) and Space Technology (ST) will be put to optimum use for harnessing the benefits in support of the fisher community and also recommends the use of space technologies for real-time Potential Fishing Zone (PFZ) advisories; and weather forecasts for the benefit of fishers. The Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS), Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES), Hyderabad has reported that Oceansat Satellite data from Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) are used to prepare the Potential Fishing Zone (PFZ) advisories indicating the potential fishing areas and provided to the fishermen in all States/UTs.  Besides, the PMMSY inter alia envisages support towards the installation of transponders in fishing vessels, providing safety kits to traditional fishermen and motorized fishing vessels, support for Potential Fishing Zone (PFZ) devices & network including the cost of installation, construction of deep sea fishing vessels aiming at exploring untapped resources and upgradation of fishing vessels for export competency. Under the PMMSY emphasis is also given to technology-driven more crop-per-drop initiatives in aquaculture like fish culture through Re-Circulatory Aquaculture Systems (RAS), biofloc aquaculture systems, cage culture in reservoirs, open sea cage culture, seaweed cultivation, bivalve cultivation including pearl farming and ornamental fisheries.

    Currently there are no such projects proposed to be implemented to improve livestock health and breeding practices in member countries. However, as per the Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying, Government of India, germplasm from indigenous breeds, Murrah buffalo and Sahiwal cattle has been shared with member countries mainly Bangladesh and Sri Lanka in the form of semen doses, embryos, and live animals.       

    This information was given by Union Minister of State, Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying, Shri George Kurian, in a written reply in Lok Sabha on 1st April, 2025.

    *****

    AA

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    Read this release in: Hindi

    MIL OSI Asia Pacific News –

    April 2, 2025

  • MIL-OSI Asia-Pac: GLACIAL LAKE OUTBURST FLOOD MITIGATION

    Source: Government of India

    Posted On: 01 APR 2025 3:51PM by PIB Delhi

    Strengthening of Early Warning Systems is prerequisite for preparedness measures and is the most important element of entire cycle of disaster management. 

    The Prime Minister has enunciated ten-point agenda on Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) during the Asian Ministerial Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction (AMCDRR) held in New Delhi in November 2016. The all-inclusive agenda includes the following: –

    “Leverage technology to enhance the efficiency of disaster risk management efforts.” and “Build on local capacity and initiative to enhance disaster risk reduction”.

    The Government effectively deploys technologies for improved early warning and forecasting of disaster in the vulnerable areas. Central Government has designated nodal agencies for early warning of different natural disasters.

    To promote the use of modern technologies and to strengthen the early warning  system  for  natural  disasters,  Ministry  of  Earth  Sciences  has

    launched a Multi-faceted transformative approach namely “Mission Mausam” for the period 2024-2026 with the goal of making India a “weather-ready and climate smart” nation.

    Under the National Cyclone Risk Mitigation Project (NCRMP) Early Warning Systems have been installed in the Coastal States, which have proved to be of great help in alert dissemination to the coastal community during recent cyclones.

    ‘Common Alerting Protocol (CAP) based Integrated Alert System’ has been initiated with an outlay of Rs. 354.83 Crore, for dissemination of geo targeted early warnings/alerts related to disasters to the citizens of India for all 36 States/UTs using various disseminating medium like SMS, TV, Radio, Indian Railways, Costal Sirens, Cell broadcast, Internet (RSS feed & Browser Notification), Satellite Receiver of GAGAN & NavIC etc., through integration of all alerting agencies, [India Meteorological Department (IMD), Central Water Commission (CWC), Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS), Defence Geo-informatics Research Establishment (DGRE), Geological Survey of India (GSI) and Forest Survey of India (FSI)]. 

    In CAP system, the alerts related to various disasters are generated by Alert Generating Agencies like IMD, CWC, INCOIS, DGRE & FSI and moderated by SDMAs of concern States/UTs.  The alerts are sent to geo targeted areas in regional languages. There is a web-based dashboard to disaster managers for approving/editing alerts and choosing media for dissemination. The system has been used successfully in recent disasters.  More than 4500 crore SMS alerts have been disseminated so far using CAP.

    National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) has also initiated a project for Pan India, end-to-end secure and foolproof Disaster Grade Cell Broadcasting System (CBS) to improve faster dissemination of alert / early warning messages to the citizen.

    Defence Geoinformatics Research Establishment (DGRE), Chandigarh under Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) is also the nodal agency for studying and developing avalanche mitigation technologies.  DGRE has installed 72 Snow Meteorological Observatories and 45 Automated Weather Stations (AWS).  

    India Metrological Department (IMD) issues regular and precise weather forecasts & warning bulletins including for cyclones to all the affected/ likely affected States/ UTs.

    IMD uses a suite of quality observations from Satellites, Radars and Conventional & Automatic Weather Stations for monitoring of cyclones developing over the Bay of Bengal and Arabian Sea. It includes INSAT 3D, 3DR and SCATSAT satellites, Doppler Weather Radars (DWRs) along the coast and coastal Automated Weather Stations (AWS), High wind speed recorders, Automatic Rain Gauges (ARGs), Meteorological buoys and ships.

    NDMA also conducts capacity building programmes, organizes awareness workshops and fosters community-based risk reduction strategies and also trainings for monitoring and alert mechanism to ensure last mile connectivity. 

    Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology (WIHG) monitors the glaciers and provides comprehensive analysis of factors that trigger hazards and its associated downstream risks to significantly enhance early warning capabilities and disaster preparedness.   WIHG has prepared glacial lake

    inventories for Uttarakhand (2015) and Himachal Pradesh (2018), identifying 1,266 lakes (7.6 km²) in Uttarakhand and 958 lakes (9.6 km²) in Himachal Pradesh.

    Central Water Commission (CWC) monitors 902 Glacial lakes and water bodies, to enable the detection of relative change in water spread areas of Glacial lakes and water bodies as well as identifying those ones which have expanded substantially during its monitoring months.

    Central Government has approved National Glacial Lake Outburst Flood (GLOF) Risk Mitigation Project (NGRMP) for its implementation in four states namely, Arunachal Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Sikkim and Uttarakhand at a financial outlay of Rs. 150.00 crore.

    NGRMP is aimed at reducing the risks associated with glacial lake outburst floods, particularly in regions that are highly susceptible to such natural disasters.  The objectives of NGRMP project are:

    (i)      Prevent loss of life and reduce economic loss and damage to critical infrastructure due to GLOF and similar events.

    (ii)     Strengthen the early warning and monitoring capacities based on last mile connectivity.

    (iii)    Strengthen scientific and technical capabilities in GLOF risk reduction and mitigation at local levels through strengthening of local level institutions and communities.

    (iv)    Use of indigenous knowledge and scientific cutting-edge mitigation measures to reduce and mitigate GLOF risk.

    NGRMP, approved by the Government, has one of its components as GLOF monitoring and Early Warning Systems (EWS) including remote sensing data, community involvement for monitoring, alerting / dissemination.

    Two Automatic Weather Stations (AWS) have been installed in Sikkim with further deployments of EWS planned in collaboration with C-DAC, ISRO and Space Applications Centre, Ahmedabad to provide early warning to local communities in case of any GLOF event.

    CWC has finalized the criteria for Risk Indexing of Glacial Lakes offering a structured approach for identifying and ranking such lakes based on their likelihood of failure and potential damage they could cause in the event of GLOF.  

    A Committee on Disaster Risk Reduction (CoDRR) under NDMA involving representatives from six Himalayan States / Union Territories and other Stakeholders, has identified a set of high risk glacial lakes for sending expeditions to directly assess these lakes and prepare comprehensive mitigation strategies in terms of setting up EWS / other structural and non-structural measures.

    Subsequent to Teesta-III Hydroelectric dam collapse in October, 2023, CWC has decided to review the design flood of all the existing and under construction dams vulnerable to GLOFs to ensure their adequate spillway capacity for a combination of Probable Maximum Flood / Standard Probable Flood and GLOF. Further, GLOF Studies has been made mandatory for all new dams planned having Glacial Lakes in their catchments.

    This was stated by the Minister of State in the Ministry of Home Affairs Shri Nityanand Rai in a written reply to a question in the Lok Sabha.

    ***

    RK/VV/ASH/RR/PR/PS

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    MIL OSI Asia Pacific News –

    April 2, 2025

  • MIL-OSI USA: Sols 4495-4497: Yawn, Perched, and Rollin’

    Source: NASA

    Written by Natalie Moore, Mission Operations Specialist at Malin Space Science Systems
    Earth planning date: Friday, March 28, 2025
    Womp, womp. Another SRAP (Slip Risk Assessment Process) issue due to wheels being perched on these massive layered sulfate rocks. With our winter power constraints as tight as they are, though, keeping the arm stowed freed up more time to check some lines off our rover’s weekend list. To do: SAM activity to exercise Oven 2 (check!), Navcam 360-degree “phase function” sky movie to monitor scattering of Martian clouds (check!), APXS atmospheric measurements of argon (check!), ChemCam passive sky measurements of oxygen (check!), and a drive of about 50 meters (about 164 feet) to the southwest (check!). Curiosity gets busy on the weekends so us PULs can do some lounging. 
    On the Mastcam team, we’ve been pretty busy in the layered sulfate unit. The rocks are rippled, layered, fractured, and surrounded by sandy troughs. Where did it all come from? What current and past processes are at play in this area? This weekend we’re collecting 70 images to help figure that out. ChemCam is helping by collecting chemistry measurements of the lowest block in this Navcam image, with two targets close by aptly named “Solana Beach” and “Del Mar.” To help conserve power, we’ve been trying to parallelize our activities as much as possible. Recently this means Mastcam has been taking images while ChemCam undergoes “TEC Cooling” to get as cold as possible before using their laser. 
    We’re all hoping the arm can come back from vacation next week.

    MIL OSI USA News –

    April 2, 2025

  • MIL-OSI USA: Discovery Alert: Four Little Planets, One Big Step

    Source: NASA

    Four rocky planets much smaller than Earth orbit Barnard’s Star, the next closest to ours after the three-star Alpha Centauri system. Barnard’s is the nearest single star.

    Barnard’s Star, six light-years away, is notorious among astronomers for a history of false planet detections. But with the help of high-precision technology, the latest discovery — a family of four — appears to be solidly confirmed. The tiny size of the planets is also remarkable: Capturing evidence of small worlds at great distance is a tall order, even using state-of-the-art instruments and observational techniques.

    Watching for wobbles in the light from a star is one of the leading methods for detecting exoplanets — planets orbiting other stars. This “radial velocity” technique tracks subtle shifts in the spectrum of starlight caused by the gravity of a planet pulling its star back and forth as the planet orbits. But tiny planets pose a major challenge: the smaller the planet, the smaller the pull. These four are each between about a fifth and a third as massive as Earth. Stars also are known to jitter and quake, creating background “noise” that potentially could swamp the comparatively quiet signals from smaller, orbiting worlds.
    Astronomers measure the back-and-forth shifting of starlight in meters per second; in this case the radial velocity signals from all four planets amount to faint whispers — from 0.2 to 0.5 meters per second (a person walks at about 1 meter per second). But the noise from stellar activity is nearly 10 times larger at roughly 2 meters per second.
    How to separate planet signals from stellar noise? The astronomers made detailed mathematical models of Barnard’s Star’s quakes and jitters, allowing them to recognize and remove those signals from the data collected from the star.
    The new paper confirming the four tiny worlds — labeled b, c, d, and e — relies on data from MAROON-X, an “extreme precision” radial velocity instrument attached to the Gemini Telescope on the Maunakea mountaintop in Hawaii. It confirms the detection of the “b” planet, made with previous data from ESPRESSO, a radial velocity instrument attached to the Very Large Telescope in Chile. And the new work reveals three new sibling planets in the same system.

    These planets orbit their red-dwarf star much too closely to be habitable. The closest planet’s “year” lasts a little more than two days; for the farthest planet, it’s is just shy of seven days. That likely makes them too hot to support life. Yet their detection bodes well in the search for life beyond Earth. Scientists say small, rocky planets like ours are probably the best places to look for evidence of life as we know it. But so far they’ve been the most difficult to detect and characterize. High-precision radial velocity measurements, combined with more sharply focused techniques for extracting data, could open new windows into habitable, potentially life-bearing worlds.
    Barnard’s star was discovered in 1916 by Edward Emerson Barnard, a pioneering astrophotographer.

    An international team of scientists led by Ritvik Basant of the University of Chicago published their paper on the discovery, “Four Sub-Earth Planets Orbiting Barnard’s Star from MAROON-X and ESPRESSO,” in the science journal, “The Astrophysical Journal Letters,” in March 2025. The planets were entered into the NASA Exoplanet Archive on March 13, 2025.

    MIL OSI USA News –

    April 2, 2025

  • MIL-OSI USA: ARMD Solicitations (ULI Proposals Invited)

    Source: NASA

    This ARMD solicitations page compiles the opportunities to collaborate with NASA’s aeronautical innovators and/or contribute to their research to enable new and improved air transportation systems. A summary of available opportunities with key dates requiring action are listed first. More information about each opportunity is detailed lower on this page.
    University Leadership InitiativeStep-A proposals due by June 26, 2025.
    University Student Research ChallengeProposals for Cycle 3 are due by June 26, 2025.

    Advanced Capabilities for Emergency Response Operations
    GENERAL ANNOUNCEMENT OF REQUEST FOR INFORMATION
    Advanced Capabilities for Emergency Response Operations is using this request for information to identify technologies that address current challenges facing the wildland firefighting community. NASA is seeking information on data collection, airborne connectivity and communications solutions, unmanned aircraft systems traffic management, aircraft operations and autonomy, and more. This will support development of a partnership strategy for future collaborative demonstrations.
    Interested parties were requested to respond to this notice with an information package no later than 4 pm ET, October 15, 2023, that shall be submitted via https://nari.arc.nasa.gov/acero-rfi. Any proprietary information must be clearly marked. Submissions will be accepted only from United States companies.
    View the full RFI Announcement here.

    Advanced Air Mobility Mission
    GENERAL ADVANCED AIR MOBILITYANNOUNCEMENT OF REQUEST FOR INFORMATIONThis request for information (RFI) is being used to gather market research for NASA to make informed decisions regarding potential partnership strategies and future research to enable Advanced Air Mobility (AAM). NASA is seeking information from public, private, and academic organizations to determine technical needs and community interests that may lead to future solicitations regarding AAM research and development.
    This particular RFI is just one avenue of multiple planned opportunities for formal feedback on or participation in NASA’s AAM Mission-related efforts to develop these requirements and help enable AAM. 
    The respond by date for this RFI closed on Feb. 1, 2025, at 6 p.m. EST.
    View the full RFI announcement here.

    NASA Research Opportunities in Aeronautics
    NASA’s Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate (ARMD) uses the NASA Research Announcement (NRA) process to solicit proposals for foundational research in areas where ARMD seeks to enhance its core capabilities.
    Competition for NRA awards is open to both academia and industry.
    The current open solicitation for ARMD Research Opportunities is ROA-2023 and ROA-2024.
    Here is some general information to know about the NRA process.

    NRA solicitations are released by NASA Headquarters through the Web-based NASA Solicitation and Proposal Integrated Review and Evaluation System (NSPIRES).
    All NRA technical work is defined and managed by project teams within these four programs: Advanced Air Vehicles Program, Airspace Operations and Safety Program, Integrated Aviation Systems Program, and Transformative Aeronautics Concepts Program.
    NRA awards originate from NASA’s Langley Research Center in Virginia, Ames Research Center in California, Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, and Armstrong Flight Research Center in California.
    Competition for NRA awards is full and open.
    Participation is open to all categories of organizations, including educational institutions, industry, and nonprofits.
    Any updates or amendments to an NRA is posted on the appropriate NSPIRES web pages as noted in the Amendments detailed below.
    ARMD sends notifications of NRA updates through the NSPIRES email system. In order to receive these email notifications, you must be a Registered User of NSPIRES. However, note that NASA is not responsible for inadvertently failing to provide notification of a future NRA. Parties are responsible for regularly checking the NSPIRES website for updated NRAs.

    ROA-2024 NRA Amendments

    Amendment 1
    (Full text here.)
    Amendment 1 to the NASA ARMD Research Opportunities in Aeronautics (ROA) 2024 NRA has been posted on the NSPIRES web site at https://nspires.nasaprs.com.
    The announcement solicits proposals from accredited U.S. institutions for research training grants to begin the academic year. This NOFO is designed to support independently conceived research projects by highly qualified graduate students, in disciplines needed to help advance NASA’s mission, thus affording these students the opportunity to directly contribute to advancements in STEM-related areas of study. AAVP Fellowship Opportunities are focused on innovation and the generation of measurable research results that contribute to NASA’s current and future science and technology goals.
    Research proposals are sought to address key challenges provided in Elements of Appendix A.8.
    Notices of Intent (NOIs) are not required.
    A budget breakdown for each proposal is required, detailing the allocation of the award funds by year. The budget document may adhere to any format or template provided by the applicant’s institution.
    Proposals were due by April 30, 2024, at 5 PM ET.

    Amendment 2UPDATED ON MARCH 31, 2025
    (Full text here.)
    University Leadership Initiative (ULI) provides the opportunity for university teams to exercise technical and organizational leadership in proposing unique technical challenges in aeronautics, defining multi-disciplinary solutions, establishing peer review mechanisms, and applying innovative teaming strategies to strengthen the research impact.
    Research proposals are sought in six ULI topic areas in Appendix D.4.
    Topic 1: Safe, Efficient Growth in Global Operations (Strategic Thrust 1)
    Topic 2: Innovation in Commercial High-Speed Aircraft (Strategic Thrust 2)
    Topic 3: Ultra-Efficient Subsonic Transports (Strategic Thrust 3)
    Topic 4: Safe, Quiet, and Affordable Vertical Lift Air Vehicles (Strategic Thrust 4)
    Topic 5: In-Time System-Wide Safety Assurance (Strategic Thrust 5)
    Topic 6: Assured Autonomy for Aviation Transformation (Strategic Thrust 6)
    This NRA will utilize a two-step proposal submission and evaluation process. The initial step is a short mandatory Step-A proposal, which is due June 26, 2025. Those offerors submitting the most highly rated Step-A proposals will be invited to submit a Step-B proposal. All proposals must be submitted electronically through NSPIRES at https://nspires.nasaprs.com. An Applicant’s Workshop will be held on Thursday April 30, 2025; 1:00-3:00 p.m. ET (https://uli.arc.nasa.gov/applicants-workshops/workshop9) (Page will be live closer to the event.)
    An interested partners list for this ULI is at https://uli.arc.nasa.gov/partners. To be listed as an interested lead or partner, please send electronic mail to hq-univpartnerships@mail.nasa.gov with “ULI Partnerships” in the subject line and include the information required for the table in that web page.

    Amendment 3
    (Full text here)
    Commercial Supersonic Technology seeks proposals for a fuel injector design concept and fabrication for testing at NASA Glenn Research Center.
    The proposal for the fuel injector design aims to establish current state-of-the-art in low NOx supersonic cruise while meeting reasonable landing take-off NOx emissions. The technology application timeline is targeted for a supersonic aircraft with entry into service in the 2035+ timeframe.
    These efforts are in alignment with activities in the NASA Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate as outlined in the NASA Aeronautics Strategic Implementation Plan, specifically Strategic Thrust 2: Innovation in Commercial High-Speed Aircraft.
    Proposals were due by May 31, 2024 at 5 pm EDT.

    Amendment 4UPDATED ON JANUARY 16, 2025
    (Full text here)
    University Student Research Challenge seeks to challenge students to propose new ideas/concepts that are relevant to NASA Aeronautics.  USRC will provide students, from accredited U.S. colleges or universities, with grants for their projects and with the challenge of raising cost share funds through a crowdfunding campaign.  The process of creating and implementing a crowdfunding campaign acts as a teaching accelerator – requiring students to act like entrepreneurs and raise awareness about their research among the public.
    The solicitation goal can be accomplished through project ideas such as advancing the design, developing technology or capabilities in support of aviation, by demonstrating a novel concept, or enabling advancement of aeronautics-related technologies.
    Notices of Intent are not required for this solicitation.
    Proposals for Cycle 3 are due June 26, 2025.
    Proposals can also be submitted later and evaluated in the second and third cycles.
    The USRC Q&A/Info Session and Proposal Workshop will be held on the days/times below. Please join us on TEAMS using the Meeting Link, or call in via +1 256-715-9946,,317928116#.

    USRC Cycle
    Information Session/Q&A Date
    Proposal Due Date

    Cycle 1
    Sept. 20, 2024 at 2 pm ET
    Nov. 7, 2024

    Cycle 2
    Jan. 27, 2025 at 2 pm ET
    March 13, 2025

    Cycle 3
    May 12, 2024 at 2 pm ET
    June 26, 2025

    MIL OSI USA News –

    April 2, 2025

  • MIL-OSI Russia: An exhibition about students who are ambassadors of Moscow colleges has opened in the center of Moscow

    Translartion. Region: Russians Fedetion –

    Source: Moscow Government – Government of Moscow –

    The photo exhibition “Professionals Around Us” has opened on Chistoprudny Boulevard and in Yekaterininsky Park. The exhibition features 19 inspiring stories of students from Moscow colleges who found their calling thanks to secondary vocational education. You can visit the exhibition until April 30.

    “The heroes of the project include a rescuer, a builder, a teacher, and a programmer. Each of them shared their success story and talked about the opportunities that open up for college graduates. We invite everyone to meet young professionals in Moscow,” the press service of the capital’s

    Department of Education and Science.

    Polina Durova, a final-year student at the Moscow Educational Complex “West”, is a pastry chef. She started working while still a student in a prestigious restaurant. In 2023, she won the “Young Professionals” championship in the “Pastry” category. Polina masterfully creates sculptures from caramel and chocolate, and regularly improves her skills in international pastry and cooking master classes. The girl said that she began her path in the pastry business in early childhood, when she watched cooking shows with her parents. Even then, she realized that creating desserts is a real art. Polina entered college because she decided to devote herself to her favorite hobby. According to her, she became a professional there – thanks to experienced mentors and constant practice. In college, Polina began to participate and win professional skills competitions, and the doors to the world of haute cuisine opened for her. The girl began to collaborate with the best restaurants in the city. She is currently studying in college and works as a pastry chef at a private production facility, where she creates desserts for true connoisseurs.

    Another hero of the exhibition, a final-year student of the Technical Fire and Rescue College named after Hero of the Russian Federation V.M. Maksimchuk, Philipp Smirnov, said that he decided on his future profession back in his school years, when he was in the cadet class. Once he helped a drowning man and realized that he would be a rescuer. Philipp is convinced that for this you need to be a professional, and the college promotes this. Now the young man already has the status of a rescuer, he works as a sailor-rescuer and industrial climber.

    Muscovites will also learn the story of Yegor Burinsky, a second-year student at the P.A. Ovchinnikov Polytechnic College. He learned about his profession at a college festival in 2023. It was there that Yegor first heard about the “Machine and Equipment Adjuster in Mechanical Processing” program. He was interested in how modern CNC machines work, and he decided to master this specialty. Having chosen targeted training, Yegor signed an agreement with the United Engine Corporation “Salut”. This provided a unique opportunity to begin professional practice in his first year. After just a month of studying at the college, Yegor began working in a real production facility.

    At the exhibition, you can learn about the successes of Milena Galyamova, who studies correctional pedagogy in primary school. The girl organizes events for the wards of children’s hospices of the CSKA and Vozmozhnost foundations. In addition, among the heroes is Alina Taekina, who is studying to be a graphic designer. Last year, she collaborated with one of the publishing houses and became a prize winner of the Moscow Masters and Young Professionals championships.

    Earlier, a large-scale college forum was held in the capital. It was attended by 60 thousand people. The event brought together 48 colleges that presented more than 140 in-demand specialties in 10 sectors of the Moscow economy. More than 120 master classes were organized for schoolchildren. Famous TV presenters, coaches, scientists and athletes shared their experience with the guests.

    You can learn more about the in-demand professions and specialties taught in the capital’s colleges in the section“Colleges” on the portal“School.Moscow”, in the telegram channel“Colleges of Moscow” and in the community on the social network VKontakte.

    Practical classes for students of Moscow colleges are held in modern workshops and laboratories. This contributes to the formation and development of professional skills in students and corresponds to the objectives of the national project “Youth and Children”.

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

    Please Note; This Information is Raw Content Directly from the Information Source. It is access to What the Source Is Stating and Does Not Reflect

    https: //vv.mos.ru/nevs/ite/152030073/

    MIL OSI Russia News –

    April 2, 2025

  • MIL-OSI United Nations: Academic Journals

    Source: UNISDR Disaster Risk Reduction

    Mission

    Academic Journals is a publisher of peer-reviewed open access journals.

    Academic Journals currently publishes over 100 open access journals covering art and humanities, engineering, medical science, social sciences, biological sciences, physical sciences and agricultural sciences. 

    Our mission is to accelerate the dissemination of knowledge through the publication of high quality research articles using the open access model.

    MIL OSI United Nations News –

    April 2, 2025

  • MIL-OSI United Nations: Review of General Psychology (Sage Journals)

    Source: UNISDR Disaster Risk Reduction

    Mission

    The Review of General Psychology is the official publication of the Society for General Psychology, Division 1 of the American Psychological Association. The Review of General Psychology publishes theoretical, conceptual, and methodological articles that have a range of foci, including human subjectivity, historical, theoretical, or critical studies of psychology, and global, international, or indigenous perspectives on general psychology. Articles may draw on the psychological sciences and/or the psychological humanities and may contribute to dialogues with cognate fields in the social or human sciences, including science and technology studies.

    MIL OSI United Nations News –

    April 2, 2025

  • MIL-OSI Economics: DSTA and Thales Announce AI-Driven Co-Lab to Strengthen Singapore’s Defence Systems

    Source: Thales Group

    Headline: DSTA and Thales Announce AI-Driven Co-Lab to Strengthen Singapore’s Defence Systems

    01 Apr 2025

    Share this article

    • Defence Science and Technology Agency (DSTA) and Thales announce a joint lab to develop AI-enabled technologies which can augment combat systems currently in use by the Singapore Armed Forces.
    • With an initial focus on solutions for Counter-Unmanned Aircraft Systems (C-UAS) and Advanced Sensing applications, both parties have co-developed advanced AI algorithms that enable combat systems to efficiently handle fast-evolving drone threats.
    • DSTA and Thales signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in 2022 to deepen and broaden collaboration from development of smart technologies to better supportability of systems. This Co-Lab is another outcome of this MoU that will deepen our collaboration.
    Representatives from DSTA and Thales – ©Thales

    At the 2025 Singapore Defence Technology Summit (Tech Summit), a joint team from DSTA and Thales showcased its recent collaboration on counter-drone technologies, with tangible outcomes that can potentially be integrated into systems currently in-use with the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF).

    Over the last five months, engineers from both organisations co-developed Machine-Learning (ML)-enabled software modules that reduce the rate of false alarms in drone detection. By enhancing a radar’s sensor performance with the help of AI, the algorithms offer operators and end-users heightened situational awareness that enable faster and more accurate drone detection and classification.

    Through this demonstration of a new Concept of Operations (CONOPs) in enhanced radar performance in drones, the team leveraged physics-, knowledge- and data-based AI, bringing together DSTA’s deep domain knowledge of the drone ecosystem and the technical and AI skills of Thales researchers and engineers. The announcement of the Co-Lab represents the next step in the strategic cooperation between DSTA and Thales, underscoring both parties’ ambitions to support the SAF in dealing with emerging and asymmetric threats.

    “The DSTA-Thales Joint Lab marks a strategic step in advancing next-generation defence technologies. By harnessing AI and advanced sensing technologies, we are adopting a more agile approach to capability development, enabling us to tackle evolving threats. This collaboration reinforces DSTA’s commitment to working with global partners to co-develop advanced capabilities, ensuring our defence systems remain robust, adaptive, and future-ready,” said Mr Roy Chan, Deputy Chief Executive (Operations), DSTA.

    “Thales’ AI for critical systems must meet the stringent reliability, safety and security requirements for armed forces worldwide. It is a true recognition when our customers trust us to co-develop solutions alongside them that address the pain points and challenges of the end-user. We have achieved the outcomes of the MoU in a relatively short span of time, with our teams harnessing AI to create solutions with real-world implications. This Co-Lab with DSTA speaks to the years of collaboration between us and our joint commitment to provide the best technologies for the SAF and the Singapore Ministry of Defence.” said Pascale Sourisse, President and CEO, Thales International.

    Thales holds deep expertise and technological mastery in radars, with air traffic management radars used by the majority of civil aviation authorities in the region, as well as operating a Radar Centre of Excellence in Singapore. As a key partner to the SAF for over 50 years, Thales also operates a Defence Hub for services in Singapore, with skilled local expertise on-hand to support DSTA and Mindef for support and maintenance of systems currently in use with the armed forces.

    About Thales

    Thales (Euronext Paris: HO) is a global leader in advanced technologies for the Defence, Aerospace, and Cyber & Digital sectors. Its portfolio of innovative products and services addresses several major challenges: sovereignty, security, sustainability and inclusion.

    The Group invests more than €4 billion per year in Research & Development in key areas, particularly for critical environments, such as Artificial Intelligence, cybersecurity, quantum and cloud technologies. Thales has more than 83,000 employees in 68 countries. In 2024, the Group generated sales of €20.6 billion.

    PRESS contact

    Thales, Corporate Communications Asia

    Jamie CHOW

    jamie.chow@thalesgroup.com

    MIL OSI Economics –

    April 2, 2025

  • MIL-OSI Asia-Pac: Where the Land Meets the Sea

    Source: Government of India

    Where the Land Meets the Sea

    Mangroves as Guardians of Life and Livelihoods

    Posted On: 01 APR 2025 2:36PM by PIB Delhi

    As the morning tide gently laps against the shores of Navghar, Vandana Patil steps onto the damp earth of her village’s coastline. She recalls a time when the sea was generous, offering abundant crab and fish catch. But over the years, that generosity faded. “Earlier, we used to see unpredictable crab and fish catch and had to rely on other sources of livelihoods,” she says, her voice carrying the weight of years spent worrying about an uncertain future.

    The culprit was clear: the unchecked destruction of mangroves. The towering green guardians of the coastline had been silently disappearing, their roots no longer anchoring the land, their dense canopies no longer sheltering marine life. With every tree lost, so too was a piece of the community’s livelihood. Yet, many in Navghar remained unaware of the deep connection between the mangroves and their survival.

    Change arrived in the form of a far-reaching initiative. The Government of India, in collaboration with the Green Climate Fund and UNDP, launched a project to enhance climate resilience in India’s coastal communities. This initiative, operational across three coastal states-Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, and Odisha focused on conserving and restoring marine ecosystems, including mangroves, while creating climate-resilient livelihoods.

    Navghar became a symbol of this transformation. In 2021, the project formed a Mangrove Co-Management Committee, bringing together village members, the Gram Panchayat, and women’s Self-Help Groups (SHGs). Their mission was twofold: protect the mangroves and revive local livelihoods. Women, often the most affected by economic instability, were placed at the forefront.

    Through structured training, they learned sustainable crab farming techniques, creating new livelihood groups like Healthy Harvest and Wild Crab Aqua Farm. These groups now farm mud crabs over two acres of coastal land while ensuring the protection of mangroves from illegal cutting. The impact was immediate.

    “Through our campaigns and drives, we have raised awareness about mangroves and their link to healthy fish catch and livelihoods,” explains Rohan Patil, president of the committee. “People no longer see them as just trees—they see them as protectors.”

    By 2023, the once-barren coastline had transformed. The mangroves stood tall, shielding the land from erosion and storms, while the waters teemed with life again. The benefits extended beyond the environment. “The project helped us a lot,” Vandana shares. “Earlier, women worked only seasonally. Now, we have employment throughout the year. Besides, earlier we had to travel far and wide for crab farming; now, we can do it locally.”

    What is Mangrove?

    A mangrove is a salt-tolerant plant community found in tropical and subtropical intertidal regions. These ecosystems thrive in high-rainfall areas (1,000–3,000 mm) with temperatures ranging from 26°C to 35°C. Mangrove species are adapted to survive in waterlogged soils, high salinity, and frequent tidal surges. They serve as crucial biodiversity refuges and act as bio-shields against extreme climatic events. Additionally, rural populations depend on mangroves for biomass-based livelihoods.

    India’s Progress in Mangrove Conservation

    India has made significant strides in mangrove conservation through a combination of robust regulatory frameworks and targeted promotional initiatives. As per the India State of Forest Report 2023 (ISFR-2023), India’s total mangrove cover stands at 4,991.68 sq. km, constituting 0.15% of the nation’s geographical area. There has been net increase of 363.68 Sq.km (7.86%) in Mangrove cover area of the country in 2023 as compared to 2013 and net increase of 509.68 Sq.km (11.4%) between 2001 and 2023.

    West Bengal holds the largest share of the country’s mangrove forests, accounting for 42.45% of the total cover, followed by Gujarat (23.32%) and the Andaman & Nicobar Islands (12.19%). Notably, Gujarat has recorded an impressive increase of 253.06 sq. km in mangrove cover between 2001 and 2023, attributed to large-scale plantations, community participation, and public-private partnerships.

    Key Regulatory Measures

    India has implemented a series of stringent legal frameworks to ensure mangrove protection:

    • Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) Notification, 2019 under the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986, categorises mangroves as Ecologically Sensitive Areas (ESAs), restricting activities within a 50-metre buffer zone where mangrove cover exceeds 1,000 sq. m.
    • Mandates compensatory replantation at a 3:1 ratio if mangroves are affected by development.
    • Additional protection under the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, Indian Forest Act, 1927, and Biological Diversity Act, 2002, among others.

    Key Promotional Initiatives and Achievements

    1. Mangrove Initiative for Shoreline Habitats & Tangible Incomes (MISHTI):
      • Launched on 5 June 2023 to promote restoration and afforestation across 540 sq. km in 9 coastal States and 4 Union Territories.
      • Implementation through convergence funding with the National Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority (CAMPA).
      • For FY 2024–25, ₹17.96 crore has been allocated to Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Kerala, Odisha, West Bengal, and Puducherry for the treatment and restoration of 3,836 hectares of degraded mangroves.
    2. National Coastal Mission – Conservation of Mangroves and Coral Reefs:
      • Financial assistance for the conservation of 38 mangrove sites and 4 coral reef sites across the country.
      • Operates on a 60:40 cost-sharing model between the Centre and States.
      • ₹8.58 crore released to seven coastal States during 2021–23 for mangrove conservation.
    3. GCF-ECRICC Project (Green Climate Fund – Enhancing Coastal Resilience of Indian Coastal Community):
      • Active since 2019 in Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, and Odisha.
      • Aims to restore and conserve 10,575 hectares of mangroves.
      • As of 2024, 3,114.29 hectares have been successfully restored.

     

    Why Mangroves Matter

    Mangroves: Nature’s Carbon Vault

     

    As per World Wildlife Fund mangroves store 7.5–10 times more carbon per acre than tropical forests. Their loss contributes to 10% of global greenhouse gas emissions from deforestation. These coastal forests hold over 21 gigatons of carbon, 87% of which is locked in the soil beneath their roots. Restoring just 1.6 million acres of lost mangrove forests could capture an additional 1 gigaton of carbon.

    A Tidal Shift Towards Sustainability

    Navghar’s transformation reflects a broader movement sweeping across India’s coastline where communities are not just adapting to change but actively shaping it. The revival of mangroves, once overlooked and degraded, now stands as a testament to collective action and inclusive development.

    Through the integration of science, policy, and grassroots participation, India is forging a path where ecological restoration directly uplifts local economies. Women like Vandana Patil are no longer passive witnesses to environmental loss but active custodians of their natural heritage, securing livelihoods while nurturing resilience.

    This shift marks more than environmental progress. It signals a future where nature-based solutions become central to climate action and communities, once vulnerable, emerge as champions of sustainable change.

    References

    Click here to see PDF

    Santosh Kumar/ Sarla Meena/ Anchal Patiyal

    (Release ID: 2117223) Visitor Counter : 272

    MIL OSI Asia Pacific News –

    April 2, 2025

  • MIL-OSI: Karolinska Development’s portfolio company Umecrine Cognition appoints new CEO

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN – April 1, 2025. Karolinska Development AB (Nasdaq Stockholm: KDEV) annouces that Viktor Drvota today takes over as CEO of the portfolio company Umecrine Cognition. Viktor Drvota remains the CEO of Karolinska Development.

    Umecrine Cognition is developing a new class of drugs to alleviate cognitive symptoms caused by liver disease. The company’s most advanced drug candidate, golexanolone, is currently being evaluated in a clinical phase 1b/2a study in patients with primary biliary cholangitis (PBC) who experience clinically significant fatigue and cognitive symptoms. Based on compelling preclinical data, the company also intends to develop golexanolone as a potential treatment for Parkinson’s disease.

    Viktor Drvota succeeds Anders Karlsson, who has served as CEO of Umecrine Cognition since August 2022. Viktor Drvota remains the CEO of Karolinska Development and will allocate his time equally on a 50/50 basis.

    ”Both Umecrine Cognition and Karolinska Development are highly effective organizations with experienced and specialized teams. This will be a cost-efficient approach to advancing the companies, and I look forward to dedicating focused attention to one of our largest holdings. I would also like to express my gratitude to Anders Karlsson for his contributions over the past years, particularly his pivotal role in establishing Umecrine Cognition’s international visibility”, says Viktor Drvota, CEO of Karolinska Development and Umecrine Cognition.

    Karolinska Development’s ownership in Umecrine Cognition amounts to 73%.

    For further information, please contact: 

    Viktor Drvota, CEO, Karolinska Development AB
    Phone: +46 73 982 52 02, e-mail: viktor.drvota@karolinskadevelopment.com 

    Johan Dighed, General Counsel and Deputy CEO, Karolinska Development AB
    Phone: +46 70 207 48 26, e-mail: johan.dighed@karolinskadevelopment.com 

    TO THE EDITORS

    About Karolinska Development AB
    Karolinska Development AB (Nasdaq Stockholm: KDEV) is a Nordic life sciences investment company. The company focuses on identifying breakthrough medical innovations in the Nordic region that are developed by entrepreneurs and leadership teams. The company invests in the creation and growth of companies that advance these assets into commercial products that are designed to make a difference to patient’s lives while providing an attractive return on investment to shareholders.

    Karolinska Development has access to world-class medical innovations at the Karolinska Institutet and other leading universities and research institutes in the Nordic region. The company aims to build companies around scientists who are leaders in their fields, supported by experienced management teams and advisers, and co-funded by specialist international investors, to provide the greatest chance of success.

    Karolinska Development has a portfolio of eleven companies targeting opportunities in innovative treatment for life-threatening or serious debilitating diseases.

    The company is led by an entrepreneurial team of investment professionals with a proven track record as company builders and with access to a strong global network.

    For more information, please visit www.karolinskadevelopment.com.

    Attachment

    • KD Umecrine Cognition new CEO_eng

    The MIL Network –

    April 2, 2025

  • MIL-OSI: BEN, Swiss Life Launch AI Partnership for Global Insurance Solutions

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    WILMINGTON, Del., April 01, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Brand Engagement Network Inc. (BEN) (Nasdaq: BNAI), an innovator in AI-driven customer engagement solutions, has announced a strategic partnership with Swiss Life Global Solutions. This collaboration will integrate BEN’s innovative AI technology to help Swiss Life’s clients and network partners implement generative AI-based solutions that enhance customer value via digital health, mental health and financial wellbeing services.

    Swiss Life has taken thoughtful steps toward responsible AI adoption, grounded in its core values of trust, transparency, and long-term impact. In collaboration with BEN, the company published the white paper “Time to Chat About the Bot: Is the Insurance Sector Ready for the AI Transformation?“ on June 13, 2024, outlining how AI can enhance customer engagement, improve compliance, and combat fraud. This new partnership builds on that shared vision, delivering secure and scalable AI solutions designed to support insurance operations.

    Operating in over 85 countries, Swiss Life Global Solutions offers cross-border life insurance and employee benefits, backed by more than 250 billion Swiss francs (approximately $280 billion) in assets. Planned applications for the partnership include streamlining sales and enrollment, reducing call center volume, and enhancing member services with self-service tools for coverage details, policy updates, claims, and more.

    “Generative AI has the power to transform the insurance industry by streamlining operations and enhancing the customer experience,” said Michael Hansen, CEO of Swiss Life Network. “We’re excited to partner with BEN to help our clients modernize key processes like sales, enrollment, and member services—delivering efficient, cost-effective solutions that strengthen workforce value and improve the overall employee experience.”

    “We’re excited to work with Swiss Life to bring the power of generative AI to their global clients,” said Paul Chang, CEO of Brand Engagement Network. “BEN’s technology is built to offer tailored, transparent solutions with a strong focus on data security and privacy. In an industry where trust is essential, we provide tools that enhance customer engagement and operational performance while protecting sensitive information.”

    About Swiss Life Global Solutions
    Swiss Life Global Solutions, the cross-border competence center of the Swiss Life Group, provides multinational companies with compliant global insurance solutions in 85 countries. Through the Swiss Life Network, a partnership of over 80 local insurers, it offers flexible, tailored employee benefits, including life, risk, health, and pension coverage. Serving more than 450 companies and over a million insured employees, Swiss Life Global Solutions enables clients and their employees to live self-determined lives with confidence.
    For more information, visit www.swisslife-global.com.

    About Brand Engagement Network (BEN)
    Brand Engagement Network Inc. (NASDAQ: BNAI) innovates in AI-powered customer engagement by delivering safe, intelligent, and scalable solutions. Its proprietary Engagement Language Model (ELM™) and Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) architecture enable highly personalized interactions supported by customers’ curated data in closed-loop environments. BEN develops AI-driven engagement solutions for the life sciences, automotive, and retail industries, featuring AI-powered avatars for outbound campaigns, inbound customer service, and real-time recommendations. With a global AI research and development team, BEN provides secure cloud-based and on-premises deployments, granting complete control of the technology stack and ensuring compliance with GDPR, CCPA, HIPAA, and SOC 2 Type 1 standards. The company holds 21 patents, with 28 pending, demonstrating its commitment to advancing AI-driven consumer engagement.
    For more information, visit www.beninc.ai.

    Forward-Looking Statements
    Certain statements in this communication are “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of federal securities laws. They are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements reflect, among other things, BEN’s current expectations, assumptions, plans, strategies, and anticipated results. Because forward-looking statements relate to the future, they are subject to inherent uncertainties, risks, and changes in circumstances that may differ materially from those contemplated by the forward-looking statements, which are neither statements of historical fact nor guarantees or assurances of future performance.

    There are a number of risks, uncertainties and conditions that may cause BEN’s actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements, including but not limited to the risk factors described in Part I, Item 1A of Risk Factors in BEN’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2023 and the other risk factors identified from time to time in the BEN’s other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”). Filings with the SEC are available on the SEC’s website at http://www.sec.gov.

    Many of these circumstances are beyond BEN’s ability to control or predict. These forward-looking statements necessarily involve assumptions on BEN’s part. These forward-looking statements may include words such as “believe,” “expect,” “anticipate,” “estimate,” “intend,” “plan,” “project,” “should,” “may,” “will,” “might,” “could,” “would,” or similar expressions. All forward-looking statements attributable to the Company or persons acting on BEN’s behalf are expressly qualified in their entirety by the cautionary statements that appear throughout this communication. Furthermore, undue reliance should not be placed on forward-looking statements, which are based on the information currently available to the Company and speak only as of the date they are made. BEN disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise publicly any forward-looking statements.

    Media Contact 
    Amy Rouyer
    P: 503-367-7596
    E: amy@beninc.ai

    Investor Relations
    Susan Xu
    P: 778-323-0959
    E: sxu@allianceadvisors.com

    The MIL Network –

    April 1, 2025

  • MIL-OSI Russia: Sergei Sobyanin: The Moscow Innovator Competition Sets a Record for Registration Rates

    Translartion. Region: Russians Fedetion –

    Source: Moscow Government – Government of Moscow –

    Seven weeks to the competition “Moscow Innovator” More than two thousand people applied. This is twice as many as last year, Sergei Sobyanin said in his telegram channel.

    “Scientists, technology entrepreneurs, inventors and innovators aged 14 and over can take part and offer their innovative ideas, either individually or in a team of up to five people,” the Moscow Mayor wrote.

    Source: Sergei Sobyanin’s Telegram channel @Mos_Sobyanin 

    The competition has three nominations: “Project of the Future”, “Reality Changers”, “Innovation Leaders”. To reach the final, participants must prove the science-intensive, innovative and economic potential of their developments.

    This year’s applications include many promising projects. One of them is a biopolymer implantable membrane for endoprostheses. Its structure resembles living tissue, which reduces the risk of complications and significantly speeds up recovery after operations. Another capital development is a mobile device for quickly assessing the chemical composition of soil and water. It also controls the supply of moisture and fertilizers, ensuring effective management of agricultural processes.

    36 winners and finalists will receive prizes from 100 thousand to 1.5 million rubles depending on the nomination. In addition, they will be helped in commercializing their developments and creating their own technology business.

    Applications can be submitted until May 5th. on the website Moscow Innovation Cluster.

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

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    HTTPS: //vv.mos.ru/mayor/tkhemes/12564050/

    MIL OSI Russia News –

    April 1, 2025

  • MIL-OSI Russia: MIL Report – Five best articles in Russian for 31.03.2025

    MIL Analysis: Here are the top five Russian language articles published today. The analysis includes five key articles prioritized at the moment.

    In today’s analysis, credit and loans are trending toward new restrictions and changes. Consumer demand in loans and credit is growing.

    The State University of Management provides foreign students with the opportunity to get acquainted with the culture of Russia. In addition, scientists at NSU are working topically with the computerization of the tomograph.

    Rosneft continues to actively support various organizations for the benefit of animals and people across Russia.

    You can read one of the articles below.

    1. Financial news: From April 1, the restriction of the TCOP on consumer loans and credits is renewed (28.03.2025).

    The full credit cost (FCP) under consumer credit (loan) agreements concluded or amended from April 1, 2025, shall not exceed the average market value for the relevant category of credit (loan) by more than one third. Limitation of the CCP will help to control the growth of loan rates, which will ensure the protection of people’s interests.

    2. Financial news: MFIs’ loan portfolio grew by more than 40% in 2024.

    The loan portfolio of microfinance organizations reached RUB 624 billion last year, a growth stimulated by increased consumer demand.

    More than half of the loans were medium-term, the value of the full cost of the loan is close to bank rates. Such loans were issued, among other things, to purchase goods on marketplaces. The share of the most expensive short-term loans “up to salary” decreased from 34% to 25% over the year.

    3. Cultural adaptation of foreigners: GUU students visited the Museum of Time and Clock.

    Students of the State University of Management, who came to study in Russia from Vietnam, India, China, Nepal and Ethiopia, visited the Museum of Time and Clock.

    4. NSU scientists for the first time in the Urals studied ancient bone knives on a computer tomograph.

    In the Laboratory of Nuclear and Innovative Medicine of the Faculty of Physics of NSU the research of archeological finds from the museum collections of the Institute of Archeology and Ethnography of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences is carried out using a computer tomograph. Until recently, this device was used by research workers of the laboratory in preclinical studies of non-trophic therapy to examine animals and solve similar problems. However, the technical capabilities of the CT scanner allow to examine not only biological but also non-biological objects. Computed tomography of composite bone and horn composite implements of the late Pleistocene-early Holocene is currently underway.

    5. With Rosneft’s support, an accreditation center was modernized at Medakadamiya Yugra.

    “Samotlorneftegaz”, one of the largest production assets of Rosneft, provided financial support for modernization of one of the key units of Khanty-Mansiysk State Medical Academy – Simulation and Accreditation Center. The project was implemented under an agreement between Rosneft and the Government of Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug-Yugra.

    Learn more about MIL’s content and data services by visiting milnz.co.nz.

    Regards MIL!

    MIL OSI Russia News –

    April 1, 2025

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Aberdeen academic elected Fellow of The Academy of Social Sciences A University of Aberdeen academic is one of 64 outstanding social scientists being welcomed to The Academy of Social Sciences Fellowship this spring.

    Source: University of Aberdeen

    Professor Muhammad Azizul IslamA University of Aberdeen academic is one of 64 outstanding social scientists being welcomed to The Academy of Social Sciences Fellowship this spring.

    Being a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences holds significant meaning for a researcher like me who is deeply committed to addressing social issues such as modern slavery, exploitation and inequality through my research and teaching.” Professor Muhammad Azizul Islam

    Professor Muhammad Azizul Islam, Chair in Accountancy and Professor in Sustainability Accounting and Transparency and Director of Research for Accounting at the University of Aberdeen Business School, was named as one of the new Fellows in an announcement from The Academy of Social Sciences today (April 1). Widely recognized internationally, Professor Islam investigates sustainability accounting and transparency issues, including corporate human rights measures, modern slavery disclosures, climate change accounting, social audits, and corporate anti-bribery measures.  

    Spanning a range of research and practice areas including modern slavery, health inequalities, the gender wage gap, European cybersecurity governance, AI and big data analytics, and the anthropology of Britain, the Academy’s newly elected Fellows highlight the importance, breadth and relevance of the social sciences to understanding and tackling the varied challenges facing society today. As well as excellence in research and applied professional use of social science, the new Fellows, who are drawn from a variety of backgrounds, disciplines and professions, are individual who have also made significant contributions beyond the academy, including to industry, policy and higher education.  

    Professor Islam said: “It is truly an honour to be elected to the Fellowship. 

    “Being a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences holds significant meaning for a researcher like me who is deeply committed to addressing social issues such as modern slavery, exploitation and inequality through my research and teaching. Being a Fellow provides me with a platform to further collaborate with other leading social scientists, share my research findings, influence policymakers, and advocate for systemic changes that prioritise human rights and the social responsibility of businesses.” 

    Will Hutton FAcSS, President of the Academy, said, “I’m delighted to welcome these 64 outstanding social scientists to the Academy’s Fellowship, whose research and practice are helping to develop solutions to pressing societal issues. From informing decision-making around environmental challenges and encouraging entrepreneurial growth to improving planning systems and tackling educational inequalities, their insights, skills and understanding are delivering positive impact to improve our daily lives.”  

    The Academy’s Fellowship comprises 1,600 leading social scientists from academia, the public, private and third sectors. Its Fellows’ expertise covers the breadth of the social sciences, and their practice and research addresses some of the major challenges facing communities, society, places and economies. All Academy Fellows are elected for their excellence in their fields and their substantial contributions to social science for public benefit. Selection is through an independent peer review which recognises their excellence and impact.  

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

    April 1, 2025

  • MIL-OSI Russia: How Moscow schoolchildren and teachers support SVO participants

    Translartion. Region: Russians Fedetion –

    Source: Moscow Government – Government of Moscow –

    Moscow schoolchildren and teachers regularly support participants in the special military operation (SVO). In addition to collecting humanitarian aid, they visit soldiers in hospitals, hold concerts and give gifts. This was reported by the press service Department of Education and Science of the City of Moscow.

    “Schoolchildren, parents, and teachers participate in the humanitarian aid collection campaigns. Food packages, medicines, warm clothes, and personal hygiene products are given to soldiers and residents of new regions. In addition, children write letters to Russian servicemen. They thank the soldiers for their exploits, wish them success and a speedy return home. In addition, the children meet with the heroes of the SVO and visit them in hospitals,” the department’s press service said.

    Thus, volunteers from School No. 1360 visit the Central Military Clinical Hospital named after P.V. Mandryka every week. Teachers bring there fruits, letters from children and souvenirs. The soldiers warmly accept these gifts and make return ones. For example, the school museum now houses a wooden tower assembled by a serviceman from matches and posters with parting words for students.

    “Visiting the soldiers in the hospital is a very important and touching event. Their courage inspires us. We always pass on words of gratitude from the defenders to the schoolchildren. Children should know about their feat!” said Tatyana Kuvshinova, director of school No. 1360.

    Volunteer detachment of school #1164, created at the beginning of the SVO, works in one of the capital’s hospitals. Deputy Director for Educational Work Natalia Moskalenko has completed training and now serves as a nurse. High school students have also actively joined the work. For example, 11th grade student Vasilisa Kostenko helps medical personnel in hospitals: she applies bandages and accompanies soldiers to procedures. The servicemen note that such support gives them strength.

    Principal of School No. 1164 Mikhail Klochikhin noted that it is important to instill in children a sense of responsibility, respect for other people and an understanding that help is not a gesture of goodwill, but an important part of life. He is sure that such projects are the best lesson in citizenship. The children see how they can really support others with their efforts. And it is important for the fighters that they do not go unnoticed.

    School No. 117 cooperates with a military hospital in Donbass. Parents, students and teachers collect medical supplies: antiseptics, bandages, catheters and medicines. Such assistance is especially in demand before the holidays. Thus, on the eve of the New Year, the soldiers were given 100 pieces of medical pants and posters with congratulations.

    Svetlana Sologdinova, Advisor to the Director for Education at School No. 117, noted that such events are a way to thank those who defend our country. According to her, the school regularly helps hospitals and supports the fighters not only with medicines, but also morally. “This is an important mission, because their lives and health depend on it. Everyone who participates makes our world a kinder place,” Svetlana Sologdinova added.

    In addition, the V.S. Loktev Song and Dance Ensemble, which operates at the Moscow Palace of Pioneers on Vorobyovy Gory, performs in the capital’s hospitals. The group regularly holds concerts at the prosthetics and comprehensive rehabilitation center of the Moscow medical clinical center “Voronovskoye”. At the end of February, multiple world and European champion in sambo and sumo Igor Kurinnoy took part in one of them. Such meetings help to lift the spirits of patients.

    Patriotic events for young people correspond to the objectives of the projects “We are together” and “Russia is a country of opportunities” of the national project “Youth and Children”.

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

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    https: //vv.mos.ru/nevs/ite/152021073/

    MIL OSI Russia News –

    April 1, 2025

  • MIL-OSI Russia: How to make decisions in conditions of uncertainty in the transport sector: a report by a research fellow of the State University of Management at a national conference

    Translartion. Region: Russians Fedetion –

    Source: State University of Management – Official website of the State –

    A representative of the State University of Management made a presentation at the Plenary Session of the XXXVIII National (with international participation) scientific and technical conference “Operation and maintenance of automobiles, tractors and engines”.

    The conference took place in the city of Pushkin and was dedicated to the 95th anniversary of the founding of the Department of Automobiles, Tractors and Technical Service of the St. Petersburg State Agrarian University.

    The plenary session was attended by over 100 people – academicians and corresponding members of the Russian Academy of Sciences, including academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences, director of the Center for Management of Technologies in Bioengineering of the State University of Management Otari Didmanidze, as well as famous scientists, teachers, employees of research and educational organizations and institutions, manufacturers and dealers of agricultural machinery and equipment for the agro-industrial complex and mechanical engineering of the Russian Federation, representatives of government bodies and businesses.

    In his scientific report on “Methods of decision-making under uncertainty for applied problems of vehicle operation”, Chief Researcher of the Scientific Research Coordination Department of the State University of Management Alexey Terentyev presented to the scientific community original analytical models for removing uncertainty in complex organizational, economic, technical and social systems. The decision-making methods developed on the basis of these models allow expanding the capabilities of existing correlation and regression methods in terms of their application to conditions when the processes under study do not obey the known stochastic laws of distribution of random variables.

    The topic of the report was recognized by the participants of the Plenary Session as relevant, and the developments were widely in demand in practice, since conditions of uncertainty currently accompany any information situations related to the functioning of research objects that are significantly influenced by environmental factors (ranging from AI models for technical objects in various external environments to management models for complex organizational systems at the level of an economic sector or state).

    Other reports presented at the plenary session discussed the results of research in the field of agricultural machinery, aimed at improving the technical, economic, environmental, operational performance, technical service and repair of cars, tractors and engines.

    Subscribe to the TG channel “Our GUU” Date of publication: 04/01/2025

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    MIL OSI Russia News –

    April 1, 2025

  • MIL-OSI Russia: Develop, but not restrain: HSE experts believe that digital platforms need a framework law

    Translartion. Region: Russians Fedetion –

    Source: State University Higher School of Economics – State University Higher School of Economics –

    Over the past decade, the world has seen an explosive development of the platform economy, the scale of which can be compared to the industrial revolution. However, not a single country has yet been able to develop a harmonious practice for regulating this phenomenon. As a result of the study, HSE experts concluded that a unified legislative framework is needed that will ensure both the protection of consumer and state rights and the development of platforms.

    HSE Academic Director Yaroslav Kuzminov, Vice-Rector, Professor of the Faculty of Law Alexey Koshel and Lecturer Department of Policy and Management Faculty of Social Sciences Ekaterina Kruchinskaya proposed a conceptualization of types of regulation of digital platforms based on a qualitative analysis of domestic and foreign experience. Scientific article “Regulation of digital platforms as Bona fides: from economic efficiency to the norm” published in the journal “Issues of State and Municipal Management”.

    Currently, economic institutions of all countries are undergoing a major transformation, and at its center are digital platforms, the authors of the article note. Online trade has near-zero transaction costs compared to traditional trade due to instant access to product information and the ability to quickly make a purchase.

    E-commerce has been growing exponentially since 2010. In 2013, the global B2C e-commerce market reached $1.2 trillion, and the B2B market reached $13 trillion. In 2017, the total value of platform companies with a market capitalization of over $100 million exceeded $7 trillion, which is about 20% of global GDP. And this trend will continue, according to expert estimates, until 2029.

    Three countries have a well-developed market of national digital platforms: the United States, China, and Russia. The total contribution to the economy of four ecosystem companies in the United States that operate on digital platforms is about 20% of the share capital of publicly traded companies. The added value of the main sectors of the digital economy is at least 8% of China’s GDP. In Russia, according to expert estimates, the total contribution of digitalization to GDP growth from 2024 to 2030 may amount to 2.7 p.p. to 6.7 p.p. The largest players in the platform market are also the European Union, the Republic of Korea, and India. These countries do not have their own global digital platforms; international ones operate successfully on their territory.

    At the same time, in each country, the development of digital platforms occurs along its own trajectory, not only due to their adaptation to economic conditions, but also largely due to the legislation in force in this area.

    “The need to set regulatory frameworks for the activities of digital platforms is due to the fact that the main component of the effective functioning of the market, along with low transaction costs, is the definition of the boundaries of property rights. If such boundaries are not defined, there is a fairly high risk of platform opportunism, as well as lost benefits for the state in the form of lost tax revenues – a classic case of lost benefits according to Pigou. This leads to Pareto non-optimality: the gain of platforms does not always compensate for the losses of other market participants, which is a failure for the state in the medium and long term,” the article notes.

    The authors are convinced that clear and transparent rules established by law are necessary for the market to function effectively. At the same time, the degree of government intervention should not be excessive, so as not to harm the development of the industry. Regulation of digital platforms should create conditions under which all market participants — platforms, users and other stakeholders — would be interested in cooperation, and not just in satisfying their own interests. To date, this condition has not been achieved.

    Around the world, the legal regulation of digital platforms is still the subject of debate that has been going on for more than a decade.

    “Unlike the traditional economic model, the digital environment with its virtual, multi-level and opaque nature creates information asymmetry, complicating the protection of consumer rights. In this regard, the level of protection of personal data and consumer rights becomes a factor in the sustainability of both the digital and traditional economies, and in some cases, a factor in national security,” the article says.

    Scientists have identified two opposing paths in the development of digital economy regulation. The first is strict regulation of personal data protection and antitrust regulation with moderate regulation of platform employment. The second is strict regulation of quality control and personal data protection with moderate self-regulation of digital platforms. Both do not sufficiently take into account the interconnectedness of different spheres.

    In general, the legislation on digital platforms is poorly balanced. There is still no example of a single framework law in this area that would define the rules of the game for digital platforms in a number of key supporting provisions. The legislator most often reacts to an industry precedent by making targeted changes to individual regulations. Such regulatory practices, based on norms that are not coordinated within the jurisdiction, increase the risk of conflicts and lead to instability in the development of the platform economy and its inefficiency.

    According to the authors, given the scale of development of the platform economy and its widespread penetration into various industries, the need to adopt a framework law is obvious. Industry regulation is necessary as a secondary mechanism complementing the basic law.

    It is important that regulatory measures are proportionate and do not create unjustified barriers to market entry or the development of existing platforms.

    “To achieve regulatory balance, a shift from reactive to proactive legislation is needed, based on the principles of fundamental integrity, but with a demonstration of flexibility and adaptability,” the authors of the article conclude.

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    MIL OSI Russia News –

    April 1, 2025

  • MIL-OSI Russia: We are together! Polytechnic conducted excursions for SVO fighters

    Translartion. Region: Russians Fedetion –

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

    The Polytechnic hospitably welcomed the SVO participants who are undergoing treatment at the 442nd District Military Clinical Hospital. The fighters were given fascinating excursions with an immersion into the history of the university and the contribution of the Polytechnics to the development and prosperity of our country.

    I am grateful to fate that I ended up in St. Petersburg, and also in the leading engineering university of the country. Unexpectedly for myself, I discovered many historical facts that I did not even know about. For example, about the previously classified scientist, three times Hero of Socialist Labor of the USSR, Soviet designer of armored vehicles, nuclear weapons and the hydrogen bomb Nikolai Dukhov. I have never been so impressed by what I heard. And the dedication and involvement of the director of the Museum Valery Klimov showed how you need to know history, how you can love your alma mater, – said special military operation fighter Artem.

    The guests of the university visited the Polytechnic Museum, the White Hall, the Academic Council meeting room, walked through the portrait gallery on the first floor of the Main Building, and learned about its history. They learned about the outstanding contribution of polytechnicians to the development of science, technology, and industry in Russia.

    Thanks to such events, we pass on historical memory, preserve the country’s heritage. This is not only a tribute to the past, but also an important step in developing the culture of volunteerism and charity that have accompanied Polytechnic for more than a century, – said Tatyana Nam, Director of the SPbPU Dobro.Center.

    The tour allowed the soldiers to escape from their hospital routine, feel part of the academic community and recharge with positive emotions. For many, visiting the Polytechnic University was an opportunity to meet their brothers in arms, representing different regions of the country and combat units. At the end of the tour, the honored guests were presented with memorable gifts.

    I was surprised by the great designer, inventor of the legendary T-34 tank Mikhail Koshkin, who was a successful, hereditary confectioner, director of a factory. He decided at 30 to enter the Polytechnic, and after completing his studies, he realized that his calling was to work at the Kirov Plant. What a destiny! Such people motivate you to perform feats, – said SVO participant Alexander Nikolaevich.

    On March 28, the Family Living Room, a very touching and sincere meeting with the wives and mothers of SVO participants, was held at the Center for Social Assistance to Families and Children of the Kalininsky District. It was exciting to listen to their stories, to see the pride and sadness in their eyes at the same time. These families know the price of courage, because their loved ones go through difficult trials defending our country. Such meetings remind us that heroes are not only people fighting on the front lines, but also their families, who will always wait for their loved ones and believe in their victory.

    Irina and Elena have both a husband and a son at the front. Angela’s husband volunteered, having a reservation, and she stayed home with five children, and still manages to help other children by teaching English at a camp. Two participants of the evening turned out to be modest winners of the family, love and fidelity contest “Bereginya” among the wives of SVO participants. One participant was awarded the public medal “Mother of the Defender of the Fatherland”.

    #Mvvet provided volunteer support, presented small signs of attention to women and children, played with children, drank tea with treats, took part in pleasant master classes, talked with the fighters of the Espanyola unit.

    These and other events in

    The Center for Volunteer Projects “Harmony” expresses gratitude to the Polytechnic Museum, Vice-Rector for Youth Policy and Communication Technologies Maxim Pasholikov, Director of the Humanitarian Institute Natalia Chicherina for their support and development of volunteerism in the university environment.

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    MIL OSI Russia News –

    April 1, 2025

  • MIL-OSI Russia: The Institute of Civil Engineering of SPbPU expands cooperation with China

    Translartion. Region: Russians Fedetion –

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

    At the end of March, at the invitation of the Chinese side, a delegation from the Civil Engineering Institute visited four universities in China. The Russian delegation included the director of the institute Marina Petrochenko, deputy director for international activities Mikhail Romanov and director of the Center for additional professional programs Ksenia Strelets.

    The Polytechnics visited Chang’an University in Xi’an. There, a ceremonial signing of a cooperation agreement between SPbPU and Chang’an University took place. From the Chinese side, the meeting was attended by Vice President for International Relations of Chang’an University Huang Guawen, Director of the School of Water Resources Management and Environmental Protection Professor Bei Bo, as well as Professors Luo Pingping and Li Junyuan.

    Following the negotiations, agreements were reached on organizing academic mobility programs for students in the areas of “Water Resources Management”, “Environmental Safety” and “Civil Engineering”. Initiatives were also discussed on holding guest lectures by teachers and developing joint programs of additional professional education with the possibility of internships at construction sites in China.

    Vice President Huang Guawen expressed confidence in the successful development of the partnership: Academician Li Peichen and President of Chang’an University Sha Aiming studied in Russia, so we are optimistic about the prospects of our cooperation.

    One of the key events was the open lectures of the teachers of the Civil Engineering Institute Ksenia Strelets and Mikhail Romanov for postgraduate students of Chang’an University. Mikhail Romanov shared his experience in the field of organizing water resources management in Russia and China. Ksenia Strelets’ lecture was devoted to the topic of sustainable development and assessment of the environmental impact of construction.

    Faculty from the Institute of Water Resources and the School of Water Resources and Environmental Management at Chang’an University have jointly developed an online course on Environmental Impact Assessment.

    The SPbPU delegation also visited the partner Xi’an University of Architecture and Technology. Its representatives gave their colleagues from SPbPU a tour of the laboratories, including a visit to the Research Center of the Institute of Civil Engineering. Unique installations and test benches for assessing seismic impacts on the structures of buildings and structures are presented there. In addition, the Russians visited the laboratory for cleaning polluted waters.

    During the negotiations with the Director of International Services Wang Chumei, Deputy Director Zhao Jingzhu and the person responsible for interaction with the CIS countries Wang Xiang, agreements were reached on developing a roadmap for interaction between the two universities. It will include academic mobility of students, joint research work, and summer and winter schools.

    Director of International Services Wang Chumei noted: Our universities have already established partnerships within the framework of the Silk Road Alliance of International Universities of Architecture and Technology. Now it is time to strengthen these ties in the areas of architecture and construction.

    Representatives of SPbPU received an invitation to participate in the conference of the Alliance of International Universities of Architecture and Technology of the Silk Road in May this year. An important part of the event was a visit to the international student office and dormitory located on the university campus.

    The next stop for visiting partner universities was Nanjing. The SPbPU delegation visited Nanjing University of Science and Technology, where they held talks with representatives of international services and professors of the construction and energy departments. From the Chinese side, the meeting was attended by the director of the international office department Chen Ji, deputy director of the international office Chen Dan, director of the institute of construction and technosphere safety Linlin Gu, professor of the institute of construction Bo Yao, professors of the institute of energy and electric power Jun Guan and Zhang Wen.

    Polytechnicians presented key scientific developments and projects in the field of modeling highways, bridges and tunnels, assessing the indoor microclimate of premises, environmental impact and technosphere safety. Director of the Institute of Construction Linling Gu spoke about the educational programs and areas of research activities of the department.

    A visit to the College of Ecology and Water Resources of Hohai University became a significant event for the development of international relations in the field of water resources management and hydropower. The meeting was attended by the Director of the College of Water Resources Hua Weng, the Director of the College of Ecology Yaping Li, teachers and students of the university. Marina Petrochenko gave a presentation about SPbPU and the Civil Engineering Institute.

    At the meeting, agreements were reached on preparing a cooperation agreement between SPbPU and Hohai University, conducting guest and implementing joint research projects in the field of water resources management, ecology and hydropower.

    The staff of all the above-mentioned Chinese universities have received invitations and will actively participate in the II International Conference “Civil, Industrial and Urban Construction – 2025” of the Civil Engineering Institute. It will be held on April 2, 2025.

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

    MIL OSI Russia News –

    April 1, 2025

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Lawrence Tallon begins role as new MHRA CEO

    Source: United Kingdom – Government Statements

    Press release

    Lawrence Tallon begins role as new MHRA CEO

    Lawrence Tallon today (1 April 2025) begins his role as Chief Executive Officer of the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA).

    Lawrence brings a strong focus on patient safety, innovation and partnership working, which have been central to his previous roles including as Deputy Chief Executive of Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust since March 2020.

    Lawrence said: “I am delighted to be joining the MHRA, which plays a vital role in ensuring people across the UK and the NHS have access to safe and effective medicines and medical devices.

    “My priorities are patient safety, improving patient access to new medicines and medical devices through risk-proportionate regulation, innovation and growth, and building partnerships in the UK and internationally.”

    Lawrence has also been Managing Director of the Shelford Group, which represents some of England’s leading NHS teaching hospitals. This experience has given him valuable insight into the challenges and opportunities facing modern healthcare and life science systems.

    Prior to this he served as Director of Strategy, Planning and Performance at University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust and worked within the Department of Health and Social Care alongside ministers and NHS leaders.

    Lawrence succeeds Dr June Raine DBE, who is retiring after leading the MHRA since 2019, having steered the agency through the COVID-19 pandemic and the UK’s exit from the European Union.

    Lawrence was announced as the new MHRA CEO in March 2025 by the Department of Health and Social Care.

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    Published 1 April 2025

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

    April 1, 2025

  • MIL-OSI Economics: Development Asia: 3 Takeaways from Sector Dialogues to Improve School Education in Nepal

    Source: Asia Development Bank

    As a part of the bi-annual consultations and decision-making processes, the executing agency of the School Education Sector Plan—the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology—invites joint financing partners and other stakeholders to review the plan’s progress and implementation. Planning and executing these missions spans several weeks of preparation, pre-meetings, documentation submission, and review. Participants include relevant ministries and entities from various levels of government, academic bodies, development partners, international and nongovernment organizations, and civil society.

    Here are three key takeaways from the sector-wide approach (SWAp) and the Joint Review Meeting 2024:

    1. Dedicate time for other relevant ministries to share their insights and to foster interministerial collaborations.

    Nepal’s transition to federalism has brought about significant changes to the delivery of public services such as health and education, with the local governments assuming the primary responsibility for these functions. This has led to concomitant changes in the reporting and accountability structures, including public finance management with multiple federal ministries involved. Though this shift creates opportunities for more cost-efficient and targeted local implementation, it is complex to manage and organize the capacity building of 753 local governments.

    Other line ministries, though not directly responsible for the education SWAp, could bring constructive feedback and ideas to help identify and address common goals. First-of-a-kind dedicated sessions with the Ministry of Federal Affairs and General Administration and the Ministry of Finance during the joint review meeting were useful in identifying and outlining concrete areas for coordination and collaboration, such as the need to (i) integrate planning, budgeting, and reporting mechanisms for local levels; (ii) strengthen the local governments’ child-friendly programs; (iii) conduct capacity development activities for administrative staff and elected officials at local and provincial levels; and (iv) identify key performance indicators that can be used to monitor local level education performance. The joint review meeting agreed to develop a practical collaboration modality with the Ministry of Finance on public finance management and with Ministry of Federal Affairs and General Administration on local government capacity development.

    2. Include voices from decentralized decision makers.

    Previous joint review meetings highlighted the importance of including perspectives and experiences from different tiers of government. A dedicated space enables local and provincial governments to share their reflections. Also, it allows subnational actors to better understand the mandate and structure of the review meetings and gives them opportunities to directly raise their concerns to federal decision makers.

    Joint Review Meeting 2024 included voices from four provinces and six local governments through dedicated panel discussions. Education officers from local governments shared the dilemma of balancing the priorities of the elected leadership and complying with federal conditional grants, and emphasized the need for greater flexibility in the use of such grants. Provincial government representatives discussed a wide area of subjects related to the role and mandate of provincial governments in school education, including providing opportunities for teachers’ professional development and the managing secondary education examinations. Although local and provincial governments are key stakeholders during field visits, it was unique to have all three tiers of government in the same room.

    In the future, these sessions can be further improved by capturing more gendered perspectives. Furthermore, the review meetings can extend the same opportunity to local NGOs, local associations, teachers, and students. Such grassroots perspectives will further help the School Education Sector Plan respond and adapt to local needs.

    3. Keep compliance-related discussions outside and focus on strategic priorities.

    During substantive reviews such as the Joint Review Meeting, it is crucial to maintain focus on strategic priorities and issues. This can often be difficult considering the volume of material to cover and the varying bilateral requirements of development partners. However, discussions should center on joint priorities and key reform areas, avoiding “tick-box” exercises, such as reviewing the progress of individual disbursement-linked indicators, which are largely bilateral concerns.

    In the JRM 2024, compliance-focused discussions were largely held outside of the main event, which worked well. As these deliberations tend to be very technical, they can be very time-consuming, thus reducing the time spent for crucial issues. The review meeting in 2024 dedicated time and space for guided discussions on specific topics such as basic and secondary education, curriculum and evaluation, teacher management and development, and education in emergencies and crisis. It was evident that the deep dives led to more targeted agreed actions for follow-up and are now outlined in an Aide Memoire with implementation modalities, as per the joint financing agreement. The next months will show if the inclusion of less process-oriented actions will strengthen accountability and ownership.

    Success in these three areas requires numerous iterations and an extensive pre-planning process.

    MIL OSI Economics –

    April 1, 2025
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