Mediaboss Marketing

Posted on Mar 17, 2023

The National Sheep Association (NSA) is exasperated by comments made by former Defra Board member Ben Goldsmith attacking UK sheep farming, demonstrating what NSA believes to be a nave and uneducated view on a vital sector in the uplands.

Responding to a tweet by Mr Goldsmith earlier this week NSA defended the valuable role that sheep have in the UKs countryside.

NSA chief executive Phil Stocker said: Sheep have been in the British Isles since the Neolithic settlers landed on our shores around 3000BC- 5000 years ago. They have created and maintained some of the most loved landscapes we see and enjoy today including nine of Englands 13 National Parks that are situated in upland areas. It is no accident that most of our National Parks are in areas predominated for generations by grassland and sheep.

The unique environment, working for most times in harmony with sheep farming, is highly valuable in relation to water management and quality, carbon sequestration, and nature, and provides people with social and health benefits.

NSA concedes there may have been a time when UK farming solely focussed on production but increasingly the industry has moved to farming practices that consider the wider environment and how agriculture plays a positive role in the maintenance of this.

Sheep farming, now, in all corners of the UK is practiced with an appreciation for the environment in which it takes place. In 2021 there was a 40% increase in demand and applications for Countryside Stewardship, a scheme providing financial incentives for farmers looking after and improving the environment, evidence therefore, of sheep farmings intent to continue the valuable environmental role it has had for so many years. More than 40,000 farmers in England now participate in either Countryside Stewardship or legacy Higher-Level Stewardship (HLS) schemes.

Stocker continued:Both the Countryside Stewardship schemes, HLS, and the new Environmental Land Management schemes have the environment and nature at their heart, ensuring the wildlife of Britain has increasingly improving habitats. The success of many of our native wildlife lifecycles are directly linked tolivestock grazing providing food, nutrients, and a favourable environment.

NSA said 53% of Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) land are located in the UKs uplands, with 96% of those areas being in favourable or recovering condition. Upland farmers have long managed these landscapes and since being consulted many of these areas are now flourishing. Appropriate grazing is key to conserving many priority habitats such as limestone grassland and upland heath.

Stocker concluded:NSA is incredibly disappointed that senior officials and Defra representatives can at times be ignorant to the benefits of grazing animals and the value of British produce and strongly urge the Department to ensure an improved understanding of those who would benefit from a better appreciation of this.

Read this article:
NSA calls our former Defra representative on damaging statement - Meat Management

India, as the current chair of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), has extended invitations to Pakistan and China to attend several ministerial meetings of the grouping as per standard protocol. These include the SCO Defence Ministers meeting scheduled for 27th April in Delhi, as well as the National Security Advisors meeting set for March 29. Invite has been dished out for home ministers meet, even as New Delhi is in the process of extending the invite for other key meetings.

COMMERCIAL BREAK

SCROLL TO CONTINUE READING

Pakistan had virtually attended the SCO chief justice meeting hosted by Delhi, represented by Justice Munib Akhtar of the Supreme Court of Pakistan, as Pakistan Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial skipped the meeting. The level of Pakistan's presence in the upcoming SCO meetings is now up to them to decide.

The SCO is made up of eight member countries, namely Russia, India, China, Pakistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan, covering over 60% of the Eurasian landmass, 40% of the world population, and 30% of the global GDP. The organisation aims to promote economic, political, and military cooperation among its members, and with Iran becoming a full-fledged member under Indian Presidency, the SCO's strategic significance has grown even more.

India will hold various meetings of the grouping this year, including the summit on June 25, and the foreign ministers meeting on 4-5 May in Goa, for which invitations have already been sent. In July, Iran's President Ebrahim Raisi is expected to attend the summit in Delhi as his country becomes a member of the mega grouping.

WATCH WION LIVE HERE

You can now write for wionews.com and be a part of the community. Share your stories and opinions with us here.

