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Category: Sport

  • MIL-OSI Economics: Welcome Address by Shri Sanjay Malhotra, Governor, Reserve Bank of India at the RBI@90 commemoration function on April 1, 2025 –

    Source: Reserve Bank of India

    Her Excellency, the President of India, Hon’ble Governor of Maharashtra, Hon’ble Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Hon’ble Union Minister of Communications, Hon’ble Deputy Chief Ministers of Maharashtra, distinguished invitees, representatives of the media, and my colleagues from the Reserve Bank, past and present.

    2. It is my privilege to welcome you all on this momentous occasion marking the 90th anniversary of the Reserve Bank of India. We are deeply honoured by the participation of the Hon’ble President of India. Her gracious presence has greatly enhanced the importance of this occasion and encouraged us immensely. I am thankful to her for taking out time from her busy schedule for us. I warmly welcome her to this function. I also welcome His Excellency, the Governor of Maharashtra, the Honourable Union Minister of Communications, the Chief Minister and the Deputy Chief Ministers of Maharashtra. I also warmly welcome all other dignitaries and guests who have taken out time to be present here with us.

    3. Ninety years ago, the Reserve Bank of India was established to serve as the custodian of India’s monetary and financial stability. Over these nine decades, we have evolved, adapting to the changing economic landscape while remaining committed to the economic progress of our nation and the welfare of its people.

    4. As we entered the 90th year, exactly one year ago, we initiated the celebrations with the opening ceremony that was graced by the Hon’ble Prime Minister. Throughout the year, we organized several high-level events on themes such as emerging technologies and Digital Public Infrastructure. The Conference of Central Banks from the Global South reinforced India’s thought leadership in the global community and deepened our understanding of the challenges and opportunities ahead.

    5. To engage with the public, we hosted nationwide initiatives such as the RBI@90 Quiz, which received enthusiastic participation from students across the country. We organized an art competition that celebrated the creativity and heritage of India’s artistic traditions. Sporting events, town hall meetings, tree plantation drives, and blood donation camps brought together our employees and communities.

    6. All these events reinforced the spirit of collaboration and service that define the Reserve Bank. We celebrated our past and reaffirmed our responsibility for the future. We reflected on our achievements and rich legacy and recommitted ourselves to realising the vision of a Viksit Bharat built on a stronger, more stable, and inclusive financial system.

    7. As we mark this milestone, we recognize that the Reserve Bank’s role has expanded significantly beyond its initial mandate. Today, we stand at the confluence of tradition and transformation, where the imperatives of price stability, financial stability, and economic growth intersect with rapid technological advancements, global uncertainties, challenges of climate change and increasing public expectations.

    8. The next decade will be crucial in shaping the financial architecture of our economy. We remain committed to expanding and deepening financial inclusion. We shall strive to foster a culture of continuous improvement in customer services and strengthening customer protection. It will be our endeavour to optimize our regulatory frameworks by balancing the interests of financial stability and efficiency. We will continue to support technology and innovation. We shall remain vigilant, adaptive, and forward-looking. We will continue to collaborate effectively with all stakeholders – governments and financial sector regulators, among others. We will do everything that is required to improve the financial system by expanding its access, enhancing its efficiency, and strengthening its resilience in an evolving economic landscape.

    9. Even as we embrace new technologies and modern regulatory approaches, our core values – integrity, transparency, and commitment to public service – will continue to guide us. The trust that the people of India repose in the Reserve Bank is our greatest asset. We are determined to preserve it and further strengthen it in the years ahead. This institution belongs to the nation. We shall continue to take each and every decision, driven by an unwavering resolve to serve the interests of the people, the financial system, and the economy.

    10. As we conclude this year-long celebration and step into our centenary decade, we do so with confidence, determination, and a clear vision. The journey ahead will demand continuous adaptation and agility; fresh thinking and innovation; collaboration and coordination; and an unwavering commitment to excellence and perfection. We, at the Reserve Bank, remain fully prepared to meet all challenges and seize all opportunities, to contribute proactively and vigourously, to India’s economic progress.

    11. With these words, I again welcome Her Excellency, the President of India, and all other dignitaries and guests to this commemorative event.

    Thank you. Jai Hind.

    MIL OSI Economics –

  • MIL-OSI Russia: “Book of Hero Monuments of Moscow”: a thematic exhibition for the 80th anniversary of the Great Victory opened on Tsvetnoy Boulevard

    Translartion. Region: Russians Fedetion –

    Source: Moscow Government – Government of Moscow –

    On April 1, an exhibition based on the materials of the project “Book of Hero Monuments of Moscow” opened on Tsvetnoy Boulevard. The event, timed to coincide with the celebration of the 80th anniversary of the Great Victory, was organized by the capital’s Department of Cultural Heritage.

    “The exhibition includes 14 original stories about Moscow buildings and monuments that suffered from military action or played a special role during the Great Patriotic War, and more than 100 unique photographs, letters and documents from that time. The exhibition, timed to coincide with the celebration of a significant date – the 80th anniversary of the Great Victory, will last until April 14 inclusive. We invite everyone to visit it and get acquainted with unique stories about such architectural monuments as the Kolomenskoye Museum-Reserve, the Ostankino Museum-Estate, the Sandunov Baths and others,” said the head of the Moscow City Department of Cultural Heritage.

    Alexey Emelyanov.

    Project “Book of Hero Monuments of Moscow”

    The Moscow City Government has begun implementing the “Book of Hero Monuments of Moscow” project. Department of Cultural Heritage in 2021, on the 80th anniversary of the Battle of Moscow. Its main idea is to tell that there were not only people on the front lines. Moscow buildings also became participants in the hostilities. Some of them still bear traces of enemy bombing. Events that influenced the course of the war took place within the walls of these houses.

    Each entry in the publication includes the author’s story and archival illustrative materials – everything that can tell in as much detail as possible about the hero monument. Anyone can help in creating the book of memory: an application containing the history of the building can be submitted on the project website. www. pamyatniki-geroi.rf

    Theaters and museums are heroes

    Residents and organizations share their stories, including the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts, whose façade still bears traces of shrapnel from a nearby bomb, the Vakhtangov State Academic Theater, whose building was almost completely destroyed during the first bombing of Moscow, and the Bolshoi Theater, which was damaged during one of the air raids.

    When the Nazi troops began their offensive on Moscow in 1941, it became clear that the building of the Red Army Theatre (now the Central Academic Theatre of the Russian Army) was an extremely successful target and landmark for enemy aircraft. There is no documentary evidence to support this, but they said that each beam of the building in the shape of a five-pointed star pointed in the direction of Moscow’s largest transport hubs – Belorussky, Savelovsky and Rizhsky railway stations, Komsomolskaya Square, and the fifth – to the center of the capital.

    Employees from all the theatre’s workshops took part in camouflaging the building: actors, prop masters, carpenters and fitters. They sewed nets, painted walls and models. The first control observations were conducted during the work, and the third – upon its completion. From a height of 2.5 thousand meters when approaching from the east, the theatre building was identified only when the plane was almost above the object. And before camouflage, it could be seen 30-40 kilometers from the capital.

    To enhance the camouflage effect, the roofs of nearby houses were repainted, the pond in the Catherine Garden was drained, and models of buildings were installed in the passage between the park and the theater. Thus, from above, the square and nearby buildings began to look like a residential village with houses, sheds, and trees.

    Heroic Estates

    During the war, the only female sniper school in the USSR was located on the territory of the Kuskovo estate. It graduated more than two thousand female snipers. Two graduates of the school, Tatyana Baramzina and Aliya Moldagulova, were posthumously awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union.

    In addition to the sniper training center, the former Sheremetev estate housed the Central Experimental Kennel of Military-Sports Dog Breeding, created in 1924 to conduct experiments on the use of dogs in military affairs. In 1934, the institution was renamed the Central School of Communications, Dog Breeding, and Pigeon Breeding. During the Great Patriotic War, it regularly sent its teams to the front. Mine-detecting dogs discovered about four million mines, landmines, and other explosive devices, and sapper handlers defused them. Mine-detecting dog units participated in demining Belgorod, Kyiv, Odessa, Novgorod, Vitebsk, and Budapest.

    Life at another estate, Ostankino, also changed completely on June 22, 1941. All the most valuable exhibits were taken out of the wooden palace and into the stone building of the 17th-century estate church. Only the large palace chandeliers had to be left in place, as they could not be hidden in the church vaults. All the crystal decorations were removed from them, as they would inevitably have broken during the bombing.

    To avoid attracting attention from above, the palace was also camouflaged. Different parts of the building were painted in different colors so that at night, when raids most often occurred, the palace would give the impression of several separate buildings.

    Moscow to Perpetuate Memory of Five Heroes Who Participated in the WarThe project “Book of Hero Monuments of Moscow” has been expanded with new stories

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

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

    https: //vv.mos.ru/nevs/ite/152033073/

    MIL OSI Russia News –

  • MIL-OSI Russia: Arm wrestling at NSU

    Translartion. Region: Russians Fedetion –

    Source: Novosibirsk State University – Novosibirsk State University –

    At the end of March, the NSU individual arm wrestling championship was held, in which more than 50 fans of this sport took part. The boys competed in five weight categories, the girls – in the “absolute”, the results were determined by the sum of points for places taken in the fight with the right and left hand.

    Winners and prize winners of the competition:

    Girls

    1. Karina Kapustyan, FEN

    2. Yulia Ganina, GI

    3. Diana Napolova, VKI

    Men:

    Up to 60 kg

    1. Alash Boyd, SUNC

    2. Alexander Ten, SUNC

    3. Artemy Khramov, SUNC

    Up to 70 kg

    1. Mikhail Krasnikov, FIT

    2. Ermak Gorkh, VKI

    3. Dmitry Demidov, FIT

    Up to 80 kg

    1. Vyacheslav Gutsu, GGF

    2. Leonid Chistopolov, EF

    3. Vadim Klinkovich, VKI

    Up to 90 kg

    1. Danil Narseev, GGF

    2. Gordey Glukhovtsev, EF

    3. Ivan Osadchiy, IMPZ

    Over 90kg

    1. Sergey Tusyuk, VKI

    2. Kirill Melnikov, GGF

    3. Maxim Kirillov, FIT

    Congratulations to the strongest athletes, thanks to everyone for participating, as well as our partners from the Splice club for their help in organizing and judging the tournament!

    All results on page: HTTPS: //vk.kom/port_nsu

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

    MIL OSI Russia News –

  • MIL-OSI Australia: Tree harvester hit with fine for flattening vulnerable plants

    Source: Tasmania Police

    Issued: 1 Apr 2025

    Open larger image

    Wildlife officer inspecting vegetation.

    A tree harvesting company recently received an $8,000 fine for damaging vulnerable native plants in the Gympie area.

    The plant species that was damaged is critical to the resilience of this ecosystem, as it assists in minimising soil erosion and maintaining water quality which helps this area to withstand environmental stresses.

    Public concern for the native vegetation led to an investigation by Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service where rangers discovered dozens of the endangered plants were flattened.

    We are dedicated to protecting our environment throughout Queensland so future generations can enjoy these amazing areas.

    Protected plants are protected for a reason – particularly these plants which are classified as vulnerable.

    Wildlife ranger at the Department of the Environment, Tourism, Science and Innovation Chris Heckathorn said this is an important reminder for anyone carrying out works to ensure they undertake the relevant checks and operate within the law.

    “Not only should the potential environmental impact be a deterrent, but there is also a possible fine of up to $500,000 or two-years imprisonment.

    “We will continue to investigate incidents where our native species are impacted by illegal activities and will take strong compliance action to protect and preserve our environment.”

    Samadera bidwillii is listed as Vulnerable under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 and the Queensland Nature Conservation Act 1992.

    MIL OSI News –

  • MIL-OSI New Zealand: Using sports passion for good

    Source: Plant and Food New Zealand – Press Release/Statement:

    Headline: Using sports passion for good

    How to take public passion for something and focus it on a pressing issue? Collab chats with John Wroe, co-founder and CEO of Street Child United, which amongst other things runs an international tournament uniting teams of street children to play football and call for their rights to be realised. Hear John’s origin story about the NFP and his tips for working with sports stars, other celebs and funders.

    – –

    MIL OSI New Zealand News –

  • MIL-OSI New Zealand: Local News – Kids’ fun in Porirua these holidays

    Source: Porirua City Council

    Easter and the first school holidays are fast approaching and in Porirua you’re spoiled for choice, with many paid or free activities and events to keep everyone busy.
    If you’re of a mind to be active, why not give Porirua Grand Traverse a nudge? In its 20th year, the event, on Sunday 6 April (yes, slightly before the holidays) has something for the serious multisporters to a fun run/walk to do with friends or whānau – check out poriruagrandtraverse.co.nz for more details.
    The Wellington Phoenix Women have one home game left at their Porirua Park fortress, on 20 April. Tickets are reasonably priced but keep an eye on the Council Facebook page as we have passes to give away.
    Kai Tahi, meanwhile, is one of our city’s most exciting destinations. Along with a sustainable market on 5 April, there’s always the Thursday Grooves to check out – and on 15 April, they are showing the Rabbit Academy and Peter Rabbit movies at 11.15am and 1pm FREE. There will also be some fun play activities, so come down to enjoy the cool vibes and kai at Kai Tahi!
    Other activities to consider these holidays:
    – Porirua Library holiday programme
    – Plimmerton community Easter market at the boating club (12 April)
    – Titahi Bay Easter Fair at Te Rauparaha Park (18 April)
    – City Nature challenge between 25 and 28 April (check out the iNaturalist app)
    – Let’s Play activities on 14 April (11am-1pm, Jillett St, Titahi Bay) and 16 April (11am-1pm, Matahoura Park, Cannons Creek)
    – Battle Hill Forest Park – check out those eels! – or any of the city’s bike trails and walks
    – Test your detective skills at the New Zealand Police Museum
    – Adrenalin Forest, Porirua Indoor Raceway, North City Tenpin, Pirate’s Cove Mini Golf or Awesome Bounce

    MIL OSI New Zealand News –

  • MIL-OSI New Zealand: MYANMAR CHILD ACCOUNT: ‘It was terrifying’ – Children prepare to spend Myanmar New Year festival in shelters following earthquake – Save the Children

    Source: Save the Children

    YANGON/BANGKOK, 31 March 2025 – On the morning that Myanmar’s 7.7 magnitude earthquake struck, 16-year-old student Yoon May- was having lunch at home in Mandalay and contemplating having a nap when she suddenly felt dizzy. 
    “I couldn’t process what was happening. I just ran. I barely escaped. The moment I stepped outside, bricks started falling from the ceiling. We all ran to the open field near our house. “This was the first earthquake I had ever experienced. It was terrifying.” 
    The earthquake on 28 March – the most powerful one in a century to hit Myanmar – caused extensive damage to infrastructure, as well as disrupting electricity and telecommunications services across the country. 
    More than 1,700 people have now been confirmed dead, and at least 3,400 people have been injured. Many others are still missing, and there is a high likelihood that the death toll could be significantly higher. [1] 
    The earthquake happened ahead of Myanmar’s New Year celebration, a traditional water festival known as ‘Thingyan’, which normally occurs in mid-April and is a time of festivity for four to five days, particularly for children. 
    This year, there will be no such celebrations for children and families affected by the earthquake. 
    “I had just finished my exams and was looking forward to celebrating Thingyan with my friends and visiting my aunt’s house. But now, all I want to do is cry. I’m so lucky I didn’t fall asleep-I’m not a light sleeper. If I had, I don’t know what would have happened.” 
    Yoon May’s family home was badly damaged, and her family have been left without water and electricity. They are now living in an open field, with only a mosquito net to protect them. 
    “I haven’t been able to sleep at all. Last night, we received an alert that another aftershock could hit between 1 am and 3 am. And it did.” 
    Hospitals, both public and private, are overwhelmed with people seeking medical care and many people have sought shelter in monasteries, football fields, and open spaces for fear of aftershocks. 
    Save the Children and our partners are providing lifesaving aid in earthquake affected areas in Myanmar with an immediate need for water, food and health care services for children and their families. We aim to provide cash to families so they can buy food, medicine and other essentials as well as access to clean water, essential hygiene and sanitation items and health services. 
    Save the Children has been working in Myanmar since 1995, providing life-saving healthcare, food and nutrition, education and child protection programmes.  

    MIL OSI New Zealand News –

  • MIL-OSI New Zealand: Next steps to improve flood resilience for the Wairau community

    Source: Auckland Council

    Auckland Council is looking to progress a comprehensive flood resilience (blue-green) network to significantly reduce flood risks across the Wairau catchment in Auckland’s North Shore.

    A proposed business case for design, consenting and early enabling works for improved flood resilience in Wairau will be presented to the Transport, Resilience and Infrastructure Committee on 3 April.

    The decision at the committee will enable design and consenting required for this work to begin – a further business case will be required before full delivery of the project can progress.

