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is taking viewers across the Western Hemisphere in the first for the NBCUniversal and the ‘s wildlife series . The Academy Award winner, who was hand-selected by producers, narrates the 10-episode series, which uses cutting-edge technology to immerse audiences into ecosystems across North and South America. Executive produced by Mike Gunton, with music by Oscar- and Grammy-winning composer Hans Zimmer, will debut with two back-to-back episodes in February. Toby Gorman, president of Universal Television Alternative Studio, that selecting Hanks as narrator was an easy choice. “We asked ourselves, who is the American version of [BBC wildlife documentary legend] David Attenborough? We agreed internally there was a list of one: Tom Hanks. What we didn’t know was if he would agree to do it. [But] it resonated with him,” Gorman said. Each hourlong episode will focus on a different location across the Americas, including the Atlantic Coast, Mexico, the wild West, the Amazon, the Gulf Coast, the Andes, the Caribbean and the West Coast. The filmmaking team previously told that they made 180 expeditions over 8,700 miles of landscape to deliver the show, which is “the most expensive, unscripted project in ’s history,” according to Gorman. Executive producer Mike Gunton added that the docuseries is exploring “an area of the planet no one had ever really covered,” which makes it an “exciting” project for the filmmaker. “It’s the Americas. What’s so exciting is that nowhere has this range. You cannot imagine anything more diverse,” Gunton said. “As a wildlife filmmaker, you are looking for superlatives. It hasn’t got elephants but it’s got everything else. [We] are delivering things people have never seen before.” premieres on NBC and Peacock on Sunday, Feb. 23 at 7 p.m. ET/PT. THR Newsletters Sign up for THR news straight to your inbox every day More from The Hollywood ReporterJimmy Carter helped dismantle Soviet Union with focus on human rights
Odisha leads the way in climate-resilient and inclusive agriculture, says top official PTI Updated: December 29th, 2024, 20:08 IST in Metro , Sci-Tech 0 Pic- X/Arabinda Kumar Padhee Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on WhatsApp Share on Linkedin Bhubaneswar: Odisha is emerging as a leader in sustainable agricultural practices with a focus on inclusivity, diversification, and climate resilience, according to Arabinda Kumar Padhee. Padhee is the Principal Secretary of the Department of Agriculture and Farmers’ Empowerment of the Government of Odisha. Also Read 2024 missed the climate moment but all’s not lost 3 hours ago PM Modi praises farmers of Kalahandi for ‘vegetable revolution’ 5 hours ago In an interview with PTI, Padhee shed light on the state’s comprehensive vision to transform agriculture into a sustainable and equitable growth driver. “Agriculture contributes 22 per cent to Odisha’s Gross Value Added (GVA) and sustains 55-60 per cent of its population, particularly in rural and tribal areas. Yet, with 45-50 per cent of the farmland dependent on rainfall, the state is prioritising region-specific strategies to address these vulnerabilities,” he said. Collaborative efforts with global research organisations, such as the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), are central to this transformation, he added. On the crop pattern of the state, he said that while paddy remains dominant, the state is actively promoting high-value crops such as vegetables, pulses, oilseeds, and millets, and initiatives like Agri-Production Clusters are fostering diversification. Additionally, rice-fallow management ensures improved soil fertility and increased farmer incomes by introducing pulses and oilseeds in fallow lands. As Odisha encounters frequent natural calamities like floods and cyclones, Padhee said that the climate is indeed a significant challenge for us, as between 1972 and 2022, only three years have been free from extreme weather events, including floods, droughts, and cyclones. “We are focusing on making our agricultural practices climate-resilient. Odisha has introduced submergence-tolerant rice varieties like Swana-Sub1, which can survive up to 12 days of flooding, drought-resistant crops, and salt-tolerant strains,” he told PTI. A dedicated Climate Resilience Cell integrates sustainability into every new project, positioning the state as a pioneer in adaptive agriculture, he added. When asked about the state’s smallholder farmers, the Principal Secretary said that with smallholders making up over 92 per cent of Odisha’s farmers, collective bargaining through Farmers’ Producer Organisations (FPOs) is enhancing market access. “Digital tools provide crop-specific advice, while initiatives like Mukhyamantri Krushi Udyog Yojana foster rural entrepreneurship. Women farmers are at the forefront, benefitting from higher subsidies, skill development programs, and decision-making roles,” he told PTI. Highlighting the state’s traditional crops, Padhee said that Odisha has gained national recognition for reviving traditional crops like millets, known for their resilience and nutritional value. “We are trying to bring out our forgotten foods of the state. Forgotten foods are those that were hitherto used to be cultivated, but they have gone out of the fields of the farmers. So we are trying to bring such crops into the fold,” he said. Odisha already has a Forgotten Food Policy, and we recently held an international symposium on forgotten foods that highlighted the importance of underutilised crops in addressing food security and environmental sustainability, he added. “In conclusion, our vision is rooted in inclusivity, sustainability, and resilience,” said Padhee. “By leveraging technology, climate-smart practices, and evidence-based policies, we aim to enhance productivity while ensuring equitable growth for smallholders, women, and tribal communities.” Padhee added that Odisha is setting an example for sustainable agricultural development across India with its focus on organic farming, agrobiodiversity, and climate-smart practices. PTI Tags: AGRICULTURE Arabinda Kumar Padhee Farmer Odisha Share Tweet Send Share Suggest A Correction Enter your email to get our daily news in your inbox. Leave this field empty if you're human:Lining up to have a good go
Manchester United Football Club is to cut the funding it provides to its charitable arm as part of a purge of costs being overseen by Sir Jim Ratcliffe, its newest billionaire shareholder. Sky News has learnt that the Premier League club plans to inform the Manchester United Foundation that it intends to curb the benefits it provides - which totalled close to £1m last year - from 2025 onwards. Sources close to the situation said a substantial element of the support given to the Foundation by the club would be axed, although Old Trafford insiders insisted on Sunday that it would still provide "significant" support to the charitable wing. A decision is said to have been made by the club's leadership to proceed with the cuts, with the Foundation expected to be informed about the scale of the reductions in the coming weeks. In 2023, the club paid the MU Foundation nearly £175,000 for charity services, which include managing the distribution of signed merchandise to individuals raising funds for charitable causes. Manchester United also provided gifts in kind amounting to £665,000 last year, which were understood to include use of the Old Trafford pitch and other facilities, alongside free club merchandise and the use of back-office services such as the club's IT capabilities. The MU Foundation works in local communities around Manchester and Salford to engage with underprivileged and marginalised people. Its projects include Street Reds, which is targeted at 8-18 year-olds, and Primary Reds, which works in school classrooms with 5-11 year-olds. It also organises hospital visits to support children with life-threatening illnesses. The disclosure about the latest target of cost-cutting by Sir Jim's Ineos Sports group, which now owns close to 29% of Manchester United's, comes just a day after The Sun revealed that an association set up to facilitate relations between former players, would see its club funding axed. A similar move has been made in relation to funding for the club's disabled fans' group, while hundreds of full-time staff have been made redundant in recent months and costs have been slashed across most areas of its operations. People close to the club anticipate further cost-cutting measures being introduced as soon as next month. One club source said it remained "proud of the work carried out by the Manchester United Foundation to increase opportunities for vulnerable young people across Greater Manchester". "All areas of club expenditure are being reviewed due to ongoing losses. "However, significant support for the Foundation will continue." Sir Jim has injected $300m of his multibillion pound fortune into Manchester United, although it will need to raise substantially more than that to fund redevelopments to Old Trafford or a new stadium. Last year, the club, which is listed on the New York Stock Exchange, lost more than £110m, with sizeable interest payments totalling tens of millions of pounds annually required to service its debt burden. The men's first team has seen an alarming run of results under Ruben Amorim, who was appointed to succeed Erik Ten Hag in the autumn. United have lost three of their last four matches - the exception being a derby win away at Manchester City - and lie 14th in the Premier League table. Mr Amorim has acknowledged that he could face the same fate as Mr Ten Hag unless results improve. Dan Ashworth, who was brought in from Newcastle United FC as sporting director in the summer, left after just five months. Manchester United declined to comment formally on the proposed cuts to the funding of its charitable arm.OTTAWA — The federal government came off a weekend of renewed pressure to more quickly crank up defence spending with new versions of the same answer: yes, Canada will hit its commitments to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization by 2032 — and sooner if possible. Defence Minister Bill Blair made clear on the weekend at the Halifax International Security Forum — a summit of military brass and defence policy figures from allied countries — that the Liberal government believes it could “accelerate” its ramp-up of defence spending in order to finally hit its long-standing NATO pledge to spend two per cent of its gross domestic produce (GDP) on defence annually within the next eight years. On Monday, the Business Council of Canada — whose include major defence companies — published a that called for the government to hit that target by 2029. It also urged the government to push defence spending up to three per cent of GDP after 2035, with more than a third of the money that year going toward the purchase of major new equipment and research and development. At the Halifax forum, Blair repeated comments from this summer — during an earlier round of pressure on Canada to spend more — that the government will try to hit the two-per-cent target sooner if it can. “The plan we have presented by 2032 is a credible and realistic plan, but I also believe there are many opportunities in our future to accelerate those expenditures,” Blair said Friday, without specifying how. “We are all seized with the urgency of getting this job done,” he said. The comments came as Canada’s status as one of a of countries in the military alliance that hasn’t hit the two-per-cent threshold was brought into sharper focus after Donald Trump won the U.S. presidential election. During Trump’s first term in office, he pushed NATO members in Europe and Canada to increase military spending, arguing the allies were taking advantage of the decades-old U.S. security umbrella. At the Halifax security summit, U.S. Sen. James Risch Trump would likely “guffaw” at Canada’s timeline to hit the NATO spending target by 2032. “It’s got to be better than that. It really, truly has to be better than that,” Risch said during a panel discussion. The independent Parliamentary Budget Officer has also raised questions about the plan, noting in an that "t With an election in the offing, and the Liberals standing far behind in the national polls, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has criticized the government for failing to further increase military spending. Poilievre’s office has said a Conservative government would ” ” the NATO target, while cutting spending on “wasteful” foreign aid and “bureaucracy.” The Liberals note that they have boosted defence spending by tens of billions of dollars since they took office in 2015, including through an updated defence policy that promises to spend $73 billion over 20 years while overcoming a gap in military staff and replacing and upgrading equipment and infrastructure. During an address to parliamentarians from NATO countries in Montreal on Monday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said that — contrary to assumptions that “more right-wing parties tend to invest more in defence” — military spending levels dipped below one per cent of GDP when Conservative Stephen Harper was prime minister. Trudeau nevertheless suggested that the target itself is problematic. One of the challenges “we’ve always had with the two per cent (NATO spending target) is that doesn’t really matter what you spend it on,” he said. “What matters is if you’ve just reached that limit, and Canada has never felt that way. We’ve made sure that our investments are as concrete as possible” and contributing to Canada’s defence capacity. “We have to do more and we are doing more.”
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As the Gaza war entered its 415th day, Israeli occupation forces targeted Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahiya, injuring its director, Hussam Abu Safiya, who refused to evacuate despite Israeli threats and targeting. Gaza’s Ministry of Health reported on Sunday that the Israeli occupation had carried out four massacres in the past 24 hours, resulting in 35 deaths and 94 injuries. The ministry confirmed that the total toll of Israeli aggression since 7 October 2023, had reached 44,211 deaths and 104,567 injuries. With the escalation of violence, particularly in the northern Gaza Strip, the military spokesperson for the Qassam Brigades, Abu Obeida, announced on Saturday via Telegram the killing of an Israeli female prisoner in an area targeted by Israeli aggression. The statement emphasized the threat to the life of another female prisoner, alongside the slain detainee. It held Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his military leaders fully responsible for the lives of Israeli prisoners and detainees, accusing them of exacerbating the violence and suffering. In related developments, the American website Axios reported that President-elect Donald Trump was shocked to learn that half of the Israeli detainees in Gaza were still alive. According to Axios, Israeli President Isaac Herzog, in a call to Trump to congratulate him on his election win, urged that the release of the 101 detainees was an “urgent matter.” Herzog reportedly told Trump, “You have to save the hostages,” to which Trump responded, “Almost all of the hostages are probably dead.” Herzog then clarified that Israeli intelligence services believed that half of the detainees were still alive. In Lebanon, Israeli air raids on Saturday resulted in 84 deaths and 213 injuries, according to the Lebanese Ministry of Health. Since the beginning of the aggression, the ministry reported that the total number of martyrs had reached 3,754, with 15,626 injured. Hezbollah, in five statements, confirmed targeting several Israeli military installations, including the Beria base (the primary air and missile defense base of the Northern Command), the Dado base (the headquarters of the Northern Command), the Zvulun military industries base near Haifa, and Camp 100 (a ground forces training camp) north of Ayelet Hashahar.Mobile payments surge in Oman as CBO advances digital systems
Muscat: In a clear sign of shifting financial behaviours, mobile payments in Oman experienced a remarkable rise in 2023, marking a pivotal trend in the country’s move towards digital financial solutions. The surge reflects a broader transformation in the nation’s payment landscape, driven by the Central Bank of Oman’s ongoing efforts to modernise and secure the country’s payment systems. The impressive growth in mobile payments is part of a larger vision aligned with Oman Vision 2040, positioning the Sultanate as a leader in the region’s digital financial evolution. The Central Bank of Oman (CBO) has made significant strides in strengthening the national economy by adopting the latest technologies to enhance financial infrastructure. As part of its commitment to creating a robust and efficient financial ecosystem, the bank has focused on advancing the National Payment System (NPS), which underpins a wide range of transactions across the country, from high-value fund transfers to everyday consumer purchases. The NPS includes systems such as the Real-Time Gross Settlement (RTGS), Automated Clearing House (ACH), and the Mobile Payments Clearing and Settlement System (MPCSS), all of which play a key role in streamlining the nation’s financial operations. In 2023, the MPCSS saw an extraordinary surge in mobile transactions, increasing from 4.9 million in 2022 to 40 million by the end of 2023. This remarkable 700% rise in transaction volume highlights a rapid shift towards mobile payments, reflecting the growing demand for quicker, more secure ways to transfer money. The value of funds processed through the MPCSS system also experienced a substantial jump, reaching OMR1.44 billion over a two-year period. This significant growth signals a clear preference for mobile payments, which offer enhanced convenience and security, and are becoming an increasingly popular choice for both consumers and businesses across the country. Meanwhile, the RTGS system, which handles large-value payments between financial institutions, recorded a 17% increase in transaction value, reaching OMR 209 billion in 2023. Although the number of transactions decreased, this is typical for RTGS, as it primarily handles fewer, higher-value payments. The system’s growth reflects a steady demand for secure, real-time settlement of interbank transactions, reinforcing Oman’s financial stability. Retail payment systems also saw robust growth, with the total number of transactions increasing by 41%, reaching 395 million in 2023. The value of these retail payments rose by 16%, totaling OMR 31.9 billion in 2023. The surge is indicative of a broader shift towards digital payment methods, with Oman’s residents increasingly opting for electronic transactions for everything from everyday purchases to business dealings. Card-based transactions Card-based transactions on the OmanNet network also grew by 30%, reaching 329 million by the end of 2023, with a total value of OMR 6.4 billion. This rise is fueled by the widespread adoption of Point-of-Sale (POS) systems, which have become integral to the country’s retail environment. The Automated Clearing House (ACH) system, which facilitates recurring payments such as salaries, also saw a notable 18% increase in both transaction volume and value in 2023. By the end of the year, ACH processed 21.9 million transactions worth OMR 13.5 billion, driven by the system’s ability to handle payments around the clock. The growth in ACH transactions underscores the growing reliance on digital systems for efficient, automated financial operations. On the flip side, traditional payment methods, such as cheques, continue to see a decline in use. The number of cheques processed through the Electronic Cheque Clearing (ECC) system dropped by 1% in 2023 resulting in a total of 3.7 million cheques by the end of 2023. However, the value of cheques processed saw a slight increase, reaching OMR 10 billion, reflecting the ongoing, albeit shrinking, role of cheques in Oman’s financial ecosystem. Notable increase in WPS Further reinforcing the shift towards digital payments, the Wages Protection System (WPS) introduced by the Ministry of Labour has been instrumental in increasing salary-related transactions. In 2023, salary transactions grew by 3% in volume, and their total value rose by 4%. The WPS has ensured the timely and secure transfer of salaries, contributing to greater financial inclusion and the adoption of digital payment solutions by businesses and employees alike. These developments signal Oman’s growing embrace of digital payment solutions, which are transforming the country’s financial landscape. With mobile payments leading the charge, the Central Bank’s efforts to modernise payment systems and enhance financial infrastructure are playing a critical role in shaping Oman’s economic future. Decrease in ATM transactions OmanNet has witnessed significant changes in its electronic payment channels over the past year. Transactions via ATMs decreased by 11% in 2023, compared to a 15% drop in 2022, indicating a shift away from traditional cash-based systems. In contrast, digital payment channels experienced notable growth, with point-of-sale (POS) transactions increasing from 68% in 2022 to 74% in 2023. This surge is likely driven by the expanded utilisation of POS software and the growing acceptance of digital payments. Meanwhile, e-commerce transactions saw a slight decline, dropping from 17% in 2022 to 15% in 2023. This change reflects evolving consumer preferences, with a growing interest in alternative payment methods.38 Parenting Products From Amazon Our Readers Loved In 2024
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