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India Gazette
29-05-2025
- Politics
- India Gazette
Haryana CM launches 'Viksit Krishi Sankalp Abhiyan' from Kurukshetra
Kurukshetra (Haryana) [India], May 29 (ANI): As part of the nationwide Viksit Krishi Sankalp Abhiyan, Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini launched the state-level campaign from Kurukshetra on Thursday. According to an official release, the objective of the campaign is to improve the agricultural sector by connecting farmers with new technologies, schemes, and innovations. It aims to educate farmers on scientific techniques for Kharif crops, highlight the importance of soil health cards, and provide access to government schemes and policies. Through direct interaction with farmers, feedback will be gathered to guide future agricultural research. This campaign, running across the state until June 12, is a testament to the government's commitment to empowering farmers. Addressing farmers from across the state at a joint event organised by Departments of Agriculture, Horticulture, Fisheries, and Animal Husbandry along with ICAR at Kurukshetra University campus, CM Saini said that India has achieved self-reliance in food grain production due to the hard work and dedication of its farmers. He emphasised that this campaign will turn every farmer into a policy participant and an innovation partner and it is not just a program, but a public movement that will be a major step toward empowering farmers with knowledge, innovation, and technology. 'It is a triveni, where agricultural scientists, officers from agriculture and allied departments, and farmers will engage in direct dialogue,' he said. The Chief Minister said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi considers farmers the backbone of his vision for a Viksit Bharat. A developed, strong, and prosperous India is only possible when our farmers are self-reliant. He stated that under this mega campaign, more than 2,000 teams of agricultural scientists and officers have been formed across the country. These teams will visit villages and directly interact with around 1.5 crore farmers - making it the largest outreach programme in the history of Indian agriculture. During the campaign, farmers will receive advice based on local climate, soil, and crop conditions. The Chief Minister said that Haryana is an agriculture-dominated state, but faces challenges such as climate change, water scarcity, declining soil fertility, and changing market demands. The Viksit Krishi Sankalp Abhiyan will empower farmers to address these issues. It will act as a bridge from lab to land, bringing agricultural research directly to the farmers' fields. Scientists, officers, and progressive farmers will work together to cover 1,380 villages and 109 blocks across the state. He added that digital tools have revolutionised farming. During the campaign, information about digital technologies will also be shared to help farmers transition towards smart agriculture while retaining traditional methods. The Chief Minister said the Haryana government is consistently launching farmer-friendly welfare schemes. The state has given a bonus of Rs. 2,000 per acre for Kharif crops, amounting to Rs 1,345 crore, a first in Haryana's history. The long-standing colonial-era system of abiyana has been abolished, and pending dues worth Rs133 crore have been waived. He said the compensation policy for high-tension electricity lines passing through farmland. Farmers are now entitled to 200 percent of the market rate for tower area land and 30 percent for land under power lines. Additionally, the government has granted ownership rights to tenant farmers. The Chief Minister called on farmers to switch from water-intensive crops to alternatives and adopt natural farming practices, which are essential for today's environmental needs. He echoed Prime Minister Narendra Modi's call to conserve every drop of water and promote micro-irrigation. He urged farmers to turn this campaign into a people's movement and take decisive steps toward making India a developed nation once again. Agriculture and Farmers' Welfare Minister, Shyam Singh Rana said that the 15-day campaign aims to boost crop production by providing farmers with land-related information, benefits of government schemes, and a platform for voicing their concerns. Scientists will interact directly with farmers to understand and respond to their needs. Recently, 15 lakh farmers in the state received their soil test reports via mobile, giving them valuable insights into their farm health. He highlighted the success of the PM-Kisan Samman Nidhi, which provides Rs 6,000 per year directly into farmers' accounts, with 19 installments released so far. The Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana ensures compensation for crop losses due to natural disasters, requiring farmers to pay only 1.5 percent to 2 percent of the premium while the government covers the rest. The Minister said that to tackle the issue of declining groundwater levels, the Mera Pani Meri Virasat scheme was implemented, under which farmers growing crops other than paddy receive Rs 8,000 per acre. 'The government also supports natural farming by offering Rs 30,000 per acre as a subsidy to purchase indigenous cows and providing assistance for drums used to make compost from cow dung,' said Shyam Singh Rana. During the event, CM Nayab Singh Saini released five departmental magazines and officially launched the Viksit Krishi Sankalp Abhiyan poster prepared by ICAR by signing it. (ANI)