    Protecting against future flooding

    As part of this broader initiative, AF Thomas Park (home to Takapuna Golf Course and other recreational facilities) is being considered for redevelopment into a recreational flood storage wetland, detention basin and overland flow path. In this proposed option the park would remain a critical recreational asset whilst forming the cornerstone of a blue-green network.

    North Shore Ward Councillor Richard Hills acknowledges that potential changes to the park is a tough conversation for the current users of the park but says this is about protecting against future flooding and potential loss of life and property.

    “The Wairau Valley, Milford, Sunnynook and Tōtara Vale make up the worst affected area from the January 2023 floods,” says Cr Hills.

    “This area experienced tragic loss of life alongside tens of millions of dollars in property damage to homes, businesses, vehicles and community facilities – volunteers rescued 69 people in the Wairau Valley alone.

    “We asked council staff to investigate all possible options to help reduce the flooding impacts and staff strongly believe the options presented in the business case are the best opportunities to ensure long-term flood resilience against future events.

    “I understand potential changes to AF Thomas Park is upsetting to our golfing community and those further afield that regularly use this course. As part of the design process, the council and local boards will work with the community, to understand the future public use of the reserve, alongside providing much needed flood protection and safety for our community.

    “And I’d like to thank all those involved, including central government, the local boards, Mayor and councillors, who all back this option to go forward to business case and consultation stages.”

    What is being proposed?

    As part of the Making Space for Water programme, co-funded by local and central government, a comprehensive blue-green network for the Wairau Valley is proposed.

    This aims to integrate multiple flood management systems to restore natural processes, enhance drainage, and create recreational spaces that serve as flood storage areas during extreme weather events.

    The current business case covers two stages of works as part of a long-term holistic approach to reducing flooding risks across the Wairau catchment.

    Taking a phased approach ensures that the needs of the community are considered and that the project aligns with their vision for a safer and more resilient Wairau Valley.

    Stage 1 Initiatives

    The first stage of the Wairau catchment blue-green network focuses on the design and consenting of critical flood management infrastructure at AF Thomas Park.

    • This stage includes the development of a recreational flood storage wetland and detention basin.
    • This will act as a natural sponge to capture and hold excess water during heavy rain events.
    • By slowing the flow of water and releasing it gradually, this system reduces pressure on surrounding areas prone to flooding.

    Stage 2 Initiatives

    Stage 2 of the proposed blue-green network will focus on several key initiatives in and around land being acquired as part of the Category 3 buy-out programme in Milford and Tōtara Vale.

    • This will include improvements to informal overland flow paths, stream widening and daylighting to enhance natural flow.
    • In addition, some minor upgrades will be made to existing detention facilities.

    Upon completion of both stages, 261 dwellings and three large retirement villages will have flood risk reduced including 35 properties removed from high flood risk. Additionally, 3,900m² of commercial floor area will also see a reduced flood risk.

    This comprehensive network will also protect critical infrastructure such as key roads, power substations, and wastewater systems while providing vibrant recreational areas with walking paths and amenities, similar to Greenslade Reserve.

    “By enhancing flood resilience across the catchment, the project will support the safety, economic stability, and quality of life for the community,” says Cr Hills.

    How will this project reduce flooding?

    The Wairau Valley area suffered significant flooding during the severe weather events in early 2023 resulting in extensive flood damage to residential and commercial properties, including the Eventfinda Stadium. The Wairau Stream channel above and below AF Thomas Park could not convey the volume of water during the event, putting a high number of properties at risk.

    Tom Mansell, Auckland Council Head of Sustainable Partnerships (Healthy Waters and Flood Resilience) explains the reasons that this first stage is a critical step for the Wairau blue-green network.

    “The redevelopment of the park would provide the equivalent to 220 Olympic-sized swimming pools or 550 million litres of water storage in a flood event, which is a significant increase from the park’s current 60 million litre capacity,” says Mr Mansell.

    This would protect downstream residential properties as well as road flooding to Nile, Waterloo and Alma Roads in Milford – which are access points for North Shore Hospital and Westlake Boys and Girls High Schools.”

    Working with the community

    Early engagement has informed the business case. This is just the first step amid a staged engagement approach and will not be the only opportunity for the community to be part of this significant project.

    “If this business case is approved by the council, there will be more opportunities for engagement and for the community to be involved in the design,” says Mr Mansell.

    “We will need to work collaboratively with mana whenua, a variety of funders and members of the community, taking a catchment-wide approach to ensure the right outcomes are achieved for the community over the short and long-term.”

    “As part of this work, we will engage with community and key stakeholders to review both the golfing and wider recreation needs of the North Shore. This will inform how we develop this space into a vibrant recreation area for the community to enjoy and there will be time to consider the full range of options. It’s really important that we get the balance right and we can only do that by working with the Wairau community.”

    Planning and prioritisation for future projects

    Many communities were heavily impacted by the severe weather events of early 2023. Further areas across Tāmaki Makaurau continue to be assessed and prioritised for future blue-green works.

    You can find out more information about these projects on the council’s website or you can reach out to the team at bluegreen@aucklandcouncil.govt.nz

    About Making Space for Water

    The Making Space for Water programme includes a range of initiatives to reduce flood risk to Aucklanders. Part of this is building new flood resilient infrastructure to enhance stormwater assets and green spaces to deliver increased flood management.

    Auckland Council is sharing some of the cost of flood resilience projects with central government as part of a $2 billion co-funding agreement for storm recovery. These are subject to business case approvals from both the council and the government, and projects must demonstrate a flood risk reduction for the wider community, not just individual properties.

    MIL OSI New Zealand News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Governor Kehoe Announces Six Appointments to Various Boards and Commissions, Fills One County Office Vacancy

    Source: US State of Missouri

    MARCH 31, 2025

    Jefferson City — Today, Governor Mike Kehoe announced six appointments to various boards and commissions and the appointment of the Andrew County Circuit Clerk.

    Tannah Buhman, of St. Joseph, was appointed as the Andrew County Circuit Clerk.

    Ms. Buhman is currently serving as the interim circuit clerk for the Andrew County Circuit Court having been appointed by the Presiding Judge after a year as deputy court clerk. She previously worked as a patient care representative for Mosaic Life Care in St. Joseph, Missouri, and holds certifications as a Certified Nurse Assistant and Certified Medication Technician.

    Paul Fitzwater, of Potosi, was appointed to the Missouri Sentencing Advisory Commission.

    Mr. Fitzwater currently serves as a member of the Board of Probation and Parole and is a former state representative for Iron, Washington, Wayne, and Reynolds counties. Before entering public service, he owned and operated Fitzwater and Son Concrete Contracting. Fitzwater is also a retired teacher and coach with nearly 30 years of experience in education. He is an active member of several organizations including the National Rifle Association and the Chamber of Commerce. Mr. Fitzwater earned his bachelor’s degree in education from Tarkio College.

    Matthew Haase, of Kansas City, was appointed to the Jackson County Sports Complex Authority.

    Mr. Haase is currently the director of strategic relations for Kansas City University, having previously served as the senior director of external relations at the University of Missouri-Kansas City. Haas dedicated 18 years to public service under the leadership of former U.S. Senator Roy Blunt as a senior legislative assistant in his congressional office and later as a state director in his Senate office. He was appointed to the 16th Circuit Judicial Commission by Governor Parson and currently serves on the Local Investment Commission. Mr. Haase earned his Bachelor of Science in Economics from Missouri State University in Springfield.

    Steven Oslica, of St. Louis, was appointed to the Missouri Community Service Commission.

    Mr. Oslica is a business consultant based in St. Louis. He previously served as executive director of the Hawthorn Foundation for Missouri, which helps to fund the sitting governor’s economic development priorities and assists in improving state operation efficiencies. His career includes over 30 years in oil and gas construction materials as a global marketing director for Pittsburgh Corning Corporation and the director of international business for H.B. Fuller. Osclica currently serves on the Board of Trustees for Culver-Stockton College and Board of Advisors for Love the Lou. Mr. Oslica earned his bachelor’s degree in history and political science from Culver-Stockton College.  

    Victor Pasley, of Columbia, was reappointed to the Lincoln University Board of Curators.

    Mr. Pasley retired from Xerox Corporation in 2010 after a 32-year career as a member of its executive team. Prior to his corporate career, he worked as an instructor and assistant principal in Elgin Public Schools and served as a Captain in the United States Army, including a tour of duty in Vietnam. He has served on the Lincoln University Board of Curators since 2019. Mr. Pasley earned a Bachelor of Science in Education from Lincoln University, a Master of Science in Education from Northern Illinois University, and completed the Professional Management Development Program at Harvard Business School.

    Richard Popp, of Tebbetts, was reappointed to the Lincoln University Board of Curators.

    Mr. Popp is a retired Executive Vice President of Central Bank, where he was employed for 37 years. He is a member of the Missouri Bar Association and Jefferson City Chamber of Commerce. Mr. Popp has served as a member of the Lincoln University Board of Curators for six years. He holds two degrees from the University of Missouri: accounting and plant science. He also earned his Juris Doctor from Harvard Law School in 1977.

    John M. Raines, of Senath, was appointed to the University of Missouri Board of Curators.

    Mr. Raines’ leadership in agriculture and food spans nearly four decades, most recently retiring as president of TELUS Ag & Consumer Goods. Prior to TELUS, Raines served as the chief commercial officer at The Climate Corporation, now part of Bayer, a leading global provider of agricultural products. Raines serves on the board of directors for several companies including FMC Corporation, Sydenstricker Nobbe Partners, and TPNB Bank, as well as the advisory board for the University of Missouri Fisher Delta Research, Extension and Education Center. He earned a Bachelor of Science in Agriculture from the University of Missouri in Columbia.

    ###

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-Evening Report: The Great Gatsby at 100: the Jazz Age novel that helps explain Trump’s America

    Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alexander Howard, Senior Lecturer, Discipline of English and Writing, University of Sydney

    F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, a top contender for the title of Great American Novel, turns 100 on April 10.

    A century later, it is invoked to help make sense of a world that still confuses “material enterprise with moral achievement” – as critic Sarah Churchwell wrote in the foreword to Gatsby’s centennial edition.

    A Meta insider’s memoir takes its title, Careless People, from Fitzgerald’s novel. The same phrase circulated on social media and in The New York Times during Donald Trump’s first presidency, referring to his administration’s downplaying of COVID-19.

    In 2018, The Atlantic compared Trump to Tom Buchanan, one of Fitzgerald’s “careless people”, describing “an eerie symmetry […] as if the villain of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s 1925 novel had been brought to life in a louder, gaudier guise for the 21st century”. More recently, others have compared Trump to Gatsby himself.

    The Great Gatsby tells the tale of a lovesick man striving for social acceptance, believing personal reinvention and riches can help to rewrite the past. It is a story of longing: not just for lost love, but for an unattainable ideal.

    The centenary couldn’t be more timely for this literary masterpiece, preoccupied by the same things we are: immense affluence, privilege, the limits of social mobility and the hidden underbelly of the American Dream. The Great Gatsby, while a relative literary failure in Fitzgerald’s lifetime, is enduringly popular today, with at least 25 million copies sold to date, numerous film and stage adaptations (and literary riffs), and a staple position on school and university reading lists.

    “What we think about Gatsby illuminates what we think about money, race, romance and history,” wrote The New York Times’ A.O. Scott recently. “How we imagine him has a lot to do with how we see ourselves.”

    The Great Gatsby is set against the backdrop of Roaring Twenties America: an era Fitzgerald famously dubbed the Jazz Age.

    Fuelled by the infectious rhythms of jazz, driven by the economic forces of market prosperity and mass consumerism, and heady on the alcoholic vapours and illicit thrills associated with Prohibition-era nightlife, the 1920s were a decade where American fortunes were made and lost.

    It was also, as Fitzgerald’s novel outlines, a period where individual ambition burned as fiercely as desire.


    Picryl

    The plot follows the enigmatic Jay Gatsby, a spotlight-eschewing, self-made millionaire whose seemingly breezy approach to life masks a singular obsession: the rekindling of a lost romance with a beautiful woman from his past.

    Born James Gatz, Fitzgerald’s charismatic protagonist reinvents himself in the hope of winning back the love of his life, wealthy socialite Daisy Buchanan. Taken at face value, Gatsby’s world is one of incredible luxury and dazzling excess – lavish parties, fast cars and ostentatious attire – all designed to lure Daisy back into his arms.

    But as we begin to scratch beneath the surface, the glittering facade Gatsby has constructed gives way to something far more fragile and tragic: an impossible fantasy driven by jealously, obsession and self-deception.

    As the reader comes to appreciate, Gatsby’s accumulated gains may grant him partial access to the world of old money, but he will never truly be accepted by America’s elite. No matter how hard he might try, he cannot surmount the barriers of class and entitlement.

    Ultimately, Gatsby’s misguided belief that he can somehow crowbar his way into the upper echelons of high society while simultaneously turning back the hands of time leads to his downfall. In Fitzgerald’s words, he ends up paying “a high price for living too long with a single dream”.

    F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel is still invoked to help make sense of a world that often confuses ‘material enterprise with moral achievement’.
    Nickolas Muray/Picryl

    F. Scott Fitzgerald, literary celebrity

    Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald was born in St. Paul, Minnesota, on September 24 1896. The son of middle-class Catholic parents, he spent much of his youth living in upstate New York. In 1913, he enrolled at Princeton University, where he formed a lasting friendship with future literary critic Edmund Wilson.

    More absorbed in literary and dramatic endeavours than his studies, Fitzgerald’s grades suffered and he dropped out in 1917 – though not before falling deeply in love with Ginevra King, an heiress who would leave an indelible imprint on his writing. She would inspire many of his fictional female characters, including Daisy Buchanan.

    Fitzgerald first encountered King during a winter vacation in St. Paul in January 1915. The debutante daughter of a wealthy Chicago stockbroker, she quickly became the object of Fitzgerald’s intense devotion (much to the disapproval of her family, who thought him beneath her).

    F. Scott Fitzgerald in uniform.
    Picryl

    In the wake of his heartbreak after the relationship broke down, Fitzgerald enlisted in the United States Army, earning a commission as a second lieutenant. During his military service, he met Zelda Sayre, the woman he would eventually marry. Meanwhile, he began work on his first novel, This Side of Paradise.

    Released in 1920, Fitzgerald’s formally adventurous debut was a critical success and cultural sensation, capturing the restless energy and shifting moral landscape of a cohort coming of age in the wake of World War I.

    The novel’s transparently autobiographical narrative centres on Amory Blaine, a young Midwesterner whose intellectual and romantic adventures at Princeton – especially a doomed affair with the beautiful, elusive Isabelle Borgé – struck a chord with readers. It turned Fitzgerald into a media celebrity and unofficial spokesman for his generation.

    F. Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald.
    Alfred Cheney Johnston/Picryl

    Two years later, Fitzgerald published The Beautiful and Damned. It details the disintegration of a wealthy, aimless couple – Anthony and Gloria Patch – whose hedonistic lifestyle and misplaced belief in their own brilliance leads to ruin.

    Fitzgerald’s tonally pessimistic second novel was again shaped by his own experiences, drawing heavily on his tempestuous marriage to Zelda, who was exhibiting symptoms of profound mental instability.

    However, in stark contrast to This Side of Paradise, The Beautiful and Damned sold well, but received a lukewarm reception from reviewers. Some found its characters unappealing and its plot depressing.

    By then, the Fitzgeralds had grown accustomed to the finer things in life. Which meant they needed money. Lots of it. To keep up with their lavish spending, Fitzgerald started to churn out short stories for popular magazines at a rapid pace. While this move provided him with a degree of financial security, some critics and contemporaries questioned whether he was squandering his literary gifts. Ernest Hemingway, for one, was “shocked” by his friend’s willingness to pander to commercial tastes and imperatives.

    ‘I want to write something new’

    That said, while he was generating copy for mass-market publication, Fitzgerald was also hard at work on The Great Gatsby. In July 1922, he declared:

    I want to write something new – something extraordinary and beautiful and simple + intricately patterned.


    Determined to prove his worth as an artist, Fitzgerald, who wanted “to write a novel better than any ever written in America”, began to play with “form and emotion”. As his ideas for the new novel – which at one point bore the working title Trimalchio – took shape, Fitzgerald set up shop in Great Neck, Long Island. This location became the inspiration for East and West Egg, the fictionalised island communities that are the novel’s primary setting.

    Fitzgerald, clearly not lacking in confidence, set his sights high for his third novel, taking inspiration from James Joyce’s Ulysses and T.S. Eliot’s The Waste Land.

    Departing from conventional realism, Fitzgerald experimented with modernist techniques, layering his narrative with symbolic depth, synesthetic imagery, fragmented storytelling and complex characterisation.

    The result was a work both lyrical and impressionistic. Here’s a vivid, illustrative excerpt:

    The lights grow brighter as the earth lurches away from the sun, and now the orchestra is playing yellow cocktail music, and the opera of voices pitches a key higher. […] The groups change more swiftly, swell with new arrivals, dissolve and form in the same breath; already there are wanderers, confident girls who weave here and there among the stouter and more stable, become for a sharp, joyous moment the center of a group, and then, excited with triumph, glide on through the sea-change of faces and voices and color under the constantly changing light.