See the original post:
Keeping up with protocol, India invites Pakistan to SCO defence and NSA meetings - WION

Published 2:18 am Saturday, March 18, 2023

BATON ROUGE LSU and the largest ports in Louisiana announced a partnership to develop cybersecurity talent and technology for critical infrastructure. The collaborative effort connects the universitys growing strengths in cybersecurity to the ports pivotal role in the global supply chain and in securing food, energy, goods and materials for the nation and world.

The agreement between LSU and its port partners outlines opportunities for students and faculty to work with the ports to solve ongoing and emerging cyber challenges. It includes the potential development of cybersecurity testbeds, which are controllable cyber environments for experiments, and joint research to protect port systems as well as broadened collaboration with state and federal security and law enforcement agencies. Primarily, the partnership unites university and port assets to support homegrown cyber talent development for Louisiana.

Like our students and research expertise, Louisianas port system impacts every corner of the state and has national and global reach, said LSU President William F. Tate IV. TheScholarship First Agendaelevates domains that meet citizens most pressing needs and define Louisianas role in the world. These areas: agriculture, biomedicine, coast, defenseincluding cybersecurityand energy all converge in Louisianas ports. Our designation last year by the National Security Agency, or NSA, as aCenter of Academic Excellence in Cyber Operations, or CAE-CO, positions us as one of the best and most technical cybersecurity schools in the country, and were now connecting our talented students and experts with our friends here at Louisianas ports to tackle cybersecurity and critical infrastructure challenges across Louisiana.

The five partner ports include Port Fourchon on the Gulf of Mexico and four ports along the Mississippi RiverPort of Greater Baton Rouge, Port of New Orleans, Port of South Louisiana and St. Bernard Portwhich comprise the largest port complex in the world. Louisiana ports carry one-fourth of all waterborne commerce in the United States. Port Fourchon services nearly 100 percent of the Gulf of Mexicos deepwater energy production and secures nearly one-sixth of the countrys oil supply. Statewide, one in every five jobs are reliant on Louisianas ports, which the Ports Association of Louisiana confidently describes as the industry that drives all others.

Louisianas maritime assets create jobs and connect our state to global markets, and the Port of New Orleans is proud to partner with LSU and all Louisianas deepwater ports to raise the cybersecurity bar to ensure the highest levels of protection of our critical port infrastructure now and into the future, said Brandy D. Christian, president and CEO of the Port of New Orleans, Louisianas only international container port and cruise passenger hub.

Protecting critical infrastructure at the Port of New Orleans is our top priority, said Harbor Police Chief Melanie Montroll. This partnership will advance Harbor Polices existing cybersecurity strategy to protect against the current threat landscape while working to address evolving security needs within our industry.

We appreciate the opportunity to be included in such an important initiative as this one. Our agency has a rich history as a leader in cybersecurity related affairs, as do the other ports we are joined with today for this announcement, said Chett Chiasson, executive director, Greater Lafourche Port Commission. We look forward to assisting with this worthwhile endeavor moving forward because we understand how vital cybersecurity is, for not only our region, but our nation.

The commerce that happens along the Lower Mississippi River at the Port of South Louisiana is intertwined with the national security of the United States, said Paul Matthews, CEO of Port of South Louisiana, Louisianas largest tonnage port and Americas leading grain exporter. This partnership with LSU and our sister ports will ensure that our states infrastructure and assets are protected in this ever-evolving cybersecurity landscape.

The Port of St. Bernard averages annually over 10 million tons of cargo through our four marine terminals. Given our unique position as a primary bulk handler of everything from metals for advanced manufacturing to fertilizer for our national and state food producers as well as the only place on the Lower Mississippi with a deepwater slip, we fully recognize the importance of cybersecurity and protecting these assets, said Drew Heaphy, executive director of St. Bernard Port. We appreciate the opportunity to participate and look forward to working closely with LSU on talent development and retention, and projects critical to our operations.