Yahoo
05-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Technologists Welcome Executive Order on AI in Schools But Say More Detail is Needed
This article was originally published in States Newsroom. Education software experts say they're cautiously optimistic about a Trump administration drive to incorporate AI into classrooms, but such a program needs clear goals, specific rules — and enough money to fund the costly systems. 'AI is, inherently, really expensive,' said Ryan Trattner, CEO of AI-assisted studying tool Study Fetch. 'It's not something that scales like a normal piece of software where it might be the same price for 1,000 people to use it as 100,000.' Among a handful of education-related executive orders last week, President Donald Trump released an order to incorporate artificial intelligence education, training and literacy in K-12 schools for both students and teachers. Get stories like this delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for The 74 Newsletter The move is in line with other actions Trump has taken to promote quick growth of artificial intelligence in the U.S., including rolling back the 2023 Biden administration executive order that aimed to promote competition within the AI industry while creating guidelines for responsible government use of the technology. Introducing AI to grade school children is meant to create an 'AI-ready workforce and the next generation of American AI innovators,' the order said. A task force made up of members from various federal departments — like the Departments of Agriculture, Education, Energy and Labor, as well as the directors of the Office of Science and Technology Policy, the National Science Foundation and other federal agency representatives — will be developing the program over the next 120 days. Some makers of AI tools for students said they are cautiously optimistic about more widespread use of AI in schools, saying it would better prepare kids for the current workforce. But they say success with this program hinges on the ability to measure outcomes for AI learning, an understanding of how AI plays a role in society and a set of clear federal guidelines around AI, which the U.S. does not currently have. Many students, parents and teachers are already using AI in some portion of their learning, often through AI-powered tutoring, counseling, training, studying or tracking tools mostly available from private companies. Bill Salak, chief technology officer at AI learning and studying platform Brainly, said that many AI tools built for education right now aim to fill gaps in schools where teachers are often spread thin. They may be using AI tools to help them make lesson plans, presentations or study guides. Brainly was founded on the idea of simulating student-run study groups, and is a supplement to classroom learning, Salak said. Salak is happy to see an initiative that will prompt educators to incorporate AI literacy in schools, saying he feels we're in a 'rapidly changing world' that requires much of the workforce to have a baseline understanding of AI. But he says he hopes the task force gets specific about their goals, and develops the ability to measure outcomes. 'I do think there will be further mandates needed, especially one in which we revisit again, like, what are we teaching?' he said. 'What are the standards that we're holding our teachers to in terms of outcomes in the classroom?' Specific objectives may come after the 120 day research period, but the executive order currently says that the initiative will develop online resources focused on teaching K-12 students foundational AI literacy and critical thinking skills, and identify ways for teachers to reduce time-intensive administrative tasks, improve evaluations and effectively teach AI in computer science and other classes. It also seeks to establish more AI-related apprenticeship programs targeted at young people. Trattner of Study Fetch said he's eager to see a green light from the administration for schools to invest in AI education. The Study Fetch platform allows students and teachers to upload course material from a class, and receive customized studying materials. Trattner said that initially many educators were worried that AI would allow students to cheat, or get through classes without actually learning the material. But he said in the last year or so, teachers are finding specific tasks that AI can help alleviate from their long to-do lists. Generative AI chatbots are probably not the best fit for classrooms, but specific AI tools, like platforms that help students learn their curriculum material in personalized ways, could be. 'Everybody knows this, but teachers are extremely overworked, with multiple classes,' Trattner said. 