    Fitzgerald’s Midwestern narrator, Nick Carraway, is describing one of Gatsby’s legendary West Egg parties. He is renting the house next to Gatsby’s mansion,
    “a colossal affair by any standard”, with “a marble swimming pool, and more than forty acres of lawn and garden”.

    At first, Nick is fascinated by his enigmatic neighbour, drawn in by the sheer force of Gatsby’s optimism and his unrelenting faith in the transformative power of love and the trappings of wealth. But as the novel progresses, events lead Nick to reevaluate. He describes his charming friend as possessing “one of those rare smiles with a quality of eternal reassurance in it, that you may come across four or five times in life”.

    He continues, outlining attributes essential to a good confidence man:

    It understood you just so far as you wanted to be understood, believed in you as you would like to believe in yourself, and assured you that it had precisely the impression of you that, at your best, you hoped to convey.

    When he isn’t with Gatsby, Nick is often with his cousin Daisy and her husband, Tom, the embodiment of American aristocracy and snobbery. They are, in Nick’s damning estimation, “careless” and “rotten” people.

    An unreconstructed white supremacist prone to casual displays of extreme prejudice and physical violence, the adulterous Tom – who wouldn’t be out of place in the more dismal real-world and online recesses of today – is, in particular, deeply suspicious of Gatsby, regarding him as an interloper with dubious intentions.

    The Atlantic wrote that Tom, “the Yale man, the football star, the spender of old money, the scion of what he calls the Nordic race – embodies the peak of social status in his century”. And that “Trump – the former Playboy-cover subject, the billionaire celebrity, the most powerful man in America – does the same for his”.

    And their shared personality traits are the product of their shared relationship to power – the casual unreflective certainty that comes from inheritance, and enables its holders to wield its blunt force as both a weapon and a shield.

    Tom’s “little investigation” into Gatsby’s background and finances reveals they are not what they seem. This leads to unintended, disastrous consequences.

    Nick, our disillusioned observer, doesn’t quite know what to make of it all. We take leave of him at the end of the novel, on “the beach and sprawled out on the sand”, reminiscing about “Gatsby’s wonder when he first picked out the green light at the end of Daisy’s dock”.

    ‘A flying leap into the future’

    Fitzgerald knew he had achieved something special with The Great Gatsby. His peers did too. T.S. Eliot considered it “the first step” forward “American fiction has taken since Henry James”. Edith Wharton concurred, calling it “a flying leap into the future.”

    Yet, for all this critical acclaim, The Great Gatsby failed to resonate with the reading public – much to Fitzgerald’s dismay. By October, the book had sold less than 20,000 copies. (By comparison, This Side of Paradise had sold nearly 50,000 copies, across multiple printings.) As his biographer Arthur Mizener observed, by February 1926, “a few thousand more copies had been sold and the book was dead”. It was a blow the writer never really recovered from.

    A first edition of Tender is the Night.
    Biblio

    Fitzgerald’s personal life was tumultuous, marred by alcoholism, Zelda’s mental health issues and financial debt. This had a negative effect on his work. While he completed one more novel in 1934 – the excellent, darkly romantic Tender is the Night, arguably his best book – Fitzgerald struggled to be productive.

    Following several failed suicide attempts, in 1940 he died of a heart attack, believing himself an abject failure and his career a total write-off. His most recent royalty cheque had been for $13.13. He was 44.

    In the immediate aftermath of his death, writers and critics began to reassess Fitzgerald’s accomplishments. This effort was initially spearheaded by his friends, notably Edmund Wilson, who, in 1941, organised a series of tributes to be published in The New Republic.

    In 1945, Viking Press released The Portable F. Scott Fitzgerald, edited by Dorothy Parker, which brought Fitzgerald to the attention of a new generation of readers. At the same time, the US military distributed 150,000 copies of The Great Gatsby to American servicemen during World War II as part of their Armed Services Editions.

    Before long, The Great Gatsby made its way into the classroom, where it remains a staple of countless high school and university syllabuses. It continues to inspire readers, many of whom encounter it at a formative stage in their lives.


    Amazon

    It has been adapted for the screen on multiple occasions – with mixed results. Jack Clayton’s 1974 version, starring Robert Redford as the eponymous Gatsby, was faithful to Fitzgerald’s vision, but utterly lifeless, while Baz Luhrmann’s 2013 adaptation, a hollow exercise in audiovisual bluster, failed to do justice to the novel’s subtleties. For all their shortcomings, these films helped cement Gatsby’s place in the popular imagination.

    An ‘uncannily prescient’ enduring classic

    Novelist Jesmyn Ward suggests Fitzgerald’s novel is

    a book that endures, generation after generation, because every time a reader returns to The Great Gatsby, we discover new revelations, new insights, new burning bits of language.

    I agree – and I think Fitzgerald would have had rich material to work with, had he been alive today. Ours, lest we forget, is a world where ersatz robber barons hoard nearly all our shared available assets and resources, where racist discourse resounds, and where rampant consumerism remains unchecked.

    Last year America magazine argued Gatsby himself “gives the greatest insight into why Mr. Trump is still popular”, comparing Trump’s “fraudulent real estate deals” to Gatsby’s nefarious way of making his money, and Gatsby’s huge parties to Trump’s rallies. Both, the writer argued, are nouveau riche outsiders, “hell-bent on being accepted by the Manhattan set”, and scorned by the elites. (Though Trump’s second presidency seems to be ushering in a new elite.)

    Thinking aloud, perhaps it’s more accurate to say Trump is a weird combination of characters. On one hand, he resembles Gatsby: a self-mythologising social climber, nostalgic for a past that never really existed. On the other, he shares much with Tom Buchanan: unscrupulous, self-interested and protected by his wealth.

    In a historical moment that mirrors his own in many ways, Fitzgerald’s essentially tragic masterwork, which ends suggesting we are all forever “borne back ceaselessly into the past”, strikes me as uncannily prescient and relevant today.

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

    – ref. The Great Gatsby at 100: the Jazz Age novel that helps explain Trump’s America – https://theconversation.com/the-great-gatsby-at-100-the-jazz-age-novel-that-helps-explain-trumps-america-247698

    MIL OSI Analysis – EveningReport.nz –

  • MIL-OSI Asia-Pac: Speech by SCST at Hong Kong Football Festival 2025 Press Conference

    Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region

    Speech by SCST at Hong Kong Football Festival 2025 Press Conference 
    Good afternoon. First of all, I hope you have recovered from the excitement, and I actually mean hangover, of Hong Kong Rugby Sevens already. And more importantly, I hope you are as excited as I am in joining this press conference to announce the big event this coming summer: Hong Kong Football Festival 2025 to be held in our new Kai Tak Sports Park, Kai Tak Stadium. Four top international football teams will be playing in two matches in the last week of July. And you heard the details from Carroll just now.
     
    There is indeed no better way of concluding our Super March with the announcement of yet another set of mega sports events. While we may still be overwhelmed by the joy and atmosphere of the Hong Kong Sevens or are still savouring the series of arts and cultural offerings in March, Hong Kong is in fact all set to welcome Liverpool, AC Milan, Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur to Hong Kong. I did promise you that the mega event calendar in Hong Kong will continue to be filled by highly anticipated events, and that I will be personally announcing our major international football matches with a big grin on my face, so here you go!
     
    Hong Kong Football Festival 2025 represents so much more than two football matches. It is a celebration of Hong Kong and Asia’s longstanding passion for football, one of the most powerful sports in captivating audiences from around the world.
     
    Another milestone meaning for these two matches is of course that they will be the first international football club matches to be staged at our world-class new stadium at Kai Tak Sports Park.
     
    My special thanks go to our special guests – the legendary players from all four teams. They have come all the way to share our excitement. I can already feel that the “football temperature” is rising in Hong Kong. And I am sure that the adrenaline of our football fans is pumping up fast.
     
    Before I close, I would like to thank TEG Sport for bringing to us this wonderful football festival. Let’s work together to make this event a great success! And I look forward to seeing you all at Kai Tak Stadium in end-July.
    Issued at HKT 18:32

    NNNN

    MIL OSI Asia Pacific News –

  • MIL-OSI Asia-Pac: SCST to visit Beijing

    Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region

         The Secretary for Culture, Sports and Tourism, Miss Rosanna Law, will depart for Beijing tomorrow night (April 1). She will call on the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office of the State Council, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, the General Administration of Sport of China, and the China Film Administration. She will also meet with relevant officials of other cultural and museum institutions.
     
         Miss Law will return to Hong Kong at midday on April 4 (Friday). During her absence, the Under Secretary for Culture, Sports and Tourism, Mr Raistlin Lau, will be the Acting Secretary for Culture, Sports and Tourism.

    MIL OSI Asia Pacific News –

  • MIL-OSI Asia-Pac: Appointments to Youth Development Commission

    Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region

    The Government announced today (March 31) the reappointment of Mr Kenneth Leung Yuk-wai as Vice-Chairman of the Youth Development Commission (YDC) and the reappointments of 13 non-official members as well as appointments of 15 new non-official members, including five new non-official members appointed through the Member Self-recommendation Scheme for Youth, for a term of two years with effect from April 1, 2025.
     
    The Chief Secretary for Administration and Chairman of the YDC, Mr Chan Kwok-ki, said, “The YDC has been working closely with the Government to promote cross-bureau and interdepartmental collaborations to facilitate the healthy and all-round development of young people. The YDC will continue to follow through on the guiding principles of the Youth Development Blueprint to actively implement various schemes covering different areas such as youth exchanges and internships, entrepreneurship, life planning and positive thinking. I look forward to working together with all members of the new-term YDC to nurture a new generation of young people with an affection for our country and Hong Kong, and who are equipped with a global perspective, an aspiring mind-set and positive thinking.”
     
    Mr Chan also thanked the 12 outgoing members for their contribution to the YDC.
     
    The membership of the YDC with effect from April 1, 2025, is as follows:
     
    Chairman
    ——–
    Chief Secretary for Administration
     
    Vice-Chairman
    ——–
    Mr Kenneth Leung Yuk-wai
     
    Non-official members
    ——–
    Ms Chan Wing-man
    Ms Jenny Chan Yan-yee
    Mr Duncan Chiu
    Mr Albert Chuang Ka-pun
    Mr Conrad Ho
    Ms Vivian Kong Man-wai
    Mr Rex Lai Tat-shing
    Ms Amy Lam Cheuk-yin
    Mr Lawrence Lam Chi-bun
    Dr Lam Ho-yi   
    Mr Chris Lam Ka-tat
    Dr Kevin Lau Chung-hang
    Ms Charlotte Lau Hei-lam
    Mr Victor Lau Ngai
    Ms Dana Lau Sing-she
    Ms Janet Lee Ching-yee
    Mr Jacky Lee Chiu-yu
    Ms Natalie Leung Hoi-ching
    Mr John Li Zhong
    Mr Wilson Lung
    Mr Justin Ng Hin-ching
    Mr Victor Pang Wing-seng
    Mr Nicklaus Pannu-yuon
    Ms Beatrice Sun Long-ching
    Mr Patrick Tsang On-yip
    Mr Calvin Tse Hoi-fat
    Mr Tsui Ho-yin
    Ms Grace Yu Ho-wun
     
    Ex-officio members
    ——–
    Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development
    Secretary for Culture, Sports and Tourism
    Secretary for Education
    Secretary for Health
    Secretary for Home and Youth Affairs
    Secretary for Housing
    Secretary for Innovation, Technology and Industry
    Secretary for Labour and Welfare
    Secretary for Security

    MIL OSI Asia Pacific News –

  • MIL-OSI Asia-Pac: CURTAIN RAISER: EX TIGER TRIUMPH – 25

    Source: Government of India

    Posted On: 31 MAR 2025 5:29PM by PIB Delhi

    The Fourth edition of Exercise Tiger Triumph, the bilateral Tri-Service India-US Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) Exercise, is scheduled on the Eastern Seaboard from 01 to 13 Apr 25. The exercise is aimed at developing interoperability for conducting HADR operations and for the formulation of Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) to establish a Combined Coordination Center (CCC) that would enable rapid and smooth coordination between Indian and US Joint Task Forces (JTF) during exercises and crisis / contingencies.

    The Indian side would be represented by Indian Naval Ships Jalashwa, Gharial, Mumbai and Shakti with integral helicopters and landing crafts embarked, Long Range Maritime Patrol Aircraft P8I, Army Troops from 91 Inf Brigade and 12 Mech Infantry Battalion, Air Force C-130 Aircraft and MI-17 Helicopters, along with the Rapid Action Medical Team (RAMT). The US side would be represented by US Navy Ships Comstock and Ralph Johnson with troops of the US Marine Division embarked.

    The Harbour Phase is scheduled at Visakhapatnam from 01 to 07 Apr 25 during which an Opening Ceremony with a joint Flag Parade and Media Interaction will be held onboard INS Jalashwa on 01 Apr 25. Participants from both sides would also engage in Training Visits, Subject Matter Expert Exchanges, Sports Events and Social interactions. On completion of the Harbour Phase, the ships with troops embarked, would sail for a Sea Phase and undertake Maritime, Amphibious and HADR operations off Kakinada.

    During the exercise, a joint command and control center, would be established by Indian Army and US Marines at the Kakinada Naval Enclave. The IAF RAMT and the US Navy medical team would also establish a joint medical camp for providing medical aid. The exercise would culminate with a closing ceremony on board US Navy Ship Comstock on 13 Apr 25 at Visakhapatnam.

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    MIL OSI Asia Pacific News –

  • MIL-OSI Asia-Pac: Union Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation Shri Amit Shah unveils the grand statue of Maharaja Agrasen, inaugurates the newly constructed ICU, and lays the foundation stone for the PG hostel in Hisar, Haryana

    Source: Government of India

    Union Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation Shri Amit Shah unveils the grand statue of Maharaja Agrasen, inaugurates the newly constructed ICU, and lays the foundation stone for the PG hostel in Hisar, Haryana

    The land of Haryana has worked to enrich and preserve India’s culture, values, and traditions since ancient times

    Maharaja Agrasen paved the way for the prosperity and welfare of every individual without burdening the state

    Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi is also following the path shown by Maharaja Agrasen and working towards the development of the country

    The Modi government has spent 64,000 crore rupees on public health centers and community health centers, building a strong foundation for medical infrastructure

    In the next 5 years, there will not be a single district in the country without a medical college

    In the double-engine government, Haryana is the best example of politics based on principles by like-minded people

    The Saini government in Haryana provided 80,000 jobs to youth in a transparent manner, without bribes or recommendations

    OP Jindal established the values of caring for the people before profit, caring for society before business, and prioritizing

    In the Agarwal community, most people are entrepreneurs who are contributing to the service of the nation with a spirit of dedication

    Posted On: 31 MAR 2025 5:00PM by PIB Delhi

    Union Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation Shri Amit Shah today unveiled the grand statue of Maharaja Agrasen, inaugurated the newly constructed ICU, and laid the foundation stone for the PG hostel in Hisar, Haryana. On this occasion, several distinguished individuals, including Haryana’s Chief Minister Shri Nayab Singh Saini, were present.

    In his address, Union Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation Shri Amit Shah said the land of Haryana has worked to enrich and preserve India’s culture, values, and traditions since ancient times. He said, from Mahabharata time to the freedom struggle and even after independence, Haryana’s contribution to the development of the country has always been far greater than that of the larger states.

    Shri Amit Shah said that in this large hospital, where nearly 5 lakh people avail OPD services, 180 children graduate in medical education every year, and patients receive various types of modern medical facilities, all of this is possible due to the foundation laid by O.P. Jindal. He mentioned that today, along with the statue of Maharaja Agrasen, the newly constructed ICU has been inaugurated, and the foundation stone for the PG hostel has also been laid. He added that these initiatives represent another step towards advancing this institution.

    Union Home Minister said that Maharaja Agrasen was a unique kind of ruler, and it is said that in his time, the capital had a population of 1 lakh people. Whenever a new person arrived there, they were given a brick and one rupee by every individual to help them build a house. Shri Shah said, Maharaja Agrasen paved the way for the prosperity and welfare of every individual without burdening the state. He said that Maharaja Agrasen worked to nurture the values of the entire state. Maharaja Agrasen ensured that no one in his kingdom went to bed hungry, no one lived without a roof over their head, and no one was without work. He said that these three things were guaranteed by Maharaja Agrasen through his good governance. Home Minister added that today, every individual in all the clans of the Agarwal community is an entrepreneur, dedicated to the country, serving others, and contributing to the nation’s development.

    Shri Amit Shah said that Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi is also following the path shown by Maharaja Agrasen. He mentioned that during Prime Minister Modi’s 10-year tenure, 25 crore people in the country have risen above the poverty line. He said that Prime Minister Modi has provided 4 crore houses, 5 kg free ration per person per month to 81 crore people, gas connections to 11 crore families and toilets to 12 crore families. He said that the first government in the country to provide toilets in every house was the Haryana Government. He added that the Modi government has provided 15 crore people with piped water, health coverage of up to 5 lakh for 60 crore people, electricity to every household, and is now working through cooperatives to provide self-employment to every household.

