Latest news with #FAR
Ya Biladi
14 hours ago
- Ya Biladi
Moroccan FAR drone neutralizes Polisario attackers after Es-Semara assault
A new chapter has emerged in the attack carried out by Polisario armed elements on Friday, June 27, targeting civilian areas in Es-Semara. The perpetrators behind the launch of five projectiles did not make it back to the Tindouf camps unscathed. «A Royal Armed Forces (FAR) drone, conducting a routine surveillance mission in the region, immediately tracked the vehicle carrying the Polisario attackers responsible for Friday's strike», a Moroccan security source told Yabiladi. «A missile fired by the unmanned aircraft completely destroyed the vehicle and its occupants. The exact toll of the airstrike, which occurred east of the Sand Wall, has yet to be confirmed». Shortly before the strike, the assailants, traveling in a vehicle, fired five rockets—believed to be of Iranian origin—on the city of Es-Semara. One projectile landed near a MINURSO barracks, but no casualties or material damage were reported.
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Business Standard
20 hours ago
- Business
- Business Standard
Post JP Morgan index inclusion, FPIs turn sellers in FAR securities
After completion of inclusion process of domestic government securities in JP Morgan Indices on March 31, 2025, FPIs have net sold ₹31,262 crore worth of FAR securities so far New Delhi Passive inflow, amount (in ₹ crore) Foreign portfolio investors net bought ₹1.09 trillion worth of Indian government securities designated under the FAR (fully accessible route) route after the official inclusion of domestic securities in the JP Morgan indices between July 2024 and March 2025. The inclusion process was phased over a 10-month period with 1 per cent weight included each month until March 31, 2025. After completion of inclusion process of domestic government securities in JP Morgan Indices on March 31, 2025, FPIs have net sold ₹31,262 crore worth of FAR securities so far. The selling was primarily driven by profit-booking, along with narrowing of the yield spread between 10-year US Treasury bond and domestic benchmark 10-year bond which narrowed below 200 basis points in April as domestic demand on the back of expectations of deeper rate cut weighed on yields. Active inflow, amount (in ₹ crore) After the announcement of the inclusion in JP Morgan indices, there was net active inflow worth ₹92,302 crore between September 2023 and June 2024 as investors took positions ahead of the official inclusion. Investment in FAR securities had exceeded ₹1 trillion on October 16, 2023.
Otago Daily Times
3 days ago
- General
- Otago Daily Times
'Top farmer' posthumously named Rural Hero
The late Mid Canterbury farmer Chris Allen was posthumously named Rural Hero in a touching moment at the Primary Industries New Zealand Awards. Mr Allen, 62, died after he was electrocuted while fixing a garage door last December, leaving a rural community paying tribute to his leadership and negotiating skills as a Federated Farmers board member for eight years. In other highlights Federated Farmers Bay of Plenty sharefarmer chairwoman Bridie Virbickas was presented with the Emerging Leader Award at the annual awards ceremony in Christchurch. More than 400 farmers and industry people attended the function, part of the two-day Primary Industries New Zealand (PINZ) Summit. Mr Allen's contribution to farming led supporters to say every farming family was in his debt for his years of championing rural causes. Judges praised the collaborative nature, persistence and practicality of the Federated Farmers leader for his advocacy on freshwater, environmental and biodiversity issues. "A top farmer in his own right, he led with humour and knowledge." The judging panel described Ms Virbickas as making a strong mark in the dairy sector - managing 850 cows while leading beyond the farm gate. As an elected sharefarmer leader, she supports fellow farmers in areas such as dispute resolution, and practical workshops. She is also a founding trustee of AgRecovery, helping reduce farm waste nationwide, and leads on-farm restoration projects with schools and councils. Southland farmer and NZ Pork chairman since 2019 Eric Roy was presented with the Outstanding Contribution to Primary Industries Award. His production, leadership and political service to primary industries and rural communities spans nearly 60 years. The six-term Member of Parliament has held roles with Federated Farmers, Pāmu, the Meat & Wool Board and other community and charity initiatives. "Few can match his contribution - Eric Roy is a truly exceptional New Zealander," the judging panel said. NZPork deputy chairman Jason Palmer said his decades of service to farming, rural communities and public life reflected a commitment to doing the right thing. 'He has provided invaluable leadership to NZPork during his time as chairman on our board, helping shape the future of sustainable pig farming in New Zealand. We're really pleased to see that contribution recognised at a national level.' A Foundation for Arable Research (FAR) project to help farmers get the most out of their combine harvesters won the Technology Innovation Award. Workshops and follow-up one-on-one sessions resulted in improvements in harvest efficiency, productivity, sustainability and profitability. Farmers reported increases in yields of between 20% and 50%. FAR technology manager Chris Smith said the workshops showed the importance of growers measuring and monitoring potential grain and seed losses and fine-tuning settings. 'Growers have only one opportunity to harvest a crop. Once it is gone out the back of the harvester it is too late.' The Team and Collaboration Award went to Fonterra, LIC, Ballance and Ravensdown for an open data sharing ecosystem, saving farmers an estimated 250,000 hours so far in administration. Dr Robyn Dyne won the Primary Industries Champion Award for her research in nitrate leaching and emissions. Food, Beverage and Fibre Producer Award winners Chia Sisters combines fruit and ingredients such as kawakawa and chia seeds in their health food drinks and were singled out for their commitment to sustainability and innovation. PacificVet and co-founder Dr Kent Keitemeyer won the Guardianship and Conservation/Kaitiakitanga Award.
Otago Daily Times
4 days ago
- Politics
- Otago Daily Times
Dame Alison as worthy as anyone
Arable industry leader Alison Stewart had a classic case of imposter syndrome when she received a damehood. Dame Alison admitted she felt undeserving over King's Birthday weekend until her partner told her she was just as worthy a recipient as any of the select group of talented women to hold the same honour. "You look at all of these amazing people who have been given this honour and think what on earth am I doing in the same space as them? I suppose sports people look at other people like politicians and scientists and think the same. You always tend to think people excelling in a certain area must be better than you. I've just decided to accept that everybody's really good, otherwise you end up with a serious inferiority complex and don't enjoy the honour." Emeritus Distinguished Professor Stewart was appointed a Dame Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to plant science and the arable sector in the King's Birthday Honours. In terms of damehoods, this is just a tier below a select group of women, including former prime minister Jacinda Ardern, who have been made a Dame Grand Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit. Dame Alison is stepping down from her role of the past seven years as chief executive of the Foundation for Arable Research (FAR). She has been inundated with calls from wellwishers and plant science industry people from around the world. "If you have been in the system for 40 years you end up reconnecting with people you've worked with 20 to 30 years ago just to say hello and congratulations. It's like a trip down memory lane. Plant science rarely gets recognised at that kind of level and so there are all these plant scientists out there around the world who just think this is wonderful and it's like that too for the arable sector." She was happy to accept the honour as it raised the profile of both sectors and honoured the people inside them. "It has to be like that because in the type of job and the career I've had I've never worked in isolation and I've always been working fortunately with really good people, whether it was a university environment, a commercial company or FAR. You can't look at it in isolation because my success has been their success." Dame Alison only wished her late mother and father were alive to see her honoured. Born just outside of Glasgow, her parents were always in the garden propagating plants and trimming rose bushes, exposing her to a love of plants. Her father was a fine instrument engineer repairing mechanical microscopes which got her interested in micro-biology, while her initially stay-at-home mother was a creative woman into flower arrangement, calligraphy and gardening. "My brother was the chartered accountant who's retired back in Scotland so both of us had professional careers. My parents both left school when they were 14 and they basically sacrificed a huge amount to allow my brother and I an opportunity to get a higher education. It's just a shame my parents are no longer alive because they would absolutely love that I have been recognised in this way." At school she was inspired by a biology teacher to choose plant science and when she went to university lecturers instilled this interest in her further. After earning a PhD in plant pathology at the University of Stirling, just north of Glasgow and Edinburgh, in the early 1980s, she became the first female professor at Lincoln University in 1998. She said it was nice to have students later come up to her to say they were inspired by her lectures, just as she had been inspired earlier by her teachers. Other accolades were earning excellence in research awards and becoming the founding director of the Bio-Protection Research Centre at the university from 2003 to 2011 and a distinguished professor of plant pathology. She was made a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit in recognition of services to biology in 2009. The transition to becoming an executive in applied research after being in a university environment for so long was to find a new challenge, she said. On leaving the university world, she was head of the R&D unit at Marrone Bio Innovations in California in 2013, then became the general manager of forest science at Scion before accepting the chief executive role at FAR in 2018. She said going to a commercial company in the United States had been rewarding and encouraged her to deliver meaningful research to an industry in innovative ways to "time-poor" growers. She plans to spend a semi-retirement in science advisory or governance roles as well as building a new house in Governor's Bay and probably pursuing photography and landscape gardening hobbies. "That's what I've enjoyed about my career — I've been in academia, the commercial environment, in industry, linked in with government agencies and worked in all of the plant sector starting off in vegetables, then horticulture, forestry and a bit of pastoral work and now arable so it's been very broad-ranging. I've always liked governance and you get better with age because as much as you can go to governance workshops a lot of it is based on experience and having been around the block and learned from mistakes I feel that's how I can contribute now." Apart from the odd formal occasion, she would prefer to be called by her first name. "I don't think you will ever be hearing me introducing myself as Dame Alison. I've always just been Alison and don't tend to defer to people based on their title and don't expect people to do that with me."
Ya Biladi
20-06-2025
- Politics
- Ya Biladi
FAR drone strikes Polisario vehicle near Sand Wall
A Royal Armed Forces (FAR) drone struck a Polisario vehicle on Thursday, June 19. «The operation took place in the Karzaze region, near Mijek, east of the Sand Wall. The outcome of the strike remains unknown for now», a source familiar with the matter told Yabiladi. According to the same source, the Polisario elements had first crossed into Mauritanian territory clandestinely, intending to carry out an operation against Moroccan positions, before being targeted by the FAR drone. However, a Polisario-affiliated media outlet offered a different version of events, claiming the Moroccan drone targeted a «civilian vehicle» in the same area. It's worth noting that FAR drones had already targeted Polisario vehicles in Karzaze on May 29. This latest operation comes just 24 hours after Brahim Ghali presided over the graduation ceremony of a new cohort of the Front's armed militias on Wednesday.