'I think AI can definitely help educators be substantially more productive.' But cost is something the committee should consider, Trattner said. The executive order calls for the development of public-private partnerships, and said the committee may be able to tap discretionary grant funding earmarked for education, but it didn't outline a budget for this initiative. AI tools are often more expensive than other software that schools may be used to buying in bulk, Trattner said. Some AI tools are targeted toward other parts of the school experience, like College Guidance Network's Eva, an AI counseling assistant that helps users through the college application process, and helps parents with social and emotional dynamics with their children. Founder and CEO Jon Carson said he's not sure that this executive order will make a big impact on schools, because schools tend to follow state or local directives. He also feels like the current administration has damaged its authority on K-12 issues by attempting to shut down the Department of Education. 'In another era, we might actually even bring it up if we were talking to a school district,' Carson said. 'But I don't think we would bring this up, because the administration has lost a lot of credibility.' Carson hopes the committee plans for security and privacy policies around AI in schools, and folds those principles into the curriculum. Federal guidance on AI privacy could help shape everyone's use, but especially students who are at the beginning of their experience with the technology, he said. A successful version of this program would teach students not just how to interact with AI tools, but how they're built, how they process information, and how to think critically about the results they receive, Salak said. Educators have a right to be critical of AI, and the accuracy of information it provides, he said. But critical thinking and validating information is a skill everyone needs, whether the information comes from a textbook or an algorithm. 'In a world where there's so much information readily accessible and misinformation that is so readily accessible, learning early on how to question what it is that AI is saying isn't a bad thing,' Salak said. 'And so it doesn't need to be 100% accurate. But we need to develop skills in our students to be able to think critically and question what it's saying.' The specific recommendations and programing stemming from the Artificial Intelligence Education Task Force likely won't come until next school year, but Salak said he feels the U.S. workforce has been behind on AI for a while. 'I really hope that we're able to overhaul the agility at which the education institution in America changes and adapts,' Salak said. 'Because the world is changing and adapting very, very fast, and we can't afford to have an education system that lags this far behind.'
New York Times
02-04-2025
- Business
- New York Times
With Painful Layoffs Ahead, Agencies Push Incentives to Quit
Federal agencies have accelerated their efforts to cut thousands of jobs, offering buyouts and eliminating entire offices as the Trump administration's deadline to downsize approaches. At least six federal agencies have in recent days extended a 'deferred resignation' offer that was originally pitched to government workers in January as a one-time opportunity that would allow employees to resign but continue to be paid for a period of time. The latest offer was sent to employees at the Departments of Agriculture, Defense, Energy, Housing and Urban Development and Transportation, as well as the General Services Administration, according to emails received by workers at those agencies reviewed by The New York Times. Employees at those agencies have to make their decisions between Monday, April 7, and April 11, depending on the agency, the emails said. President Trump and his top adviser on downsizing the government, Elon Musk, have ordered nearly every agency to reduce staff on a tight deadline to overhaul the government, in part by eliminating programs the president views as ideologically objectionable. Mr. Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency have promised significant savings to American taxpayers as a result, though wages and benefits for the federal work force amount to just 4.3 percent of the $6.3 trillion federal budget, according to the Congressional Budget Office. Mr. Trump has given Mr. Musk wide latitude to effect change, empowering him to effectively shutter agencies. Already, tens of thousands of workers have been fired or taken an earlier buyout offer. And agencies have said even more layoffs are to come. Two federal offices, Management and Budget and Personnel Management, ordered agencies to produce detailed plans for what is being called a 'reduction in force' by April 14. Early Tuesday morning, the Department of Health and Human Services fired thousands of workers, in some cases eliminating entire departments, as part of this plan. Last week, the department announced it would layoff 10,000 employees. For some, the news arrived when they arrived to the office and their building badges no longer worked. Senior leaders and scientists were dismissed, too, leaving outside experts and former officials dismayed by what they said was an immeasurable loss of expertise. Reductions in force have specific steps that if not followed could open up the administration to additional legal challenges on top of 175 cases it is already fighting. The agencies that moved to reopen a voluntary resignation program noted in the emails to employees that they were trying to give workers more opportunities to leave so fewer would have to be fired. Mr. Trump has said he feels bad that so many federal workers are losing their jobs, but he has insisted without evidence that many of the people on the government's payroll 'don't work at all.' Administration officials, including the health secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., have insisted that the reductions will save taxpayers significant sums of money. Max Stier, the president of the Partnership for Public Service, a nonprofit that promotes best practices in government, questioned the administration's reasoning, pointing out that the savings that might come from job cuts amount to a fraction of the government's overall spending. At the health department, for example, less than 1 percent of its spending goes to staff. 