    Union Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation said that under Prime Minister Modi’s tenure, the country has seen transformative changes in various sectors over the past 10 years. He mentioned that the Modi government has taken a holistic approach to the health of the citizens. He explained that the government first provided a gas cylinder to every household, which is directly related to the health of women. Following that, yoga was popularized worldwide, then the Fit India Mission, the Nutrition Campaign, Mission Indradhanush, and the Ayushman Bharat Yojana, which provides health coverage up to 5 lakh, were introduced. He stated that all these initiatives are related to health, and Prime Minister Modi has worked to weave them all together as a unified approach.

    Shri Amit Shah said that the Modi government has made significant strides in the field of medical infrastructure. He said, the Modi government has spent 64,000 crore rupees on public health centers and community health centers, building a strong foundation for medical infrastructure. He also highlighted the establishment of 730 integrated public health labs, 4,382 block public health units, and 602 new critical care boxes over the past 10 years. He further stated that in the year 2013-14, the country’s health budget was 33,000 crore rupees, which Prime Minister Modi has more than tripled, raising it to 1 lakh 33 thousand crore rupees in the 2025-26 budget.

    Union Home Minister said that in 2014, there were 7 AIIMS in the country, while in 2024, there are 23 AIIMS. Similarly, in 2014, there were 387 medical colleges in the country, and today there are 766. He mentioned that the number of MBBS seats, which was 51,000 in 2014, has now increased to 1.15 lakh and an additional 85,000 seats will be added over the next 5 years. He also stated that in 2014, there were 31,000 PG seats, which have now increased to 73,000. Shri Shah assured that in the next 5 years, there will not be a single district in the country without a medical college.

    Shri Amit Shah said that Haryana is the best example of politics based on principles, with like-minded people in the double-engine government. He mentioned that in previous governments, corruption in jobs was due to casteism, and jobs were obtained through bribes and recommendations. Shri Shah said that Saini government in Haryana provided 80,000 jobs to youth in a transparent manner, without bribes or recommandations. Shri Shah also pointed out that Haryana’s athletes have won three times more medals in the last 10 years, Haryana is the largest exporter of Basmati rice, and one in every 10 soldiers in the army is from Haryana. He added that Haryana is the state where the highest number of 24 crops is purchased at the minimum support price (MSP). Furthermore, Haryana was the first state to give land ownership rights within the red lines (Lal Dore), ensured that no Panchayat head is illiterate, and has 50 per cent participation of women in Panchayats.

    Union Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation said that between 2004 and 2014, Haryana received 41,000 crore rupees from the central government, while the Modi government has provided Haryana with 1 lakh 43 thousand crore rupees between 2014 and 2024. He added that in addition to this, infrastructure work worth 1 lakh 26 thousand crore rupees, road construction worth 72 thousand crore rupees, and railway projects worth 54 thousand crore rupees have also been carried out in Haryana.

    *****

    RK/VV/ASH/PS

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    MIL OSI Asia Pacific News –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Idarucizumab, levetiracetam, ustekinumab: how do drugs get their names and why are they so hard to pronounce?

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Craig Russell, Lecturer, Pharmacy, Aston University

    Asier Romero/Shutterstock

    If you’ve ever tried discussing medicines with friends or family and found yourself stumbling over the pronunciation — or even resorting to snapping a photo of the medicine’s packaging to show your pharmacist, instead of remembering the name — you’ve probably wondered: where do drug names come from, and why can’t they be easier to remember?

    Occasionally, drug names are short and snappy. But more often, they seem more like something from Greek or Norse mythology. While these names may seem overwhelming at first, they’re chosen with purpose, not as a way for big pharma to show off.

    Naming a new drug can resemble watching a yacht race or an American football game for the first time — chaotic and confusing, with rules and a structure that only those involved truly understand. To the untrained eye, it might seem random, but there’s a method to the madness. So, how are these names chosen?

    Most drugs typically have three names: a chemical name, a generic name, and a brand name. Each serves a different purpose.

    An example of this is the branded drug Viagra. Its generic name is sildenafil and its chemical name is 5-[2-ethoxy-5-(4-methylpiperazin-1-ylsulfonyl)phenyl]-1-methyl-3-propyl-1,6-dihydro-7H-pyrazolo[4,3-d]pyrimidin-7-one.

    In this example, it is clear why the chemical name is not practical for everyday use. But why have a brand name and a generic name?

    The brand name is assigned by the pharmaceutical company that develops, patents and markets the medicine. These names are chosen to be catchy and easy to remember, helping in marketing and recognition. They are usually easy to pronounce.

    Once a patent expires, other manufacturers can market the same drug under a generic name, as long as it meets the same standards of quality, safety and effectiveness.

    To avoid confusion

    Generic names were introduced in the 1950s and are the official, non-proprietary names for the active drug. Each drug has only one generic name, which ensures clear communication and standardisation worldwide.

    Pharmaceutical companies must follow strict guidelines when naming drugs, which are set by the World Health Organization’s (WHO) International Non-proprietary Names system.

    In the US, the United States Adopted Names Council assigns generic drug names in collaboration with the WHO. This ensures that drugs with similar functions have similar-sounding names.

    Generic drug names often incorporate stems or suffixes that denote the drug’s mechanism of action, chemical structure or target receptor, and a prefix that differentiates it from drugs in the same family.

    This is why lots of drug names share the same ending. Examples include cholesterol medicines ending in -statin, Ace inhibitors for reducing blood pressure ending in -pril, monoclonal antibody drugs ending in -mab, and tyrosine kinase inhibitors (mainly used in cancer treatment) ending in -tinib.

    Despite all of this, there are still lots of drugs that are easy to mix up. Medicines that look or sound alike (known in the field as “Lasa medicines”) are a leading contributor to medication errors. So, recognising where there is risk is important.

    It is particularly important to consider the sound of the name and not just how it appears when written. Examples of Lasa medicines are Losec (omeprazole) and Lasix (furosemide), and Maprocin (ciprofloxacin) and Macrocin (erythromycin). To avoid confusion, prescriptions and labels include both the brand and generic names to help differentiate between similar-sounding medications.

    Patients should be educated about their medicines and how to use them, including the importance of checking the name and appearance of the medication before taking it.

    Craig Russell receives funding from BBSRC.

    – ref. Idarucizumab, levetiracetam, ustekinumab: how do drugs get their names and why are they so hard to pronounce? – https://theconversation.com/idarucizumab-levetiracetam-ustekinumab-how-do-drugs-get-their-names-and-why-are-they-so-hard-to-pronounce-252049

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Colombia’s fragile peace process in danger as guerrilla violence rises

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Dale Pankhurst, PhD Candidate and Tutor in the School of History, Anthropology, Philosophy and Politics, Queen’s University Belfast

    Colombia has experienced an upsurge in political and criminal violence over the past few months. In late February, the National Liberation Army (ELN) leftist guerrilla insurgent group carried out four bombings in Cúcuta, a city on the border with Venezuela. Several people were left injured by the attacks, and 1,200 soldiers were subsequently deployed across the city.

    Then, in early March, dissidents from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Farc) Marxist-Leninist rebel group captured 29 members of the security forces in the Cauca region, including a police lieutenant colonel and an army major. The renegade faction expressed anger at government efforts to eradicate 8,000 hectares of coca in the area.

    Colombia’s fragile peace process, in which the government has sought to bring the country’s multiple armed groups to the negotiating table, looks to be in danger. Some leftist insurgent groups remain active, while drug cartels and offshoots of Colombia’s former right-wing paramilitaries, such as the Clan del Golfo, continue to expand their influence.

    Colombia suffered Latin America’s longest-running insurgency. In the 1960s, Farc emerged with the goal of overthrowing the Colombian state and establishing a communist government.

    It wasn’t until the late 1990s, when the drug trade emerged as a funding source, that the Farc insurgency became a serious threat to Colombia’s government. Farc took over large parts of rural Colombia, forcing state control to retreat to the urban centres of regional towns and cities. By 2001, Farc was operating in the periphery of Colombia’s capital, Bogotá.

    At the same time, the Colombian security forces also battled other left-wing insurgent forces. These included the 19th of April Movement (M-19), the Popular Liberation Army (EPL) and the ELN, which is now Colombia’s largest active guerrilla insurgent group.

    In response to the revolutionary Marxist threat, anti-insurgent paramilitaries coalesced under the banner of the United Self-Defense Forces. These paramilitary groups both collaborated and conflicted with the state, before the vast majority disbanded through a government demobilisation programme between 2002 and 2006.

    It is estimated that the decades-long armed conflict in Colombia resulted in the deaths of over a quarter of a million people, with many more injured and displaced from their homes. Tens of thousands are still missing.

    The insurgency was officially brought to an end in 2016, when the Colombian government signed a peace agreement with Farc. The group was to be demobilised, victims of the conflict would receive justice, and the government promised significant investment in rural areas previously under Farc control.

    It also guaranteed seats for former Farc rebels in the Colombian Senate and House of Representatives for two terms, starting in 2018. In its new incarnation as a political party, Farc would then have to secure seats through engaging in elections.

    Despite the peace agreement and demobilisation programmes, there are a variety of armed groups across Colombia still intent on collapsing the peace process. The ELN, for example, has rejected every peace deal since its inception in 1964.

    It continues to carry out attacks and seeks to control territory throughout Colombia, particularly in regions where the drug trade proliferates. In 2019, the ELN carried out a suicide car bombing at the General Santander National Police Academy in Bogotá, killing 21 people as police cadets readied for their graduation ceremony.

    Several Farc fronts also rejected the 2016 peace agreement and formed their own dissident factions, including the so-called Central General Staff and the Segunda Marquetalia. Farc dissidents and the ELN have clashed over the years, but have both used neighbouring Venezuela as a launch pad to conduct attacks into Colombia.

    Demobilised Farc combatants face assassinations and threats from dissident rebel factions who view former militants that are now pro-peace as traitors. These threats may encourage some demobilised groups to rearm in the future.

    Alongside the growing insurgent threat, Colombia’s security forces are also dealing with neo-paramilitary factions which are, like the remaining dissident guerrillas, heavily involved in drug trafficking.

    Groups such as the Clan del Golfo seek to generate wealth and power through criminality while also attacking rebel groups such as the ELN and Farc dissidents. These neo-paramilitary groups have an estimated membership of 6,000 volunteers spread throughout Colombia.

    Establishing ‘total peace’

    Following the 2022 election of Colombia’s president, Gustavo Petro, a new peace strategy was announced that was designed to disarm and demobilise the remaining leftist insurgents, neo-paramilitary factions and organised crime cartels. Petro, himself a former M-19 guerrilla and the country’s first leftist president, sought to use his plan for “total peace” to end Colombia’s remaining violent campaigns.

    It was hoped that peace talks between Petro’s government and rebel factions may have produced better outcomes than previous attempts due to Petro’s left-wing politics and his history as a rebel combatant in the 1980s. However, attempts at establishing peace have repeatedly collapsed.

    The decision by the US president, Donald Trump, to cut foreign aid to Colombia has also heightened fears that groups such as the ELN will benefit as a result. The funding that has been slashed primarily focused on helping communities living in poverty and isolation as well as supporting anti-gang and pro-peace programmes.

    Government initiatives to secure peace continue to stall. But community organisations at a regional and local level have achieved success in transitioning demobilised combatants back into civilian life.

    Groups such as the Medellín-based Peace Classrooms Foundation have used the experiences of former paramilitary members and rebels to warn of the dangers of violence. These groups may hold the key to addressing some of the social injustices that encourage dissent and violence in Colombia.

    The continued violence in Colombia should remind anyone with an interest in wanting peace to succeed that the internal armed conflict is far from settled.

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

    – ref. Colombia’s fragile peace process in danger as guerrilla violence rises – https://theconversation.com/colombias-fragile-peace-process-in-danger-as-guerrilla-violence-rises-252582

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI: WEEX Drives Global Strategy with Dubai Office and TOKEN2049 Spotlight

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    SINGAPORE, March 31, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Recently, WEEX officially announced the opening of its international office in Dubai’s central financial district, joining top-tier exchanges like Bybit, OKX, and Bitget in establishing a physical presence in the region. As the most dynamic crypto hub in the Middle East, Dubai continues to attract leading platforms. WEEX has also seen rapid growth in global markets, driven by its ongoing advantages in trading security, product liquidity, and user experience.

    The WEEX Dubai international office now houses over 600 employees, making it one of the largest crypto exchange operations in the region. Andrew Weiner, Vice President of WEEX, said: “With WEEX’s rapid growth in the Middle East and global markets, we plan to expand our team further in Dubai over the next one to two years, adding 30 to 50 new hires to better support local operations and service deployment.” As WEEX continues to grow its user base, product offerings, and international influence, Dubai will serve as the central hub for the platform’s global expansion, driving localized operations and team-building efforts to enhance WEEX’s global strength and influence.

    As a global crypto trading platform founded in 2018, WEEX has already served over 6.2 million users across 130+ countries and regions. With a daily trading volume of over $5 billion, WEEX supports more than 1,700 trading pairs, including popular mainstream and emerging tokens. The platform offers spot and derivative trading with leverage up to 400x. Backed by strong liquidity and a precision trading matching system, WEEX also protects users’ assets with a 1,000 BTC Protection Fund. The platform’s innovative copy trading feature has attracted a significant number of professional traders and users, making it one of the most popular tools for precision trading today.

    Meanwhile, WEEX has partnered with global brand ambassador Michael Owen and five regional ambassadors to further promote the concept of Precision Trading. The platform is also launching the “Win With Michael Owen, Sign up & get up to $100 for Free” campaign. New users who register can receive up to $30,000 in USDT rewards and have a chance to win a signed football jersey by watching Michael Owen’s newly released brand video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tRB-V2hMhuM

    As a legendary striker, Michael Owen is known for his precision, efficiency, and decisiveness on the field. This relentless pursuit of precision aligns perfectly with WEEX’s core philosophy of Precision Trading. Reflecting on how to make quick, accurate decisions under pressure, Michael Owen said: “I realized early on that being fully prepared for all possible outcomes is key to making the best decision in the moment. Otherwise, hesitation can cause opportunities to slip by.” This “instinctive decision-making,” built through years of practice and experience, helped him master risk management and timing, principles that align perfectly with WEEX’s approach to trading.

    Since the partnership, WEEX has continued refining its precision trading tools and deepening its market strategies, helping users improve decision-making efficiency and enhance risk control. Looking ahead, WEEX will continue to use its Dubai international office as the central hub of its global strategy, focusing on product development, localized services, and regulatory compliance. Through platforms like TOKEN2049, WEEX will further drive the adoption of Precision Trading across broader markets. Michael Owen and the global ambassador team will continue to collaborate with WEEX to help more investors navigate market volatility, capture opportunities, and unlock the full potential of the crypto industry.

    Disclaimer: WEEX does not currently conduct any virtual asset activities in the UAE and has not been licensed by the Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA). WEEX will only engage in virtual asset activities in Dubai upon obtaining the necessary VARA license.

    Comtact:
    Regina O’Keefe
    market@weexglobal.com

    Disclaimer: This press release is provided by WEEX. The statements, views, and opinions expressed in this content are solely those of the content provider and do not necessarily reflect the views of this media platform or its publisher. We do not endorse, verify, or guarantee the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of any information presented. This content is for informational purposes only and should not be considered financial, investment, or trading advice. Investing in crypto and mining related opportunities involves significant risks, including the potential loss of capital. Readers are strongly encouraged to conduct their own research and consult with a qualified financial advisor before making any investment decisions. However, due to the inherently speculative nature of the blockchain sector–including cryptocurrency, NFTs, and mining–complete accuracy cannot always be guaranteed. Neither the media platform nor the publisher shall be held responsible for any fraudulent activities, misrepresentations, or financial losses arising from the content of this press release.Speculate only with funds that you can afford to lose.Neither the media platform nor the publisher shall be held responsible for any fraudulent activities, misrepresentations, or financial losses arising from the content of this press release. In the event of any legal claims or charges against this article, we accept no liability or responsibility.

    Legal Disclaimer: This media platform provides the content of this article on an “as-is” basis, without any warranties or representations of any kind, express or implied. We do not assume any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information presented herein. Any concerns, complaints, or copyright issues related to this article should be directed to the content provider mentioned above.

    A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/6e549160-8964-465f-992c-74b94bb9228f

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI Banking: Apple Intelligence comes to Apple Vision Pro today with visionOS 2.4

    Source: Apple

    Headline: Apple Intelligence comes to Apple Vision Pro today with visionOS 2.4

    March 31, 2025

    UPDATE

    Apple Intelligence and new spatial experiences come to Apple Vision Pro today with visionOS 2.4

    Alongside the first set of powerful Apple Intelligence features, users can discover new content with Spatial Gallery and the Apple Vision Pro app for iPhone, and share the magic of spatial computing with enhancements to Guest User

    visionOS 2.4 is available today, bringing the first set of powerful Apple Intelligence features that help users communicate, write, and express themselves on Apple Vision Pro — all while taking an extraordinary step forward for privacy in AI.1 With the new Spatial Gallery app, users have access to a curated collection of spatial content spanning art, culture, nature, sports, and more. visionOS 2.4 also introduces the Apple Vision Pro app for iPhone to help users easily find new content and apps, and enhancements to Guest User make sharing Vision Pro experiences even easier.