The Port of Greater Baton Rouges strategic location on the Mississippi River enables us to handle a diverse range of cargoes critical to the United States agriculture, energy, manufacturing and food production industries. As one of the countrys top ports in total tonnage, we pride ourselves in our ability to adapt to emerging needs, said Jay Hardman, executive director of the Port of Greater Baton Rouge. From our docks, we have direct lines of sight to both the Capitol and LSUs campus, so we are well-positioned and excited to work with this group on cybersecurity challenges and talent development.

The Memorandum of Understanding, or MOU, signed by LSU and the ports establishes the university as the ports academic research partner. It underscores the importance of strengthening Louisianas cybersecurity expertise by exposing students to real-world cyber challenges. Additionally, the partnership enables LSU and the ports to engage new federal and industry research partners in defense, homeland security, intelligence and related sectors. Finally, LSUs recently announced establishment of student-run Security Operations Centers, or SOCs, on their Baton Rouge and Shreveport campuses, positions the university as a valuable threat intelligence and incident response partner with the ports and the states cyber emergency response functions.

The partner ports are nationally important critical infrastructure assets, reflected in the scale of their operations:

The port partners work closely with state and federal agencies on cyber-related efforts. In 2022, the Port of New Orleans was awarded $514,964 in Port Security Grant funding from the Federal Emergency Management Agency to upgrade technology at the Harbor Police Departments Maritime Security Operations Center, which provides surveillance and communications equipment necessary for operational coordination and critical information-sharing with the U.S. Coast Guard and other public safety agencies. LSU and the ports will collaborate on future related cybersecurity funding initiatives.

In 2022, LSU was only the 22nduniversity nationally to be named a Center of Academic Excellence in Cyber Operations by the NSA. Federal partners of the NSA National Centers of Academic Excellence program include the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the National Institute of Standards and Technology, the National Initiative on Cybersecurity Education, the National Science Foundation, the Department of Defense Office of the Chief Information Officer and U.S. Cyber Command.

Visit link:
LSU, Port of South Louisiana and others agree to advance cyber ... - L'Observateur

The right and the left seemed to have gotten super worked up about the classified documents found in the private homes of both President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump, but NSA and surveillance writer Kerry Howley, also the author of Bottoms Up and the Devil Laughs: A Journey Through the Deep State, saw the findings differently.

Everything is classified. It is the default for anything the NSA, or CIA, does to be classified. And that includes maybe your writing an email to your wife about lunch, right? If you don't classify it, you're calling attention to it, right? So you just classify it, she explains on this bonus episode of The New Abnormal politics podcast.

Subscribe to The New Abnormal on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Amazon Music, or Overcast.

So there's mountains and mountains of absolutely meaningless classified data. It doesn't tell you anything. The fact that there were some papers in Biden's garage that were classified just tells you that there are papers in Biden's garage, right? Like you need to know more of the story.

She tells co-host Andy Levy that the same is true for Trump, adding that the Trump situation is actually interesting in that he wanted those documents because they had that aura of mystery that we give them."

However, having lots of classified documents, and surveillance data on Americans, to sift through isnt a good thing for us, and Howley explains why. It's actually scary.

Plus! She shares with Andy what whistleblowers like Edward Snowden and Chelsea Manning have in common and tells him more about the whistleblower Reality Winner, a woman not a horse, whose story will infuriate you.

Listen to this full episode of The New Abnormal on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon and Stitcher.

View post:
The Truth About Those 'Classified' Biden and Trump Docs - The Daily Beast

The Nigerian Startup Act has been passed into law since October 2022, but only a handful of states have made concrete efforts toward the domestication of the Act. Why is that?

The Nigeria Startup Act (NSA) was signed into law in October 2022 after a rigorous year of deliberations by the Nigerian presidency; the minister of digital economy Isa Pantami; tech stakeholders; and officials of the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA).Formulated to mark a watershed phase in the growth of Nigerias technology ecosystem, the act was designed to be carefully domesticated across the countrys 36 states and its capital, Abuja. But six months later, no state has domesticated the act, and only a few have made concrete efforts in that direction.

The Nigeria Startup Act was formulated to create an enabling environment for startups to thrive, align all government agencies and parastatals on the vision for Nigerias tech ecosystem, address the lack of local content support, and provide a clear regulatory framework for startups. The Act also provides incentives like tax breaks, protection, access to an exclusive list of public and private-led funding opportunities for local entrepreneurs, and incentives to attract local and foreign investors to Nigerias startups.

One reason which necessitated the development of the Act was the shutdown or serious crises that several startups faced due to sudden regulations imposed by the government. In 2021, the Central Bank of Nigeria prohibited all banks from dealing in cryptocurrencies or facilitating payments for crypto exchanges, a decree that negatively impacted crypto companies in Nigeria. Fejiro Agbodje, CEO of crypto company Patricia, told TechCabal that his companys growth was seriously affected by the CBNs restriction on crypto trading.

Similarly, several ride-hailing startups suddenly had their business models disrupted after the Lagos state government banned two-wheelers. These kinds of events paint a gory view of what running a tech-powered business looks like in Nigeria.

A focus on elections

To ensure that the Act is effective, Nigerian states have to domesticate it. Domestication is the process of adopting federal laws as state laws so that they can have the force of law in that state. But six months after the Act became law, only eight states have indicated an interest in domesticating the Act.

Of the eight states, the Lagos state government had already announced plans to domesticate the Act in June 2022, months before it became law. TechCabal reported last week that Osun state plans to become the first state to domesticate the Nigerian Startup Act. The other states include Kaduna, Yobe, Edo, Anambra, Ekiti, and Zamfara.

Tracy Okoro Isaac, the state adoption and domestication lead for the Nigeria Startup Act, told TechCabal that the ongoing elections have diverted attention from the domestication process, as state governors prepared for elections. Theres not a lot of momentum because of the whole election fever. But when the elections are done, the whole conversation will move back to the domestication of the bill by states, she said. (Not all states are having gubernatorial elections during this election period, but state assembly elections are expected to take place.)

Osun state is in the second phase of stakeholder validation. Kaduna state has a bill that we just reviewed and sent back. Anambra state is also working on theirs, and we are supposed to have an ecosystem validation session on their own bill this month. Edo state is also working on theirs, Isaac added about the states that currently have plans in motion for domestication.

When asked what challenges states might have in adopting the Act, she shared that most states do not have a startup ecosystem but rather a business ecosystem. Due to this, the states will have to first map out their startup ecosystem, the problems they might have, and the stakeholders in the ecosystem. She added that this has been the major setback that states have faced in trying to domesticate the Act.

She also shared that there has been excitement from state governors because of the positive economic impact their states will get from domesticating the Act. According to Isaac, the enabling environment that the Act is trying to create is enticing to state governments, and after the elections, she expects an upward trend in the domestication of the Act.

Following a framework

In domesticating the national startup act, states are expected to work with the NSA secretariat to develop a bill that reflects the peculiarities of each state. But, so far, some states do not seem to be playing by the stipulated framework. This, according to Isaac, could lead to future problems.

Some states domesticating the NSA without the guidelines stipulated by the national and state secretariat run the risk of not having the bill approved. Instead of copying the national Act verbatim, each states bill is supposed to be unique, reflecting current realities of the state, she said.

The concentration of startup activity in a few states like Lagos, Rivers, Oyo, and the Federal Capital Territory Abuja has left most states behind in charting their startup ecosystems. This varying maturity of tech ecosystems across the federation lends credence to the state-based approach to domesticating the bill.

For Isaac and her team, the mandate is to ensure that the forwarded state bills are conditioned to help grow the sub local startup ecosystems. That means taking a hard stand when state governments decide to do things their own way.

Follow this link:
Why some states are not domesticating the Nigerian Startup Act - TechCabal