'There is no strategy here,' Mr. Stier said. 'What we are watching is a devaluing of expertise, and that is a profound mistake.' In one blow, the health department cut entire offices, including ones that study diseases and environmental problems, a vaccine research program aimed at preventing the next pandemic, and veterinarians leading the agency's response to bird flu. Some senior leaders were reassigned to the Indian Health Service, a division with offices in far more remote parts of the country than the Washington, D.C., region. As health employees comforted each other through tears on Tuesday, Mr. Kennedy posted a video on social media that showed him swearing in two new agency heads. 'The revolution begins today,' he said. Federal firings began soon after Mr. Trump returned to the Oval Office, at first targeting people who had been hired into designated diversity, equity and inclusion positions in a push to eliminate all such programs across the government. But those cuts were nothing compared with what was to come. In January, millions of federal employees were offered a buyout of sorts in an email with the subject line 'Fork in the Road.' The message came from the Office of Personnel Management, the government's human resources arm, which had not until this year sent mass emails to government employees. The email mirrored one Mr. Musk sent to Twitter employees after he purchased the social media platform, which is now called X. About 75,000 people took the first offer, according to the office. Those who accepted it were told to reply to the email with the word 'resign' in the subject line. In February, the Office of Personnel Management directed agencies to fire thousands of probationary employees — workers who were in their position for less than a year or two years and lacked the civil service protections of those who had been in their jobs longer. Court challenges have led to the reinstatement of most of the fired probationary workers, though many are in limbo on administrative leave and expect to be fired again in the next phase of layoffs now underway. The latest deferred resignation offer was sent to employees directly from their individual agencies, rather than the Office of Personnel Management. In some of the new offers, employees were told that they can expect another email from their human resources division to walk them through the process of accepting the offer. The Transportation Department told employees that if they accepted the offer, they would not be subjected to an 'involuntary separation, such as a reduction-in-force.' In recent weeks, some agencies have been encouraging employees to retire or take early retirement, with the goal of having to fire fewer people. 'It is the DOD's goal to avoid widespread involuntary reductions in force,' Zev Goldrich, the acting head of civilian personnel policy at the Defense Department, wrote in a mid-March memo to employees. Then on March 29, Pete Hegseth, the defense secretary, offered another round of deferred resignations. When the original deferred resignation offer arrived, many viewed it as a frontal assault on the federal bureaucracy. Still, some employees who did not accept it at the time have since expressed regret. This is the case for one senior official at the Homeland Security Department who was recently placed on administrative leave as part of job cuts that gutted three of its watchdog agencies last month. The official said that in hindsight he wished he had accepted the offer. Initially, the employee said, he was skeptical about whether the offer was real and if the new administration would honor the agreement and pay him. The employee spoke on condition of anonymity out of fear of retribution while he is still on the agency's payroll. In addition to the firings and resignation offers, Mr. Trump called on Jan. 20 for a blanket return to in-government-office work. He has said that the order will likely lead to people resigning rather than upending their daily routines. 'And therefore our government will get smaller and more efficient,' Mr. Trump said on Jan. 29. The constant threat of getting fired weighs heavily on many federal employees. And other blunt orders from Mr. Musk's team have led to federal workers scrambling to complete tasks far outside their job descriptions, such as cleaning bathrooms. Workers have described a decrease in productivity as a result. The latest offer of deferred resignations will only add to the chaos, Mr. Stier said. 'It will get worse and worse,' he said.
Yahoo
28-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Trump moves to strip unionization rights from most federal workers
President Donald Trump is trying to revoke collective bargaining rights from most federal employees — the latest move in his aggressive campaign to weaken the federal workforce. Trump issued an executive order late Thursday night relying on a rarely used provision of the federal labor laws that authorizes the president to exclude agencies from long-standing unionization rights if he determines that those agencies are primarily engaged in national security work. The order purports to end collective bargaining with federal unions at numerous federal agencies and subdivisions, including the Departments of Agriculture, Defense, Health and Human Services, Justice, State and Veterans Affairs, as well as the EPA and USAID. It also authorizes the Transportation secretary to exclude the Federal Aviation Administration and any other subdivision from labor rights. The order would eliminate collective bargaining rights from roughly 67 percent of the entire federal workforce and for 75 percent of workers who are already in a union, according to a report by Government Executive, a publication that covers the business of government primarily for an audience of senior bureaucrats. The anti-unionization move comes amid a series of other efforts to drastically deplete the federal workforce and bring the bureaucracy under the strict control of the White House. The Trump administration is trying to fire tens of thousands of probationary federal employees, despite initial court rulings blocking the terminations. And many agencies are implementing massive 'reductions in force.' Federal employees' unions have been at the forefront of legal challenges to many of Trump's actions in the first two months of his term. They have filed lawsuits seeking to halt billionaire Elon Musk's government-efficiency operation from accessing sensitive federal data; to block policies making it easier to fire government officials; and to reinstate thousands of fired federal workers, among others. One major union for federal employees pledged to swiftly challenge Trump's new executive order in court. 'President Trump's latest executive order is a disgraceful and retaliatory attack on the rights of hundreds of thousands of patriotic American civil servants — nearly one-third of whom are veterans — simply because they are members of a union that stands up to his harmful policies,' American Federation of Government Employees President Everett Kelley said in a statement. 'AFGE is preparing immediate legal action.' Federal employees' rights to join a union and bargain collectively over their employment terms were established in the Civil Service Reform Act of 1978. Trump's executive order, published after 10 p.m. Thursday, was accompanied by guidance from the Office of Personnel Management informing agencies that they are 'no longer required to collectively bargain with Federal unions' and to stop participating in grievance procedures — the formal complaint mechanism used by unionized workers. OPM also 'advised' agencies that they no longer have to comply with laws that require advance notice and other procedures when implementing layoffs.
Politico
28-03-2025
- Politics
- Politico
Trump moves to strip unionization rights from most federal workers
President Donald Trump is trying to revoke collective bargaining rights from most federal employees — the latest move in his aggressive campaign to weaken the federal workforce. Trump issued an executive order late Thursday night relying on a rarely used provision of the federal labor laws that authorizes the president to exclude agencies from long-standing unionization rights if he determines that those agencies are primarily engaged in national security work. The order purports to end collective bargaining with federal unions at numerous federal agencies and subdivisions, including the Departments of Agriculture, Defense, Health and Human Services, Justice, State and Veterans Affairs, as well as the EPA and USAID. It also authorizes the Transportation secretary to exclude the Federal Aviation Administration and any other subdivision from labor rights. The order would eliminate collective bargaining rights from roughly 67 percent of the entire federal workforce, and for 75 percent of workers who are already in a union, according to a report by Government Executive, a publication that covers the business of government primarily for an audience of senior bureaucrats. The anti-unionization move comes amid a series of other efforts to drastically deplete the federal workforce and bring the bureaucracy under the strict control of the White House. The Trump administration is trying to fire tens of thousands of probationary federal employees , despite initial court rulings blocking the terminations. And many agencies are implementing massive 'reductions in force.' Federal employees' unions have been at the forefront of legal challenges to many of Trump's actions in the first two months of his term. They have filed lawsuits seeking to halt billionaire Elon Musk's government-efficiency operation from accessing sensitive federal data; to block policies making it easier to fire government officials; and to reinstate thousands of fired federal workers, among others. One major union for federal employees pledged to swiftly challenge Trump's new executive order in court. 'President Trump's latest executive order is a disgraceful and retaliatory attack on the rights of hundreds of thousands of patriotic American civil servants — nearly one-third of whom are veterans — simply because they are members of a union that stands up to his harmful policies,' American Federation of Government Employees President Everett Kelley said in a statement. 'AFGE is preparing immediate legal action.' Federal employees' rights to join a union and bargain collectively over their employment terms were established in the Civil Service Reform Act of 1978. Trump's executive order, published after 10 p.m. Thursday, was accompanied by guidance from the Office of Personnel Management informing agencies that they are 'no longer required to collectively bargain with Federal unions,' and to stop participating in grievance procedures — the formal complaint mechanism used by unionized workers. OPM also 'advised' agencies that they no longer have to comply with laws that require advance notice and other procedures when implementing layoffs.