    Apple Intelligence on Apple Vision Pro

    With Writing Tools, users can refine their words by rewriting, proofreading, and summarizing text nearly everywhere they write, including Mail, Notes, and many third-party apps. With Rewrite, users can adjust the tone of their text to make it more friendly, professional, or concise, or specify the change they’d like to make using Describe Your Change. Proofread checks grammar, word choice, and sentence structure, and provides suggested edits. Users can also select text and have it recapped in several formats with Summarize. With Compose, users can ask ChatGPT to generate content for anything they are writing about from the systemwide Writing Tools.2

    Image Playground allows users to easily create fun and unique images from themes, costumes, accessories, and places. Users can add their own text descriptions, and can even create images in the likeness of a family member or friend using photos from their photo library. The experience is integrated directly into apps like Messages and Freeform, and is also available as a dedicated app for Apple Vision Pro.

    Apple Intelligence takes emoji to an entirely new level, offering users the ability to create original Genmoji by simply typing or speaking a description into the emoji keyboard. Genmoji can be added inline to messages, shared as a sticker, or sent as a Tapback.

    Smart Reply in Messages and Mail provides suggestions for a quick response, and will identify questions to ensure everything is answered.

    With natural language search in the Photos app, it’s even easier to find a specific photo or moment in a video just by describing it. Create a Memory Movie lets users create the movies they want to see by simply typing a description. Using language and image understanding, Apple Intelligence will pick out photos and videos based on a user’s description, craft a storyline with chapters based on themes identified from the photos, and arrange them into a movie with its own narrative arc. As with all Apple Intelligence features, user photos and videos are kept private, and are not shared with Apple or anyone else.

    visionOS 2.4 also includes support for Priority Messages in Mail, Mail Summaries, Image Wand in Notes, Priority Notifications in Notification Center, and Notification Summaries. The initial set of Apple Intelligence features is available in visionOS 2.4 for users with their device and Siri language set to U.S. English.

    Apple Intelligence uses on-device processing whenever possible to protect users’ privacy. For requests that require access to even larger models, Private Cloud Compute extends the privacy and security of Apple products into the cloud to unlock even more intelligence. When using Private Cloud Compute, users’ data is never stored or shared with Apple; it is used only to fulfill the request. Independent experts can inspect the code that runs on Apple silicon servers to continuously verify this privacy promise, and are already doing so.

    Curated Spatial Content with Spatial Gallery

    Spatial Gallery, a new app for Apple Vision Pro, features spatial photos, spatial videos, and panoramas curated by Apple, and gives users a window to captivating and powerful moments spanning art, culture, entertainment, lifestyle, nature, sports, and travel, with new content released regularly.

    At launch, users can discover stories and experiences from iconic brands including Red Bull, Cirque du Soleil, and Porsche; go behind the scenes with Apple Originals like Severance, The Studio, and The Morning Show; and listen to conversations with top artists like Bad Bunny, Charli xcx, and Keith Urban.

    The Apple Vision Pro App for iPhone

    The Apple Vision Pro app for iPhone offers a new way for users to discover new spatial experiences, queue apps and games to download, easily find tips, and quickly access information about their Vision Pro, all from their iPhone.

    The Discover page features recommendations for new and notable experiences on Apple Vision Pro, from popular apps like Explore POV and JigSpace, to Apple Arcade games like Gears & Goo, to Apple Immersive experiences like Metallica, which gives viewers unprecedented access to the band through a remarkable storytelling format only possible on Vision Pro.

    The My Vision Pro page helps users get the most out of their Apple Vision Pro, offering tips and key information such as their current visionOS version and device serial number. Users with vision correction needs can now store and view the App Clip code for their ZEISS Optical Inserts in the Apple Vision Pro app.

    New Enhancements to Guest User

    visionOS 2.4 lets users start a Guest User session on Apple Vision Pro with their nearby iPhone or iPad. To make it easier to guide a guest through the Vision Pro experience, users can now choose which apps are accessible to their guests and start View Mirroring with AirPlay from their iPhone.

    New Apple Immersive Video Content

    VIP: Yankee Stadium premieres this Friday, April 4, featuring an all-encompassing look at how elite athletes, die-hard fans, dedicated staff, and epic moments make the Bronx ballpark legendary. Bono: Stories of Surrender pulls back the curtain on the deeply personal experiences that have shaped Bono as a son, father, husband, activist, and U2 frontman. The groundbreaking film from Apple TV+ premieres May 30, and will be available in 2D and in Apple Immersive Video.

    Availability

    • visionOS 2.4 is available today as a free software update for Apple Vision Pro. For more information, visit apple.com/visionos/visionos-2. Some features may not be available in all regions or languages.
    • Apple Vision Pro is available in Australia, Canada, China mainland, Hong Kong, France, Germany, Japan, Korea, Singapore, Taiwan, the UAE, the UK, and the U.S.
    • Apple Intelligence will be available in beta on Apple Vision Pro with visionOS 2.4. The first set of features will be available for Vision Pro users with their device and Siri language set to U.S. English. Feature availability varies by region; Apple Intelligence is subject to regulatory approval and not yet available in China.
    • The Spatial Gallery app will be installed with visionOS 2.4 for users in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, Singapore, Taiwan, the UAE, the UK, and the U.S. It can be downloaded from the App Store for Vision Pro.
    • The Apple Vision Pro app for iPhone will be available with iOS 18.4. The app will be available to download from the App Store, and will automatically appear on a user’s iPhone once they update to iOS 18.4 and have both devices associated with the same Apple Account.
    1. The first set of features will be available for Apple Vision Pro users with their device and Siri language set to U.S. English.
    2. Integration with ChatGPT is available only in regions where the ChatGPT app and service is available. Refer to Open AI for Chat GPT availability.

    Press Contacts

    Corey Nord

    Apple

    cnord2@apple.com

    Andrea Schubert

    Apple

    a_schubert@apple.com

    Apple Media Helpline

    media.help@apple.com

    MIL OSI Global Banks –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Culture in the Park a great success – despite the weather!

    Source: Northern Ireland City of Armagh

    Even the weather couldn’t put a dampener on the Culture in the Park event last Saturday in Solitude Park, Banbridge with families coming out to enjoy some time together, to watch the fantastic acts on stage, get involved in the various activities and, of course, indulge in some yummy food!

    The photos tell the story of the evening – can you spot yourself?

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI Russia: HSE awarded finalists of NTO in computer game development

    Translartion. Region: Russians Fedetion –

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

    © Higher School of Economics

    On March 28, the HSE Cultural Center hosted a ceremony to award prize winners and winners of the Computer Game Development profile among schoolchildren in grades 8–11 National Technology Olympiad (NTO). More than 60 people took part in the final. The profile is organized by the National Research University Higher School of Economics in partnership with the Ninsar.Games studio, the National Cyber-Physical Platform “Berloga”, VK Play and VK Education.

    In the finals, which took place at the HSE from March 24 to 29, schoolchildren, united in teams, solved real engineering problems. They developed a game prototype according to the specified technical requirements and guidelines – a game simulator in the setting of the National Cyber-Physical Platform “Berloga”.

    At the award ceremony, the finalists were greeted by Deputy Minister of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation Olga Petrova. “The Olympiad is not just a competition, but an entire ecosystem that selects the best of the best. I am proud of each of you. You have passed a colossal selection and received knowledge that has made you stronger, wiser and more experienced. Trying yourself, going beyond the usual school curriculum – these are the competencies that will often be required of you in life. Learn, dare, dream and do not stop there! Remember that our country is a country of colossal opportunities, and everything is in your hands!” said Olga Petrova.

    The winners in the special nomination from the Berloga platform were announced by its leader, President of the Association of Participants of Technological Circles Alexey Fedoseyev. He presented prizes to representatives of three teams, as well as acceleration certificates.

    “We will be glad to work with you, to bring the games not just to publication, but to implementation in educational environments, to receive feedback not only from those who download and play them on the Internet, but also from teachers, from people who can influence their further promotion. I hope that you will get unique products,” Alexey Fedoseyev emphasized.

    The diplomas to the winners of the Olympiad were presented by Alexander Egorov, head of the VK Play Indie division, and Egor Sechinsky, founder of Ninsar.Games, responsible developer of the “Computer Game Development” profile.

    According to Alexander Egorov, the games created by the Olympiad participants help solve certain problems, which is better than just “walking in the dark and trying to find some kind of light.” “I sincerely believe that you will soon be able to enter the market, gather your first fan base and open a franchise, and sometime in the future, raise enough capital to make the games of your dreams,” he said.

    Egor Sechinsky recalled that the NTO in the field of “Development of Computer Games” is being held for the sixth time and that the projects that were this year surprised him again. He recommended the finalists not to abandon their developments and bring them to such a level of readiness that they could “put them on the shelf in their portfolio”. “We in the industry are ready to help you, promote you and make sure that new young talented teams appear,” he concluded.

    The winners in the individual competition were congratulated by Dmitry Kaisin, Deputy Rector for Development at University 2035, and Yaroslav Paunov, Director of the Human Resources Development Division of the Young Professionals division of the ASI.

    Dmitry Kaisin said that he himself had once participated in the final of a similar competition, saw how quite young people came out on stage to congratulate the winners, and wanted to become like them. He recommended that schoolchildren do what they love — make a hobby their job, and also make friends with equally passionate colleagues.

    Yaroslav Paunov noted that the peculiarity of NTO is “tasks from the market and for the market, their practical applicability.” “You don’t just solve and invent something, contributing to your development and, perhaps, to future admission to such a top university as HSE, but you prepare for the market while still in school,” he believes.

    The difference between NTO and many other Olympiads is that, in addition to the individual standings, there is a team standings. In the profile “Development of Computer Games”, the winner in the team standings was the team “Paradigma”, consisting of four people: Yaroslav Reznikov (Simferopol), Olesya Polischuk (Sevastopol), Gleb Shakhanov (Moscow Region) and Artem Reus (Sevastopol). Yaroslav also won in the individual standings, Olesya, Gleb and Artem became prize winners. In addition, the team was among the winners of a special nomination from the platform “Berloga”.

    The awards were presented to the team members by Olga Petrova and the Vice-Rector of the National Research University Higher School of Economics, the responsible secretary of the NTO organizing committee Dmitry Zemtsov.

    “When we conceived this profile, we hoped that it would include its own geniuses and stars who would create games that would change the world. I have no doubt that such people are among the finalists of the anniversary, tenth season of the National Technology Olympiad. For example, I remember the very young Egor Sechinsky, who today already acts as the founder of the Ninsar.Games gaming studio and the organizer of the Computer Game Development profile of the NTO, selecting the best Olympiad participants for his team, with whom he creates popular games,” said Dmitry Zemtsov.

    In an interview with the Vyshka.Glavnoye news service, members of the Paradigma team said that they had developed a game called Arktos (the ancient Greek name for the Ursa Major constellation). The idea of the game is that bears crash in space, end up on an uninhabited planet, and solve OGE problems there, with each problem bringing them closer to returning home to their den. Thus, exam preparation is built into the exciting game.

    The team had clearly defined roles: Yaroslav was the captain and main programmer, Olesya was a tester, Gleb was a graphic artist, and Artem was a game designer. Olesya also acted as a manager — she negotiated playtests, and in particular, she managed to organize playtests at Sevastopol Gymnasium No. 1. “We collected a huge amount of feedback, and it really helped us,” she said.

    Work on the project lasted for six months, and the team’s mentor, ITMO first-year student Vladimir Mikhnev, played an important role in it. “At the finals at the HSE, I came to them every evening and told them what they had succeeded in doing and what needed to be corrected,” he says. “The guys discussed my proposals together, agreed with some, rejected others. Of course, winning the Olympiad is, first and foremost, their merit, their hard work.”

    All team members are considering the possibility of entering various universities in Moscow and St. Petersburg, including HSE, MIREA, MAI, ITMO. They plan to develop professionally in the IT field, including in the field of computer game development.

    The 2024/25 academic year is the tenth anniversary season of the National Technology Olympiad. It is held under the coordination of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education together with the federal project “Russia – Country of Opportunities” of the national project “Youth and Children” with the support of the “Movement of the First”, the Agency for Strategic Initiatives and the ANO “NTI Platform”. The Olympiad project office is located at the HSE with the methodological support of the Association of Participants of Technology Circles (NTI Circle Movement).

    This academic year, NTO set a new record: almost 220,000 students applied to participate in the tracks of the largest engineering competitions. More than 2,000 schoolchildren and students from 72 regions of Russia and three other countries: Belarus, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan reached the finals.

    Winning in the Computer Game Development profile, as in most other NTO areas, will give schoolchildren the opportunity to receive 100 USE points in one of the subjects or enter a university without entrance examinations. NTO results are accepted by more than 100 Russian universities.

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

    MIL OSI Russia News –

  • MIL-OSI: 2024 Earnings Report

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    Continued recovery of margins and strong improvement in cash generation

    Relevance of the selectivity strategy implemented in 2024, prioritizing margins

    • Another year of strong improvement in adjusted EBITDA margin: 7.5% in 2024, up 40 basis points compared to 2023
    • Slight increase in adjusted EBITDA to €75.1 million, despite the 5.8% decrease in revenue
    • Gradual recovery in net income, group share: -€15.8 million in 2024, compared with -€22.7 million in 2023
    • Net income, group share adjusted for amortization of customer relationships: -€6.0 million, compared with -€12.9 million in 2023

    Sustained momentum for the Group’s profitable growth drivers

    • Confirmation of Germany’s strong potential: +33.6% growth, accretive adjusted EBITDA margin for the Group
    • Expansion of the Energy business: +28.5% growth, including +52.0% in France, driven by accelerated development in solar

    Strong improvement in cash generation, solid financial position

    • Net free cash flow: €5.9 million, compared with -€17.0 million in 2023
    • Net bank debt: €0.8 million at the end of 2024
    • Bank debt successfully refinanced in November 2024 for €120 million

    On track to meet 2026 targets

    • Tripling of revenue in Germany compared to 2023
    • Tripling of revenue in Energy in France compared to 2023
    • Adjusted EBITDA margin above 10% in the Group’s three main geographies: Benelux, France and Germany

    Today, Solutions30 SE is announcing its consolidated earnings for the year ended December 31, 2024, prepared in accordance with IFRS. Solutions30’s 2024 consolidated financial statements as approved by the Management Board were examined by the Supervisory Board on March 31, 2025. The auditors, PKF Audit & Conseil, have completed their audit of the consolidated financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2024. The audit report relating to the certification of these statements as well as the Group’s consolidated financial statements for 2024 are available on the Solutions30 website (www.solutions30.com) under the “Investor Relations” section.

    Gianbeppi Fortis, Chief Executive Officer of Solutions30, stated: “In 2024, we made the strategic choice to prioritize margin improvement over revenue growth, adopting a more selective approach in certain mature markets. This choice has paid off as, this year, we were once again able to significantly improve our margins and we even achieved a slight increase in our adjusted EBITDA, despite a decline in revenue. The German market, where we are now firmly established, has confirmed its strong potential. Increased infrastructure investment in Germany should further expand the range of opportunities available to us. Energy services also confirmed their status as a solid growth driver, particularly in France, where they accounted for almost 30% of our Q4 revenue, with excellent prospects, especially in renewable energy.
    Following significant transformations in 2024, both in our organization and in our business portfolio, we are entering 2025 on a solid footing, with renewed confidence in the Group’s fundamentals. We have set a clear path for 2026, which we presented at our Capital Markets Day last September: tripling our revenue in Germany and in energy services in France, and achieving an adjusted EBITDA margin above 10% in our three main geographies. We are well on track to meet these ambitions.”

    Key figures – Consolidated data
    In millions of euros 2024 2023 Change
    Revenue 996.0 1,057.0 (5.8)%
    Adjusted EBITDA 75.1 74.6 0.7%
    As a % of revenue (EBITDA margin) 7.5% 7.1%  
    Adjusted EBIT 28.4 22.6 25.6%
    As a % of revenue 2.9% 2.1%  
    Operating income 0.6 (2.7) n.a.
    As a % of revenue 0.1% (0.3)%  
    Net income, group share (15.8) (22.7) n.a.
    Adjusted net income, group share * (6.0) (12.9) n.a.
    Free cash flow 40.2 13.4  
    Free cash flow net 5.9 (17.0)  
           
    Financial position figures
    In millions of euros    		 31.12.2024 31.12.2023 Change
    Equity 108.1 124.6 (16.5)
    Net debt 73.8 78.4 (4.7)
    Net bank debt 0.8 (5.7) 6.5

    * Adjusted for amortization of customer relationships (group share) net of the associated tax impact – charge relating to past acquisitions, purely accounting in nature, with no cash impact, and unrelated to tangible assets.

