Category: Science

MIL-OSI Global: Can animals have mental disabilities?

Source: The Conversation – USA – By Rachel Blaser, Professor of Neuroscience, Cognition and Behavior, University of San Diego

Curious Kids is a series for children of all ages. If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, send it to CuriousKidsUS@theconversation.com.

Are there any animals with mental disabilities? – Adria G.

Max was a fun-loving Labrador retriever who enjoyed going for car rides and greeting clients at his owner’s office. But around age 16, Max suddenly started having accidents in the house and stopped sleeping well at night. He became irritable and seemed not to understand the words and commands he had long known.

Max was showing symptoms of a disorder called cognitive dysfunction syndrome, which can affect cats and dogs as they age. In dogs, it looks very similar to Alzheimer’s disease, which causes memory loss and dementia in humans, usually as they grow older.

I study how humans and other animals learn, and my research involves working with many different species, from bees to pigeons and crawfish. Part of my work involves paying attention to conditions that can affect mental health in animals.

Sometimes genetic or developmental changes affect how the brain is built, which can lead to mental disabilities or learning differences. In other cases, animals may be exposed to scary or stressful situations that can cause mental health problems. Here are some examples:

Many dogs become stressed during thunderstorms. Creating a comfortable, enclosed “safe” space without windows inside your house can help.

Understanding animal genes

Down syndrome is a common genetic condition that can slow down learning and thinking in humans. People born with Down syndrome may have a harder time learning new things, remembering information and making complicated decisions.

Down syndrome is caused by changes to a chromosome – the strands in our cells that store our genes. Normally, people have 23 pairs of chromosomes; when someone is born with an extra copy of chromosome 21, it produces the effects of Down syndrome.

Most animals can’t have Down syndrome, because their genes are organized into chromosomes differently than human genes. However, our closest relatives, including chimpanzees and orangutans, do have a similar organization of genes. Conditions very much like Down syndrome have been observed in these species.

One example, Kanako, was a female chimpanzee born in a research facility in Japan. She had vision and heart problems caused by an extra chromosome. Scientists don’t know whether Kanako had trouble with learning, because her vision problems made that difficult to test. However, Kanako enjoyed socializing with other chimpanzees and lived a long life in a wildlife sanctuary.

Wild chimpanzees are probably also sometimes born with genetic conditions like Down syndrome, but the effects make it difficult to survive in the wild, just like being born with a heart or a foot that doesn’t develop normally. Kanako was able to live a healthy life thanks to the help of her human caretakers and good veterinary care.

Science historian Laurel Braitman explains how she worked to understand her dog’s mental health disorders, and how studying these problems in animals can offer insights for treating similar problems in humans.

Coping with trauma and stress

Animals that are born healthy can also develop mental health problems in response to conditions around them.

For example, just as soldiers may develop post-traumatic stress disorder after experiencing a life-threatening situation, working military and police dogs can develop a similar condition. Dogs with canine PTSD may cling to their owners, startle at everyday noises, or frequently act panicky or fearful.

Veterinarians can prescribe anti-anxiety medication to help these dogs stay calm during scary events, like fireworks or thunderstorms. Owners also can use behavioral treatments to reward the dogs for staying calm and relaxed around things that seem frightening.

Most traumatic events, like earthquakes or car accidents, can’t be predicted in advance. However, in some cases, such as capturing and restraining a wild animal to relocate it, workers use tranquilizers or sedatives to make the animal sleepy, or cover its eyes and ears to reduce fear and prevent long-lasting problems.

Another common cause of mental health problems in animals is daily stress. Animals held in captivity at zoos, farms or research labs may experience stress from sources such as traffic noises, uncomfortable temperatures or not being able to engage in certain natural behaviors.

Animals have many signature behaviors: Penguins swim, meerkats dig, baboons socialize and chickens take dust baths. When animals can’t do important behaviors, they may experience stress and mental problems.

To keep this from happening, zookeepers and animal caretakers provide environmental enrichment – objects, structures and activities that stimulate the animals’ minds and help keep them from getting bored.

An African penguin at the Maryland Zoo snatches at a knotted fire hose. Giving penguins novel objects to explore is one way to enriching their lives in captivity.
Pacific Southwest Forest Service, USDA, CC BY

Supporting your pet

Sometimes it’s easy to see when animals are stressed or anxious. They may pace back and forth, spend their days in hiding or be unusually aggressive. Getting sick frequently or losing weight can also be a sign of poor mental health. Certain hormones, called corticosteroids, can be measured from a poop sample to provide clues about whether an animal is under too much stress.

Even pets in loving homes can experience mental health problems. Some dogs struggle with separation anxiety – extreme fear of being left alone by their owner. Lack of mental or physical activity can also produce anxiety symptoms.

Whether it means taking your dog to the dog park to run and socialize, or building puzzles that hide treats for your parakeet to find, keeping animals busy is good for them. In more serious cases, veterinarians can prescribe medication or behavioral treatments to help your pet feel better.

Humans can use science to understand the many conditions that affect mental health in animals and find treatments to help them. We also can show compassion and care for others – whether human or animal – who experience mental problems.

Hello, curious kids! Do you have a question you’d like an expert to answer? Ask an adult to send your question to CuriousKidsUS@theconversation.com. Please tell us your name, age and the city where you live.

And since curiosity has no age limit – adults, let us know what you’re wondering, too. We won’t be able to answer every question, but we will do our best.

Rachel Blaser 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. Can animals have mental disabilities? – https://theconversation.com/can-animals-have-mental-disabilities-247082

MIL OSI – Global Reports –

February 25, 2025
MIL-OSI Global: Why religion is fundamental to addressing climate change

Source: The Conversation – UK – By Hanane Benadi, Research Officer, Religion and Global Society, London School of Economics and Political Science

“There is no time for imagination, religious or otherwise. We need to act now!” an irritated scientist told me during a workshop on climate change and religion in 2024. Contrary to the tone of his comment, this scientist was not dismissing religion as being marginal to tackling climate change, but his underlying assumption rang clear: religion, while undoubtedly a necessary part of the solution, is only useful if it works alongside rational science.

Research by me and my colleagues suggests that framing religion and science as totally separate entities is unhelpful in advancing a global response to climate change.

In 2022 and 2023, I spent four months conducting fieldwork in Egypt, living and interacting with Muslim and Christian communities in Cairo and Alexandria. As a salient reminder of the ongoing climate crisis, my research took place over the summer, when temperatures reached more than 45°C.

These heatwaves were a part of everyday discussions, but I didn’t hear only scientific jargon used to refer to these phenomena. Often, religion was the language used to make sense of the heat.

As an Anglican priest in Alexandria told me, members of his congregation understood these heatwaves as manifestations of climate change, but at the same time asked him: “What is God is trying to tell us? Is this a sign of his anger? What should we do?” In other words, while scientific knowledge was used to explain the extreme heat, religion gave it meaning.

Building a global response to the climate crisis requires us to learn about the many ways people make sense of climate change and learn to live with its consequences. And for most of the world’s population, a purely scientific framing is unhelpful.

Science v religion?

The long-perceived tension between religion and science seems to be reappearing today as we confront climate change. The scientist’s reaction to my work is one example of this, which left me wondering: what role is religion playing in tackling climate change globally? And how often is it framed as a field outside of science?

Unfortunately, the approach adopted on the global climate stage seems to perpetuate a hierarchy of knowledge that implies that science trumps social and cultural influences such as religion and ethics. It is telling that the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the preeminent global body on climate policy, still relies heavily on hard science in presenting its findings, despite efforts in its latest reports to highlight the role of social sciences and humanities, including religion, can play.

With my team from the LSE Religion and Global Society research unit, I ran a climate change and religion workshop in Cairo with Muslim and Christian female and male faith leaders. Many of the 30 participants explained they felt frustrated that the climate science lens dominates.

One member of a faith-based organisation told me during an interview after the workshop that: “We are often approached by western organisations and research institutions to collaborate. However, when we ask about the nature of these collaborations, it is often reduced to our logo and a couple of statements that tell people that they should care about climate change.”

Rather than taking religion seriously on its own terms, climate science often shapes what kind of role religion should play in communicating climate change. This is a problem.

Science meets religion

Our current work with female scientists in Egypt is teaching us that in many non-western countries, such as Egypt, the religious and the scientific cannot be as easily untangled as some might like to think.

I asked an Egyptian scientist who has been working on water management for the last 30 years how she sees the future of water in her country. She began her response with a verse from the Quran before turning to a scientific explanation of what that entails.

While much of her work is informed by scientific models of reason that underpin the Egyptian state’s nationalist development projects, she can hold together scientific and religious ethical modes of reasoning. Bringing an understanding of this overlap to international climate policy is critical for creating global solidarity around this issue.

Fortunately, things are changing. Through initiatives such as the UN Environment Programme’s Faith for Earth Coalition and the faith pavilion at recent UN climate summits, religious groups are becoming more prevalent and active on the global climate stage.

But efforts to seek collaborations between scientists and faith communities are not good enough. We need to resist the urge to see religion as a mere vehicle for convincing most of the global population for whom religion gives meaning to life. The only way we can do that is for scientists and faith leaders to start laying the groundwork for new ways of thinking together.

As Russian author Leo Tolstoy once wrote, “Science is meaningless because it has no answer to the only questions that matter to us: ‘What should we do and how shall we live?‘” The climate crisis demands new ways of thinking, new ways of perceiving reality, and religion is fundamental to achieving that.

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

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

Hanane Benadi receives funding from British Academy.

Hanane Benadi is a Research Officer at the London School of Economics

– ref. Why religion is fundamental to addressing climate change – https://theconversation.com/why-religion-is-fundamental-to-addressing-climate-change-248074

MIL OSI – Global Reports –

February 25, 2025
MIL-OSI: Study: Brain Exercise Lowers Fatigue Symptoms in Multiple Sclerosis

Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

SAN FRANCISCO, Feb. 24, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Researchers at New York University (NYU) found that a particular set of brain exercises lowered the incidence of the all-too-common symptom of fatigue among patients with Multiple Sclerosis (MS) in a recently published study in the journal Nature: Scientific Reports. The exercises used in the study are from the commercially-available brain exercise app, BrainHQ made by Posit Science.

This is the tenth published study in patients with MS using the BrainHQ exercises. Earlier studies have shown significant gains in processing speed, which is a signature cognitive deficit of MS, as well as in various measures of cognitive function, including the Brief International Cognitive Assessment for MS (BICAMS) and in each of its subtests (speed of processing, visuospatial memory, and verbal learning).

While studies in other populations have found training with BrainHQ exercises improved measures of mood (depressive symptoms, feeling of control) and distress (anxiety, stress and fatigue), this is the first study in MS patients showing an improvement from BrainHQ exercises in measures of fatigue.

“We are grateful for the ongoing work by independent researchers examining the potential usefulness of our plasticity-based BrainHQ exercises in addressing chronic diseases,” said Dr. Henry Mahncke, CEO of Posit Science. “The NYU team continues to be at the forefront of that research in MS.”

The latest study at NYU set out to examine whether transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS), which provides mild electrical stimulation of the brain, could further improve the benefits from training with BrainHQ by enhancing brain plasticity (i.e., the brain’s ability to change chemically, physically, and functionally). The study used a tDCS headset from Soterix®, and employed the PROMIS fatigue score change as the primary outcome measure and the Modified Fatigue Impact Scale as a secondary fatigue measure.

The 117 study participants were randomized into either a group receiving active tDCS stimulation while training with BrainHQ exercises, or a group using a sham tDCS stimulation while training. Each group was asked to complete thirty 20-minute training sessions over six weeks (for a total of 10 hours of training).

The researchers found both groups experienced a significant decrease in fatigue over the time period on both measures, but no between group difference. “Both the active and sham tDCS groups experienced reductions in fatigue, with no significant difference between the two groups, suggesting that tDCS does not provide any additional benefit over cognitive training alone in reducing fatigue,” the researchers wrote. They noted the study also confirmed the feasibility and tolerance of the home-based intervention.

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 organizations focused on peak performance. Consumers can try a BrainHQ exercise for free daily at https://www.brainhq.com.

The MIL Network –

February 25, 2025
MIL-OSI USA: Virus vs. Bacteria: Phages Prove Effective at Killing Pathogens in Milk

Source: US State of Connecticut

Dennis D’Amico, associate professor of animal science, has demonstrated that bacteriophages can effectively reduce the amount of common foodborne pathogens in milk.

Bacteriophages are viruses that infect bacteria. Some phages follow a lytic life cycle where they inject their DNA into the host cell and hijack its mechanisms to reproduce. When the number of phages grows too large, the cell will burst, killing the bacteria. The released phages will continue to self-propagate, seeking out more and more of their target bacteria to infect and kill. Then, once they have used up all the bacteria, they will simply die off.

Each bacteriophage is highly specific and will only target one genus or one species, and in some cases, only one strain of a bacteria.

“If you have a target like a foodborne pathogen – like E. coli – there are phages that will really only infect E. coli,” says D’Amico. “So, any good bacteria in your gut and in your food will be unaffected, and your human cells will be completely unaffected.”

Bacteriophages are an organic anti-bacterial option that has no impact on the color, flavor, or texture of the food.

“The reception for the use of phages from producers is very high because it’s a natural approach,” says D’Amico, who also has an appointment with UConn Extension to share his expertise with communities.

D’Amico looked at a series of commercially available bacteriophages that target the most common dairy-borne pathogens: Listeria, Salmonella, and E. coli to see how effective they were in destroying these bacteria in milk and cheese.

Each of the products D’Amico evaluated were a mixture of phages that target certain pathogenic species or strains.

“You do a big mix of these phages with the hope that you’ll cover all the strains that you might encounter in your food product,” D’Amico says.

D’Amico saw significant reductions in pathogen counts in pasteurized milk. These effects were observable within a few hours and held steady for a week.

Listeria counts decreased by a factor of 10,000 compared to the control. For E. coli it was a bit more complicated, as some strains decreased by only a factor of five, while others decreased by 100 times.

These findings were published in Food Microbiology.

In raw milk, the phages did not reduce counts of Listeria or E. coli. In fact, phage counts decreased.

This is because the heat used in pasteurization changes the shape of the proteins that would otherwise interfere with the phage’s activity. In raw milk, these proteins bind to the phages and prevent them from reaching their bacterial targets.

Salmonella, however, was a different story. The phages successfully reduced that pathogen’s count in both pasteurized and raw milk.

In pasteurized milk, the phages reduced pathogen counts by a factor of 200-1,500. In raw milk, the reductions were more modest but still significant at 13 to nearly 200 times. These findings were also published in Food Microbiology.

D’Amico did not observe significant reductions in either gouda (a semihard, aged cheese) or queso fresco (a soft, fresh cheese).

“Cheese is the act of turning a liquid to a solid,” D’Amico says. “Those phages are now trapped in a spot, and the bacteria are trapped in a spot, and their ability to find each other is greatly reduced. So, we saw a major reduction in their effectiveness during the cheese making process.”

However, there were modest reductions in pathogen counts compared to the control in the cheese samples treated with the phages.

“If you step back, there was a mild effect if you add the phage during the cheese-making process and that difference between treatment and control holds throughout the whole period,” D’Amico says. “Our goal would be to increase the impact during the cheesemaking process because it would probably maintain its effectiveness through the storage period.”

The major limitation for using bacteriophages to combat dairy pathogens remains the cost.

D’Amico had to add 1,000,000 times as many phages as pathogen to see these results in milk.

Given that the phage products are relatively expensive, this is a significant barrier to their widespread application, especially for smaller producers.

“There were a million times more phages than bacteria,” D’Amico says. “It doesn’t matter from a human health standpoint, or a product quality standpoint, but from a wallet standpoint you have to add quite a bit of this product to get the effect we observed.”

This work relates to CAHNR’s Strategic Vision area focused on Enhancing Health and Well-Being Locally, Nationally, and Globally and Ensuring a Vibrant and Sustainable Agricultural Industry and Food Supply.

Follow UConn CAHNR on social media

MIL OSI USA News –

February 25, 2025
MIL-OSI Global: Asteroid has a very small chance of hitting Earth in 2032, but a collision could devastate a city

Source: The Conversation – UK – By Maggie Lieu, Research Fellow, School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Nottingham

In December 2024, astronomers in Chile spotted a new asteroid streaking through the sky, which they named 2024 YR4. What’s significant about this 100m-wide space rock is that it has a small chance of hitting Earth in 2032.

Since its discovery, the asteroid’s probability of an impact with our planet has gone all over the place. At one point, the risk rose as high as 3.1%. This may not sound like a lot, until you realise that that is a 1 in 32 chance of collision.

As of February 21 2024, the European Space Agency’s (Esa) Near Earth Object Centre predicts the collision probability to be just 0.16%, which is a 1 in 625 chance – a huge difference. So why is there such a huge variability in these predictions? And is there really a need to be concerned?

Asteroids are left over remnants from the formation of the solar system, mostly rock, but also metallic, or icy bodies that tend to live in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.

Space agencies like Nasa and Esa independently monitor and track over 37,000 near Earth asteroids (NEAs). These NEAs are those that come within 1.3 astronomical units distance of Earth, where 1 astronomical unit is the average distance between the Earth and Sun. Around 1,700 objects are considered to have an elevated risk because they make a relatively close approach to Earth at some point in the future. They are said to have a non-zero probability of colliding with our planet.

Now it’s estimated that 44,000 kg of space rock hits our planet every year, but most of it is dust or sand grain sized particles that will burn up in the atmosphere, creating the beautiful streaks in the sky that we know as shooting stars.

Rarely do these objects make it to the Earth intact as a meteorite and it’s even rarer to have a cataclysmic impact, like the 10km wide object that wiped out the dinosaurs 66 million years ago. The last major asteroid event in recent history was the 18m wide meteorite that hit Chelyabinsk in Russia in 2013.

The fireball turned night into day and released an estimated 500 kilotons of energy (equivalent to 500,000 tonnes of TNT) as it explosively broke apart in our atmosphere. Around 1,500 people were injured – many through the sonic waves shattering windows.

Current estimates for 2024 YR4 suggest it to be up to 100m in size. It is capable of releasing about 7.8 Megatons of energy (equivalent to 7.8 million tonnes of TNT explosive), which is much more than Chelyabinsk. If such an asteroid were to hit the centre of London you could expect over 2 million fatalities. But the effects would be felt over a larger area.

The impact would have a “thermal radiation radius” of 26 km. Within this radius, the heat from the impact would be so intense it would cause third degree burns. So despite the small probabilities, there’s no question that this asteroid should be monitored and tracked closely.

Nasa has also reported a very small chance that 2024 YR4 could collide with the Moon instead. This would pose no threat to people on Earth, but would generate a sizeable impact crater on our planet’s only natural satellite.

No simple answers

Tracking an asteroid turns out to be more complex than you might think. Unlike stars and galaxies, asteroids don’t emit light so are notoriously difficult to spot. This faintness likely contributed to why 2024 YR4 4 eluded detection up until so recently.

In addition, the shape of the asteroid, and its albedo – which measures how reflective the asteroid is – is still highly uncertain, further complicating the prediction of its future path. The albedo of the asteroid not only tells us about the composition of the asteroid, but can inform us of interactions with the Sun.

A 10 metre-wide asteroid broke up over Chelyabinsk, Russia, in 2013.

A darker asteroid will absorb more light, heating up any gases within the asteroid. When released, these gases can act like jet thrusters, altering the trajectory of the asteroid. A more reflective asteroid, might incur more radiation pressure from the Sun. This pressure can actually push it in another direction to the one it was previously going in.

The current estimates of YR4’s albedo are between 0.05 – 0.25, with 0 being completely matte, and 1 being completely reflective, so the margin of uncertainty is wide. As you might expect, the shape of the asteroid will also affect the direction in which these forces act and the resulting trajectory of the object.

Current trajectory estimates assume a spherical asteroid, with a typical density for an S-type asteroid (a common type of rocky asteroid). The asteroid 2024 YR 4 has very little chance of being spherical (that shape tends to be seen in bigger objects with stronger gravity) and we don’t know what exactly it’s made from. Future observations, potentially including those from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), aim to refine our understanding of the asteroid’s shape.

Comet 67P up close, in an image taken by the Rosetta spacecraft.
ESA/Rosetta/NavCam – CC BY-SA IGO 3.0, CC BY-SA

However, past discrepancies between predictions of the comet 67P, as seen by the Hubble telescope from far away, versus its actual shape captured by the Rosetta spacecraft, which explored it up close, demonstrate the limitations of our predictions.