    Solutions30’s consolidated revenue for 2024 amounted to €996.0 million, down -5.8% compared to 2023. This includes an organic contraction of -6.4%, a +0.2% impact from acquisitions, and a +0.4% favorable exchange rate effect. It reflects the Group’s strategic orientations, aimed at giving greater priority to margins over revenue growth, in a context where it is currently operating in markets and business segments at different stages of maturity. Solutions30 chose to scale down its exposure to the telecommunications sector notably in France and in Spain, where certain contracts no longer met its profitability requirements. At the same time, the Group accelerated its development in its profitable growth drivers in Germany and in energy services.

    Adjusted EBITDA amounted to €75.1 million, up +0.7% on 2023, despite lower revenue, reflecting a further increase in adjusted EBITDA margin to 7.5% from 7.1% in 2023 (+40 basis points). This performance reflects the relevance of the selective strategy implemented by the Group in 2024.

    Free cash flow reached €40.2 million, a clear €26.8 million improvement compared to 2023 (€13.4 million). This reflects a favorable trend in working capital, in a context where Solutions30 is increasingly and continuously focusing on profitability and cash generation. Net free cash flow, after repayment of lease liabilities and interest paid on these liabilities, turned positive in 2024, at €5.9 million, compared with a negative -€17.0 million in 2023.

    As a result, the Group’s financial position remains very solid, with a cash position net of bank debt close to breakeven at the end of 2024 (-€0.8 million). In addition, all financing needs are fully covered by the successful refinancing of the Group’s bank debt in November 2024, for a total amount of €120 million.

    Analysis by geographical segment

      2024 2023 Change
    Benelux      
    Revenue 371.6 381.6 (2.6)%
    Adjusted EBITDA 37.1 43.6 (14.9)%
    Adjusted EBITDA margin % 10.0% 11.4% (140 bps)
    France      
    Revenue 360.8 403.3 (10.5)%
    Adjusted EBITDA 34.1 35.5 (3.9)%
    Adjusted EBITDA margin % 9.5% 8.8% +70bp
    Other Countries      
    Revenue 263.6 272.1 (3.1)%
    Adjusted EBITDA 16.3 5.5 +196.4%
    Adjusted EBITDA margin % 6.2% 2.0% ‘+420bp
    HQ* (12.4) (10.0) 24%
    Revenue 996.0 1,057.0 (5.8)%
    Adjusted EBITDA 75.1 74.6 +0.7%
    Adjusted EBITDA margin % 7.5% 7.1% +40 bps

       * Costs related to the Group’s centralized functions

    Benelux

    In the Benelux, the Group’s leading geography in terms of revenue, revenue amounted to €371.6 million in 2024, down slightly by -2.6% (-2.8% organic) from a very high comparison basis (+72% in 2023). This decline is due to the Connectivity business (2024 revenue of €282.2 million, down -7.2%), as the fiber-optic roll-out in Belgium has been slowed by negotiations between service providers aimed at streamlining their roll-out operations nationwide. In addition, the merger between Proximus and Fiberklaar is prompting the adaptation of the Group’s operational processes.

    Energy revenue reached €64.8 million, up +11.6%, driven by the roll-out of smart meters and strong momentum in energy transition support services, notably with the entry into production of the contract to modernize over 1,000 km of low-voltage electricity network in Flanders. In addition, the acquisition of Xperal in September 2024 opens up new prospects in the solar sector in Benelux.

    Lastly, Technology activities maintained their strong momentum, with revenue up by +27.6% to €24.5 million, driven notably by the launch of a new IT support contract in the fourth quarter.

    The Benelux’s adjusted EBITDA margin remained in double-digit territory throughout the year at 10.0%, demonstrating the Group’s ability to effectively adapt its processes and organization to the temporary slowdown in the Connectivity business. Adjusted EBITDA thus amounted to €37.1 million in 2024.

    France

    In France, revenue amounted to €360.8 million, down -10.5% (-11.0% organic). Revenue from the Connectivity business contracted by -26.9% to €208.8 million, reflecting the selective measures implemented since the second quarter to improve margins. This has led the Group to significantly reduce its exposure to certain contracts that were no longer meeting its profitability requirements, with an impact compounded by the slow-down in the fiber roll-out market since the beginning of the year.

    In 2024, Solutions30 successfully continued to expand its Energy business, achieving sustained growth of +52.0% to reach revenue of €78.4 million, or 22% of the total (almost 30% in the fourth quarter). In the photovoltaic sector, the Group benefits from a highly dynamic market and a leading position. The Energy business thus represents a strategic diversification lever for the Group in France, with the ambition of reaching €150 million in revenue from this segment by 2026.

    In the Technology business, revenue amounted to €73.6 million, up +11%, driven by a surge in activity linked to the 2024 Olympics and continued momentum in IT support services.

    France’s adjusted EBITDA margin stood at 9.5%, up 70 basis points compared to 2023. This increase results from the increased selectivity strategy implemented in the Connectivity business, which prioritizes margin improvement over revenue growth. It also reflects the ramp-up of the Energy business and the associated scale effects, as well as ongoing efforts to streamline the organization and central functions.

    Other Countries

    In Other Countries, revenue amounted to €263.6 million, down -3.1%. This trend includes an organic contraction of -4.5% partially offset by a positive currency effect of +1.4%, reflecting the appreciation of the zloty and the pound sterling against the euro during the period.

    With revenue up +33.6% to €84.4 million, Germany confirms in 2024 its status as a powerful growth driver and the Group’s future third pillar in Europe, alongside Benelux and France. Leveraging strong relationships with Germany’s six main telecom service providers, Solutions30 is successfully replicating its business model in this market whose exceptional potential continues to materialize, supported by the accelerated roll-out of fiber networks, and strong future investment momentum in infrastructure in general.

    In Poland, strong growth continues, reaching +18.0% in 2024. In Italy, the agreement reached with the main telecom client has effectively eliminated the associated risk, allowed business to return to normal as of the third quarter, with progressively improving economic conditions expected over the first half of 2025. Revenue was down -16.0% for the year, but returned to growth in the fourth quarter. In Spain, where revenue contracted by -34.2%, the Group has considerably reduced its exposure to the mature telecoms market, and is restructuring its Connectivity business while refocusing on the Energy and Technology businesses. Finally, in the United Kingdom, revenue was down -23.3%, reflecting increased selectivity and a refocusing on the fiber and energy services markets.

    Adjusted EBITDA in Other Countries stood at €16.3 million, three times its 2023 level (€5.5 million). The adjusted EBITDA margin was 6.2%, compared with 2.0% in 2023. This significant improvement reflects Germany’s solid performance. It also results from the return to breakeven in Italy, after the losses recorded in 2023, as well as the initial progress made in the United Kingdom.

    Consolidated earnings

    On the basis of adjusted EBITDA of €75.1 million for 2024, after accounting for depreciation and operational of €14.9 million (compared to €22.8 million in 2023), and after amortization of the right-of-use assets (IFRS 16) amounting to €31.8 million (€29.2 million in 2023), the Group’s adjusted EBIT stood at €28.4 million, up +25.6% compared to 2023, representing 2.9% of full-year revenue (2.1% in 2023).

    Operating income returned to positive territory in 2024, reaching €0.6 million, compared with a loss of -€2.7 million in 2023. It includes:

    • €13.4 million in net non-current operating expenses. These expenses mainly include restructuring costs, reflecting the measures taken by the Group to support the selective downsizing in certain markets and to optimize its organizational structure accordingly, particularly in Spain, the United Kingdom, and France.
    • €14.5 million in amortization of customer relationships, stable compared to 2023. This charge, relating to past acquisitions, is purely accounting in nature, with no impact on cash flow, and does not relate to tangible assets.

    Net financial income was -€14.7 million, compared with -€13.1 million in 2023. It includes a bank interest charge of -€7.2 million, compared with -€5.4 million in 2023, mainly reflecting a higher average drawdown in 2024, and interest on leases (IFRS 16) of -€3.2 million (-€1.7 million in 2023). It also includes, in 2024, non-cash income of €1.1 million, linked to the downward adjustment of earn-out liabilities from past acquisitions (compared with a -€0.8 million charge in 2023).

    After accounting for a net tax expense of -€1.4 million, the Group’s share of So-Tec’s income (equity-accounted) for €0.4 million, and deducting minority interests of €0.7 million, Net income group share amounted to -€15.8 million, a considerable improvement compared to 2023 (-€22.7 million). Adjusted for the amortization of customer relationships net of the related tax impact, Adjusted net income Group share – which strictly reflects the Group’s operating performance – amounted to -€6.0 million, compared with -€12.9 million in 2023.

    Cash flow

    The Group’s 2024 operating cash flow was €56.6 million. The change in working capital, restated for non-cash items, represents an inflow of €1.6 million, compared with an outflow of -€26.2 million in 2023. In addition to the impact from the decrease in revenue, this sharp improvement reflects the Group’s evolving business profile, as well as the enhanced focus on cash generation, with favorable trends in average customer payment terms and advance payment flows. The change in working capital includes a significant reduction in factoring of -€40.5 million, due to a lower volume of receivables in France as a result of the aforementioned decrease in activity, as well as favorable payment terms in Germany. As a result, net cash flow from operating activities rose sharply in 2024, to €58.2 million, compared to €34.1 million in 2023.

    Net investments amounted to €18.0 million, or -1.8% of revenue, in line with their normative levels of around 2%, and were mainly related to information systems and technical equipment. In particular, Solutions30 relies on its proprietary IT platform, Smartfix, as a strategic tool to efficiently manage its large-scale operations. This platform accounts for the bulk of the Group’s annual investments.

    Overall, free cash flow amounted to €40.2 million in 2024, a significant improvement over 2023 (€13.4 million). After repayment of lease liabilities and related interest (IFRS 16), amounting to -€34.3 million, net free cash flow turned positive in 2024, at €5.9 million, compared with -€17.0 million in 2023.

    Taking into account -€3.5 million in earn-outs paid on past acquisitions, -€0.1 million in acquisitions made during the period, -€6.9 million in interest paid, -€14.3 million in net reimbursements of loans, -€1.9 million in debt issuance costs and the -€1.1 million impact of exchange rate fluctuations, the change in cash position was -€22.0 million.

    Financial position

    Solutions30 maintains a solid financial position, combining strong liquidity with a net financial debt of almost zero. At December 31, 2024, the Group’s gross cash position stood at €96.3 million, compared with €118.2 million at the end of December 2023. Gross bank debt amounted to €97.0 million, compared with €112.5 million at December 31, 2023, due to the repayment of loans during the year. As a result, the Group’s net bank debt was nearly breakeven, at €0.8 million at December 31, 2024, compared with a net cash position of €5.7 million at December 31, 2023.

    This financial position is all the more solid given the significant reduction in receivables sold under the Group’s non-recourse factoring program, which amounted to €69 million as of December 31, 2024, compared to €109 million as of December 31, 2023. Factoring can finance working capital from recurring activities that have fully developed, at a very modest cost. This program, combined with a solid financial position, provides Solutions30 with the resources it needs to finance its growth strategy.

    Including €68.8 million in lease liabilities (IFRS 16) and €4.1 million in potential financial debt linked to future earnouts and put options, the Group’s total net debt stood at €73.8 million at December 31, 2024, down slightly from €78.4 million at December 31, 2023.

    In November 2024, Solutions30 completed the refinancing of its entire bank debt, for a total amount of €120 million, including an effective loan of €83 million and a loan commitment of €37 million to finance growth. This new facility, arranged with a syndicate of eight core relationship banks, strengthens the Group’s financial base and provides it with the resources needed to support its continued expansion, particularly in the energy sector. With a 7-year maturity, it also extends the debt maturity profile while maintaining a cost comparable to that of the previous debt.

    Outlook

    Following a year in which Solutions30’s selective strategy proved effective, the Group intends to continue prioritizing margins over volumes in its most mature markets, while allocating more resources to segments offering the strongest prospects for profitable growth, particularly in Germany and in energy services.

    Confident in its positioning and ability to seize the numerous opportunities within its markets, the Group is fully committed to achieving its 2026 objectives, as presented at the Capital Markets Day held on September 26, 2024. These include achieving an adjusted EBITDA margin in excess of 10% in each of its three main geographies: Benelux, France, and Germany.

    In the Benelux, the Group is confident it will be able to capitalize on its leading market position and return to growth during 2025.

    In France, Energy Solutions revenue is set to triple compared with 2023, reaching €150 million in 2026. For Connectivity Solutions, the Group is focused on stabilizing its activity levels while applying strict contract selectivity.

    In Germany, Solutions30 is targeting a first milestone in 2026, with revenue ranging between €150 million and €200 million. Germany should continue to grow faster than the rest of the Group, ultimately becoming one of its largest contributors. In the longer term, the country is set to benefit from strong investment momentum in infrastructure, which should translate into numerous growth opportunities for Solutions30, not only in fiber optics, but also in Energy (smart grids, solar power, energy storage, electric vehicle charging infrastructure, smart meters) and Technology (rail network signaling, Internet of Things) businesses.

    In the rest of Europe, Solutions30 has adopted a portfolio management approach, aiming at sustaining Poland’s profitable growth, further improving performance in the UK, and either restoring margin in Italy and Spain by 2026 or initiating a strategic review in these two countries.

    Webcast for Investors and Analysts

    Date: Monday, March 31, 2025
    6:30 PM (CET) – 5:30 PM (GMT)

    Speakers:
    Gianbeppi Fortis, Chief Executive Officer
    Amaury Boilot, Group General Secretary

    Connection details:

    Webcast in French or English : https://channel.royalcast.com/solutions30-fr/#!/solutions30-fr/20250331_1

    Upcoming Events

    2025 Q1 Revenue Report – April 29, 2025 (after market close)
    TPICAP Conference – Paris – May 15, 2025
    Annual General Meeting – June 17, 2025
    Portzamparc Mid & Small Caps Conference –  June 19, 2025
    2025 Half-year Results – September 17, 2025 (after market close)
    2025 Q3 Revenue Report – November 5, 2025 (after market close)        

    About Solutions30 SE

    Solutions30’s mission is to make the technological developments that are transforming our daily lives accessible to everyone, individuals and businesses alike, especially with regard to the digital transformation and the energy transition. With its network of more than 16,000 technicians, Solutions30 has completed over 65 million call-outs since its inception and led over 500 renewable energy projects with a combined maximum output surpassing 1800 MWp. Every day, Solutions30 is doing its part to build a more connected and sustainable world. Solutions30 has become an industry leader in Europe with operations in 10 countries: France, Italy, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, Spain, Portugal, the United Kingdom, and Poland. The capital of Solutions30 SE consists of 107,127,984 shares, equal to the number of theoretical votes that can be exercised. Solutions30 SE is listed on the Euronext Paris exchange (ISIN FR0013379484- code S30). Indices : CAC Mid & Small | CAC Small | CAC Technology | Euro Stoxx Total Market Technology | Euronext Tech Croissance.
    Visit our website to learn more: www.solutions30.com

    Contact

    Individual Shareholders:
    actionnaires@solutions30.com – Tel: +33 1 86 86 00 63

    Analysts/Investors:
    investor.relations@solutions30.com

    Press – Image 7 :
    Charlotte Le Barbier – Tel: +33 6 78 37 27 60 – clebarbier@image7.fr

    The Group uses financial indicators not defined by IFRS:

    • Profitability indicators and their components are key operational performance indicators used by the Group to monitor and evaluate its overall operating earnings and earnings by country.
    • Cash flow indicators are used by the Group to implement its investment and resource allocation strategy.

    The non-IFRS financial indicators used are calculated as follows:

    Organic growth includes the organic growth of acquired companies after they are acquired, which Solutions30 assumes they would not have experienced had they remained independent. In 2024, the Group’s organic growth included only the internal growth of its long-standing subsidiaries.

    Adjusted EBITDA is the “operating margin” as reported in the Group’s financial statements.

    Free cash flow corresponds to the net cash flow from operating activities minus the acquisitions of intangible assets and property, plant and equipment net of disposals.

    Calculation of free cash flow:

    In millions of euros 31.12.2024 31.12.2023
    Net cash flow from operating activities         58.2                 34.1        
    Acquisition of fixed assets, net         (18.6)         (21.4)
    Disposal of non-current assets after tax         0.7                 0.7        
    Free cash flow         40.2                 13.4        

    Net free cash flow corresponds to free cash flow less “Repayment of lease liabilities” and “Interest paid on lease liabilities” as shown in the Group’s consolidated statement of cash flows.

    Calculation of net free cash flow:

    In millions of euros 31.12.2024 31.12.2023
    Free cash flow         40.2                 13.4        
    Repayment of lease liabilities         (31.1)         (28.7)
    Interest paid on lease liabilities         (3.2)         (1.7)
    Free cash flow net         5.9                 (17.0)

    Cash net of bank debt corresponds to “Cash and cash equivalents” as it appears in the Group’s financial statements from which is deducted “Loans from credit institutions, long-term” and “Short-term loans from credit institutions, lines of credit, and bank overdrafts” as they appear in note 10.2 of the Group’s annual financial statements.

    Adjusted EBIT corresponds to operating income as shown in the Group’s financial statements, to which “Customer relationship amortization” and “Other non-current operating expenses” are added and from which “Other non-current operating income” is deducted.

    Reconciliation between operating income and adjusted EBIT:

    In millions of euros 31.12.2024 31.12.2023
    Operating income         0.6                 (2.7)        
    Customer relationship amortization         14.5                 14.4        
    Other non-current operating income         (2.2)                 (0.4)        
    Other non-current operating expenses         15.5                 11.4        
    Adjusted EBIT         28.4                 22.6        
    As a % of revenue         2.9        %         2.1        %

    The adjusted group share of net income corresponds to the “Net income, group share” as shown in the group financial statements, to which is added “Amortization of customer relationships, group share” and from which is deducted the “Tax impact on amortization of customer relationships, group share.”

    In millions of euros 31.12.2024 31.12.2023
    Net income, group share         (15.8)         (22.7)
    Amortization of customer relationships, group share         13.2                 13.1        
    Tax impact on amortization of customer relationships, group share         (3.4)         (3.3)
    Adjusted group share of net income         (6.0)         (12.9)

    Net debt corresponds to “Debt, long-term,” “Debt, short-term,” and long- and short-term “Lease liabilities” as they appear in the Group’s financial statements from which “Cash and cash equivalents” as they appear in the Group’s financial statements are deducted.

    Net debt/EBITDA ratio corresponds to “net debt” divided by annualized EBITDA.

    Net debt-to-equity ratio corresponds to “net debt” divided by equity.

    Net debt:

    In millions of euros 31.12.2024 31.12.2023
    Bank debt         97.0                 112.5        
    Lease liabilities         68.8                 76.4        
    Future liabilities from earnouts and put options         4.1                 7.7        
    Cash and cash equivalents         (96.3)                 (118.2)        
    Net debt         73.8                 78.4        
         
    Operating margin (Adjusted EBITDA)         75.1                 74.6        
    Net debt ratio 0.98 1.05
         
    Equity         108.1                 124.6        
    % of net debt         68.2        %         62.9        %

    Net bank debt corresponds to “Long-term loans from credit institutions” and “Short-term loans from credit institutions, lines of credit, and bank overdrafts” as they appear in note 10.2 of the Group’s annual financial statements from which are deducted “Cash and cash equivalents” as they appear in the Group’s financial statements.

    Net bank debt:

    In millions of euros 31.12.2024 31.12.2023
    Loans from credit institutions, long-term         74.3                 75.6        
    Short-term loans from credit institutions and lines of credit         22.7                 37.0        
    Gross bank debt         97.0                 112.6        
    Cash and cash equivalents         (96.3)         (118.2)
    Net bank debt         0.8                 (5.7)
    Cash net of bank debt         (0.8)         5.7        

    Gross bank debt corresponds to “Loans from credit institutions, long-term” and “Short-term loans from credit institutions, lines of credit, and bank overdrafts” as they appear in note 10.2 of the Group’s annual financial statements.

    Working capital corresponds to “current assets” as reported in the Group’s financial statements (excluding “Cash and cash equivalents” and “Derivative financial instruments”) less “current liabilities” (excluding “Debt, short-term,” “Current provisions,” and “Lease liabilities”).

    Working capital:

    In millions of euros 31.12.2024 31.12.2023
    Inventory and work in progress         24.7                 25.7        
    Trade receivables and related accounts         219.5                 211.6        
    Current contract assets         0.9                 1.0        
    Other receivables         79.1                 66.5        
    Prepaid expenses         6.1                 3.1        
         
              (171.7)         (200.1)
    Trade payables         (143.4)         (120.8)
    Tax and social security liabilities         (21.0)         (15.0)
    Other current liabilities         (56.8)         (18.9)
    Working capital         (62.6)         (46.9)
         
    Change in working capital         (15.6)         17.7        
    Non-monetary items         14.0                 8.5        
    Change in working capital adjusted for non-monetary items         (1.6)         26.2        
         

    Net investments correspond to the sum of the lines “Acquisition of current assets,”
    “Acquisition of non-current financial assets,” and “Disposal of non-current assets after tax” as they appear in the consolidated statement of cash flows.
    Net investments:

    In millions of euros 31.12.2024 31.12.2023
    Acquisition of non-current assets         (18.2)         (21.6)
    Acquisition of non-current financial assets         (0.4)         0.2        
    Disposal of non-current assets after tax         0.7                 0.7        
    Net investments         (17.9)         (20.7)

    Operating costs correspond to costs incurred for the Group’s operations, included in the “operating margin” (excluding structural costs).

    Structural costs correspond to costs incurred by the Group’s head office functions in various countries, included in the “operating margin” (excluding operating costs).

    Expenses related to the Group’s centralized functions refer to costs incurred by the parent company’s headquarters functions and are included in the “operating margin.”

    Attachment

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI Asia-Pac: Rosanna Law to visit Beijing

    Source: Hong Kong Information Services

    Secretary for Culture, Sports & Tourism Rosanna Law will depart Hong Kong tomorrow evening on a visit to Beijing, where she will meet various officials.

    Miss Law will call on the State Council Hong Kong & Macao Affairs Office, the Ministry of Culture & Tourism, the General Administration of Sport of China, and the China Film Administration. She will also meet officials from other cultural institutions.

    The culture chief will return to Hong Kong on Friday. During her absence, Under Secretary for Culture, Sports & Tourism Raistlin Lau will be Acting Secretary. 

    MIL OSI Asia Pacific News –

  • MIL-OSI USA News: ONDCP Recognizes Law Enforcement’s Work to Stop Drug Traffickers

    Source: The White House

    class=”wp-block-heading has-text-align-center”>National High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas Awards Ceremony Recognizes Excellence Across 14 Key Categories

    Washington, D.C.—Last night, the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) recognized individuals and initiatives of the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas (HIDTA) Program at the 2025 National HIDTA Awards Ceremony for their critical work to combat the national security threat posed by drug traffickers, including those who traffic deadly illicit fentanyl in the United States, killing tens of thousands of Americans each year.  

    The Trump Administration is taking the fight to the cartels and drug traffickers in order to save American lives. The HIDTA Program plays a key role in disrupting and dismantling drug trafficking organizations and provides assistance to federal, state, local, Tribal, and territorial law enforcement agencies operating in areas determined to be critical drug trafficking regions across all 50 states. Last year, the 33 HIDTAs seized 4.1 million pounds of fentanyl and other drugs and denied drug traffickers $17.7 billion in illicit profits. For every dollar invested in the HIDTA Program, the American people get $68.07 in benefits, making HIDTA an effective and efficient use of taxpayers’ money, and an important tool in the nation’s effort to stop drug traffickers and save American lives.  

    The following awards were presented March 27 to individuals and initiatives of the HIDTA Program for their efforts to reduce the supply and trafficking of dangerous drugs in communities across the country: 

    INVESTIGATIVE COLLABORATION

    Chicago HIDTA, Chicago HIDTA Counternarcotics and Cryptocurrency Task Force

    Created to identify, disrupt, and dismantle transnational criminal organizations (TCOs), the Chicago HIDTA Counternarcotics and Cryptocurrency Task Force (CNCTF) targeted one of the largest, fastest-growing dark net markets in the world – Nemesis Market. This marketplace facilitated drug trafficking, fraud, hacking, and other illicit activities responsible for more than $20 million in illicit transactions to more than 150,000 registered users around the world. Led by DEA and comprising an array of federal and local partners, CNCTF undertook Operation Keyboard Warrior, which received designation by the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF). In March 2024, CNCTF, working with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the German Bundescriminalamt, disrupted Nemesis Market by executing simultaneous, multinational search and seizure warrants on critical technological infrastructure. The warrants resulted in nearly $1 million in frozen and seized cryptocurrency-related assets, twelve computer servers, various electronic devices, and terabytes of data containing financial records and personal information of more than 1,000 vendors trafficking in drugs and engaging in fraud, hacking, and forgeries on the marketplace. CNCTF leveraged this information to effect arrests and warrants in eight U.S. federal districts, and provided investigative leads to foreign law enforcement counterparts in multiple countries using international treaty-based disclosure agreements that were novel to cyber cases.

    PROSECUTION

    South Florida HIDTA, Assistant U.S. Attorneys Kevin Gerarde and Sean McLaughlin

    With the support of the South Florida HIDTA and assistance from the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Assistant United States Attorneys (AUSAs) Kevin Gerarde and Sean McLaughlin secured a jury verdict against the Premier of the British Virgin Islands (BVI) for drug trafficking. Andrew Fahie, who was elected as the Premier in 2019, was accused of assisting the Sinaloa Cartel in transporting loads of cocaine weighing three metric tons from the coast of Colombia through the BVI en route to the United States for distribution. In exchange for his assistance, Fahie allegedly received a 12 percent cut of the proceeds when the cocaine was sold in the United States. After an extensive undercover operation conducted with the United Kingdom’s National Crime Agency and the Royal Virgin Islands Police Force, DEA arrested Fahie. In prosecuting Fahie, AUSAs Gerarde and McLaughlin overcame a variety of evidentiary challenges, including United Kingdom and BVI foreign law determinations regarding the applicability of U.S. money laundering statutes. On February 8, 2024, the jury returned a verdict finding Fahie guilty on all counts, and he was subsequently sentenced to 135 months imprisonment.

    PUBLIC HEALTH/PUBLIC SAFETY COLLABORATION

    Texoma HIDTA, Caprock Drug Initiative

    The Texoma HIDTA’s Caprock Initiative launched a program at the behest of local officials to address alarming increases in fentanyl overdoses in and around Lubbock, Texas. Since its inception, the program has reached nearly 26 thousand individuals from all walks of life. Undertaken with substantial support from the United States Attorney’s Office, the Texas Anti-Gang Center, and the Lubbock County District Attorney’s Office, the program has become the most requested fentanyl awareness presentation in the South Plains region. It has been presented to numerous local schools, including to the Texas Tech football team. The program provides candid, factual information from people in recovery, overdose survivors, and families of overdose victims. It is credited with raising public awareness and contributing to a reduction in overdoses in the region.

    HIDTA SUPPORT

    Atlanta Carolinas HIDTA, Lydia Sheffield

    Lydia Sheffield has served the Atlanta Carolinas HIDTA for two decades, providing continuity with her outstanding support to three executive directors. In addition to her myriad duties as the Executive Assistant, Ms. Sheffield is the primary Performance Management Process (PMP) Coordinator for the HIDTA, and has established herself as an expert user of PMP. In that role, she has generously provided training to PMP users from multiple other regional HIDTAs at the behest of the National HIDTA Assistance Center and to National HIDTA Program staff. Ms. Sheffield has drawn upon her own background and experience as a skilled trainer to develop curriculum materials to support trainings to both peer PMP coordinators and initiative commanders across the United States.

    INVESTIGATION INVOLVING INNOVATIVE APPROACHES

    Gulf Coast HIDTA, Mobile Baldwin Major Investigations Team

    In 2023, the Mobile Baldwin Major Investigations Team (MBMIT) began investigating a deactivated DEA confidential source who was coordinating large shipments of methamphetamine, fentanyl, and cocaine from Texas and Georgia into the Mobile, Alabama area. Because the former source was familiar with law enforcement communication and investigative techniques and was still being used by local law enforcement agencies, the source was emboldened to conduct illicit drug-related transactions via an end-to-end encrypted phone app. MBMIT agents successfully executed a search warrant to clone the source’s phone and initiated real-time Title III intercepts of the encrypted app. This was the first time an end-to-end encryption application was successfully intercepted in the New Orleans Division and only the third time this type of intercept had been conducted worldwide within DEA. The success of this investigative technique enabled 120 electronic and voice Title III intercepts resulting in 24 state and federal arrests, the seizure of 19 kilograms of cocaine and 20 kilograms of methamphetamine, and the seizure of over $500,000 in cash, jewelry, and vehicles. Additionally, these intercepts lead to the identification and follow-on investigation of regional drug traffickers in the United States with links to multiple Mexican TCOs.

    INTELLIGENCE AND INFORMATION SHARING

    Nevada HIDTA, Investigative Research Assistant Phillip Scichilone

    In early 2024, the Nevada Highway Patrol received a tip regarding a suspicious trucking company suspected of transporting illicit drugs from northern Nevada across the county, and subsequently passed the tip to Investigative Research Assistant Phillip Scichilone. Mr. Scichilone provided Northern Nevada Interdiction Task Force members with key intelligence related to the travel patterns of the vehicle involved, suspicious financial activity of the trucking company, and identification of the suspected owner and driver of the vehicle. The task force used this information to interdict the vehicle involved, resulting in the seizure of approximately $1 million and the identification of the driver and passenger, who were suspected of being linked to a known terrorist organization. After conducting follow-up analysis linking the suspects to out-of-state DEA and FBI investigations, Mr. Scichilone connected representatives of both agencies to deconflict and share information and then worked with both agencies to pass on key intelligence information.

    INTERDICTION

    New England HIDTA, Greater Boston HIDTA Task Force

    The Greater Boston HIDTA Task Force, co-led by the FBI and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), initiated an investigation targeting a California-based drug trafficking organization (DTO) involved in large-scale illicit drug smuggling, distribution, and transportation from the Southwest Border to destinations throughout the United States and Canada. The initial phase of this ongoing investigation resulted in the disruption of a large-scale criminal enterprise with two arrests and the interdiction of 32 kilograms of methamphetamine and 490 kilograms of cocaine from a tractor trailer that traveled cross country to meet with undercover law enforcement agents in Massachusetts. The Massachusetts State Police have claimed this to be the largest seizure of narcotics from a tractor trailer in New England history, and the ongoing investigation has wide-ranging impact on DTO operations in the United States, Mexico, and Canada.

    INVESTIGATION INVOLVING A VIOLENT ORGANIZATION

    Texoma HIDTA, ATF Oklahoma City Violent Crime Initiative

    The ATF Oklahoma City Violent Crime Initiative led interagency Operation Sonic Boom that used information from the National Integrated Ballistic Information Network (NIBIN) to overlay maps of Oklahoma City with shooting incidents to identify critical, high gun violence areas to deploy additional resources. In a 60-day operation, ATF Confidential Sources and Undercover Agents conducted 117 undercover firearm purchases that led to the indictment of 64 defendants and the seizure of 110 firearms, 83 machinegun conversion devices (MCDs), 53 kilograms of methamphetamine, 5 kilograms of cocaine, and more than 1.5 kilograms of fentanyl tablets. Highlighting the critical links between the undercover operations in this case and the ongoing violent crime investigations in Oklahoma City, twelve of the firearms purchased by undercover agents had confirmed links in NIBIN to open shooting and homicide cases by violent criminal gangs in the greater Oklahoma City area. From a HIDTA perspective, the case was also a statistical success, with investigators identifying eight separate Drug Trafficking or Money Laundering Organizations and disrupting six of them during the course of the operation. 

    COMMUNITY IMPACT INVESTIGATION

    Northwest HIDTA, DEA Bellingham Regional HIDTA Task Force

    Over the past year, the DEA Bellingham Regional HIDTA Task Force (BRHTF) initiated an investigation that resulted in a substantial impact concerning public safety and health on the greater Lummi Nation Tribal Lands. Over a one-year period, BRHTF, along with partner agencies, seized over 850,000 fentanyl pills, seven kilograms of fentanyl powder, seven kilograms of cocaine, 29 illicit firearms, over $120,000 in U.S. currency, and disrupted a centralized DTO responsible for trafficking and distributing fentanyl and other drugs in the Lummi Nation within Whatcom County, WA. This investigation resulted in a notable decrease in both fentanyl availability and overdose deaths on Lummi Tribal Lands.

    OVERDOSE REDUCTION

    South Texas HIDTA, Laredo DEA HIDTA Task Force

    In 2023, the DEA Laredo District Office created a HIDTA Overdose Task Force initiative to address the dramatic rise in overdose deaths in Laredo, Texas, and its surrounding communities. The City of Laredo experienced 21 overdose deaths in 2021, rose to 41 overdose deaths in 2022, and was on pace to experience nearly 100 overdose deaths in 2023, when the task force was launched. Formed with multiple local and federal agencies and comprising six task force officers, the task force proved to be effective, with Laredo reporting 73 deaths in 2023, well short of the expected numbers. Throughout 2024, Laredo and its surrounding communities experienced 40 overdose deaths, and preliminary data indicate the city is on pace for a remarkable 45 percent decrease.