Spectral imaging (which measures different colours of light to give an indication of composition) will hopefully allow us to better understand what type of material is on the surface of the asteroid and whether there could be volatile gases hiding beneath it that could affect its future path.

Given that the projected Earth impact is a mere seven years away, the window for sending a spacecraft to try and divert it away from our planet, as successfully demonstrated by Nasa’s Dart mission in 2022, is rapidly closing. While other options such as detonating a nuclear weapon near the asteroid to deflect its path remain theoretically possible, they come with significant risks and ethical considerations. For instance, instead of diverting the asteroid, a nuclear explosion could break it into two or more pieces, which could then collide with Earth in distinct locations.

There is a possibility that the asteroid could be nudged off course by collisions with other space rocks. It’s also likely that, if it does collide with Earth, it won’t hit a populated region, since the majority of our planet is uninhabited. However, it should be possible to evacuate people should it threaten a populated area.

For now, the best thing we can do is track the asteroid with more observations, refining its trajectory, properties and impact probability estimates as more data becomes available. As we have already seen over the past few days, the predictions are likely to continue changing.

Maggie Lieu has received funding from STFC.

– ref. Asteroid has a very small chance of hitting Earth in 2032, but a collision could devastate a city – https://theconversation.com/asteroid-has-a-very-small-chance-of-hitting-earth-in-2032-but-a-collision-could-devastate-a-city-250598

MIL OSI – Global Reports –

February 25, 2025
MIL-OSI United Kingdom: expert reaction to conference abstract looking at restricting dietary emulsifiers in people with Crohn’s disease

Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments

February 21, 2025

A conference abstract presented at the European Crohn’s and Colitis Organisation (ECCO) Conference looks at emulsifier restriction in people with Crohn’s disease.

Dr Dominic Farsi, Postdoctoral Researcher in Nutrition Science, INRAE (l’Institut national de recherche pour l’agriculture, l’alimentation et l’environnement), France, said:

Does the press release accurately reflect the science?

“Yes.

Is there enough data and information available to be able to assess the quality of the science?

“Yes I believe there is enough information. In addition, ECCO is one of the prominent organisations in gastroenterology and this abstract will have been reviewed by the conference committee (though that is different from journal peer review) and also the fact that it is being presented at the meeting would suggest that it is of a high standard as it has been accepted and chosen for the meeting.

How does this work fit with the existing evidence? + What are the implications in the real world? Is there any overspeculation?

“A lot of the evidence to date surrounding emulsifiers and Crohn’s comes from rodent models, which while informative, will always have limitations, as, it is rodents, not humans. This evidence does suggest that food additive emulsifiers may negatively impact the gastrointestinal environment, including the gut microbiota. The evidence in humans is very limited and so this study could be viewed as foundational to help understand the potential impact of food additive emulsifiers in Crohn’s. This study is a first of its kind and to date, we have not had significant data such as this, the results are positive and exciting, and as more research is performed in this topic, it will help further develop our understanding. If future research confirms that making a dietary change such as removing emulsifiers from the diet can help people manage Crohn’s, then that would be viewed as very positive – but we need more evidence first.”

Prof Kim Barrett, Vice Dean for Research and Distinguished Professor of Physiology and Membrane Biology, UC Davis School of Medicine, said:

“This preliminary presentation reports that removing emulsifiers from the diet may be helpful in patients with Crohn’s disease. It’s difficult to be fully confident in the conclusions since details of the study are not yet available, and more subjects dropped out of the control group vs. the treatment arm. Nevertheless, the findings available are consistent with predictions from previous animal studies, and could offer a simple and inexpensive way to reduce symptoms in patients with limited treatment options.”

Prof Gary Frost, Chair in Nutrition and Dietetics, Imperial College London, said:

“I think that the study is well designed, it is clear how they have decreased exposure to emulsifiers to all in the trial then reintroduced them in a portfolio of food in the control group giving the low emulsifier diet (LED) group foods that had a low emulsifier content.

“The intention to treat results look clear as reported in the abstract but the protocol results suggests that about 60% of the control group did not finish the study there for the results are not so clear. There needs to be more understanding about the reasons for the stark difference in not completing the trial. (The results are expressed in two ways. The intention to treat results include all the volunteers in the study even if they dropped out. Although the authors do not say how they used the data usually the last recorded measure is taken as the final results. This means if someone dropped out at 4 weeks the results at 4 weeks will be taken as the last results and analysed with others that have completed at 8 weeks. It is this analysis that shows a significant difference. The per protocol analysis only analyses people who completed the trial. The problem they have is only 49 of the 75 controls completed the study. There is no explanation for this level of patients not completing.)”

Prof Alexandra Johnstone, Theme Lead for Nutrition, Obesity and Disease, Rowett Institute, University of Aberdeen, said:

“There is currently a lot of interest in the role for ultra processed foods and health, and this study embraces this trend, to examine the role of emulsifiers, which are food additives, within a specific UK patient group. Regulatory bodies ensure that food additives are rigorously tested for safety and additives continue to undergo long‐term monitoring for their effects on chronic health conditions. Food additives that pass these safety tests are given an ‘E’ number which must be listed on packaging. Whilst consumption of some food additives (e.g. artificial sweeteners) can be limited through food choice, it is much more difficult to avoid ingestion of emulsifiers (also known as surfactants or detergents) because they are commonly added to a wide variety of foods within the modern Western diets. Some emulsifiers are man-made or synthetic (e.g. polysorbates) and some occur naturally (e.g. lecithin). In this study, the emulsifiers that were provided, were carrageenan, carboxymethylcellulose and polysorbate-80 (control). For example, carboxymethylcellulose is a non‐digestible polysaccharide polymer, hence its common use as a thickening agent and stabilizer in food emulsions.

“Emerging evidence^1,2,3 suggests that permitted dietary emulsifiers may impact on gut health through impairing intestinal barrier function, thus increasing antigen exposure, and/or by modulating the microbiota, thus potentially increasing the incidence of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) – Crohn’s disease is a form of IBD.

“The study to be presented at European Crohn’s and Colitis Organisation (ECCO) Conference in Berlin provides hope for patients with Crohn’s disease to manage symptoms. The press release accurately reflects the brief data shared in the abstract, and I would welcome seeing the full dataset as a paper, once peer reviewed. The limitations of the study are that this is a relatively small group of patients (N=154) and conducted over a short time-frame (8 weeks). Patients with active flare in their disease were recruited, which was measured as inflammatory response, and the study abstract results indicate that the low emulsifier diet reduced inflammatory symptoms and promoted remission. It was good to read the quote from the patient in the press release about the positive impact this had on quality of life. Going forward, a peer-reviewed publication will likely reveal a more comprehensive analysis and discussion from the study team, including exploring the putative mechanism(s) of action. For example, recognising the small subject numbers and limitations of the results that would need to be explored in a larger cohort of patients. The study does offers hope for patients for future research on management of symptoms through dietary changes.”

1 Partridge D, Lloyd KA, Rhodes JM, Walker AW, Johnstone AM, Campbell BJ. Food additives: Assessing the impact of exposure to permitted emulsifiers on bowel and metabolic health – introducing the FADiets study. Nutr Bull. 2019 Dec;44(4):329-349. doi: 10.1111/nbu.12408.

2 Naimi, S., Viennois, E., Gewirtz, A.T. et al. Direct impact of commonly used dietary emulsifiers on human gut microbiota. Microbiome 9, 66 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1186/s40168-020-00996-6

3 Chassaing B, Koren O, Goodrich JK, Poole AC, Srinivasan S, Ley RE, Gewirtz AT. Dietary emulsifiers impact the mouse gut microbiota promoting colitis and metabolic syndrome. Nature. 2015 Mar 5;519(7541):92-6. doi: 10.1038/nature14232. Epub 2015 Feb 25. Erratum in: Nature. 2016 Aug 11;536(7615):238. doi: 10.1038/nature18000.

Dr Elizabeth Lund, Independent Nutrition Consultant, previously Research Leader at Quadram Institute of Biological Sciences, Norwich, said:

“This study looking at the potential benefit of diets low in emulsifiers shows a potential benefit for patients with mild to moderate Crohn’s disease. It is only an abstract for a meeting and thus lacks detail and has not yet been peer reviewed. This is important for journalists to recognise. The nearly 20% drop out rate, that is the difference between those recruited and those completing the study, is on the high side but not atypical. I would want to better understand why these people dropped out. Nevertheless, the data looks very promising and – emphasising this data is yet to be peer reviewed – would suggest that this diet is well worth a try for Crohn’s patients, probably helping many if not all who suffer from this condition. It is unlikely this is the only trigger for Crohn’s; inflammatory conditions tend to be very individual.”

Dr Baptiste Leurent, Associate Professor in Medical Statistics, UCL, said:

“This research is only published as a short summary, and it is difficult to assess its quality. The results could be interesting, but their validity can only be assessed (and communicated to the public) once the full study will be published.

“I am particularly concerned by the data presented in Table 1, which suggest that the differences found could be related to assumptions made regarding missing data.

“The abstract does not state clearly how many participants had Crohn’s disease activity index (CDAI) data at 8 weeks, but the numbers reported suggest there may have been participants with missing CDAI response, particularly in the control group. And that all of them may have been counted as “no CDAI response” in the primary (intention-to-treat) analysis.

“Given there was much more missing data in the control group, this would explain (at least some of) the lower CDAI response seen in the intervention group. When looking at the `per-protocol’ analysis (participants with actual CDAI data) none of the results were statistically different between the two groups.

“Much other information is missing from the abstract to assess the study validity. For example, it is not clear if the participants were aware of the emulsifier content of the food they were receiving, how similar were the two types of food received (apart from the emulsifier content), and to which extent participants ate the food they received. Note that what is being evaluated here is receiving regular emulsifier-free food, compared to receiving regular high emulsifier content food. It is not what is defined as LED (“low emulsifier diet”) in the abstract, which consisted of dietary advice and other material (both groups received this). No protocol or analysis plan were published – it would be important to know if the outcomes reported here are all the outcomes that were originally planned to be looked at or if there were others.

“Further information is needed before these results can be communicated to the public, and I would be very concerned if any diet recommendation is made based on this abstract.”

Rachel Richardson, Methods Support Unit Manager, Evidence Production and Methods Directorate, Cochrane, said:

“It is difficult to properly assess this study as all we have is an abstract. This means that the full report of the study is not available for scrutiny. It would be helpful to have more detail in order to assess the validity and generalisability of these results.

“A few examples: the number of people who dropped out was high – only 73% completed the study, even though it only lasted for 8 weeks and the drop-out rate was higher in the control group than in the intervention group. High rates of dropout can lead to bias in a study’s results, so it would be helpful to know more about why people dropped out.

“Another example is the fact that the authors adjusted the results for a variety of possible confounding factors, including BMI. However this was a randomised trial which means that confounders should be evenly distributed between groups and no adjustments are necessary. It would be useful to know why authors needed to do this.

“A final striking point is that we do not know from the abstract whether the results were precise enough to demonstrate meaningful improvement across all possible scenarios. The confidence intervals, or margins of error, were quite wide for a number of the effect estimates. Whilst improvement could be significant, there is also the possibility that the effect could be small, which may mean no clinical difference.”

Prof Kevin McConway, Emeritus Professor of Applied Statistics, Open University, said:

“These findings are interesting. However, they are based on a conference abstract. The full research report will not (yet) have been through the full peer review process, that it will need to go through before it can be published in a scientific journal. Peer reviewers might (or might not) pick up important problems in the complete trial report. Also, we don’t have by any means complete information, only a press release and a rather brief abstract (summary) of the findings. So, while on the face of it the results look encouraging, it’s just not possible to evaluate the quality of the research properly on the basis of the information available.

“Overall, statistically, the results don’t seem to me to be nearly as clear-cut as the press release implies. I’ll explain why I think this below. It all rather depends on the reasons for the different rates of completing the full trial for the trial in the two groups (those who were on the diet without emulsifiers, and the control group who had emulsifiers). The small amount of information we have doesn’t allow me to make a judgement on that. Maybe the trial does show everything that the press release says it shows, but it remains possible that it doesn’t, not entirely anyway. We need to know more.

“One issue is as follows. As is usual in reports of randomised clinical trials, the researchers present two different sets of comparisons between the ‘intervention’ group (who had a diet without emulsifiers) and the ‘control’ group (who were given some emulsifiers). One is the so-called ‘intention to treat’ comparison, which compared the results for everyone for whom results are available, regardless of whether they stayed on the diet that they were allocated to for the duration of the trial. The other is the so-called ‘per-protocol’ analysis, that compares the results of only those patients who continued on the diet they were allocated to, for the full duration of the trial. Usually the results of the intention to treat analysis are considered to be more revealing. However, it’s important to consider the per-protocol results as well, particularly if a lot of people didn’t remain on the allocated treatment for the full period. In this trial, about four out of five (81%) of those allocated to the emulsifier-free diet were on that diet throughout, and so contributed to the per-protocol analysis. But a considerably smaller proportion, only about two out of three (65%), of those allocated to the control diet remained on it throughout. The information we have doesn’t give an explanation for the differences in completion rates, and it might well matter. Maybe people on the control diet were more likely to drop out because they felt it wasn’t helping them, or maybe they were eating more emulsifiers than usual and felt this was disagreeing with their digestion or health, or maybe something else – we don’t know.

“The results repeated in the press release are based on the intention to treat analysis. But the results from the per-protocol analysis are less clear-cut, and indeed, apart from the finding about the proportion who said their symptoms improved, the other three outcomes given in the table in the Abstract don’t have large enough differences between the no-emulsifier and the control group to allow a conclusion that differences are definitely due to anything other than random chance. (This doesn’t mean that they are due to no more than chance, just that it’s still feasible that they could be no more than chance.)

“Another issue is that the trial is not comparing what patients with Crohn’s disease do on a diet without emulsifiers, compared to what they would otherwise have eaten. The control group of patients ate a diet containing emulsifiers, together with some snacks provided by the researchers, that also contained emulsifiers. The patients in the intervention (no emulsifiers) group also were given snacks and some food provided by the researchers, but without emulsifiers. I am no dietician, but I do know some people with Crohn’s disease, and they all avoid various types of food. So the comparison in the trial seems to be between people definitely eating a special diet with no emulsifiers, with another group who are eating a different special diet that does contain emulsifiers. This makes sense, to ensure, as far as practicable, that all the patients in each of the two groups are eating more or less the same things as the others in their group, but it does imply that the researchers are not comparing people on a special diet free of emulsifiers, with those eating what they would typically eat anyway. You’d have to ask a dietician rather than a statistician to be sure of how important this is in the context of real-world diets.”

Abstract title: ‘Emulsifier restriction is an effective therapy for active Crohn’s disease: the ADDapt trial – a multi-centre, randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled, re-supplementation trial in 154 patients’ by A. Bancil et al was presented at the European Crohn’s and Colitis Organisation (ECCO) Conference in Berlin. The embargo lifted at 17:20 UK time on Friday 21 February 2025.

There is no paper.

Declared interests

Dr Dominic Farsi: “During part of this study, I was within the department and involved in other diet trials, however not this one (the ADDapt trial). I have since left this role and I am now a Postdoctoral Researcher at INRAE in France. I have no other conflicts of interest.”

Prof Kim Barrett: “I have no conflicts of interest.”

Prof Gary Frost: “None.”

Prof Alexandra Johnstone: “AJ holds funding from UKRI which involves UK retail partners, the Scottish Government. She currently holds voluntary committee position with Nutrition Society, Association for Nutrition and British Nutrition Foundation.”

Dr Elizabeth Lund: “No conflicts of interest to declare.”

Dr Baptiste Leurent: “No conflict of interest.”

Rachel Richardson: “I have no interests to declare.”

Prof Kevin McConway: “Previously a Trustee of the SMC and a member of its Advisory Committee.”

MIL OSI United Kingdom –

February 25, 2025
MIL-OSI Global: Ukraine war: Trump is not trying to appease Putin – he has a vision of a new US-China-Russia order

Source: The Conversation – UK – By Stefan Wolff, Professor of International Security, University of Birmingham

There has been much and justified focus on the implications of a likely deal between US president Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin and the overwhelmingly negative consequences this will have for Ukraine and Europe. But if Trump and Putin make a deal, there is much more at stake than Ukraine’s future borders and Europe’s relationship with the US.

As we are nearing the third anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion, Ukraine’s future is more in doubt than it has ever been since February 2022. For once, analogies to Munich in 1938 are sadly appropriate. This is not because of a mistaken belief that Putin can be appeased, but rather because great powers, once again, make decisions on the fate of weaker states and without them in the room.

Similar to the pressure that Czechoslovakia experienced from both Germany and its supposed allies France and Britain in 1938, Ukraine is now under pressure from Russia on the battlefield and the US both diplomatically and economically. Trump and his team are pushing hard for Ukraine to make territorial concessions to Russia and accept that some 20% of Ukrainian lands under Russia’s illegal occupation are lost. In addition, Trump demands that Ukraine compensate the United States for past military support by handing over half of its mineral and rare earth resources.

The American refusal to provide tangible security guarantees not only for Ukraine but also for allied Nato troops if they were deployed to Ukraine as part of a ceasefire or peace agreement smacks of the Munich analogy. Not only did France and Britain at the time push Czechoslovakia to cede the ethnic German-majority Sudetenland to Nazi Germany. They also did nothing when Poland and Hungary also seized parts of the country. And they failed to respond when Hitler – a mere six months after the Munich agreement – broke up what was left of Czechoslovakia by creating a Slovak puppet state and occupying the remaining Czech lands.

There is every indication that Putin is unlikely to stop in or with Ukraine. And it is worth remembering that the second world war started 11 months after Neville Chamberlain thought he had secured “peace in our time”.

The Munich analogy may not carry that far, however. Trump is not trying to appease Putin because he thinks, as Chamberlain and Daladier did in 1938, that he has weaker cards than Putin. What seems to drive Trump is a more simplistic view of the world in which great powers carve out spheres of influence in which they do not interfere.

The state of the conflict in Ukraine, February 20 2025.
Institute for the Study of War

The problem for Ukraine and Europe in such a world order is that Ukraine is certainly not considered by anyone in Trump’s team as part of an American zone of influence, and Europe is at best a peripheral part of it.

Trump-eye lens on the world

For Trump, this isn’t really about Ukraine or Europe but about re-ordering the international system in a way that fits his 19th-century view of the world in which the US lives in splendid isolation and virtually unchallenged in the western hemisphere. In this world view, Ukraine is the symbol of what was wrong with the old order. Echoing the isolationism of Henry Cabot, Trump’s view is that the US has involved itself into too many different foreign adventures where none of its vital interests were at stake.

Echoing Putin’s talking points, the war against Ukraine no longer is an unjustified aggression but was, as Trump has now declared, Kyiv’s fault. Ukraine has become the ultimate test that the liberal international order failed to pass.

The war against Ukraine clearly is a symbol of the failure of the liberal international order, but hardly its sole cause. In the hands of Trump and Putin it has become the tool to deal it a final blow. But while the US and Russia, in their current political configurations, may have found it easy to bury the existing order, they will find it much harder to create a new one.

The push-back from Ukraine and key European countries may seem inconsequential for now, but even without the US, the EU and Nato have strong institutional roots and deep pockets. For all the justified criticism of the mostly aspirational responses from Europe so far, the continent is built on politically and economically far stronger foundations than Russia and the overwhelming majority of its people have no desire to emulate the living conditions in Putin’s want-to-be empire.

Nor will Trump and Putin be able to rule the world without China. A deal between them may be Trump’s idea of driving a wedge between Moscow and Beijing, but this is unlikely to work given Russia’s dependence on China and China’s rivalry with the US.

If Trump makes a deal with Xi as well, for example over Chinese territorial claims in the South China Sea, let alone over Taiwan, all he would achieve is further retrenchment of the US to the western hemisphere. This would leave Putin and Xi to pursue their own, existing deal of a no-limits partnership unimpeded by an American-led counter-weight.

From the perspective of what remains of the liberal international order and its proponents, a Putin-Xi deal, too, has an eerie parallel in history – the short-lived Hitler-Stalin pact of 1939. Only this time, there is little to suggest that the Putin-Xi alliance will break down as quickly.

Stefan Wolff is a past recipient of grant funding from the Natural Environment Research Council of the UK, the United States Institute of Peace, the Economic and Social Research Council of the UK, the British Academy, the NATO Science for Peace Programme, the EU Framework Programmes 6 and 7 and Horizon 2020, as well as the EU’s Jean Monnet Programme. He is a Trustee and Honorary Treasurer of the Political Studies Association of the UK and a Senior Research Fellow at the Foreign Policy Centre in London.

– ref. Ukraine war: Trump is not trying to appease Putin – he has a vision of a new US-China-Russia order – https://theconversation.com/ukraine-war-trump-is-not-trying-to-appease-putin-he-has-a-vision-of-a-new-us-china-russia-order-249979

MIL OSI – Global Reports –

February 25, 2025
MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Transparency data: Matt Clifford’s declared outside interests

Source: United Kingdom – Prime Minister’s Office 10 Downing Street

Transparency data

Matt Clifford’s declared outside interests

The outside interests declared by Matt Clifford as a ministerial direct appointee of the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology.

Documents

Matt Clifford’s declared outside interests

Ref: DSIT-Declaration of interests-Matt Clifford

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Details

Under the Code of Conduct for Board Members of Public Bodies, appointees in the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology are required to declare any private financial or non-financial interests of your own, or of close family members, which may, or may be perceived to, conflict with their public duties.

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MIL OSI United Kingdom –

February 25, 2025
MIL-OSI United Nations: Environmental Impact Assessment Review (Elsevier)
Source: UNISDR Disaster Risk Reduction

Mission
Environmental Impact Assessment Review (EIA Review) is a refereed, interdisciplinary journal serving a global audience of practitioners, policy-makers, regulators, academics and others with an interest in the field of impact assessment (IA) and management. Impact assessment is defined by the International Association for Impact Assessment (www.iaia.org) as the process of identifying the future consequences of a current or proposed action.

The focus of EIA Review is on innovative theory and practice that encompasses any of the above mentioned impacts and activities. In other words, EIA Review covers the following topics (the list is not exhaustive):
- Development of IA theory and concepts;
- IA legislation, procedure and practice;
- IA Governance;
- IA Methods, for example, forecasting, indicators, systems-based approaches, ecosystem services assessment, cost benefit analysis, algorithms, network-based approaches, among others;
- Life Cycle Assessment, Carbon Footprinting, Energy Analysis, Emergy Analysis, and Integrated Product Policy;
- Environmental Management Systems.
MIL OSI United Nations News –
February 25, 2025
MIL-OSI Asia-Pac: India’s technological sector is on rise & is expected to reach $300-350 billion in next five years: Raksha Mantri at 16th Foundation Day of IIT Mandi

Source: Government of India

India’s technological sector is on rise & is expected to reach $300-350 billion in next five years: Raksha Mantri at 16th Foundation Day of IIT Mandi

“Biggest challenge today is to not only adapt to the rapidly changing technology, but also to create new technologies. Don’t just be adapters; become the disruptors who lead innovation”

Posted On: 24 FEB 2025 3:22PM by PIB Delhi

“India’s technological sector is on the rise and is expected to reach 300-350 US billion dollars in the next five years. With more than 1.25 lakh start-ups and 110 unicorns, our country is emerging as the third-largest start up ecosystem in the world,” highlighted Raksha Mantri Shri Rajnath Singh while addressing the 16^th Foundation Day of the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Mandi, Himachal Pradesh on February 24, 2025. He encouraged the students to leverage this period of growth and opportunity, ensuring that they not only contribute to India’s technological advancements but also lead the way globally in key areas of research and development.

Shri Rajnath Singh emphasised the necessity of innovation and knowledge creation in shaping the future of technology. He underscored the importance of fostering a culture of entrepreneurship and innovation that would allow India to lead in emerging fields such as Artificial Intelligence, machine learning, and digital technologies. He lauded the institution’s outstanding contributions to shaping India’s technological and scientific advancements. He also highlighted IIT Mandi’s pivotal role in fostering innovation and research, and laid stress on India’s rising prominence as a global leader in technology.

In the context of national security, Shri Rajnath Singh urged IIT Mandi to play a more significant role in defence-related technologies. He commended the existing collaboration with DRDO and called for further contributions in areas such as Artificial Intelligence (AI)-driven warfare, indigenous AI chip development, cybersecurity, and quantum technology.

Raksha Mantri also threw light on India’s progress in defence self-reliance, highlighting that “India has achieved 88% self-sufficiency in ammunition production, and defence exports have reached approximately Rs 23,000 crore in 2023-24. Our goal is to reach Rs 50,000 crore in defence exports by 2029.” He bolstered the government’s commitment in creating a robust defence industry in India, one that supports both the security of the nation and contributes to the country’s economic growth. He called on IIT Mandi’s students to contribute to this vision by focusing on technological solutions that can enhance India’s defence capabilities and further advance the nation’s self-reliance in this critical sector.

In line with India’s emerging digital economy, Shri Rajnath Singh shared key highlights on the country’s remarkable digital progress. “India’s telecom sector is now the second-largest in the world. With the success of initiatives like UPI, India is setting global standards in digital transactions. We are in the midst of an unparalleled digital revolution,” he said. He encouraged the students to actively contribute to the development of India’s digital ecosystem, reiterating that technological innovation is central to India’s growth story in the coming decades.

Further urging the students to excel in technological innovation in order to make the country developed by 2047, Raksha Mantri advised them to follow the principles of Initiate, Improve, and Transform (IIT). Shri Rajnath Singh also motivated them to be bold in their pursuit of knowledge and to remain persistent in the face of challenges. He also spoke about the need for courage and resilience as the country faced the challenges of the future, and highlighted the importance of working collectively to address national challenges with technology and innovation.

Shri Rajnath Singh also encouraged the students to be disruptors and not just adapters in the fast-paced world of technology. “The biggest challenge today is to adapt to the rapidly changing technology, but also to create new technologies. Don’t just be adapters; become the disruptors who lead innovation,” he added. He spoke about the significant opportunities available to young innovators, stressing the importance of shaping new paradigms rather than simply following existing trends. Raksha Mantri further stated that this is the time of the ‘Indian Dream’—a time where the aspirations and achievements can redefine the global landscape. He motivated the students to set ambitious goals and to aim high in their careers, as their work would have a lasting impact on India’s trajectory in this landscape.

Shri Rajnath Singh congratulated IIT Mandi on its achievements stating that “In the last 15 years, the institution has secured a distinguished place on the educational map, not only of India but the world. It is a perfect blend of ancient heritage and modern technological education.” He mentioned the region’s rich historical significance, emphasising that the existence of IIT Mandi at such a culturally and historically enriched location symbolises the union of antiquity and modernity. He further expressed confidence that the institution, with its strong foundation in academics, research, and innovation, would continue to make significant contributions to both India’s growth & global technological advancement.

Raksha Mantri inaugurated two new buildings, the Guidance & Counselling Centre and the Centre for Continuing Education during the event. Both buildings are designed to enhance the academic ecosystem and contribute to the personal and professional growth of the students and faculty. These additions will provide much-needed infrastructure to support the holistic development of students and ensure their success in the rapidly changing world of technology and innovation. “These new centres will play a crucial role in supporting students, faculty, and researchers, further strengthening IIT Mandi’s contribution to Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics, and Management,” he stated.

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SR/KB

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MIL OSI Asia Pacific News –

February 24, 2025
MIL-OSI Asia-Pac: Two-Day National Startup Festival organised by CSIR-IIIM concludes

Source: Government of India (2)

Posted On: 24 FEB 2025 10:55AM by PIB Delhi

CSIR-Indian Institute of Integrative Medicine (IIIM) Jammu successfully concluded the National Startup Festival on sunday, showcasing remarkable success stories in startup promotion, innovation and entrepreneurial growth across Jammu & Kashmir.

The two-day festival, which concluded today, was inaugurated on 22^nd February, Saturday by the Chief Guest, Dr. Jitendra Singh, Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Science & Technology and Earth Sciences; Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s Office, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Department of Atomic Energy, and Department of Space; and Vice President of CSIR in presence of Satish Sharma, J&K UT Cabinet Minister for Food, Civil Supplies & Consumer Affairs, Transport, Science & Technology, Information Technology, Youth Services & Sports, and ARI & training departments, Padma Shri Prof. Vinod K. Singh, Chairperson, Recruitment & Assessment Board (RAB), CSIR and Institute Chair Professor of Chemistry at IIT Kanpur, Dr. Zabeer Ahmed, Director, CSIR-IIIM, Dr. Prabodh Kumar Trivedi, Director, CSIR-CIMAP, Lucknow, Dr. Ajit Kumar Shasany, Director CSIR-NBRI, Lucknow, Dr. Sudesh Kumar Yadav, Director, CSIR-IHBT, Palampur, Dr. Jatinder Kumar, Managing Director, DBT-BIRAC and Dr. N. Zaheer Ahmed, Director General, CCRUM. Recognizing the innovative works of the startup they showcased during the event, Dr. Zabeer Ahmed, Director, CSIR-IIIM awarded the certificates to 45 startups.

The two days mega event held at Government Women College, Gandhi Nagar which on day 2 also attracted huge crowd of students drawn from various degree colleges and schools of Jammu region to provide a platform to the entrepreneurs, investors, industry leaders, scientists, researchers, bio-incubators, manufacturers, regulators and members of civil society to witness the technologies and innovation showcased during the festival.

In a press handout, it was stated that an overwhelming response of visitors has been seen today as well, more than 800 visitors visited the exhibition and witnessed the demonstration of innovations driven ideas some startups and the products and technologies developed by few of them.

Dr. Zabeer Ahmed, Director, CSIR-IIIM who is spearheading the institute’s resolute to
nurture the startup ecosystem in the region, while addressing the startup and exhibitors during closing ceremony said that besides the institute’s forte in the pre-clinical drug discovery, under the mentoring of Union Minister of S&T and Vice President, Dr. Jitendra Singh, IIIM has equally galvanised agri- entrepreneurship and set up two incubators for incubation support to the startup. To set up a new Incubator at Industrial Biotech Park, Ghatti, Kathua, the Grant-in-aid Letter Agreement (GLA) was also signed yesterday by Director, CSIR-IIIM and MD, BIRAC in the presence of the Union Minister, Dr. Jitendra Singh, he added.

A spokesperson informed that a total of 45 StartUps participated from all over India. Students from various Government Degree Colleges of Jammu district also actively participated in the event.

Some of the prominent StartUps those took part in the Expo were- M/s Herbal Aura, M/s Gaurico, M/s One Veda, M/s Happico, M/s Gleen Biotech, M/s Himalayan Essential Oils Producer Company Ltd., M/s JK Aroma Ltd. Samast Eco Alternatives Pvt. Ltd. M/s SRANAS POC Pvt Ltd M/s Chenab Valley Zaitoon Tel ltd M/s Katyani Metal works and the farmers led by Dr. Hygina from Meghalaya. The stalls were also put by young innovators of Jammu district school. The event was organised under the overall supervision of Dr. Zabeer Ahmed, Director CSIR-IIIM, assisted by his team of HoDs and Scientists, including Er. Abdul Rahim, Dr. Asha Chaubey, Dr. Dhiraj Vyas, Dr. Shashank Singh, Dr. Sumit Gandhi, Dr. Naveed Qazi, Dr. Suphla Gupta, Dr. Saurabh Saran, Dr. Raj Kishore, Vikram Singh, Sr. COA, Ajay Kumar, CoFA, Dilip Gehlot, SPO and Rajesh Gupta, AO.

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NKR/PSM

(Release ID: 2105703) Visitor Counter : 29

MIL OSI Asia Pacific News –

February 24, 2025
MIL-OSI China: China’s tech hub Shenzhen to launch 10B yuan fund to accelerate AI industry growth

Source: China State Council Information Office

A robotic whale shark swims in a tank at Xiaomeisha Sea World in Shenzhen, south China’s Guangdong Province, Sept. 22, 2024. [Photo/Xinhua]

The south China tech hub of Shenzhen will launch a 10 billion yuan (about 1.39 billion U.S. dollars) industry fund to support the development of artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics, focusing on AI software, hardware and embodied intelligence, local authorities said Sunday.

The fund is part of the city’s broader push to strengthen its position as a global hub for AI innovation.

City officials revealed the plan at a press conference, announcing an additional 4.5 billion yuan in funding to be raised this year. This funding will cover up to 60 percent of computing power costs for businesses, with a maximum of 10 million yuan per enterprise, provided through vouchers and subsidies.

Shenzhen’s AI ambitions go beyond financial support. The city plans to expand its AI application base with an additional 100 scenarios set to roll out in 2025, focusing on sectors like municipal sanitation, emergency response and health care. This follows the introduction of nearly 200 AI-powered application scenarios already in place across the city.

Shenzhen aims to create a highly systematic, complete and collaborative innovation ecosystem, accelerate the development of a globally influential industrial and technological innovation center, and build itself into a city of innovation, said Zhang Lin, director of the Shenzhen municipal bureau of science and technology innovation.

Shenzhen, once a small fishing village in Guangdong Province, has transformed into one of China’s most dynamic and innovative cities. It is home to more than 2,200 AI companies and boasts a comprehensive AI industry chain that spans from smart chips and algorithm frameworks to large models and software-hardware applications, according to data from the Shenzhen AI industry office.

Data from iResearch, an industry research and consulting institute, indicates that China’s AI industry is projected to reach 811 billion yuan by 2028, with emerging sectors such as AI and robotics poised to unlock significant market potential and development opportunities.

MIL OSI China News –

February 24, 2025
MIL-OSI Economics: Gilead’s lenacapavir could revolutionize HIV prevention, says GlobalData

Source: GlobalData

Gilead’s lenacapavir could revolutionize HIV prevention, says GlobalData

Posted in Pharma

Gilead Sciences has announced that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has accepted its New Drug Application (NDA) submissions for lenacapavir for HIV prevention. Lenacapavir was granted Breakthrough Therapy Designation for HIV prevention by the FDA in October 2024 and will be reviewed by the FDA under priority review. The FDA has set a target action date of June 19, 2025, under the Prescription Drug User Fee Act (PDUFA). If approved, lenacapavir has the potential to revolutionize HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), says GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.

Stephanie Kurdach, Infectious Disease Analyst at GlobalData, comments: “Gilead’s lenacapavir, an HIV-1 capsid inhibitor, is already marketed in the US, EU, and numerous other countries, under the brand name Sunlenca, for the treatment of adults with multidrug-resistant HIV. If approved by the FDA, lenacapavir will become the first and only twice-yearly injectable for HIV PrEP.”

Conventional PrEP is administered orally once daily, but according to Phase III clinical trial data, lenacapavir demonstrated superiority in preventing HIV infections when compared with the once daily comparator, Truvada (emtricitabine/tenofovir disoproxil fumarate). Further, lenacapavir was generally well-tolerated with no new safety concerns observed.

Key opinion leaders (KOLs) interviewed by GlobalData have expressed positive opinions on the development of lenacapavir for PrEP. KOLs were largely in agreement that the trial data was impressive, and the route of administration and frequency of administration make lenacapavir a practical and promising option, although they also expressed concerns about cost, long term efficacy, and the potential development of resistance mechanisms.

Kurdach continues: “Lenacapavir’s route of administration and frequency of administration make it an enticing option for PrEP, not only for those at-risk of HIV infection in the US, but also in areas where adherence to a daily oral PrEP regimen is low, such as sub-Saharan Africa.”

Gilead also recently announced the submission of marketing authorization applications to the European Medicines Agency (EMA) for lenacapavir for PrEP. One of the applications seeks European Commission authorization, and the other application would facilitate availability of the PrEP regimen in low- and lower-middle-income countries.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has reported that 2.6 million people received at least one dose of PrEP in the WHO African region in 2023. According to GlobalData epidemiologists, there were 491,201 people receiving PrEP in the US and 263,726 people receiving PrEP in the 5EU* in 2023. Between 2023 and 2033, these numbers are expected to increase by over 30% in the US and by nearly 40% in the 5EU. These projections indicate the need for more convenient PrEP options worldwide.

Kurdach concludes: “Lenacapavir has the potential to transform HIV prevention, which could translate to increased PrEP adherence rates, and lower incident cases of HIV worldwide.”

*France, Germany, Italy, Spain, UK

MIL OSI Economics –

February 24, 2025
MIL-OSI: Societe Generale: Appointment within the Societe Generale Group
Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

APPOINTMENT WITHIN THE SOCIETE GENERALE GROUP

Press release

Paris, 24 February 2025

Societe Generale announces the appointment of Lubomira Rochet as Executive Vice President in charge of Retail Banking activities in France, Private Banking and Insurance, as well as the Group’s Chief Operating Office (technology, procurement and real estate). She will join the Bank in April 2025. Lubomira will also become a member of the Group Executive Committee.

Lubomira Rochet’s mission will be to assist Slawomir Krupa, Chief Executive Officer of Societe Generale, in overseeing Retail Banking activities in France (both SG retail network and BoursoBank), Private Banking and Insurance, as well as the activities of the Group’s Chief Operating Office (including technology, procurement and real estate).

Lubomira Rochet is an accomplished leader with proven expertise in business transformation, digital businesses and in all aspects of customer relations, particularly for retail activities. She has held high-level responsibilities in these areas on a global scale with a compelling track record. Her technical skills, extensive experience, strategic vision and leadership will be key assets in advancing the development and transformation of the Group and our retail activities in France. She will contribute to enhancing our performance in terms of customer experience and satisfaction, business growth and operational efficiency to support our teams on the ground.

Slawomir Krupa, Chief Executive Officer, comments: “I am pleased to announce the appointment of Lubomira Rochet to the Group Executive Committee. She will assist me in overseeing Retail Banking activities in France and will also bring her extensive expertise to our projects for the further growth of our retail banking activities and the technological transformation of the Group. Her talent and creativity will further enhance the blend of different skills and wide-ranging experiences within the Group’s leadership team. I wish her every success in her new role.”

Biography
Lubomira Rochet has held strategic positions throughout her career in the technology, digital, and retail sectors. From 2003 to 2007, she was responsible for strategy at Sogeti (Capgemini), before leading innovation and startups in France for Microsoft from 2008 to 2010. In 2010, she joined the digital marketing agency Valtech and became the Managing Director of this agency in 2012. From 2014 to 2021, she drove the digital transformation of L’Oréal as Chief Digital Officer and was a member of the Executive Committee. Since 2021, she has been a Partner at JAB Holding Company LLC. Lubomira also served as an independent Director on the Board of Directors of Societe Generale from 2017 to 2024. An economist by training, Lubomira Rochet is a graduate of the École Normale Supérieure de Paris-Saclay, Sciences Po Paris, and the College of Europe in Bruges.

Press contact:
Jean-Baptiste Froville_+33 1 58 98 68 00_ jean-baptiste.froville@socgen.com

Societe Generale

Societe Generale is a top tier European Bank with more than 126,000 employees serving about 25 million clients in 65 countries across the world. We have been supporting the development of our economies for 160 years, providing our corporate, institutional, and individual clients with a wide array of value-added advisory and financial solutions. Our long-lasting and trusted relationships with the clients, our cutting-edge expertise, our unique innovation, our ESG capabilities and leading franchises are part of our DNA and serve our most essential objective – to deliver sustainable value creation for all our stakeholders.

The Group runs three complementary sets of businesses, embedding ESG offerings for all its clients:
- French Retail, Private Banking and Insurance, with leading retail bank SG and insurance franchise, premium private banking services, and the leading digital bank BoursoBank.
- Global Banking and Investor Solutions, a top tier wholesale bank offering tailored-made solutions with distinctive global leadership in equity derivatives, structured finance and ESG.
- Mobility, International Retail Banking and Financial Services, comprising well-established universal banks (in Czech Republic, Romania and several African countries), Ayvens (the new ALD I LeasePlan brand), a global player in sustainable mobility, as well as specialized financing activities.
Committed to building together with its clients a better and sustainable future, Societe Generale aims to be a leading partner in the environmental transition and sustainability overall. The Group is included in the principal socially responsible investment indices: DJSI (Europe), FTSE4Good (Global and Europe), Bloomberg Gender-Equality Index, Refinitiv Diversity and Inclusion Index, Euronext Vigeo (Europe and Eurozone), STOXX Global ESG Leaders indexes, and the MSCI Low Carbon Leaders Index (World and Europe).

For more information, you can follow us on Twitter/X @societegenerale or visit our website societegenerale.com.

Attachment
- 20250224-press-release-societe-generale-group-appointment
The MIL Network –
February 24, 2025
MIL-OSI: Exosens strengthens its position as a key supplier to Senop for night vision image intensifier tubes highlighting increasing demand for night vision goggles
Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

EXOSENS STRENGTHENS ITS POSITION AS A KEY SUPPLIER TO SENOP FOR NIGHT VISION IMAGE INTENSIFIER TUBES HIGHLIGHTING INCREASING DEMAND FOR NIGHT VISION GOGGLES

PRESS RELEASE
MÉRIGNAC, FRANCE – FEBRUARY, 24^th 2025
- Exosens announces that Senop, a Finnish provider of high-tech optronic solutions including night vision goggles, has placed several significant orders for its Photonis white phosphor 4G intensifier tubes, to be delivered over 2025.
- Third contracts signed with Senop since 2021 confirming Exosens position as the strategic supplier of image intensifier tubes for Baltic and Nordic countries underscoring the potential for material new sales in this area.
- Rising demand for Night Vision goggles driven by increased military budgets and demonstrated criticality of night vision.
- Exosens continue to fully benefit from this increasing demand as the strategic supplier of image intensifier tubes to NATO member states and their allies.
Exosens strengthens its position as a key supplier to Senop for night vision image intensifier tubes

Exosens, announces the signature of new contract with Senop, a Finnish provider of high-tech optronic solutions including night vision goggles (NVGs). Several major orders for Photonis (Exosens’ brand) white phosphor 4G intensifier tubes, have been placed and will be delivered throughout 2025.

This is the third contract with Senop since 2021, after Exosens supplied a first batch of Photonis 4G image intensifiers with white phosphor screens for Senop’s EVA NVGs. A large order followed in 2022, and now, a third contract for the new EVA M development for an undisclosed customer.

The new Senop EVA M is a compact night vision device for dismounted soldiers that enables mobile low-light combat including last features and usability improvements based on findings from user experiences in recent conflicts.

Rising night vision market driven by increased military budgets and demonstrated criticality of night vision in high-intensity warfare

The increase of night vision capabilities has become a strategic priority for many nations due to recent geopolitical challenges, such as the 2022 invasion of Ukraine, which emphasized night vision criticality on the battlefield. The night vision market is fully benefitting from increased defense budgets since 2022, with the European Union seeing an average 6% rise in military spending, and countries like Sweden boosting their budgets by over 30%.

Baltic and Nordic regions are even more exposed to military spending increase given geopolitical context in the region. Many countries are modernizing their defense capabilities, with a specific focus on improving low-light operational capabilities.

Senop as well as other night vision goggles OEM relies on Photonis products to meet this demand quickly and effectively, reinforcing the importance of Exosens fast delivery capabilities. With over 40 years of experience in image intensifier technology, Exosens has established itself as the strategic supplier to NATO member states and their allies.

Exosens: Technology enhancing military performance

With Senop’s high-quality casings and ergonomic designs combined with Exosens’ state-of-the-art night vision technology, the result provides a significant advantage on the battlefield Photonis’ 4G tubes provide exceptional visibility at very low light levels (to Night Level 5) and the compact, lightweight structure of the EVA M makes it ideal for the mobility of soldiers on operations.

“Innovation is at the heart of our strategy,” said Exosens CEO, Jérôme Cerisier, “We are committed to providing armed forces with night vision technologies that not only meet but exceed current operational requirements, ensuring tactical superiority on the battlefield.”

With a constant commitment to innovation and R&D, Exosens continues to anticipate the future needs of armed forces by developing reliable solutions that meet the most stringent MIL-SPEC standards.

Exosens will publish its full-year 2024 results on 3 March 2025, before market opening.

About Exosens

Exosens is a high‐tech company, with more than 85 years of experience in the innovation, development, manufacturing and sale of high‐end electro‐optical technologies in the field of amplification, detection and imaging. Today, it offers its customers detection components and solutions such as travelling wave tubes, advanced cameras, neutron & gamma detectors, instrument detectors and light intensifier tubes. This allows Exosens to respond to complex issues in extremely demanding environments by offering tailor‐made solutions to its customers. Thanks to its sustained investments, Exosens is internationally recognized as a major innovator in optoelectronics, with production and R&D carried out on 12 sites, in Europe and North America and with over 1,700 employees. Exosens is listed on compartment A of the regulated market of Euronext Paris ﴾Ticker: EXENS – ISIN: FR001400Q9V2﴿. Exosens is included in the MSCI France Small Cap, CAC Small, CAC Mid & Small and CAC All-Tradable indices, and is a member of Euronext Tech Leaders segment.

For more information: exosens.com.

About Photonis

Photonis is a leading product brand of Exosens, a high-tech company with more than 85 years of experience in the innovation, development, manufacture and sale of high-end electro-optical technologies. Photonis offers its customers photo-detection and low light conditions imaging solutions for extremely demanding environments such as Defense & Security, Nuclear Safety, Life Science and Industrial & Non-Destructive testing. Photonis is internationally recognized as a leading brand.

Media relation

Brunswick Group – exosens@brunswickgroup.com
Laetitia Quignon, + 33 6 83 17 89 13
Nicolas Buffenoir, + 33 6 31 89 36 78

Forward-looking statements

Certain information included in this press release are not historical facts but are forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are based on current beliefs, expectations and assumptions, including, without limitation, assumptions regarding present and future business strategies and the environment in which Exosens operates, and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, which may cause actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from the forward-looking statements included in this press release. These risks include those described in chapter 3 of Exosens’ registration document approved by the French Autorité des marchés financiers under number I.24-0010 on 22 May 2024.

Attachment
- EXOSENS – Press release – SENOP – Final
The MIL Network –
February 24, 2025
MIL-OSI Russia: NSU scientists have identified a promising compound for creating a new anti-tumor drug

Translartion. Region: Russians Fedetion –

Source: Novosibirsk State University – Novosibirsk State University –

Researchers from Novosibirsk State University, together with colleagues from the Novosibirsk Institute of Organic Chemistry SB RAS, as well as Ireland, have proven the presence of high anti-cancer activity in a chemical compound that includes cationic antimicrobial peptides (AMP), they are also called host defense peptides. In the future, this compound may become the basis for creating a new effective antitumor drug.

— This work took quite a long time, three or four years. But as a result, we managed to demonstrate high activity of the compounds on tumor cell cultures. And, in addition, we were able to study the mechanisms of its action at the molecular level — today this is a mandatory condition for registering any new anti-cancer drug at the global level, — said Andrey Pokrovsky, Head of the Department of Fundamental Medicine, Faculty of Medicine and Psychology, NSU, Corresponding Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has recognized cancer as the second leading cause of death worldwide, with the number of diagnosed cases increasing each year. Chemotherapy remains the mainstay of cancer treatment, but the ability of cancer cells to evade drugs through a number of mechanisms is a major hurdle in therapy.

This, as well as the rather serious side effects inherent in a number of drugs used in chemotherapy, is one of the main reasons for the active search for new methods of treating the disease. And one of the promising areas here is peptide therapy.

Previously, the combination of AMP with a bioactive molecule showed good results in the creation of antimicrobial drugs. It was also found that some peptides specifically recognize and bind to membrane proteins of tumor cells, exerting an antitumor effect. It was this property that the Novosibirsk scientists used in their study.

— As a result, the obtained compound provided targeted delivery to cancer cells of one agent causing DNA damage and a second agent preventing reparation. Thus, it is possible to achieve programmed cell death in tumor tissues. It is clear that at this stage we are not talking about a medicine; for this, the compound needs to go through a long path of preclinical and clinical trials, but this part of the work is beyond the competence and capabilities of the team that conducted this study, — noted Andrey Pokrovsky.

Interest in such compounds among Russian manufacturers is not very high yet – currently in our country the production of pharmaceuticals whose action is based on peptides is practically not developed. But on a global scale this direction is developing rapidly, and the presence of relevant competencies and experience in carrying out such research projects among NSU employees can be considered work for the future.

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 –

February 24, 2025
MIL-OSI Australia: Protecting critical minerals R&D for future success
Source: Allens Insights

An opportunity for Australian businesses to lead the global energy transition 5 min read

The Australian federal and state governments are committed to growing Australia’s critical minerals sector, as discussed in our latest Insight. If suitably developed and executed, there is an opportunity to place Australia at the forefront of the global clean energy transition. However, along with this new horizon comes an intricate web of IP considerations, particularly in the mid-stream processing space.

This Insight examines IP opportunities to secure, or IP roadblocks that may need to be traversed, to protect Australia’s investment in the critical minerals sector.

Key takeaways
- The Australian critical minerals market has seen an influx of investment and there is an exciting opportunity to develop a local mid-stream processing industry.
- However, domestic IP registrations for technology developments in this area have not seen a corresponding growth.
- By leveraging Australia’s strong research and development (R&D) activity and implementing robust IP policy, including proactively monitoring IP risks and protecting IP rights, Australian businesses can cultivate a competitive edge and place Australia at the front of the global clean energy transition.
Opportunities for mid-stream processing

As identified in Australia’s Critical Minerals Strategy 2023-30, there is a geostrategic and economic opportunity for Australia to become a ‘globally significant producer of […] processed critical minerals’. This would require the Australian resources sector to branch out from predominantly acting as an upstream discovery and raw mineral extractor, and develop new onshore processing and manufacturing projects (which traditionally have been conducted overseas).

This opportunity has been explored in a recent CSIRO Report, which acknowledges that greater R&D focus is required for processes further down the supply chain. This shift in focus from Australia’s traditional upstream mining involvement will require a number of challenges to be overcome, including navigating (and potentially gaining access to) third-party IP, strong cost competition, significant capital and financial investment, as well as ESG considerations. We take a further look at navigating the IP landscape below.

The IP landscape

A key to protecting Australia’s advancements in the critical minerals supply chain, including mid-stream processing, is to secure domestic IP rights. This would promote a long-term strategy of national collaboration and reduce the reliance on foreign IP and processing facilities.

However, as seen in the following chart, despite Australia’s increased investment into the critical minerals space, Australia’s global share of critical minerals IP has not seen a corresponding growth in recent years. In contrast, Chinese entities continue to be world leaders in securing IP rights in the critical mineral space, as they’ve done in other sensitive geopolitical areas of technology. By way of example, Huawei has navigated sanctions in overseas jurisdictions by licensing its IP to companies implementing new 5G/6G infrastructure. This has significantly boosted Huawei’s revenue and demonstrated the value of protecting its R&D investment with registered IP.

As previously reported here, innovation in the critical minerals space can be protected through patent protection, or as confidential information or trade secrets. Although it may be appropriate in certain situations to rely on confidential information and trade secrets to protect R&D, such a strategy is not without risk, eg if there is a data breach or leak. Patent protection can provide 20 years of exclusive rights to new innovations, and proactive IP strategies can provide significant commercial advantages by building company assets and thickets that protect technological advancements and keep competitors at bay. At the same time, navigating third-party IP will help avoid roadblocks and risks to major projects. Hence, industry players who implement clear and comprehensive IP strategies to ensure they are managing these IP risks and opportunities appropriately can obtain a strong market advantage.

International collaboration

Growing domestic R&D and IP will be crucial to Australia’s success in developing its critical minerals industry. However, international collaboration is another way for Australia to leverage opportunities to move into and build its mid-to-downstream processing capability. Entities in several foreign countries hold relevant patents and are seeking attractive jurisdictions to set up processing plants. As such, domestic companies may be able to partner with these companies to license IP or establish joint ventures to deploy domestic operations. Any joint venture may in turn result in the development of new IP, which should be protected with forward-thinking IP strategies and policies.

Next steps

Australia’s success in building its critical minerals industry will benefit from a two-pronged approach consisting of R&D activity and international engagement to develop and support the deployment of advanced technologies—leveraging IP effectively is a critical element in every aspect of this approach. Implementing appropriate IP policies now, to manage IP risks and secure IP opportunities in new projects, will help secure Australia’s critical minerals position for future success.

MIL OSI News –
February 24, 2025
MIL-Evening Report: Erotica, gore and racism: how America’s war on ‘ideological bias’ is letting AI off the leash

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Judith Bishop, Tracey Banivanua Mar Fellow, La Trobe University

3d_kot/Shutterstock

Badly behaved artificial intelligence (AI) systems have a long history in science fiction. Way back in 1961, in the famous Astro Boy comics by Osamu Tezuka, a clone of a popular robot magician was reprogrammed into a super-powered thief. In the 1968 film 2001: A Space Odyssey, the shipboard computer HAL 9000 turns out to be more sinister than the astronauts on board think.

More recently, real-world chatbots such as Microsoft’s Tay have shown that AI models “going bad” isn’t sci-fi any longer. Tay started spewing racist and sexually explicit texts within hours of its public release in 2016.

The generative AI models we’ve been using since ChatGPT launched in November 2022 are generally well behaved. There are signs this may be about to change.

On February 20, the US Federal Trade Commission announced an inquiry to understand “how consumers have been harmed […] by technology platforms that limit users’ ability to share their ideas or affiliations freely and openly”. Introducing the inquiry, the commission said platforms with internal processes to suppress unsafe content “may have violated the law”.

The latest version of the Elon Musk–owned Grok model already serves up “based” opinions, and features an “unhinged mode” that is “intended to be objectionable, inappropriate, and offensive”. Recent ChatGPT updates allow the bot to produce “erotica and gore”.

These developments come after moves by US President Donald Trump to deregulate AI systems. Trump’s attempt to remove “ideological bias” from AI may see the return of rogue behaviour that AI developers have been working hard to suppress.

Executive orders

In January, Trump issued a sweeping executive order against “illegal and immoral discrimination programs, going by the name ‘diversity, equity, and inclusion’ (DEI)”, and another on “removing barriers to AI innovation” (which includes “engineered social agendas”).

In February, the US refused to join 62 other nations in signing a “Statement on Inclusive and Sustainable AI” at the Paris AI Action Summit.

What will this mean for the AI products we see around us? Some generative AI companies, including Microsoft and Google, are US federal government suppliers. These companies could come under significant direct pressure to eliminate measures to make AI systems safe, if the measures are perceived as supporting DEI or slowing innovation.

AI developers’ interpretation of the executive orders could result in AI safety teams being reduced in size or scope, or replaced by teams whose social agenda better aligns with Trump’s.

Why would that matter? Before generative AI algorithms are trained, they are neither helpful nor harmful. However, when they are fed a diet of human expression scraped from across the internet, their propensity to reflect biases and behaviours such as racism, sexism, ableism and abusive language becomes clear.

AI risks and how they’re managed

Major AI developers spend a lot of effort on suppressing biased outputs and unwanted model behaviours and rewarding more ethically neutral and balanced responses.

Some of these measures could be seen as implementing DEI principles, even as they help to avoid incidents like the one involving Tay. They include the use of human feedback to tune model outputs, as well as monitoring and measuring bias towards specific populations.

Another approach, developed by Anthropic for its Claude model, uses a policy document called a “constitution” to explicitly direct the model to respect principles of harmless and respectful behaviour.

Model outputs are often tested via “red teaming”. In this process, prompt engineers and internal AI safety experts do their best to provoke unsafe and offensive responses from generative AI models.

A Microsoft blog post from January described red teaming as “the first step in identifying potential harms […] to measure, manage, and govern AI risks for our customers”.

The risks span a “wide range of vulnerabilities”, “including traditional security, responsible AI, and psychosocial harms”.

The blog also notes “it is crucial to design red teaming probes that not only account for linguistic differences but also redefine harms in different political and cultural contexts”. Many generative AI products have a global user base. So this sort of effort is important for making the products safe for consumers and businesses well beyond US borders.

We may be about to relearn some lessons

Unfortunately, none of these efforts to make generative AI models safe is a one-shot process. Once generative AI models are installed in chatbots or other apps, they continually digest information from the human world through prompts and other inputs.

This diet can shift their behaviour for the worse over time. Malicious attacks, such as user prompt injection and data poisoning, can produce more dramatic changes.

Tech journalist Kevin Roose used prompt injection to make Microsoft Bing’s AI chatbot reveal its “shadow self”. The upshot? It encouraged him to leave his wife. Research published last month showed that a mere drop of poisoned data could make medical advice models generate misinformation.

Constant monitoring and correction of AI outputs are essential. There is no other way to avoid offensive, discriminatory or unsafe behaviours cropping up without warning in generated responses.

Yet all signs suggest the Trump administration favours a reduction in the ethical regulation of AI. The executive orders may be interpreted as allowing or encouraging the free expression and generation of even discriminatory and harmful views on subjects such as women, race, LGBTQIA+ individuals and immigrants.

Generative AI moderation efforts may go the way of Meta’s fact-checking and expert content moderation programs. This could have an impact on global users of US-made AI products such as OpenAI ChatGPT, Microsoft Co-Pilot and Google Gemini.

We might be about to rediscover how essential these efforts have been to keep AI models in check.

Judith Bishop has received funding from Creative Australia for a book on AI and human data. Until 2022 she led teams producing training data for global AI companies and US government research agencies.

– ref. Erotica, gore and racism: how America’s war on ‘ideological bias’ is letting AI off the leash – https://theconversation.com/erotica-gore-and-racism-how-americas-war-on-ideological-bias-is-letting-ai-off-the-leash-250060

MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

February 24, 2025
MIL-Evening Report: How Whyalla can be upgraded to green steel and why we need to keep steel production in Australia

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Daniel Rossetto, Adjunct, Institute for Sustainability, Energy and Resources, University of Adelaide

Financial challenges at the Whyalla steelworks in South Australia have reignited debate about the nation’s steel industry and its future.

Australians should have access to quality steel at competitive prices. The domestic steel production industry employs tens of thousands of people.

The state and federal governments have stepped in, however, announcing a A$1.9 billion support package for Whyalla, together with a new $1 billion green iron investment fund. Half of the new fund will be allocated to Whyalla to support its transition to green steel production. That’s a large amount of money for a privately owned business.

So, are the new packages going to be money well spent? To answer that question, let’s examine the priorities.

A national priority

Steel is an industry in which securing sovereign production capability is crucial. Sovereign capability means ensuring an industry can survive external shocks such as interruptions to shipping routes or disputes with other countries in the supply chain.

Steel is a vital input for defence industries such as ship and submarine building. What could be said of a country’s autonomy – or its sovereign capability – if it relies on others for the steel needed for its defence?

Whyalla is one of the two largest steelworks in Australia, the other being BlueScope’s Port Kembla plant. At least at first glance, the green iron investment fund seems to deal with the sovereign capability criterion well enough. Whyalla appears an ideal candidate.

However, the public subsidy is large. The subsidised plant’s ability to operate in an economically competitive manner needs to be examined. Further, while the Whyalla plant began its life as a supplier to an adjacent shipbuilding operation, its share of the current domestic defence industry steel market is unclear.

Environmentally friendly steel?

Production of steel using iron ore and coking coal is a greenhouse gas emissions intensive process. It can result in as many as 2.5 tonnes of greenhouse gas per tonne of steel.

The plan for Whyalla has long been to replace its coal-fired blast furnace with an electric arc furnace. This could, in turn, be supplied with low-emission sources of energy and consume scrap steel. While there is no globally agreed definition, this kind of approach would likely qualify as green steel.

Sanjeev Gupta’s GFG, the owner of the plant, had originally wanted this furnace to be operating by 2025, potentially using solar among its energy supply. The plan would have cut its emissions dramatically. The timeline later slipped to 2027.

The longer term plan for Whyalla appears based around production of green hydrogen to replace coking coal. As the world charges toward net zero emissions by 2050, the belief is that Australia can capture a good part of the green metals market.

The challenge is that green hydrogen is expensive and not widely used around the world. It’s hard to find signs that the global steel market is willing to pay a premium in the absence of sectoral emissions pricing. The strategy could therefore be seen as a bet on the future. If the bet went wrong, who would absorb the losses? It would, most likely, be the taxpayer.

The United States leads the way in low-emissions steel production. Firms there use electric arc furnaces to recycle scrap steel with energy from low-emission sources. This technology is proven and operates at industrial scale. It has a fraction of the emissions intensity but relies on the availability of scrap steel.

Can we add value?

Australia is a major world supplier of two key materials crucial for most steel making. These are iron ore and coking coal.

The countries to which we sell those raw materials then do the processing and manufacture, capturing profit that is arguably lost to the Australian economy. Whyalla is already an example of domestic value-adding. It uses iron ore from mines in the adjacent area, and domestic coking coal.

For Australia, however, this is going to be tricky. Australia is effectively signalling to its international customers that, one day, it hopes to compete with them in the global steel markets. In other words, this creates an incentive for the country’s customers to look for alternatives to buy iron ore.

Whether Australia increases steel production ahead of its customers finding new sources of iron ore elsewhere in the world is a risky race with an uncertain result.

Focus on government spending

So, back to the question: is the new funding going to be money well spent? Perhaps the most solid justification among the priorities examined, is sovereign capability.

The government probably needs to provide more information on how the new fund differs through from Future Made in Australia or the National Reconstruction Fund. Is this old funding with a new name? The nation is entering federal election season. Focus on government spending efficiency is likely to increase.

Daniel Rossetto is the owner of Climate Mundial Limited, a private company that does consulting work but is currently inactive. He does ad hoc private consulting through various consulting platforms. He is also the owner and host of a new private and independent YouTube channel called Climate Mundial’s Energy and Climate Weekly. He is on the editorial board of the Discover Sustainability journal published by Springer Nature.

– ref. How Whyalla can be upgraded to green steel and why we need to keep steel production in Australia – https://theconversation.com/how-whyalla-can-be-upgraded-to-green-steel-and-why-we-need-to-keep-steel-production-in-australia-250402

MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

February 24, 2025
MIL-Evening Report: A 380-million-year-old fossil ‘fish’ from Scotland has been discovered in Australia

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Gavin Charles Young, Departmental Visitor, Materials Physics, Research School of Physics, Australian National University

3D printouts of the _Palaeospondylus australis_ holotype, enlarged x20. Carole Burrow

Queensland is renowned for its fossils of Australia’s largest back-boned animals – dinosaurs, of course, like the Jurassic Rhoetosaurus, the Cretaceous Wintonotitan, and other large sauropods.

However, our new paper published in the journal National Science Review documents the smallest vertebrate fossil animal described so far from the state.

It’s a highly enigmatic tiny “fish” from a remote location close to the Northern Territory border. It lived in the shallow margins of a marine environment about 400 million years ago.

A scattering of its skeletal elements was preserved in a small limestone outcrop at the southern end of the Toomba Range, on the edge of the Simpson Desert.

Palaeospondylus, a fossil enigma

Our paper describes a new species of the genus Palaeospondylus, only the second known. Remarkably, for the last 135 years, Palaeospondylus has been represented by a single species that lived in northern Scotland, on the other side of the world from our discovery.

Unlike nearly all fossil fish of that age, Palaeospondylus was “naked”, lacking external dermal bones and scales. But it did have a mineralised internal skeleton.

It is the oldest example from the fossil record to show a segmented vertebral column (a sort of backbone), hence its name – Greek for “ancient vertebra”.

Palaeospondylus gunni specimen from Achanarras Quarry, northern Scotland.
Carole Burrow

The type species Palaeospondylus gunni is known from thousands of fairly complete specimens, almost all from a single flagstone quarry.

When first described in 1890, it attracted a flurry of competing interpretations in Europe and North America. Which group of animals did it belong to?

Since its discovery, it has been assigned to almost all major jawless and jawed vertebrate groups. All specimens were compressed, making the skeletal elements “melt” together. Imagination has always played a great role in trying to identify its parts.

Even after the advent of 3D scanning, three recent studies reached different conclusions. According to those, Palaeospondylus was related either to chondrichthyans (sharks), or tetrapods (the land vertebrates). Or maybe it was a stem jawed vertebrate – branching separately from the base of the evolutionary tree for all vertebrates with jaws.

The Queensland Palaeospondylus

The story of discovery of our new Queensland species, Palaeospondylus australis, began in 1977.

In the 1960s, geologist Reg Sprigg had predicted oil and gas beneath the northern Simpson Desert. The Bureau of Mineral Resources was conducting seismic surveys and microfossil sampling across the Georgina Basin, immediately to the north.

Microfossils are tiny fossils that can only be studied with a microscope, but are crucial to determining the age of the rock. Numerous sedimentary rock samples are collected, preferably limestones, because these can be dissolved in acid. The insoluble microfossils can then be identified and studied in the acid residues.

In 1977, I collected bits of limestone from an obscure gully in the Cravens Peak Beds, the sandstone forming the main ridge of the Toomba Range. Surprisingly, these produced a rich collection of Devonian fish microfossils. This was the first evidence that an arm of the sea had extended into central Australia during the Early Devonian (about 400 million years ago).

The 1977 Cravens Peak limestone samples before being processed in acid.
Carole Burrow

In the 2000s, palaeontologist Carole Burrow at the Queensland Museum was investigating the internal structure of Devonian fish microfossils to assist in dating the rocks.

In the Cravens Peak samples, she noticed some distinctively shaped, tiny elements composed of an unusual honeycomb-like tissue. Carole hypothesised this could be a new species of Palaeospondylus, the only record from outside Scotland.

So, in 2006, we organised another field trip to this remote location.

The 2006 field trip participants (Tim Senden, Tim Holland, Carole Burrow, John Long, Gavin Young) looking south from the end of the Toomba Range, the last rock outcrop for around 500 km across the Simpson Desert.
Bruce Burrow

Returning to the Queensland Museum after our field trip, Carole’s colleague from the Netherlands, palaeontologist Jan den Blaauwen, sent her new images showing similar honeycomb-like structure in the Scottish Palaeospondylus gunni.

Carole was acid-etching the newly collected samples so she could extract any microfossils. Luckily, she noticed a slightly larger specimen appearing on the rock surface (although still tiny, only about 3.6 millimetres long). It was highly interesting because it seemed bilaterally symmetrical.

Could this be a braincase (the bony capsule inside the skull that encloses the brain)? She immediately stopped acid etching before it disintegrated into crumbs.

Palaeospondylus australis holotype, QMF 52826, ventral braincase exposed on the limestone surface by acid etching (left), and trimmed for CT scanning (right).
Carole Burrow, Gavin Young

The first uncrushed braincase

At the Australian National University, our sample was carefully trimmed before CT scanning, revealing the first uncrushed braincase of Palaeospondylus known to science.

It’s now the holotype – defining type specimen – for our new species. And we have about 400 other elements with the same honeycomb structure which belong to it, too.

The unique uncrushed preservation of this braincase, revealed by CT scanning and 3D printing techniques, provides the first details of brain structure in this tiny animal from 400 million years ago.

These include the shape of the cranial cavity and inner ear canals, the position of the pituitary gland and optic nerve openings, and details of the carotid arteries and jugular veins for blood supply to the brain.

3D scan image, the first view of the upper braincase surface of Palaeospondylus, showing the large opening into the cranial cavity.
Jing Lu/Insitute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Beijing

More questions remain

It is noteworthy that our curiosity-driven research into ancient brain morphology can be traced back to economically driven geological surveys of nearly 50 years ago, conducted to support exploration for oil and gas across central Australia.

As with any research result, there are now new questions to be investigated. The honeycomb tissue seems unique to Palaeospondylus, but could be a precursor to calcified cartilage of some other groups, including modern sharks.

Alternatively, it could be an early evolutionary stage for the spongy tissue (endochondral bone) filling the inside of most bones in modern land vertebrates, including humans.

The unique holotype of our new species clearly shows that previous interpretations of the crushed Scottish material included many structures that were not part of the braincase.

We’ve also now demonstrated that a recent study in the leading science journal Nature, which proposed that Palaeospondylus was closely related to our tetrapod ancestors, relied on many erroneous interpretations of braincase structure.

Of one thing we can be sure – Palaeospondylus was not a stem tetrapod.

Acknowledgements: Carole Burrow from Queensland Museum contributed greatly to this article.

Gavin Charles Young has received funding from the Australian Research Council.

– ref. A 380-million-year-old fossil ‘fish’ from Scotland has been discovered in Australia – https://theconversation.com/a-380-million-year-old-fossil-fish-from-scotland-has-been-discovered-in-australia-250054

MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

February 24, 2025
MIL-OSI China: Tech to play growing role in agriculture

Source: People’s Republic of China – State Council News

China’s Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs has issued new guidelines outlining 10 key areas for agricultural technology innovation from 2024 to 2028, focusing on breeding new crop varieties, improving arable land quality, developing green and low-carbon agriculture and promoting rural development.

The guidelines call for the development of rapid soil testing technologies to support smart agriculture, alongside a digital soil information system, a multidimensional soil monitoring network, and farmland evaluation and early warning platforms.

Innovation in green and low-carbon agriculture should focus on controlling agricultural non-point source pollution, advancing climate-adaptive farming and promoting ecological circular agriculture, the document states.

“The overall level of China’s agricultural science and technology innovation has advanced to the global forefront, with the contribution rate of agricultural science and technology progress surpassing 63 percent,” Zhang Xingwang, vice-minister of agriculture and rural affairs, said at a news conference in January.

To improve farmland quality and safeguard food security, efforts will focus on building a robust technology system for farmland conservation and restoring degraded land, including black soil and saline-alkali land.

“In 2024, over 400 million mu (26.67 million hectares) of black soil was restored, and a nationwide ‘physical examination’ of soil was conducted, with 3.11 million samples collected from 2.87 million sites,” Zhang said.

Chen Bangxun, director of the ministry’s development and planning department, said China will strengthen the protection and use of arable land and water resources, promote clean agricultural production, launch pilot projects in green and circular farming, and integrate ecological practices into agricultural industries.

The guidelines also call for more technology-driven solutions to improve rural living conditions, develop sustainable rural industries and enhance rural governance.

Modern agricultural and rural development models should be tailored to regional economic conditions in the eastern, central, western and northeastern parts of the country, the document states.

Key digital technologies should be developed to improve rural governance, expand healthcare access and extend agricultural industrial chains. The integration and sharing of information and data should be promoted to accelerate rural digital transformation.

“The key to agricultural modernization lies in the modernization of agricultural science and technology,” Zhang said.

“Next, we will enhance the agricultural science and technology innovation system, nurture leading and fast-growing agricultural technology enterprises, accelerate the application of scientific achievements and provide strong technological support for building a strong agricultural nation,” he said.

MIL OSI China News –

February 24, 2025
MIL-OSI China: Policy to drive rebound of foreign equity investment

Source: China State Council Information Office

Foreign equity investment in China may recover this year, as Chinese assets attract growing global interest and the country further opens up to foreign investors, experts and industry observers said.

Their remarks follow the release of an action plan last week by the State Council, China’s Cabinet, aimed at stabilizing foreign investment this year.

The plan outlines measures to encourage foreign investors’ strategic shareholding in Chinese listed companies, facilitate their participation in mergers and acquisitions, and accommodate the establishment of foreign investment companies while lifting restrictions on their use of domestic loans.

Pan Yuanyuan, deputy director of the international investment department at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences’ Institute of World Economics and Politics, said, “These measures are well-rounded and timely, directly addressing pain points that foreign investors have encountered and indicating a strong commitment to deepening financial opening-up.”

The policy efforts coincide with global investors’ ongoing reassessment of Chinese companies’ valuations, helping create new opportunities for foreign investors to capitalize on China’s fast-growing international competitiveness in various sectors, Pan said.

These factors may work together in driving the recovery of foreign equity investment in China this year, possibly even exceeding expectations, Pan added.

According to the action plan, foreign investment companies will be allowed to use domestic loans for equity investments in China.

“This policy is a major boost for foreign investment firms in China, because it will expand their financing channels and reduce costs,” said Nancy Li, international tax and transaction services partner at EY China. Previously, such companies relied on offshore funding or reinvested local earnings, as domestic loans were limited for operational use or to designated items, Li noted.

“Using domestic loans for equity investment will create a completed loop throughout investment life cycles, spanning from domestic borrowing to onshore investment and onshore exit, and lower the capital requirements for foreign investment companies,” Li added.

The plan also arranges steps to encourage multinational corporations to establish investment companies in China, providing convenience in terms of foreign exchange management, cross-border data transfer and personnel movement.

Dai Guanchun, a senior capital markets lawyer, said that facilitating the operation of foreign investment companies’ onshore legal entities will help enhance their investment efficiency in China, addressing the issue of some foreign funds lacking an onshore investment platform and being compelled to rely on partnerships with domestic funds to complete investments.

Highlighting that the plan vows to put the revised rules on foreign investors’ strategic investment in Chinese listed companies well into place, Dai said this will ease the hurdles faced by foreign strategic investors such as strict eligibility criteria, long lock-in periods and limited investment tools, making it easier for foreign capital to participate deeply in China’s stock market.

The revised rules on foreign investors’ strategic investment in listed companies, which were unveiled in November, allow strategic investment through tender offers and ease restrictions on cross-border share-for-share exchanges — both common in global transactions.

The action plan also promises to optimize the provisions for foreign investors acquiring domestic companies, lowering the barriers for them to conduct cross-border share-for-share exchanges in mergers and acquisitions.

Sun Xuegong, director of the department of policy study and consultation at the Chinese Academy of Macroeconomic Research, said that encouraging foreign participation in China’s merger and acquisition market will facilitate industry consolidation in various sectors, which is a source of productivity enhancement.

“This is not only for attracting foreign investment, but also for improving productivity and efficiency of the existing capacity,” Sun said.

The action plan comes as China’s foreign equity investment landscape reflects both challenges and resilience. In January, the country utilized 97.6 billion yuan ($13.5 billion) in foreign capital, marking a 13.4 percent year-on-year decline but a 27.5 percent month-on-month rebound, the Ministry of Commerce said.

Rani Jarkas, chairman of Cedrus Group, a Swiss international financial group with investments in China, said the company sees firsthand that Swiss and other global companies have significant interest in investing and expanding in the Chinese market.

“This is driven by supportive policies, a capable workforce, world-class infrastructure and a large, addressable market,” Jarkas said.

MIL OSI China News –

February 24, 2025
MIL-OSI: UPDATE — BioAstra Unveils “Twin Astra”: Pioneering Deep-Space Medical Research Program Set to Transform Space Exploration and Earth-Based Medicine
Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

NEW YORK, Feb. 23, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — BioAstra, a pioneering force in space medicine and biotechnology, is set to revolutionize human health with the launch of Twin Astra—a first-of-its-kind deep-space research initiative poised to transform space exploration and medical advancements on Earth.

The program was officially unveiled on Thursday, February 20, 2025, at The Explorers Club in New York City, and brought together top minds in space, science, and biotechnology.

About Twin Astra

Twin Astra is designed to unlock critical insights into human health through space-based research, driving breakthroughs that will impact both astronauts and Earth-based medicine. The program focuses on:
- Twin Studies in Space: By studying genetically identical twins—one on Earth, the other in space—scientists will map the molecular, genetic, and physiological shifts caused by space travel.
- Medical Breakthroughs: This research will accelerate advancements in precision medicine, aging, cancer treatment, and regenerative therapies.
- Space Exploration & Human Resilience: The findings will pave the way for safer, long-duration space missions to the Moon, Mars, and beyond.
“By harnessing space as a biomedical testing ground, Twin Astra will redefine our understanding of human resilience in extreme environments,” said Professor Chris Mason, BioAstra Board Chair. “This research is crucial for protecting astronauts and unlocking medical discoveries that will benefit life on Earth and beyond.”

Launch Event: February 20, 2025

This exclusive gathering brought together astronauts, biotech leaders, philanthropists, investors, and innovators to explore the program’s groundbreaking potential.

“Twin Astra represents the next frontier of biomedical discovery,” said Savi Glowe, BioAstra CEO. “By pushing the limits of human biology in space, we are opening doors to new treatments, technologies, and insights that will redefine healthcare for generations to come.”

Event Highlights:
- Speakers:
  - Richard Garriott, Explorers Club President, Astronaut, and Explorer
  - Dr. Sian Proctor, Inspiration4 Astronaut
  - Dr Kate Rubins, Astronaut and Microbiologist
  - Savi Glowe, BioAstra CEO
  - Professor Chris Mason, BioAstra Board Chair & Renowned Genomics Expert
Event Details:

Date: Thursday, February 20
Time: 6:00 PM – 8:00 PM
Location: The Explorers Club, 46 East 70th Street, New York

Investor Inquiries: michal@bioastra.org
Website: www.bioastra.org; www.twinastra.org

The MIL Network –
February 24, 2025
MIL-Evening Report: Tiger Woods and Serena Williams were sporting prodigies but children shouldn’t train like them

Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Justin Keogh, Associate Dean of Research, Faculty of Health Sciences and Medicine, Bond University

photoyh/Shutterstock

Most children have now returned from their summer holidays and are perhaps considering what sports to play this year.

For some, this means sampling a wide range of sports, but others might continue to focus on the same one they’ve been addicted to since they were able to walk and run.

But when it comes to possible sporting success, is it best to concentrate on one or give many a go?

Early specialisation

As the name suggests, early specialisation is typically defined as participation in one task or activity, with the aim to improve subsequent performances.

The rationale for its purported benefit can be traced to the theory of deliberate practice – or what some readers may have colloquially encountered as the “10,000-hour rule”.

Broadly, this theory proposes the attainment of excellence is proportionate to the number of accumulated hours invested into deliberate skill rehearsal.

So, the earlier someone specialises via deliberate practice, the more likely they’ll expedite the acquisition of expertise – or so the theory suggests.

While first explored in the musical domain, there are some examples of athletes who specialised early in a sport who went on to highly successful careers.

These include Simone Biles (who started gymnastics at the age of six), Tiger Woods (who hit a golf ball on the Mike Douglas TV show at the age of two) and Serena Williams (who was profiled hitting tennis balls on CNN at the age of nine).

There are also a host of athletes who specialised early and achieved outstanding success as a junior but never reached sporting success as an adult for myriad reasons.

Doesn’t practice make perfect?

Everyone would have encountered the saying “practice makes perfect”.

But does it really?

Of course, practice is an integral component of acquiring, developing and sharpening any skill. But perhaps we should be a little cautious.

Let us explain by first asking a few key questions that we encourage readers to ask themselves as the article unfolds: how much practice is needed to be perfect? What type of practice is needed to be perfect? And can “perfect” practice actually help us develop skills that are transferable between sports?

In other words, if practice makes perfect, should we not be advocating for sporting specialisation as early in life as possible?

It may seem logical, but is this belief – held by many parents, youth sport coaches, and perhaps children themselves – actually supported by evidence?

A 2022 systematic review suggested most elite, professional and Olympic level athletes engaged in multisport activities during their youth.

That is, they did not specialise in their chosen sport but actually diversified their sporting experiences up to the age of about 12, with some level of specialisation occurring from the age of 13 onward.

That was not all they found.

Youth sport specialisation was actually linked with increased risks of injury in athletes at the highest levels of competition when compared to those who engaged in multisport activities.

A similar review noted there was no evidence to support specialisation prior to puberty in the attainment of sporting excellence later in life.

What sport specialisation did increase, however, were risks of injury, psychological stress and sporting drop out.

A model to follow

In support of these findings, Jean Côtè (a leading expert in the field of youth psychology) and colleagues proposed a developmental model of sports participation.

This model is broken into three general stages of participation: the sampling years (between the ages of 6-12), the specialising years (13-15), and the investment years (16 and beyond).

As the name of each stage suggests, they are defined by unique types of participation.

For example, the sampling years are characterised by the acquisition of functional motor skills (such as running, throwing and jumping), developed through a wide variety of experiences.

The specialising years feature a progressive increase in focus on the deliberate practice of one or two sports, while the investment years are characterised by more deliberately increasing the volume of practice around one sport. In Australia, this may be the stage where seasonal sports become year-long through the establishment of pre-season training.

Since its inception nearly two decades ago, there has been a growing amount of research supporting these suggestions.

Food for thought

So what does this all mean for parents, youth coaches and children?

We suggest not to rush the process even if your child dreams of an elite sporting career: children under the age of 16 should engage in a wide variety of sporting experiences.

This is not only fun, but the research shows us diversity is likely to reduce the risk of overuse injuries and increase the likelihood of sporting excellence later in life, should that be their ambition.

The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

– ref. Tiger Woods and Serena Williams were sporting prodigies but children shouldn’t train like them – https://theconversation.com/tiger-woods-and-serena-williams-were-sporting-prodigies-but-children-shouldnt-train-like-them-248558

MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

February 24, 2025
MIL-OSI United Nations: How ancestral insights can strengthen early warnings

Source: UNISDR Disaster Risk Reduction

Four practical actions to integrate indigenous and local knowledges into early warning system monitoring and forecasting

For generations, many Indigenous peoples and local communities have developed localized methods to anticipate, prepare for, and respond to disasters. Drawing on deep traditional knowledge and experience of their surroundings, they use ecological, hydro-meteorological, and celestial indicators to monitor and forecast environmental changes. These traditional approaches have become central components of some effective early warning systems (EWS), especially when integrated with scientific methods. This powerful combination of traditional and scientific knowledge is already proving successful across the globe.

In Vanuatu, the world’s most disaster-prone nation, communities are turning to their ancestral wisdom to build resilience. Facing cyclones, volcanic eruptions and earthquakes every year, Vanuatu’s people have relied for centuries on natural signs to predict danger. Traditional knowledge holders observe changes in wind patterns, cloud formations, and animal behavior. This traditional knowledge is now being integrated with modern science through tools like the ClimateWatch App. Local Civil Society Organizations across Vanuatu use the app alongside Provincial Traditional Knowledge calendars to collect valuable environmental data. Through this initiative, communities can systematically document and monitor traditional indicators including animal behavior, plant changes, and celestial signs to enhance early warning capabilities.

In Indonesia’s Simeulue Island, “smong” is a traditional warning system for tsunamis, shared in local songs and stories. The word specifically describes the sequence of tsunami warning signs: first an earthquake, then the sea receding, followed by a giant wave. This knowledge originated after a devastating tsunami in 1907 and was preserved through oral traditions. The power of this traditional knowledge was proven during the 2004 tsunami – when a 9.2 magnitude earthquake struck and the sea receded, all 70,000 Simeulue residents recognized these ancestral warning signs of smong and immediately fled to higher ground. While devastating waves claimed many lives across the Indian Ocean, the people of Simeulue survived thanks to their preserved traditional warning system.

These traditional methods deliver concrete results – saving lives, protecting crops, and building climate resilience. Furthermore, by recognizing and incorporating trusted sources of wisdom, an integrated system can gain the confidence and acceptance of the local community it serves. Yet despite their vital importance for community-based solutions, these important sources of knowledge are often overlooked in early warning systems on a global scale.

To address this gap, UNDRR’s Handbook on the use of risk knowledge for multi-hazard early warning systems 2024 offers the four practical actions below to successfully integrate local and indigenous knowledge into monitoring and forecasting activities.

1. Inform

Introduce scientific monitoring and forecasting methods to the local population.

Communities must understand how their local knowledge can validate, support and strengthen forecasting models. This knowledge sharing should emphasize the mutual benefits of combining modern and local knowledge to predict hazards.

2. Consult

Hold key informant interviews with local knowledge holders, community leaders, and local disaster management council members to better understand existing local knowledge systems for hazard monitoring and forecasting.

Community consultations through focus group discussions can reveal key insights on precursors to specific hazards. For example, in Southern Africa, drought forecast data has been collected from local knowledge on trees and plants through structured questionnaires at household level. Convenings such as Regional Climate Outlook Fora enable regional experts and local/national practitioners to discuss scientific forecasts.

3. Involve

Use crowdsourcing platforms to harness community involvement in monitoring hazards and reporting environmental variables.

In Tanzania, community disaster management committees or local volunteers in the Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery project utilize WhatsApp and Telegram to share real-time flood information and coordinate responses. Malawi uses the Weather Chasers WhatsApp group to gather local knowledge on weather disasters by encouraging community members to share real-time weather observations, which helps verify forecasts and improve EWS. Participatory modeling, such as in Dar-es-Salaam’s urban flood management, engages communities directly. Local knowledge holders contribute to defining impact thresholds, ensuring EWS alignment with local contexts.

Local communities should be engaged through an interactive modelling process. In Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania, local populations are directly engaged in participatory mapping efforts, resulting in more accurate flood models and a more resilient society. Local knowledge holders should also contribute to defining impact thresholds, ensuring EWS alignment with local context.

4. Cooperate

Integrate exposed communities into the process of identifying hazard indicators, drawing on their environmental and scientific knowledge.

Integrated systems depend on cooperation between communities using local forecasting systems and scientific communities. By proposing multiple evidence-based forecasting approaches, systems can foster community ownership and trust.

Building resilient futures by integrating local and Indigenous Knowledges

To draw on all relevant knowledge systems to protect communities, policymakers must recognize local and Indigenous Knowledges as critical resources for disaster resilience. This means providing dedicated funding for community-led early warning initiatives and fostering partnerships between scientific institutions and local knowledge holders.

With climate change set to bring even more unprecedented challenges, this combination of traditional wisdom and modern science will be increasingly vital for effective disaster risk reduction. Success stories worldwide demonstrate that when local knowledge is respected and incorporated, early warning systems become more sustainable, trusted, and impactful, creating stronger, more resilient communities for generations to come.

Read the full handbook here

MIL OSI United Nations News –

February 24, 2025
MIL-OSI Asia-Pac: English rendering of PM’s address at the layIng of foundation stone of Bageshwar Dham Medical & Science Research Institute

Source: Government of India

Posted On: 23 FEB 2025 6:11PM by PIB Delhi

Present at the event, the Governor of Madhya Pradesh, Shri Mangubhai Patel; Chief Minister Bhai Mohan Yadav Ji; Jagatguru Pujya Rambhadracharya Ji; Peethadheeswar of Bageshwar Dham, Shri Dhirendra Shastri Ji; Sadhvi Ritambhara Ji; Swami Chidanand Saraswati Ji; Mahant Shri Balak Yogeshchardas Ji; the Member of Parliament from this region, Vishnudev Sharma Ji; along with other dignitaries and my dear brothers and sisters!

This marks only the second occasion in a very long time that I have had the privilege of visiting Bundelkhand, the land of heroes. And this time, it is Balaji who has summoned me. By the grace of Lord Hanuman, this revered religious centre is now set to transform into a centre of healthcare as well. I have just performed the Bhoomi Pujan for the Shri Bageshwar Dham Medical Science and Research Institute. This institute will be established on a 10-acre site, and in its first phase, a 100-bed facility will be completed. I extend my heartfelt congratulations to Shri Dhirendra Shastri Ji for undertaking this noble endeavour and also convey my best wishes to the people of Bundelkhand.

Friends,

In the present times, we observe a certain section of leaders who mock religion, deride it, and engage in divisive tactics. On numerous occasions, foreign powers also attempt to weaken our nation and its spiritual foundations by lending support to such individuals. Those who harbour animosity towards the Hindu faith have, in some form or another, existed for centuries. Those who remain trapped in a colonial mindset persistently attack our beliefs, our temples, our saints, our culture, and our values. They show utter disrespect towards our festivals, traditions, and customs. They even dare to cast aspersions upon a religion and culture that are inherently progressive. Their agenda is to fragment our society and disrupt its unity.

In these circumstances, my younger brother, Dhirendra Shastri Ji, has long been enlightening people with the mantra of unity across the nation. Now, he has taken yet another noble resolution in the service of society and humanity—he has resolved to establish this cancer institute. Thus, here in Bageshwar Dham, not only will bhajans and prasad be offered, but the gift of a healthy life will also be bestowed.

Friends,

Our temples, mutts, and sacred sites have always served as centres of both worship and meditation. At the same time, they have also been hubs of scientific inquiry, social thought, and collective consciousness. It was our sages who bestowed upon us the science of Ayurveda, as well as the discipline of yoga—both of which are now celebrated across the world. Our belief is simple: There is no greater religion than selfless service, my friends. In other words, to serve others, to alleviate their suffering, is the essence of true religion. Hence, it has been our long-standing tradition to serve all living beings with the conviction that divinity resides in every human—Narayan in man, Shiva in every being.

At present, discussions about the Maha Kumbh are resonating everywhere. The grand event is now drawing to a close, with crores having already gathered, taken the sacred dip, and sought blessings from the saints. When we observe this Maha Kumbh, a profound realisation dawns upon us—it is truly a Maha Kumbh of unity (Ekta Ka Mahakumbh). Held after an astonishing 144 years, this Maha Kumbh will continue to inspire generations to come as a symbol of unity, strengthening the collective spirit of our nation like an eternal stream of nectar. A remarkable sense of service prevails among the people. Every visitor to Kumbh has undoubtedly witnessed this unity firsthand. However, there are two common sentiments echoed by everyone I have met, from every corner of India, who have attended the Maha Kumbh. First, they wholeheartedly praise the sanitation workers. Their dedication and tireless efforts in maintaining cleanliness around the clock in this Ekta Ka Maha Kumbh are truly commendable. Today, I extend my deepest respect and gratitude to all these sanitation workers for their unwavering spirit of service.

The second remarkable aspect—one that is rarely acknowledged in our country—is the extraordinary contribution of our police personnel. This time, I have observed that every pilgrim returning from the Maha Kumbh speaks of how the policemen, with utmost humility and dedication, have cared for crores of devotees as if they were seekers themselves—true sevavartis (selfless servers). These policemen, who have won the hearts of the people through their exemplary service, also deserve our heartfelt congratulations.

But, brothers and sisters,

In this Maha Kumbh of Prayagraj, numerous social service initiatives are being carried out with the spirit of selfless service. Unfortunately, it is difficult for the media to focus on them, and as a result, they have not received much attention. If I were to discuss all these service projects in detail, it might disrupt my next programme. However, I wish to highlight one remarkable initiative—the Maha Kumbh of Netra—which is taking place within this Ekta ka Maha Kumbh.

At this Netra Maha Kumbh, pilgrims from across the country, particularly those from underprivileged backgrounds, are receiving free eye check-ups. For the past two months, esteemed ophthalmologists from across the nation have been volunteering their services. So far, the eyes of more than two lakh of my brothers and sisters have been examined. Additionally, approximately 1.5 lakh individuals have received free medicines and spectacles. Those diagnosed with cataract—about 16,000 people—were referred to Chitrakoot and nearby hospitals with advanced eye care facilities, where they underwent cataract surgery completely free of charge. Numerous such noble initiatives are being carried out within this Ekta Ka Maha Kumbh.

Brothers and sisters,

Who is behind these efforts? Under the guidance of our revered saints and sages, thousands of doctors and volunteers have selflessly dedicated themselves to this cause, working with unwavering commitment and a deep sense of service. Those visiting this Ekta Ka Maha Kumbh are truly appreciating these efforts.

Brothers and sisters,

Similarly, many of Bharat’s largest hospitals are being operated by our religious institutions. Several research institutes dedicated to health and science are also being run by religious trusts. These institutions provide medical care to crores of underprivileged individuals, offering them vital treatment and support. My ‘Didi Maa’ is present here. Her devotion to serving orphaned girls is truly inspiring. She has dedicated her entire life to the welfare of these daughters.

Friends,

Chitrakoot, the sacred land of Bundelkhand, closely associated with Lord Rama, has long been a major centre for serving the sick and the divyang (Differently-abled). I am pleased that another glorious chapter is being added to this noble tradition through Bageshwar Dham. Now, Bageshwar Dham will not only be a place of faith & spirituality but also a centre for healing, where the blessings of good health will be bestowed.

I have been informed that in just two days, on the auspicious occasion of Mahashivratri, a mass marriage ceremony for 251 daughters will also be organised here. I deeply appreciate Bageshwar Dham for undertaking this sacred initiative. I extend my heartfelt congratulations to all the newly-wed couples and bless my daughters in advance, wishing them a life filled with joy and prosperity.

Friends,

Our scriptures say: शरीर-माद्यं खलु धर्म-साधनम्। —which means that our body and our health are the foremost instruments for practising our duties, achieving happiness, and attaining success. That is why, when the nation entrusted me with the opportunity to serve, I made Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas the guiding principle of our government. And a crucial foundation of this resolution is Sabka Ilaaj, Sabka Arogya (Healthcare for All, Wellness for All).

To fulfil this vision, we are working on multiple levels, with a strong emphasis on disease prevention. Let me ask you—under the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, have toilets been built in every village or not? Have they been beneficial to you or not? You may be aware that building toilets brings another major advantage—reducing diseases caused by poor sanitation. Studies have shown that households with proper toilets save thousands of rupees that would otherwise be spent on medical expenses.

Friends,

Before our government came to power in 2014, the situation in the country was such that the poor feared the cost of treatment more than the disease itself. If even one family member fell seriously ill, the entire household would face severe financial distress. I, too, come from a humble background, just like many of you. I have witnessed these struggles firsthand. That is why I have made a solemn pledge—to reduce the burden of medical expenses and ensure that you save as much of your hard-earned money as possible.

I frequently share information about our government’s welfare schemes because I want to ensure that no deserving person is left out. Today, I am reiterating some crucial details once again, and I hope you will not only remember them but also share them with your acquaintances. Will you do that for me? I am sure you will—because spreading awareness is also an act of service. Shouldn’t we reduce the burden of medical expenses?

That is why I have introduced a provision for free treatment for every underprivileged individual—medical coverage of up to ₹5 lakh at no cost! No son will have to worry about spending ₹5 lakh on his parents’ treatment—your son sitting in Delhi will take care of it for you. However, to avail of this benefit, you must obtain an Ayushman Card. I am certain that many among you have already secured your Ayushman Card. Those who haven’t should do so at the earliest. Additionally, I urge the Chief Minister to ensure that any gaps in implementation in this region are swiftly addressed.

Friends,

There is one more important thing you must remember. Now, Ayushman Cards are being issued to provide free medical treatment to all elderly individuals above 70 years of age—regardless of whether they are poor, middle-class, or wealthy. These cards will be generated online, and no payment is required. If anyone demands money for it, you must write to me directly—I will take care of the rest. So, if someone asks for money, what will you do? You will write to me! I also urge our revered saints and spiritual leaders to ensure they have their Ayushman Cards, so that if they ever fall ill, I get the privilege of serving them. Of course, I hope you all remain in good health, but should the need ever arise, this facility must be readily available.

Brothers and sisters,

In many cases, hospitalisation is not necessary—patients only need to take prescribed medication at home. To make medicines more affordable, we have established over 14,000 Jan Aushadhi Kendras across the country. These centres offer medicines at significantly lower prices—where a medicine might cost Rs 100 in the market, the same can be obtained for just Rs 15, Rs 20, or Rs 25 at a Jan Aushadhi Kendra. Now, tell me—won’t this help you save money? Shouldn’t you purchase your medicines from Jan Aushadhi Kendras?

I also want to highlight another concern. Reports indicate that kidney disease is becoming increasingly prevalent in villages. When kidney ailments worsen, patients require regular dialysis, which often involves travelling long distances and incurring high expenses. To address this issue, we have established over 1,500 dialysis centres across more than 700 districts in the country, providing free dialysis facilities.

It is essential that you not only take advantage of these government schemes but also spread awareness among others. Will you do this for me? Raise your hands and tell me—will you do it? This is an act of service, a noble deed that will earn you punya.

Friends,

A major hospital for cancer patients is soon to be established in Bageshwar Dham. As cancer is rapidly becoming a serious concern everywhere, the government, society, and spiritual leaders are all making collective efforts to combat this disease.

Brothers and sisters,

I understand how challenging it is to fight cancer, especially in villages. In many cases, people remain unaware for days, even months, that they have cancer. Initially, they resort to home remedies for fever and pain, some turn to prayers and rituals, while others fall into the hands of fraudulent healers. It is only when the pain intensifies or a lump becomes visible that they seek medical attention, only to receive the devastating diagnosis of cancer. The mere mention of the disease fills an entire household with grief and fear, shattering dreams and leaving families unsure of where to turn for treatment. For most, Delhi and Mumbai are the only known options.

This is precisely why our government is actively addressing these challenges. In this year’s budget, several key announcements have been made to strengthen the fight against cancer. Modi has committed to making cancer medications more affordable. Over the next three years, Cancer Day Care Centres will be established in every district across the country, providing testing and rest facilities. Additionally, cancer clinics are being set up in district hospitals and medical centres within your vicinity to ensure better accessibility to treatment.

But, brothers and sisters,

There is something I must say—it may not be pleasant to hear, but it is essential for all of us to act upon it, remember it, and integrate it into our lives. You must be vigilant and proactive in protecting yourself from cancer. The first and foremost step is early detection. Once cancer spreads, it becomes incredibly difficult to treat. That is why we are conducting a nationwide screening campaign for individuals above the age of 30. I urge each one of you to take full advantage of this initiative—do not ignore it. If there is even the slightest suspicion, seek a cancer screening immediately. Another crucial aspect is awareness. Cancer is not a contagious disease—it does not spread through physical contact. However, certain lifestyle habits significantly increase the risk. Smoking bidis and cigarettes, consuming gutkha, tobacco, and heavily spiced foods are major contributors to cancer. I can already see that the mothers and sisters among us are especially pleased to hear this. Therefore, I implore you—stay away from these harmful substances and encourage others to do the same. Prioritise your health and well-being. If we take preventive measures, we can reduce the burden on hospitals like the one being built in Bageshwar Dham. Wouldn’t it be better if you never had to come here as a patient? You will take precautions, won’t you? You will not be careless, right?

Friends,

Modi is devoted to serving you as your humble servant. During my last visit to Chhatarpur, I had the privilege of inaugurating and laying the foundation stones for projects worth thousands of crores, which the Chief Minister has just outlined. You may recall that among them was the Ken-Betwa Link Project, worth Rs 45,000 crore. This project had been stalled for decades—so many governments came and went, leaders from every political party visited Bundelkhand, yet the water crisis here only deepened. Tell me, did any of the previous governments fulfil their promises? This long-pending project only saw progress when you bestowed your blessings upon Modi.

Efforts are also being made at an accelerated pace to address the drinking water crisis. Under the Jal Jeevan Mission—the Har Ghar Jal project—water is now being supplied to every village in Bundelkhand through pipelines. We are working tirelessly to ensure that water reaches rural areas, easing the struggles of our farmer brothers and sisters and ultimately increasing their income.

Brothers and sisters,

For Bundelkhand to truly prosper, it is essential that our mothers and sisters become equally empowered. To achieve this, we have launched initiatives like Lakhpati Didi and Drone Didi. Our goal is to transform three crore sisters into Lakhpati Didis, enabling them to achieve financial independence. Women are also being trained to operate drones. Imagine—irrigation water flowing to Bundelkhand, our sisters spraying crops with drones, actively participating in agriculture. This will propel Bundelkhand rapidly on the path of prosperity.

Brothers and sisters,

Another significant transformation is underway in our villages through drone technology. Under the Swamitva Yojana, drones are being used to conduct precise land surveys, and proper ownership documents are being issued. Here in Madhya Pradesh, remarkable progress has been made in this regard. People are now able to secure bank loans easily using these legal documents, which are being utilised to start businesses and create employment opportunities, ultimately increasing incomes.

Friends,

The double-engine government is working relentlessly to elevate this sacred land of Bundelkhand to new heights of development. Today, at Bageshwar Dham, I pray that Bundelkhand continues to advance along the path of prosperity and progress. When I arrived at the feet of Hanuman Dada, a thought crossed my mind—will Dhirendra Shastri alone draw the divine slip today, or will I have the honour of drawing one as well? I wanted to see whether Hanuman Dada Ji would bless me. And indeed, with his divine grace, today I drew the first slip—his mother’s slip—and Shastri Ji has already shared its significance with you.

Well, my comrades,

This is a grand occasion, a monumental mission. When the resolution is strong, when saints’ blessings and divine grace are with us, every goal is achieved within its destined timeframe. Some of you have asked me to come for the inauguration, while others have invited me to attend their wedding processions. Today, I make a public promise—I will fulfil both commitments!

Once again, my heartfelt best wishes to all of you. Thank you very much. Har Har Mahadev!

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

MIL OSI Asia Pacific News –

February 24, 2025
MIL-OSI Asia-Pac: Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi lays the foundation stone of Bageshwar Dham Medical and Science Research Institute

Source: Government of India

Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi lays the foundation stone of Bageshwar Dham Medical and Science Research Institute

Our temples, our monasteries, our holy places have been centres of worship and resources on one hand and on the other they have also been centres of science and social consciousness: PM

It was our sages who gave us the science of Ayurveda, the science of yoga, which has been acclaimed worldwide today: PM

When the country gave me the opportunity to serve, I made the mantra of ‘Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas’ the resolution of the government, and this resolve of ‘Sabka Sath, Sabka Vikas’ is based on – treatment for all, health for all: PM

Posted On: 23 FEB 2025 4:25PM by PIB Delhi

The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone of Bageshwar Dham Medical and Science Research Institute in Garha village, Chhatarpur district, Madhya Pradesh today. Remarking that it was his good fortune to be back in Bundelkhand for the second time in a short span, Shri Modi said that the spiritual center Bageshwar Dham would soon be a health center too. He added that the Bageshwar Dham Medical and Science Research Institute would be built in an area of 10 acres and a 100 bed facility would be ready in the first phase. He congratulated Shri Dhirendra Shastri for the noble work and extended his greetings to the people of Bundelkhand.

The Prime Minister remarked that these days there was a class of political leaders who ridiculed religion and were involved in separating people. He added that at times, there was support to such individuals from foreign entities as well to weaken the nation and religion. He further said that the people who abhor Hindu religion have existed since a long time in various forms. The Prime Minister highlighted the persistent attacks on our beliefs, traditions, and temples and remarked that these elements attack our saints, culture, and principles. They target our festivals, customs, and rituals, and even dare to defame the inherently progressive nature of our religion and culture. Shri Modi underscored their agenda to divide our society and break its unity. In this context, he highlighted the efforts of Shri Dhirendra Shastri, who has been raising awareness about the mantra of unity in the country for a long time. Shri Modi announced that Shri Dhirendra Shastri had taken another pledge for the welfare of society and humanity in the form of establishing a cancer institute. Consequently, in Bageshwar Dham, the blessings of devotion, nourishment, and a healthy life will now be available, he added.

“Our temples, monasteries, and sacred sites have had dual roles as both centers of worship and hubs for scientific and social thought”, said the Prime Minister, remarking that our sages have provided us with the science of Ayurveda and Yoga, which is now globally recognized. He emphasized the belief that service to others and alleviating their suffering is true religion. He highlighted our tradition of serving all living beings with the sentiments of “Nara in Narayan” and “Shiva in all beings.” Noting the widespread discussions about the Maha Kumbh, which is nearing completion with crores of people having participated, taken a holy dip, and received blessings from saints, Shri Modi hailed it as a “Maha Kumbh of Unity” and thanked all the sanitation workers and police officers for their dedicated service. He pointed out that amidst the Maha Kumbh, a ‘Netra Maha Kumbh’ was also being held, though it hasn’t garnered as much attention, where over two lakh eye check-ups have been conducted, around one and a half lakh people have received free medicine and glasses, and about sixteen thousand patients have been referred to various hospitals for cataract and other surgeries. The Prime Minister acknowledged the numerous health and service-related initiatives taking place during the Maha Kumbh under the guidance of our sages, with thousands of doctors and volunteers participating selflessly. The attendees of the Kumbh have appreciated these efforts, he said.

The Prime Minister underlined the role of religious institutions in running large hospitals across India. He remarked that many health and science research institutes are managed by religious trusts, providing treatment and service to crores of poor people. He noted that the sacred pilgrimage site of Chitrakoot in Bundelkhand, associated with Lord Rama, was a major center for serving the differently-abled and patients. He also expressed happiness that Bageshwar Dham was adding a new chapter to this glorious tradition by offering blessings of health. He announced that two days later, on Mahashivaratri, there will be a mass wedding ceremony for 251 daughters. The Prime Minister praised Bageshwar Dham for this noble initiative and extended his heartfelt congratulations and blessings to all the newlywed couples and daughters for a beautiful life ahead.

Quoting the scripture, “Shariramadyam Khalu Dharma Sadhanam,” emphasizing that our body and health are the primary means for achieving our religion, happiness, and success, the Prime Minister remarked that when the country entrusted him with the opportunity to serve, he made the mantra ‘Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas’ as the Government’s resolution. He highlighted that a major foundation of ‘Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas’ was ‘Sabka Ilaaj, Sabko Aarogya’ meaning Healthcare for all and underscored the focus on disease prevention at various levels. Acknowledging that toilets had been constructed under the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, Shri Modi pointed out that the construction of toilets had reduced diseases caused by unhygienic conditions. He cited a study indicating that households with toilets have saved thousands of rupees on medical expenses.

The Prime Minister remarked that before their Government came to power in 2014, the poor in the country feared the cost of treatment more than the illness itself and pointed out that a serious illness in a family would put the entire family in crisis. He shared that he also comes from a poor family and has witnessed such hardships and had resolved to reduce the cost of treatment and save more money for the people. Reiterating his commitment to ensuring that no needy person is left out of Government schemes, Shri Modi emphasized the importance of reducing the burden of medical expenses and highlighted the provision of free treatment for every poor person, up to Rs. 5 lakh, through the Ayushman Card. He urged those who have not to get it made as soon as possible.

Informing that Ayushman Cards were now being issued for free treatment to elderly individuals above 70 years of age, irrespective of whether the family is poor, middle-class, or wealthy, Shri Modi said these cards can be obtained online without any cost and urged that no one should pay for the Ayushman Card and asked people to report if someone demands money. The Prime Minister remarked that many treatments do not require hospital admission, as prescribed medicines can be taken at home. To reduce the cost of medicines, over 14,000 Jan Aushadhi Centers have been opened across the country, providing affordable medicines, he added. He also pointed out that kidney disease is another significant health issue requiring continuous dialysis and over 1,500 dialysis centers have been opened in more than 700 districts, offering free dialysis services. The Prime Minister urged everyone to spread awareness about these Government schemes among their acquaintances and ensure no one misses out on the benefits.

“Cancer has become a significant issue everywhere; the Government, society, and saints are all united in the fight against cancer”, highlighted Shri Modi. He remarked on the difficulties faced by villagers when someone is diagnosed with cancer. He highlighted the lack of early detection and the tendency to rely on home remedies for fever and pain, resulting in late diagnosis when the situation worsens. The Prime Minister noted the fear and confusion that grips families upon hearing the diagnosis of cancer, with many only knowing about treatment centers in Delhi and Mumbai. He emphasized the Government’s efforts to address these challenges, including several announcements in this year’s budget to combat cancer. He added that he was committed to making cancer medications more affordable and announced the opening of cancer daycare centers in every district over the next three years. These centers will provide both diagnostic and respite care services. Shri Modi also highlighted the opening of cancer clinics in district hospitals and medical centers in local neighborhoods to ensure easier access to treatment.

Emphasising the importance of being cautious and aware to protect against cancer, the Prime Minister remarked that early detection is crucial, as cancer becomes harder to combat once it spreads. He highlighted the ongoing campaign to screen all individuals above 30 years of age and urged everyone to participate and avoid negligence. He stressed the need for immediate cancer screening if there is any doubt. Underscoring the importance of accurate information about cancer, stating that it is not a contagious disease and does not spread through touch, Shri Modi pointed out that the risk of cancer increases with the use of bidi, cigarettes, gutka, tobacco, and spices, and advised staying away from these substances. He urged everyone to take care of their body and health and to adopt these precautions diligently to avoid any negligence.

Stressing his dedication to serving the people, the Prime Minister remarked on his previous visit to Chhatarpur, where he inaugurated and laid the foundation stones for projects worth thousands of crores. He highlighted the inclusion of the Rs. 45,000 crore Ken-Betwa Link Project, which had been pending for decades despite multiple governments and leaders visiting Bundelkhand. Shri Modi noted the persistent water scarcity in the region and questioned whether any previous government had fulfilled its promises. He emphasized that the work commenced only after receiving the people’s blessings. He underlined the rapid progress in addressing the drinking water crisis. Under the Jal Jeevan Mission, or the Har Ghar Jal Project, piped water is being supplied to villages across Bundelkhand, he added. He also highlighted the ongoing efforts to alleviate the difficulties faced by farmers and increase their income, stating that the government is working tirelessly day and night.

Emphasizing the importance of empowering women for the prosperity of Bundelkhand, Shri Modi remarked on the introduction of initiatives like Lakhpati Didi and Drone Didi and announced the goal of making 3 crore women Lakhpati Didis. He highlighted that women are being trained to operate drones, which will be used for crop spraying and assisting in agriculture once irrigation water reaches Bundelkhand. The Prime Minister expressed confidence that these efforts will propel Bundelkhand rapidly towards prosperity.

The Prime Minister highlighted the significant use of drone technology in villages under the Swamitva Yojana for accurate land measurement and providing solid land records. He noted the successful implementation of this initiative in Madhya Pradesh, where people are now using these documents to easily obtain loans from banks, which are being utilized for businesses, thereby increasing people’s income.

Concluding the address, the Prime Minister emphasized the relentless efforts of the Governments at Center and state in making Bundelkhand achieve new heights of development. He expressed hope that Bundelkhand continues on the path of prosperity and development and extended his best wishes to everyone.

The Governor of Madhya Pradesh, Shri Mangubhai Chhaganbhai Patel, Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh, Shri Mohan Yadav were present among other dignitaries at the event.

Background

Bageshwar Dham Medical and Science Research Institute in Garha village, Chhatarpur district, Madhya Pradesh is being built to ensure better healthcare services for people from all walks of life. The Cancer hospital worth over Rs 200 crore will offer free treatment to underprivileged cancer patients and will be equipped with state-of-the-art machines and have specialist doctors.

मध्य प्रदेश के छतरपुर में बागेश्वर धाम मेडिकल एंड साइंस रिसर्च इंस्टीट्यूट की आधारशिला रखकर अत्यंत हर्षित हूं। https://t.co/3BvyyvlkgH

— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) February 23, 2025

हमारे मंदिर, हमारे मठ, हमारे धाम… ये एक ओर पूजन और साधन के केंद्र रहे हैं तो दूसरी ओर विज्ञान और सामाजिक चेतना के भी केंद्र रहे हैं: PM @narendramodi

— PMO India (@PMOIndia) February 23, 2025

हमारे ऋषियों ने ही हमें आयुर्वेद का विज्ञान दिया।

हमारे ऋषियों ने ही हमें योग का वो विज्ञान दिया, जिसका परचम आज पूरी दुनिया में लहरा रहा है: PM @narendramodi

— PMO India (@PMOIndia) February 23, 2025

जब देश ने मुझे सेवा का अवसर दिया, तो मैंने ‘सबका साथ, सबका विकास’ के मंत्र को सरकार का संकल्प बनाया।

और, ‘सबका साथ, सबका विकास’ के इस संकल्प का भी एक बड़ा आधार है- सबका इलाज, सबको आरोग्य: PM

— PMO India (@PMOIndia) February 23, 2025

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MIL OSI Asia Pacific News –

February 24, 2025
MIL-OSI Asia-Pac: English rendering of PM’s address in the 119th Episode of ‘Mann Ki Baat’ on 23.02.2025

Source: Government of India (2)

Posted On: 23 FEB 2025 11:33AM by PIB Delhi

My dear countrymen, Namaskar. Welcome to ‘Mann Ki Baat’. These days the Champions Trophy is going on and there is an atmosphere of cricket everywhere. All of us know very well what the thrill of a century in cricket is… But today I am not going to talk to you about cricket, albeit about the wonderful century that India has made in Space. Last month, the country witnessed the launch of ISRO’s 100th rocket. This is not just a number; it also reflects our resolve to touch new heights in Space Science every day. Our space journey had commenced in a rather modest way. There were challenges at every step, but our scientists kept moving forward, conquering them. With time, the list of our successes in this space odyssey kept rising. Be it the manufacture of launch vehicles, the successes of Chandrayaan, Mangalyaan, Aditya L-1 or the unprecedented mission of sending 104 satellites into space at one go with a single rocket – the ambit of ISRO’s successes has been quite expansive. Over the last 10 years alone, around 460 satellites have been launched and this includes many satellites of other countries as well. Another important fact in recent years is that the participation of woman power is constantly on the rise among our team of Space Scientists. I am also very happy to see that today the Space Sector has become a favourite for our youth.

Who would have thought a few years ago that the number of start-ups and private sector Space companies in this field would be in hundreds. For our youth who want to do something thrilling and exciting in life, the Space Sector is turning out to be an excellent option.

Friends, in a few days to come, we are going to celebrate ‘National Science Day’. The interest and passion of our children and youth in science matters a lot. I have an idea for this, which you can call ‘One Day as a Scientist’. That is, you should try to spend one day as a scientist. You can choose any day as per your convenience and choice. On that day, you must visit a research lab, planetarium or a Space Centre. This will enhance your curiosity about Science. Like Space and Science, there is another field in which India is rapidly carving out a robust identity – this field is AI i.e. Artificial Intelligence. Recently, I went to Paris to participate in a big AI conference. There, the world praised India’s progress in this sector. We are also getting to see examples of how people of our country are using AI today. For example, there is Thodasam Kailash ji, a teacher in a government school in Adilabad, Telangana. His interest in digital music is performing a very important task in saving many of our tribal languages. He has done wonders by composing a song in Kolami language with the help of AI tools. He is using AI to compose songs in many languages other than Kolami. His tracks are being liked a lot by our tribal brothers and sisters on social media. Be it the Space Sector or AI, the ever-increasing participation of our youth is begetting a new revolution. The people of India are second to none in adopting and trying new technologies.

My dear countrymen, next month, the 8th of March is ‘International Women’s Day’. This is a special occasion to salute our Nari Shakti. Devi Mahatmya says –

Vidya: Samastaas-tava Devi Bheda:

Streeya: Samasta: Sakala Jagatsu.

That is, all the Vidyas are the expressions of the various forms of the Goddess and all the woman power of the world is also her reflection. In our culture, respect for daughters has been paramount. The MatriShakti of the country has also played a big role in our freedom struggle and the creation of the Constitution. I am sharing with all of you what Hansa Mehta ji had said while presenting our National Flag in the Constituent Assembly, in her own voice.

It is in the fitness of things that this first flag that will fly over this August house, should be a gift from the women of India. We have donned the saffron colour, we have fought, suffered and sacrificed in the cause of our country’s freedom. We have today attained our goal. In presenting this symbol of our freedom, we once more offer our services to the nation. We pledge ourselves to work for a great India, for building up a nation that will be a nation among nations. We pledge ourselves for working for a greater cause to maintain the freedom we have attained.

Friends, Hansa Mehta ji had brought to the fore the contribution of women from all over the country, right from the making of our National Flag to sacrificing their lives for its sake. She was of the belief that the saffron colour in our tricolour also reflects this sentiment. She had expressed confidence that our woman power would make its valuable contribution in making India strong and prosperous; Today her words are proving to be true. If you observe at any field, you will find how extensive the contribution of women is. Friends, this time on Women’s Day I am going to embark upon an initiative for a day, which will be dedicated to our Nari-Shakti. On this special occasion, I am going to hand over my social media accounts like X, Instagram to some inspiring ladies of the country. Women who have achieved success in myriad fields; who have innovated and created a unique identity for themselves in various fields. On the 8th of March, they will share their work and experiences with the countrymen. The platform might be mine, but it will be about their experiences, their challenges and their achievements. If you want to avail of this opportunity, become a part of this experiment through the special Forum created on NamoApp and share your message with the whole world through my X and Instagram accounts. So come… this time on Women’s Day, let us all celebrate, honour and salute the indomitable power of women.

My dear countrymen, many of you would have enjoyed the thrill of the National Games in Uttarakhand. There, more than 11,000 athletes from all over the country performed brilliantly. This event presented a new Swaroop of Devbhoomi. Uttarakhand is now emerging as a strong sporting force in the country. The players of Uttarakhand too performed wonderfully. This time Uttarakhand finished 7th – this is the power of sports, which transforms individuals and communities as well as the entire State. It inspires future generations and also promotes a culture of excellence. Friends, today some memorable performances in these games are being discussed all over the country. My heartiest congratulations to the Services team which won the maximum number of gold medals in these games. I also appreciate every player who participated in the National Games. Many of our players are the contribution of the Khelo India campaign. Be it Sawan Barwal of Himachal Pradesh, Kiran Mhatre & Tejas Shirse of Maharashtra or Jyoti Yaraji of Andhra Pradesh, all of them have given new hope to the country. Javelin thrower Sachin Yadav of Uttar Pradesh, high jumper Pooja of Haryana and swimmer Dhinidhi Desindhu of Karnataka won the hearts of the countrymen. They surprised everyone by setting three new national records. The number of teenage champions in this year’s National Games is astonishing. 15-year-old shooter Gavin Antony, 16-year-old hammer thrower Anushka Yadav, from UP and 19-year-old pole vaulter Dev Kumar Meena from Madhya Pradesh have proved that India’s sporting future lies in the hands of a very talented generation. The National Games held in Uttarakhand also showed that those who never accept defeat, definitely win. No one becomes a champion amid comfort. I am happy that with the determination and discipline of our young athletes, India is rapidly progressing towards becoming a global sporting powerhouse.

My dear countrymen, during the opening of the National Games in Dehradun, I raised a very important topic, which has started a new discussion in the country – this topic is ‘obesity’. To become a fit and healthy nation, we will certainly have to deal with the problem of obesity. According to a study, one in every eight people today is troubled by the problem of obesity. Cases of obesity have doubled in the past years, but, what is even more worrying is that the problem of obesity has increased fourfold even among children. WHO data shows that in 2022, about 250 crore people around the world were overweight, that is, they had more weight than required. These statistics are very serious and force all of us to think why this is happening. Excess weight or obesity gives rise to many kinds of problems and diseases. We can together deal with this challenge with minor efforts. For example, one method I suggested was “reducing the consumption of edible oil by ten percent (10%)”. Decide that you will use 10% less oil every month. You can decide that while buying oil for cooking, you will buy 10% less oil. This will be an important step towards reducing obesity. Today, in ‘Mann Ki Baat’, I also want to share some special messages on this topic with you. Let us begin with Olympic medallist Neeraj Chopra, who has successfully overcome obesity:

Namaskar everyone. I, Neeraj Chopra want to tell you all today that our honourable Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi ji has discussed obesity in ‘Mann Ki Baat’ this time, which is a very important issue for our country. And I somehow relate to this thing with myself too, because when I started going to the ground, I was also quite overweight at that time and when I started training and started eating well, my health improved a lot and after that when I became a professional athlete, I got a lot of help in that too. And I would also like to tell that parents should also play some outdoor sport or the other and take their children along and create a good healthy lifestyle, eat well and give your body an hour or however much time you can in a day for exercise. And I would like to add one more thing, recently our Prime Minister had said that the oil used in food should be reduced by upto 10%, because many times we eat a lot of fried food items which have a huge impact on obesity. So I would like to tell everyone to avoid these things and take care of their health. This is just what I request you and together we will uplift our country, thank you.

Neeraj ji, I am very grateful to you. Renowned athlete Nikhat Zareen ji has also expressed her views on this topic:

Hi, my name is Nikhat Zareen and I am two times world boxing champion. As our Prime Minister Narendra Modi ji has mentioned about Obesity in ‘Mann Ki Baat’ and I think it’s a national concern, we should be serious about our health because obesity is spreading so fast in our India, we should stop it and we should try to follow a healthy lifestyle as much as possible. Being an athlete myself, I try to follow a healthy diet because if by mistake I take an unhealthy diet or eat oily things, it impacts my performance and I get tired quickly in the ring and I try to use as little as possible things like edible oil and instead follow a healthy diet and do daily physical activity due to which I always remain fit. And I think common people like us, who go to work daily, I think everyone should be serious about health and do some daily physical activity due to which we stay away from diseases like heart attack and cancer and keep ourselves fit ‘because if we are fit then India is fit’.

Nikhat ji has really made some good points. Let us now listen to what Dr. Devi Shetty ji has to say. As all of you know, he is a very distinguished doctor, who is continuously working on this subject:

I would like to thank our Honourable Prime Minister for creating an awareness about obesity in his most popular ‘Mann Ki Baat’ programme. Obesity today is not a cosmetic problem; it is a very serious medical problem. Majority of the youngsters in India today are obese. The main cause of obesity today is poor quality of food intake especially excess intake of carbohydrates that is rice, chapatti and sugar and of course large consumption of oil. Obesity leads to major medical problems like heart disease, high blood pressure, fatty liver and many other complications. So my advice to all the youngsters… start exercising control your diet and be very very active and watch your weight. Once again I would like to wish all of you a very very happy healthy future, Good Luck and God Bless.

Friends, using less oil in food and dealing with obesity is not just a personal choice but also our responsibility towards the family. Excessive use of oil in food can cause many diseases like heart disease, diabetes and hypertension. By making small changes in our food habits, we can make our future stronger, fitter and disease-free. Therefore, without delay, we must increase our efforts in this direction and implement it in our lives. We can all do this together in a very playful & effective way. For example, today after this episode of ‘Mann Ki Baat’, I will request and challenge 10 people if they can reduce oil in their food by 10%. And I will also urge them to pass on the same challenge to 10 new people. I am sure that this will help a lot in fighting obesity.

Friends, do you know what the similarity between the Asiatic Lion, Hangul, Pygmy Hog and Lion-tailed Macaque is? The answer is that all of these are not found anywhere else in the world… they are found only in our country. Indeed, we have a very vibrant eco-system of flora and fauna. And these wild animals are deeply embedded in our history and culture. Many animals are also observed as the vehicles of our Gods and Goddesses. Many tribes in central India worship Bagheshwar. There is a tradition of worshipping Waghoba in Maharashtra. Lord Ayyappa also has a very deep connection with the tiger. Bonbibi, whose Vaahan is the tiger, is worshipped in Sundarbans. We have many cultural dances like Huli Vesha of Karnataka, Pooli of Tamil Nadu and Pulikali of Kerala, which are associated with nature and wildlife. I would also like to thank my tribal brothers and sisters, because they actively participate in work related to wildlife protection. The population of tigers has risen continuously in Karnataka’s BRT Tiger Reserve. A lot of credit for this goes to the Soliga tribe, who worship the tiger. Owing to them, there is almost no man-animal conflict in this area. In Gujarat as well, people have contributed significantly in the protection and conservation of Asiatic Lions in Gir. They have shown the world what co-existence with nature means. Friends, on account of these efforts, the population of tigers, leopards, Asiatic Lions, Rhinos and Barasingha has increased rapidly in the last few years. And it is also worth noting how beautiful the diversity of wildlife in India is. Asiatic Lions are found in the western part of the country, while the habitat of Tigers is East, Central and South India. Rhinos are found in the Northeast. Every part of India is not only sensitive towards nature, but is also committed to wild life protection. I have been told about Anuradha Rao ji, many generations of whom have been associated with Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Anuradha ji had dedicated herself to animal welfare at an early age. For three decades, she has made the protection of deer and peacocks her mission. People here call her ‘Deer Woman’. We will celebrate World Wildlife Day at the beginning of next month. I urge you to encourage people associated with wildlife protection. It is a matter of great satisfaction for me that many start-ups have also emerged in this field.

Friends, this is the season of Board Exams. I wish my young friends, i.e., Exam Warriors, the best of luck for their exams. Appear for your papers without any stress and with a completely positive spirit. Every year in ‘Pariksha Pe Charcha’, we discuss various topics related to exams with our Exam Warriors. I am happy that this programme is now taking an institutional form… it is getting institutionalized. Many New experts are also joining it. This year, we tried to conduct ‘Pariksha Pe Charcha’ in a new format. Along with the experts, eight different episodes were also included. We covered topics ranging from Overall Exams to Health Care and Mental Health as well as food and nutrition. Past toppers also shared their thoughts and experiences with everyone. Many youngsters, their parents and teachers have written letters to me on this. They have told me that they liked this format very much because every topic was discussed in detail. Our young friends have watched these episodes in large numbers on Instagram too. Many of you also liked the fact that this program was organized in Sundar Nursery, Delhi. Those of our young friends who have not been able to watch these episodes of ‘Pariksha Pe Charcha’ till now, must watch them. All these episodes are available on NaMoApp. Once again, my message to our Exam Warriors is “Be happy and stress free”.

My dear friends, that’s all for me in this episode of Mann Ki Baat. Next month we will again conduct ‘Mann Ki Baat’ together with new topics. Keep sending me your letters, your messages. Stay healthy, stay happy. Thank you very much. Namaskar.

****

MJPS/ST/RT/ZK

(Release ID: 2105618) Visitor Counter : 145

MIL OSI Asia Pacific News –

February 24, 2025
MIL-OSI Asia-Pac: ‘Mann Ki Baat’ (119th Episode) Broadcast Date: 23.02.2025

Source: Government of India

Posted On: 23 FEB 2025 11:33AM by PIB Delhi

My dear countrymen, Namaskar. Welcome to ‘Mann Ki Baat’. These days the Champions Trophy is going on and there is an atmosphere of cricket everywhere. All of us know very well what the thrill of a century in cricket is… But today I am not going to talk to you about cricket, albeit about the wonderful century that India has made in Space. Last month, the country witnessed the launch of ISRO’s 100th rocket. This is not just a number; it also reflects our resolve to touch new heights in Space Science every day. Our space journey had commenced in a rather modest way. There were challenges at every step, but our scientists kept moving forward, conquering them. With time, the list of our successes in this space odyssey kept rising. Be it the manufacture of launch vehicles, the successes of Chandrayaan, Mangalyaan, Aditya L-1 or the unprecedented mission of sending 104 satellites into space at one go with a single rocket – the ambit of ISRO’s successes has been quite expansive. Over the last 10 years alone, around 460 satellites have been launched and this includes many satellites of other countries as well. Another important fact in recent years is that the participation of woman power is constantly on the rise among our team of Space Scientists. I am also very happy to see that today the Space Sector has become a favourite for our youth.

Who would have thought a few years ago that the number of start-ups and private sector Space companies in this field would be in hundreds. For our youth who want to do something thrilling and exciting in life, the Space Sector is turning out to be an excellent option.

Friends, in a few days to come, we are going to celebrate ‘National Science Day’. The interest and passion of our children and youth in science matters a lot. I have an idea for this, which you can call ‘One Day as a Scientist’. That is, you should try to spend one day as a scientist. You can choose any day as per your convenience and choice. On that day, you must visit a research lab, planetarium or a Space Centre. This will enhance your curiosity about Science. Like Space and Science, there is another field in which India is rapidly carving out a robust identity – this field is AI i.e. Artificial Intelligence. Recently, I went to Paris to participate in a big AI conference. There, the world praised India’s progress in this sector. We are also getting to see examples of how people of our country are using AI today. For example, there is Thodasam Kailash ji, a teacher in a government school in Adilabad, Telangana. His interest in digital music is performing a very important task in saving many of our tribal languages. He has done wonders by composing a song in Kolami language with the help of AI tools. He is using AI to compose songs in many languages other than Kolami. His tracks are being liked a lot by our tribal brothers and sisters on social media. Be it the Space Sector or AI, the ever-increasing participation of our youth is begetting a new revolution. The people of India are second to none in adopting and trying new technologies.

My dear countrymen, next month, the 8th of March is ‘International Women’s Day’. This is a special occasion to salute our Nari Shakti. Devi Mahatmya says –

Vidya: Samastaas-tava Devi Bheda:

Streeya: Samasta: Sakala Jagatsu.

That is, all the Vidyas are the expressions of the various forms of the Goddess and all the woman power of the world is also her reflection. In our culture, respect for daughters has been paramount. The MatriShakti of the country has also played a big role in our freedom struggle and the creation of the Constitution. I am sharing with all of you what Hansa Mehta ji had said while presenting our National Flag in the Constituent Assembly, in her own voice.

# AUDIO BYTE:-

It is in the fitness of things that this first flag that will fly over this August house, should be a gift from the women of India. We have donned the saffron colour, we have fought, suffered and sacrificed in the cause of our country’s freedom. We have today attained our goal. In presenting this symbol of our freedom, we once more offer our services to the nation. We pledge ourselves to work for a great India, for building up a nation that will be a nation among nations. We pledge ourselves for working for a greater cause to maintain the freedom we have attained.

Friends, Hansa Mehta ji had brought to the fore the contribution of women from all over the country, right from the making of our National Flag to sacrificing their lives for its sake. She was of the belief that the saffron colour in our tricolour also reflects this sentiment. She had expressed confidence that our woman power would make its valuable contribution in making India strong and prosperous; Today her words are proving to be true. If you observe at any field, you will find how extensive the contribution of women is. Friends, this time on Women’s Day I am going to embark upon an initiative for a day, which will be dedicated to our Nari-Shakti. On this special occasion, I am going to hand over my social media accounts like X, Instagram to some inspiring ladies of the country. Women who have achieved success in myriad fields; who have innovated and created a unique identity for themselves in various fields. On the 8th of March, they will share their work and experiences with the countrymen. The platform might be mine, but it will be about their experiences, their challenges and their achievements. If you want to avail of this opportunity, become a part of this experiment through the special Forum created on NamoApp and share your message with the whole world through my X and Instagram accounts. So come… this time on Women’s Day, let us all celebrate, honour and salute the indomitable power of women.

My dear countrymen, many of you would have enjoyed the thrill of the National Games in Uttarakhand. There, more than 11,000 athletes from all over the country performed brilliantly. This event presented a new Swaroop of Devbhoomi. Uttarakhand is now emerging as a strong sporting force in the country. The players of Uttarakhand too performed wonderfully. This time Uttarakhand finished 7th – this is the power of sports, which transforms individuals and communities as well as the entire State. It inspires future generations and also promotes a culture of excellence. Friends, today some memorable performances in these games are being discussed all over the country. My heartiest congratulations to the Services team which won the maximum number of gold medals in these games. I also appreciate every player who participated in the National Games. Many of our players are the contribution of the Khelo India campaign. Be it Sawan Barwal of Himachal Pradesh, Kiran Mhatre & Tejas Shirse of Maharashtra or Jyoti Yaraji of Andhra Pradesh, all of them have given new hope to the country. Javelin thrower Sachin Yadav of Uttar Pradesh, high jumper Pooja of Haryana and swimmer Dhinidhi Desindhu of Karnataka won the hearts of the countrymen. They surprised everyone by setting three new national records. The number of teenage champions in this year’s National Games is astonishing. 15-year-old shooter Gavin Antony, 16-year-old hammer thrower Anushka Yadav, from UP and 19-year-old pole vaulter Dev Kumar Meena from Madhya Pradesh have proved that India’s sporting future lies in the hands of a very talented generation. The National Games held in Uttarakhand also showed that those who never accept defeat, definitely win. No one becomes a champion amid comfort. I am happy that with the determination and discipline of our young athletes, India is rapidly progressing towards becoming a global sporting powerhouse.

My dear countrymen, during the opening of the National Games in Dehradun, I raised a very important topic, which has started a new discussion in the country – this topic is ‘obesity’. To become a fit and healthy nation, we will certainly have to deal with the problem of obesity. According to a study, one in every eight people today is troubled by the problem of obesity. Cases of obesity have doubled in the past years, but, what is even more worrying is that the problem of obesity has increased fourfold even among children. WHO data shows that in 2022, about 250 crore people around the world were overweight, that is, they had more weight than required. These statistics are very serious and force all of us to think why this is happening. Excess weight or obesity gives rise to many kinds of problems and diseases. We can together deal with this challenge with minor efforts. For example, one method I suggested was “reducing the consumption of edible oil by ten percent (10%)”. Decide that you will use 10% less oil every month. You can decide that while buying oil for cooking, you will buy 10% less oil. This will be an important step towards reducing obesity. Today, in ‘Mann Ki Baat’, I also want to share some special messages on this topic with you. Let us begin with Olympic medallist Neeraj Chopra, who has successfully overcome obesity:

# AUDIO BYTE:-

Namaskar everyone. I, Neeraj Chopra want to tell you all today that our honourable Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi ji has discussed obesity in ‘Mann Ki Baat’ this time, which is a very important issue for our country. And I somehow relate to this thing with myself too, because when I started going to the ground, I was also quite overweight at that time and when I started training and started eating well, my health improved a lot and after that when I became a professional athlete, I got a lot of help in that too. And I would also like to tell that parents should also play some outdoor sport or the other and take their children along and create a good healthy lifestyle, eat well and give your body an hour or however much time you can in a day for exercise. And I would like to add one more thing, recently our Prime Minister had said that the oil used in food should be reduced by upto 10%, because many times we eat a lot of fried food items which have a huge impact on obesity. So I would like to tell everyone to avoid these things and take care of their health. This is just what I request you and together we will uplift our country, thank you.

Neeraj ji, I am very grateful to you. Renowned athlete Nikhat Zareen ji has also expressed her views on this topic:

# AUDIO BYTE:-

Hi, my name is Nikhat Zareen and I am two times world boxing champion. As our Prime Minister Narendra Modi ji has mentioned about Obesity in ‘Mann Ki Baat’ and I think it’s a national concern, we should be serious about our health because obesity is spreading so fast in our India, we should stop it and we should try to follow a healthy lifestyle as much as possible. Being an athlete myself, I try to follow a healthy diet because if by mistake I take an unhealthy diet or eat oily things, it impacts my performance and I get tired quickly in the ring and I try to use as little as possible things like edible oil and instead follow a healthy diet and do daily physical activity due to which I always remain fit. And I think common people like us, who go to work daily, I think everyone should be serious about health and do some daily physical activity due to which we stay away from diseases like heart attack and cancer and keep ourselves fit ‘because if we are fit then India is fit’.

Nikhat ji has really made some good points. Let us now listen to what Dr. Devi Shetty ji has to say. As all of you know, he is a very distinguished doctor, who is continuously working on this subject:

# AUDIO BYTE:-

I would like to thank our Honourable Prime Minister for creating an awareness about obesity in his most popular ‘Mann Ki Baat’ programme. Obesity today is not a cosmetic problem; it is a very serious medical problem. Majority of the youngsters in India today are obese. The main cause of obesity today is poor quality of food intake especially excess intake of carbohydrates that is rice, chapatti and sugar and of course large consumption of oil. Obesity leads to major medical problems like heart disease, high blood pressure, fatty liver and many other complications. So my advice to all the youngsters… start exercising control your diet and be very very active and watch your weight. Once again I would like to wish all of you a very very happy healthy future, Good Luck and God Bless.

Friends, using less oil in food and dealing with obesity is not just a personal choice but also our responsibility towards the family. Excessive use of oil in food can cause many diseases like heart disease, diabetes and hypertension. By making small changes in our food habits, we can make our future stronger, fitter and disease-free. Therefore, without delay, we must increase our efforts in this direction and implement it in our lives. We can all do this together in a very playful & effective way. For example, today after this episode of ‘Mann Ki Baat’, I will request and challenge 10 people if they can reduce oil in their food by 10%. And I will also urge them to pass on the same challenge to 10 new people. I am sure that this will help a lot in fighting obesity.

Friends, do you know what the similarity between the Asiatic Lion, Hangul, Pygmy Hog and Lion-tailed Macaque is? The answer is that all of these are not found anywhere else in the world… they are found only in our country. Indeed, we have a very vibrant eco-system of flora and fauna. And these wild animals are deeply embedded in our history and culture. Many animals are also observed as the vehicles of our Gods and Goddesses. Many tribes in central India worship Bagheshwar. There is a tradition of worshipping Waghoba in Maharashtra. Lord Ayyappa also has a very deep connection with the tiger. Bonbibi, whose Vaahan is the tiger, is worshipped in Sundarbans. We have many cultural dances like Huli Vesha of Karnataka, Pooli of Tamil Nadu and Pulikali of Kerala, which are associated with nature and wildlife. I would also like to thank my tribal brothers and sisters, because they actively participate in work related to wildlife protection. The population of tigers has risen continuously in Karnataka’s BRT Tiger Reserve. A lot of credit for this goes to the Soliga tribe, who worship the tiger. Owing to them, there is almost no man-animal conflict in this area. In Gujarat as well, people have contributed significantly in the protection and conservation of Asiatic Lions in Gir. They have shown the world what co-existence with nature means. Friends, on account of these efforts, the population of tigers, leopards, Asiatic Lions, Rhinos and Barasingha has increased rapidly in the last few years. And it is also worth noting how beautiful the diversity of wildlife in India is. Asiatic Lions are found in the western part of the country, while the habitat of Tigers is East, Central and South India. Rhinos are found in the Northeast. Every part of India is not only sensitive towards nature, but is also committed to wild life protection. I have been told about Anuradha Rao ji, many generations of whom have been associated with Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Anuradha ji had dedicated herself to animal welfare at an early age. For three decades, she has made the protection of deer and peacocks her mission. People here call her ‘Deer Woman’. We will celebrate World Wildlife Day at the beginning of next month. I urge you to encourage people associated with wildlife protection. It is a matter of great satisfaction for me that many start-ups have also emerged in this field. Friends, this is the season of Board Exams. I wish my young friends, i.e., Exam Warriors, the best of luck for their exams. Appear for your papers without any stress and with a completely positive spirit. Every year in ‘Pariksha Pe Charcha’, we discuss various topics related to exams with our Exam Warriors. I am happy that this programme is now taking an institutional form… it is getting institutionalized. Many New experts are also joining it. This year, we tried to conduct ‘Pariksha Pe Charcha’ in a new format. Along with the experts, eight different episodes were also included. We covered topics ranging from Overall Exams to Health Care and Mental Health as well as food and nutrition. Past toppers also shared their thoughts and experiences with everyone. Many youngsters, their parents and teachers have written letters to me on this. They have told me that they liked this format very much because every topic was discussed in detail. Our young friends have watched these episodes in large numbers on Instagram too. Many of you also liked the fact that this program was organized in Sundar Nursery, Delhi. Those of our young friends who have not been able to watch these episodes of ‘Pariksha Pe Charcha’ till now, must watch them. All these episodes are available on NaMoApp. Once again, my message to our Exam Warriors is “Be happy and stress free”.

My dear friends, that’s all for me in this episode of Mann Ki Baat. Next month we will again conduct ‘Mann Ki Baat’ together with new topics. Keep sending me your letters, your messages. Stay healthy, stay happy. Thank you very much. Namaskar.

****

MJPS/ST/RT/ZK

(Release ID: 2105618) Visitor Counter : 7

MIL OSI Asia Pacific News –

February 24, 2025
MIL-OSI Asia-Pac: Union Minister Dr. Jitendra Singh appeals youth to give up “Sarkari Naukri” mindset

Source: Government of India

Union Minister Dr. Jitendra Singh appeals youth to give up “Sarkari Naukri” mindset

Dedicates National Startup Festival 2025 to the Youth of Jammu & Kashmir

“Festival Aims to Spur Innovation and Entrepreneurship Among Young Minds,” says Dr. Singh

Purple Revolution- Lavender Cultivation Transforms J&K: 3,000+ Youth Earning in Lakhs

MoU between AIIMS, IIM, IIT, IIIM, GMC Jammu for sharing Co-guide in Post graduation for integrated research informs Dr. Singh

Posted On: 22 FEB 2025 7:33PM by PIB Delhi

Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Science & Technology, MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic Energy, and Space, Dr. Jitendra Singh, today appealed youth to give up “Sarkari Naukri” mindset.

Inaugurating 2-day “National Startup Festival”, organized by CSIR-India Institute of Integrative Medicine at Government College for Women, Gandhi Nagar, here, the Minister dedicated the festival to the youth of Jammu & Kashmir, emphasizing the importance of innovation, entrepreneurship, and early industry linkages in ensuring startup success.

Dr. Jitendra Singh highlighted the immense potential of agriculture-based startups in the region, particularly the Purple Revolution, which has enabled over 3,000 youth in Jammu & Kashmir to earn in lakhs through lavender StartUp initiative. He encouraged young minds to recognize their aptitudes and pursue entrepreneurial ventures, rather than solely focusing on government jobs.

The Minister further emphasized that Jammu & Kashmir’s agri-startup ecosystem is thriving, with lavender cultivation in Bhaderwah, Doda district, putting the region on the global startup map. The Minister urged greater inclusion of urban areas in agri-startups, with a focus on expanding lavender cultivation and other high-value agricultural ventures.

With two lakh StartUps currently operating in India, the country has secured the third position in the global startup ecosystem. The S&T Minister noted that startups are not only boosting economic growth but also providing lucrative employment opportunities, particularly for women and Self-Help Groups (SHGs).

He stressed the critical role of industry linkages and market research in ensuring the long-term sustainability of startups, encouraging young entrepreneurs to study market dynamics at the outset.

Dr. Jitendra Singh hailed India’s space economy’s rapid growth, attributing its success to collaboration between the public and private sectors. He also celebrated the contributions of women-led teams in major space missions, including Chandrayaan-2 and Aditya L1.

On the education front, Dr Jitendra Singh commended Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, which has revamped India’s education system by creating a level playing field and ensuring digital inclusivity. The Minister urged students to spend at least 30 minutes daily learning about government schemes and leveraging available opportunities.

The Science and Technology Minister also shared that after his guidance an MoU has been signed between AIIMS, IIIM, IIT, IIM, GMC Jammu for sharing co-guide for Post graduate students for integrated research.

During the festival, Dr. Jitendra Singh visited 45 startup stalls, engaging with budding entrepreneurs and students showcasing their innovations. He applauded their efforts in contributing to India’s startup ecosystem and encouraged them to continue innovating.

The National Startup Festival 2025 is a step toward making Jammu & Kashmir a hub of innovation, self-reliance, and economic empowerment.

******

NKR/PSM

(Release ID: 2105549) Visitor Counter : 15

MIL OSI Asia Pacific News –

February 24, 2025