    INVESTIGATION

    Arizona HIDTA, Metro Intelligence Support and Technical Investigative Center (MISTIC)

    Throughout 2024, the Phoenix Police Department (PPD) Drug Enforcement Bureau’s (DEB) Conspiracy Squad and the DEA Phoenix Field Division’s Financial Investigations Group (FIG) conducted a long-term, complex investigation that targeted a TCO responsible for the trafficking and distribution of bulk quantities of illicit drugs, as well as for money laundering. Investigators conducted 2,000 hours of surveillance, utilized 225 court orders and search warrants, and initiated 35 wire intercepts targeting TCO members. Through the course of this investigation, detectives identified, disrupted, and dismantled the international drug trafficking activities of both foreign and United States-based sources of supply, load coordinators, couriers, stash house operators, and distribution coordinators, while also dismantling metropolitan Phoenix-based DTO operations.

    TASK FORCE OF THE YEAR

    Appalachia HIDTA, Appalachia HIDTA Diversion Task Force

    In response to an influx of counterfeit pharmaceuticals flooding southeastern Kentucky that were contributing to a rise in drug poisoning deaths, investigators with the Appalachia HIDTA Diversion Drug Task Force initiated an investigation into a dark net market distributor operating under the name GreenBeansUSA. This investigation was conducted jointly with the Appalachia HIDTA DEA London Task Force in coordination with the FBI, Internal Revenue Service, and U.S. Postal Inspection Service under the OCDETF Operation “Loyal Business.” Investigators identified GreenBeansUSA as a global supplier responsible for the sale and distribution of over 16 million counterfeit pharmaceutical pills, and the receipt of over $11 million in drug proceeds in the form of illicit cryptocurrency. In the course of the operation, investigators issued more than 200 grand jury subpoenas, 47 pen registers, 8 ping orders, Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty (MLAT) requests, IP analysis, blockchain and cluster analysis, 2703(d) orders, undercover purchases, undercover money laundering operations, pole cameras, and electronic search warrants to multiple telecommunications and technological entities. Their efforts resulted in federal indictments of six key members of the organization, the seizure of 11 kilograms of controlled pharmaceuticals (nitazene, benzodiazepine, and ketamine), six pill press machines, and approximately $1.2 million in assets.

    HIDTA AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE

    Ohio HIDTA, Sergeant Breck Williamson, Ohio State Highway Patrol

    Sergeant Breck Williamson has distinguished himself as both a prolific and successful interdictor of illicit drugs transiting the nation’s highways, and as an expert instructor and mentor to other officers conducting highway interdictions. Since October 2023, Sergeant Williamson has personally seized over 405 pounds of methamphetamines, 11 pounds of fentanyl, 141 pounds of cocaine, 3,203 pounds of marijuana, and $135,000 in U.S. currency. He also serves as an instructor for both the El Paso Intelligence Center (EPIC) and the Drug Interdiction Awareness Program (DIAP), sharing his expertise with hundreds of students throughout the past year. In addition to his day-to-day supervisory and highway interdiction duties, Sergeant Williamson is a DEA task force officer and is regularly called upon by DEA offices nationwide to advise on interdiction tactics and techniques.

    HIDTA OF THE YEAR

    SOUTH FLORIDA HIDTA

    The South Florida HIDTA has demonstrated an exemplary capacity for multidimensional vision and leadership. Through its Executive Director and Executive Board, it has targeted emerging threats, such as synthetic drugs, while remaining steadfastly committed to the interdiction of metric tons of cocaine destined for the United States from South America. It has inspired national efforts, like the launch of Crime Gun Intelligence Centers in HIDTA regions across the United States, without losing focus of the core HIDTA mission to disrupt and dismantle DTOs and while maintaining deep and sustaining partnerships at the local level. It has launched enterprising collaborations with law enforcement partners, such as partnering with the Federal Aviation Administration to access radar interdiction operability and records of straw registration of aircraft, while embracing public health initiatives focused on overdose reduction and drug use prevention.

    Among its many accomplishments, in 2023 South Florida HIDTA initiatives dismantled or disrupted 54 DTOs, of which 19 were international in scope and nearly 20 percent were OCDETF-designated or linked to consolidated or regional priority organization targets. Task forces seized illicit drugs with a total estimated value of $748 million, including 23 metric tons of cocaine, 248 kilograms of methamphetamine, and 224 kilograms of fentanyl. South Florida HIDTA initiatives also seized more than $105 million in cash and other assets, delivering a return on investment of $56.22 for every dollar financed by the National HIDTA Program. Finally, in pursuit of one of its most vital functions – ensuring officer safety – the South Florida HIDTA provided deconfliction services to all its partners, preventing more than 400 “blue on blue” incidents.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI Canada: Sask Parks Online Campsite Reservations Open April 7

    Source: Government of Canada regional news

    Released on March 31, 2025

    Campers are one step closer to an amazing summer as Saskatchewan Provincial Parks online reservations open at 7 a.m. CST on April 7 for seasonal campsites and April 8 to 15 for nightly campsites, Camp-Easy yurts, group campsites, day use facilities and swimming lessons.

    “Camping is a wonderful option for people who want an affordable summer vacation and to enjoy time in nature,” Parks, Culture and Sport Minister Alana Ross said. “As camping grows in popularity, our provincial parks are ready to meet the demand with more campsites, new events and expanded programming.”

    This season, two Camp-Easy yurts have been added to Rowan’s Ravine Provincial Park. In addition, 63 seasonal sites have been added across Buffalo Pound, Candle Lake, Crooked Lake, Great Blue Heron, Makwa and Meadow Lake Provincial Parks.  

    New events will debut this year including Festival in the Forest at Meadow Lake, Prairie Day at Buffalo Pound and new guided hiking events such as Hike the Heights at Cypress Hills and Into the Pines at Candle Lake. Returning favourites include Canada Day and Summer Cinema in parks around the province and Back in the Boreal at Meadow Lake, Trade Days at Fort Carlton, Cannington Fair at Cannington Manor and Cabin Fever Art Festival at Moose Mountain.

    Campers are encouraged to set-up or log-in to their online account on the Sask Parks reservation website in advance, so they can quickly identify their favourite campsites and start planning their trip ahead of reservation launch day.  

    Campers are reminded there is a queuing system in place and they need to refresh the page at 7 a.m. CST to be placed in the queue or pushed through to make a reservation on launch days.  

    Campers can purchase an annual, weekly or daily entry permit online or in the park upon arrival. A full list of fees is available on the Sask Parks reservation website.

    The complete reservation schedule for 2025 is as follows:

    Seasonal campsites:

    • April 7: All parks with seasonal camp sites available.  

    Nightly, day-use facilities, Camp-Easy yurt and group campsites:

    • April 8: Candle Lake, Good Spirit Lake, Meadow Lake, Saskatchewan Landing;
    • April 9: Break;
    • April 10: Buffalo Pound, Bronson Forest, Duck Mountain, Moose Mountain, Porcupine Hills;
    • April 11: Danielson, Great Blue Heron, Greenwater Lake, Rowan’s Ravine, The Battlefords;
    • April 14: Douglas, Echo Valley, Makwa Lake, Narrow Hills, Pike Lake; and
    • April 15: Blackstrap, Fort Carlton, Crooked Lake, Cypress Hills, Lac La Ronge.

    To learn more about Saskatchewan’s Provincial Parks, please visit: SaskParks.com.                                  

    -30-

    For more information, contact:

    MIL OSI Canada News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Media Advisory: District Court in Prince George’s County offers Schools in the Court program for high school students

    Source: US State of Maryland

    FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
    March 31, 2025

    Government Relations and Public Affairs
    187 Harry S. Truman Parkway
    Annapolis, Maryland 21401

    Media Advisory:
    District Court in Prince George’s County offers Schools in the Court program for high school students

    UPPER MARLBORO, Md. – In a unique court educational program, students will learn about the benefits and consequences of familiar decisions. The program includes a mock traffic stop where students will see in real-time the legal implications of bad decisions. This interactive program allows the students to meet and interact with key players in the legal process, including police officers, K-9 officers, commissioners, assistant public defenders, assistant state’s attorneys, bailiffs, clerks, and judges. Students will learn about the dangers of fentanyl and the impact of narcotics on the developing juvenile brain. In addition, students will have an opportunity to engage judges and court personnel in a question-and-answer session regarding the Judiciary.

    WHO:

    Administrative Judge Lisa Hall Johnson, Prince George’s County District Court, and Judge Cheri Simpkins, Prince George’s County Circuit Court, presiding judges

    Students from Dr. Henry A. Wise, Jr. and Frederick Douglass High Schools
    WHAT: Schools in the Court Program
    WHEN: Thursday, April 3, 2025, at 9 a.m.
    WHERE: Prince George’s County District Court 
    Courtroom 357, Bourne Wing
    14735 Main Street
    Upper Marlboro, MD 20772-3042

    Please contact the Maryland Judiciary, Government Relations and Public Affairs Division, at [email protected] or 410-260-1488, to attend or for questions. Cameras will be allowed in the courtroom during the program but not during the student-observed court docket portion. If Prince George’s County Public Schools has a delayed opening or school closure, the Schools in the Court program will be cancelled.

    There are 80 metered public spaces in the surface lot in front of the courthouse. There is metered parking available near the courthouse at a rate of $.75 per hour with a two-hour maximum. Additionally, the Equestrian Center has four free satellite parking lots with free shuttle service to the courthouse.

    ###

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Attorney General Pamela Bondi Dismisses Biden-Era Lawsuit Against Commonsense Georgia Election Law, Advancing President Trump’s Mandate to End Weaponization

    Source: US State of Vermont

    Today, Attorney General Pamela Bondi directed the Department of Justice to dismiss its claims in In Re Georgia Senate Bill 202, a Biden-era lawsuit that falsely accused Georgia of intentionally suppressing Black voters’ votes.

    “Contrary to the Biden Administration’s false claims of suppression, Black voter turnout actually increased under SB 202,” said Attorney General Pamela Bondi. “Georgians deserve secure elections, not fabricated claims of false voter suppression meant to divide us. Americans can be confident that this Department of Justice will protect their vote and never play politics with election integrity.” 

    The Biden administration fabricated an untrue narrative following the passage of Senate Bill 202 and sued the state of Georgia, claiming without evidence that SB 202 was an intentional scheme to “depress the Black vote” and referring to the basic election legislation as “Jim Crow 2.0.”Some mainstream media outlets and corporate allies of the Biden Administration fueled this falsehood, demonizing Georgians for political gain and triggering boycotts—including Major League Baseball’s relocation of the 2021 All-Star Game from Atlanta—that, by some estimates, cost the state over $100 million in economic losses.

    In reality, SB 202’s commonsense reforms—photo ID for all voting, strengthened absentee ballot procedures, and rapid reporting of results—spurred record voter turnout, including among Black Georgians.

    “The Department of Justice is done with this disgrace,” said Acting Associate Attorney General and Department of Justice Chief of Staff Chad Mizelle. “There is nothing racist about protecting elections—baseless claims of Jim Crow-style discrimination are the real insult.” 

    President Trump and Attorney General Bondi are committed to dismantling weaponized litigation and ensuring fair, lawful elections for all Americans. Instead of wasting time on false, divisive lawsuits, the Department of Justice will continue to root out real discrimination, promote common-sense election safeguards, and ensure equality for every American. 

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Attorney General Pamela Bondi Dismisses Biden-Era Lawsuit Against Commonsense Georgia Election Law, Advancing President Trump’s Mandate to End Weaponization

    Source: United States Attorneys General

    Today, Attorney General Pamela Bondi directed the Department of Justice to dismiss its claims in In Re Georgia Senate Bill 202, a Biden-era lawsuit that falsely accused Georgia of intentionally suppressing Black voters’ votes.

    “Contrary to the Biden Administration’s false claims of suppression, Black voter turnout actually increased under SB 202,” said Attorney General Pamela Bondi. “Georgians deserve secure elections, not fabricated claims of false voter suppression meant to divide us. Americans can be confident that this Department of Justice will protect their vote and never play politics with election integrity.” 

    The Biden administration fabricated an untrue narrative following the passage of Senate Bill 202 and sued the state of Georgia, claiming without evidence that SB 202 was an intentional scheme to “depress the Black vote” and referring to the basic election legislation as “Jim Crow 2.0.”Some mainstream media outlets and corporate allies of the Biden Administration fueled this falsehood, demonizing Georgians for political gain and triggering boycotts—including Major League Baseball’s relocation of the 2021 All-Star Game from Atlanta—that, by some estimates, cost the state over $100 million in economic losses.

    In reality, SB 202’s commonsense reforms—photo ID for all voting, strengthened absentee ballot procedures, and rapid reporting of results—spurred record voter turnout, including among Black Georgians.

    “The Department of Justice is done with this disgrace,” said Acting Associate Attorney General and Department of Justice Chief of Staff Chad Mizelle. “There is nothing racist about protecting elections—baseless claims of Jim Crow-style discrimination are the real insult.” 

    President Trump and Attorney General Bondi are committed to dismantling weaponized litigation and ensuring fair, lawful elections for all Americans. Instead of wasting time on false, divisive lawsuits, the Department of Justice will continue to root out real discrimination, promote common-sense election safeguards, and ensure equality for every American. 

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Russia: Rosneft held snowboarding competitions dedicated to the 80th anniversary of Victory

    Translartion. Region: Russians Fedetion –

    Source: Rosneft – Rosneft – An important disclaimer is at the bottom of this article.

    Rosneft held corporate snowboarding competitions dedicated to the 80th anniversary of the Victory. More than 100 oil industry athletes from 35 subsidiaries of the Company gathered at the ski center in Baikalsk (Irkutsk Region).

    The competition took place on the famous mountain track on the Khamar-Daban ridge. Snowboarders competed in the discipline of “parallel slalom” on a track 450 m long. Professional judges worked on the slope, who monitored the descent of the athletes.

    Among men, the winner for the second year in a row was an employee of Taas-Yuryakh Neftegazodobycha. The first among women, also for the second year in a row, was an employee of the corporate scientific center in Tyumen. In the team competition, the best were recognized as snowboarders from Uvatneftegaz, second place went to RN-Vankor, and bronze was won by the corporate scientific center in Tyumen.

    The award ceremony for the winners and runners-up took place at the 900-meter mark of Mount Sobolinaya, which offers a breathtaking view of Lake Baikal. All participants received prizes and commemorative medals. In addition, a tour of the lake was organized for the athletes.

    For the sixth year in a row, corporate snowboarding competitions have been held with the support of the Angarsk Petrochemical Company (part of the Rosneft oil refining complex).

    Reference:

    Rosneft actively supports mass and professional sports. The Company holds large-scale corporate competitions in the regions of its presence dedicated to the 80th anniversary of the Victory. Among them: Rosneft Winter Sports Games in Krasnoyarsk, a series of races Rosneft Ski Track in Angarsk, Ufa, Krasnoyarsk and Nefteyugansk and the winter extreme race Taiga-Trail in Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug-Yugra. Ski races in honor of the 80th anniversary of the Victory were also held in Komsomolsk-on-Amur. Ice arenas, sports complexes and multifunctional sports grounds are being built in the regions with funds from the Company and its subsidiaries.

    As part of the corporate sports and health movement “Energy of Life”, employees regularly engage in sports and compete in various sports disciplines. In 2024, almost 128 thousand employees of the Company engaged in sports as part of the “Energy of Life” movement. At the same time, more than 92 thousand employees took part in competitions in various sports.

    Department of Information and Advertising of PJSC NK Rosneft March 31, 2025

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

    MIL OSI Russia News –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Care leavers up for the cup as city hosts national tournament

    Source: City of Wolverhampton

    The annual football tournament for care experienced young people aged 16 to 24 is organised by the City of Wolverhampton Council’s Reach Leaving Care Team and Wolves Foundation.

    This year, it will see 20 local authority 6 a side teams from around the country go head to head in a series of 8 minute matches – culminating with the final on the same day.

    The tournament was born out of a conversation with a young person who was no longer involved in football because he lacked the support network to take him to games and training.

    A team of young people with care experience came together to form Wolverhampton Warriors and competed against teams from 3 other local authorities for the first Championship Cup in 2022. The tournament doubled in size in 2023 and was held on the hallowed turf of Molineux for the first time in 2024.

    This year’s event, on Saturday 14 June from 10am to 2pm, is set to be the biggest yet, with interest from councils as far away as North Yorkshire and Milton Keynes, resulting in 200 young people taking part.

    Free tickets will be available and details of how to get these will be announced in the coming weeks.

    Councillor Jacqui Coogan, the City of Wolverhampton Council’s Cabinet Member for Children, Young People and Education, said: “This is a fabulous opportunity for care experienced young people to play on the hallowed turf of Molineux Stadium, and to follow in the footsteps of so many of their footballing heroes.

    “It would be fantastic to fill Molineux and have as many people as possible there to cheer them on, so please make sure you get your free tickets when they become available.”

    The teams are playing for 3 cups, with one being the overall Championship Cup. All players will also receive a medal for taking part.

    Organisers are keen to reach out to businesses who may be able to help by sponsoring either the trophies or the medals. For more information please email Heather Edwards at heather.edwards@wolverhampton.gov.uk or Sam Neath via Sam.Neath@wolverhampton.gov.uk.
     

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –