Latest news with #NPG
Cision Canada
21 minutes ago
- General
- Cision Canada
Canadian launches mission to combat illegal fishing and protect marine ecosystems in the Indo-Pacific
OTTAWA, ON, June 9, 2025 /CNW/ - Globally, illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing is a major contributor to declining fish stocks and the destruction of marine habitats. IUU fishing also undermines the livelihoods of legitimate fish harvesters and impacts food security in vulnerable coastal communities, affecting millions of people. Today, Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) launched its third annual high seas patrol to deter IUU fishing in the high seas of the North Pacific, including near the Aleutian Island chain, focusing on migratory routes for key species like Pacific salmon. The mission, known as Operation North Pacific Guard (Op. NPG), is led by DFO fishery officers and supported by the Canadian Coast Guard and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police to protect fish stocks under Canada's Pacific Salmon Strategy Initiative and Canada's Indo-Pacific Strategy. As a Pacific nation, Canada is committed to deepening its engagement and its role across the Indo-Pacific region as an active and reliable partner. Fishery officers and support personnel will patrol over 15,000 km while onboard the Canadian Coast Guard vessel, the CCGS Sir Wilfrid Laurier, a high endurance, multi-purpose vessel that is also a light icebreaker, and is biofuel capable. The expert crew will conduct high seas boardings and inspection operations under international law to ensure compliance with regulations and to detect IUU fishing. During this mission, Canada's CCGS Sir Wilfrid Laurier will make a special port visit during Expo 2025 in Osaka, Japan, where members of the public can visit the vessel and learn about Canada's role in fighting IUU. In addition to monitoring and enforcement by sea, Canada is conducting daily aerial surveillance this summer out of Hokkaido, Japan. Air patrols conducted by DFO fishery officers will monitor fishing vessels and support partner countries to ensure compliance with international law. Canada's air surveillance program has previously identified significant conservation concerns related to shark finning and illegal marine mammal harvest, including the harpooning of dolphins, and pollution events that threaten the marine environment. Continued monitoring for these activities will allow Canada to hold non-compliant vessels accountable. As a Pacific nation, Canada recognizes that the Indo-Pacific region will play a significant and profound role in Canada's future. Every issue that matters to Canadians—national security, economic prosperity, respect for international law and human rights, democratic values, public health, protecting our environment—will be shaped by the relationships that Canada, along with its partners, have with countries throughout the Indo-Pacific. Quotes "It is critical that Canada does its part to promote the rule of law on the high seas. By doing our part to support international laws, we uphold our country's significant investments and leadership in securing marine species and ecosystems at home and abroad." The Honourable Joanne Thompson, Minister of Fisheries "Canada works closely with key partners in the Indo-Pacific to uphold the rule of law in the region as part of Operation North Pacific Guard and to advance priorities under the Indo-Pacific Strategy. The participation of Japanese, South Korean and U.S. officials in these patrols is a concrete example of increasing regional cooperation to address common challenges, including declining fish stocks, threats to biodiversity and pollution." , Canada's Ambassador to Japan and Special Envoy to the Indo- Pacific Quick Facts Canadian fishery officers have taken part in the annual Op. NPG since 2019, an annual international law enforcement operation on the high seas of the North Pacific. This year, DFO has welcomed aboard officers from the United States National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the Fisheries Agency of Japan, and the Republic of Korea Coast Guard. Fishery officers conduct patrols, under international law, to enforce the United Nations ban on high seas driftnets and to ensure compliance with regulations of Regional Fisheries Management Organizations (RFMO) that protect against IUU fishing. This year's operation includes the participation of a total of 10 DFO fishery officers, including 4 fishery officers participating in air surveillance operations in Japan. In addition to monitoring and enforcement, fishery officers will also collect environmental data and water samples to support Canada's understanding of the high seas environment, including the migration range of species of interest, such as Pacific salmon, and the levels of microplastics in the water. Associated Links Pacific Salmon Strategy Initiative Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated Fishing Indo-Pacific Strategy Canadian Coast Guard Greening initiatives Stay Connected SOURCE Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) Canada
Time of India
7 hours ago
- Business
- Time of India
Metro to India Gate, T1, and Kalindi Kunj: Delhi to get 3 new metro corridors worth Rs 11,150 crore; cabinet nod likely to be soon
Metro to India Gate, T1, and Kalindi Kunj: Delhi to get 3 new metro corridors worth Rs 11,150 Cr; cabinet nod likely soon NEW DELHI: The Centre has prioritised the construction of three new metro rail corridors - R K Ashram to Indraprastha, Aerocity to Terminal-1 and Tughlakabad to Kalindi Kunj - in Delhi, entailing an investment of around Rs 11,150 crore and having a cumulative length of a little over 16 km. These links were recently evaluated by the National Planning Group (NPG) under the PM GatiShakti framework for planning of infrastructure projects and are likely to be placed before the Cabinet soon for approval. Details of the plans presented before the NPG show that R K Ashram to Indraprastha will be the longest among the three corridors and it will be an underground route with nine stations - at Indraprastha, Bharat Mandapam, Baroda House, India Gate (adjacent to C-Hexagon), the newly built Common Central Secretariat (CCS) buildings along the Kartavya Path, Central Secretariat, Yuge Yugeen Bharat Museum (near Rakabganj Gurdwara), Shivaji Stadium and R K Ashram Marg. "So, this will be a complete loop connecting the Green Line (Indralok-Indraprastha link) with the Blue Line, and the Janakpuri West-R K Ashram Marg corridor. This will also help reduce footfall at Rajiv Chowk," said a source. The proposed station at India Gate will offer visitors a safe and convenient transport alternative, and reduce reliance on private vehicles, officials said. At present, the nearest metro connectivity is the Central Secretariat metro station and people either need to walk or take auto-rickshaws to reach India Gate. The corridor will also provide faster connectivity to the proposed 10 big central govt office buildings along the Kartavya Path. Two stations on this line at the CCS buildings and the Central Secretariat will ensure govt employees reach office quickly and without any hassle. Earlier, there was a proposal to have an automated people mover system (APMS) to link all the CCS buildings to basements, but it was abandoned as such a transportation system would have been used only by the govt employees. Officials said the extension of the metro line from Aerocity to Terminal-1 (2.3 km) will be completely underground and it will have only one station at Terminal-1. This will provide direct airport connectivity to people living in areas such as Tughlakabad, Khanpur, Saket, Mehrauli and Vasant Kunj. This will enhance airport access and regional transit, especially for commuters from Faridabad via the Tughlakabad interchange. The Tughlakabad-Kalindi Kunj link (4 km) will have three stations and it will be an elevated corridor. It will pass through Ali Village, Ali Vihar, and Madanpur Khadar. The new link will facilitate interchange at Kalindi Kunj with the existing Magenta Line, linking the Violet and Magenta corridors.
Yahoo
22-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
New Forum Paper Highlights the Dire Need for Policy Reforms and Conservation Efforts
Protecting the Planet: A Vision for Environmental Reform ALEXANDRIA, Va., May 22, 2025 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Negative Population Growth, Inc. (NPG) is pleased to announce the publication of its latest Forum Paper, W.W.L.D. - What Would the Lorax Do? The Dismantling of Environmental Protections Under Trump 2.0, authored by naturalist and environmental advocate Dr. Karen I. Shragg. This thought-provoking work underscores the dangers posed by recent rollbacks in environmental protections, detailing their devastating impacts on both wildlife and natural ecosystems, and stresses the urgency of proactive measures to safeguard our environment amid ongoing challenges like climate change, habitat destruction, and pollution. Key recommendations in the paper include passing impactful legislation such as H.R. 251 to mandate E-Verify and H.R. 1241 to end the visa lottery. Both initiatives, if passed, would greatly assist in curbing population growth nationwide. Dr. Shragg's analysis highlights the critical challenges faced by endangered species and national parks as federal organizations, such as the National Park Service and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), experience severe funding cuts and layoffs. The paper points to worsening threats of climate-related droughts, invasive species, and pollution while advocating for a holistic approach to addressing the root cause of environmental degradation: overpopulation. Positioning herself as a staunch advocate of wildlife and plant communities, Dr. Shragg notes: "Climate change threatens the stability of their interdependent world. Insects that metamorphose too early will not be there when the birds, frogs and bats need them. Rain that does not arrive at its usual time causes droughts, dries out the forests and threatens the animals that live there. Population growth leads to sprawl into delicate habitat areas, fragmenting land which then can no longer support the bigger wild mammals. Pollution comes from everything from mining to the new threat of microplastics in our industrialized world. Human-introduced invasive species, from European buckthorn to blackberry bushes and garlic mustard, destroy native plants and threaten the whole native food chain." "Because unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It's not." This quote, excerpted from The Lorax, by Dr. Seuss, resonates throughout this new Forum Paper, calling individuals, policymakers, and environmental advocates alike to take action before it is too late. NPG encourages all stakeholders, from conservationists and policymakers to concerned citizens, to access the full paper at and join the conversation around urgent environmental reform. Dr. Shragg's paper serves as both a wake-up call and an inspiration for the critical work needed to protect our planet and all its inhabitants. Since 1972, NPG has worked to educate both the public and policy leaders about the impacts of overpopulation. With a steadfast commitment to reducing population growth to achieve a sustainable balance with our environmental resources, NPG continues to be a leading voice of reason in a world often driven by the pursuit of perpetual growth. We do not simply identify the problems – we propose solutions. For more information, visit our website at follow us on Facebook @NegativePopulationGrowth or follow us on X @npg_org. Media Contact Craig Lewis, Negative Population Growth, 703-350-9510, media@ Twitter View original content: SOURCE Negative Population Growth Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Times
05-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Times
The National Portrait Gallery is on tour (but it'll cost you more up north)
Taking over a failing institution is obviously challenging. But taking over one that's riding the crest of a wave must be daunting too. How do you make your mark without making it worse? So far, after six months as director of the National Portrait Gallery, Victoria Siddall hasn't put an elegant shoe wrong. Her predecessor, Nicholas Cullinan, departed to run the British Museum after masterminding a £41 million revamp that was acclaimed by nearly everyone. Siddall, 47, was appointed after directing and expanding the fashionable art fair Frieze for more than a decade, but with no experience of managing a publicly funded arts organisation. 'The mindset is very different,' she admits. Yet already she has conjured up the one essential thing the NPG regularly needs: a photocall at the gallery with its royal patron, the Princess of Wales, surrounded by lots of tiny tots. And now she has launched two initiatives signalling a new way forward for the NPG. One, opening at MediaCity in Salford, is billed as 'the first immersive art experience of a UK national collection'. Called Stories — Brought to Life, it's a walk-in-and-gawp show of digital projections. Based on 19 portraits from the NPG collection, ranging from Elizabeth I, Darwin and Shakespeare to such mandatory modern cultural icons as Amy Winehouse and Grayson Perry, it surrounds visitors with sound and visuals, whisking through the lives of the chosen subjects. A portrait of Amy Winehouse at Stories — Brought to Life DAVID PARRY A portrait of Mary Seacole at Stories – Brought to Life DAVID PARRY It has been put together by the NPG in association with Frameless, a commercial company specialising in immersive art experiences. Who approached whom? Siddall seems surprised by the question. 'Work has been going on for some years and predates me,' she replies. 'There was a desire on the part of the NPG to look at innovative technologies and how these could be harnessed to share the collection in new ways. Frameless has been doing this successfully for years.' So who chose which portraits to use? 'That's another great question,' Siddall replies, without answering it. 'The show covers a wonderful range of people and beautifully illustrates the diversity of voices who've made up UK history.' And the point of the project is? 'The challenge of being a national museum in one building in one city is how you can be truly national and show the collection all over the country,' she says. 'Because, of course, the collection is owned by everybody. So the main driver is this desire to take the collection out and reach new audiences in this very different new format.' But isn't there a flaw in this thinking? People who are able to visit the NPG in London get free admission. That's very much not the case with Stories — Brought to Life, which runs in Salford all summer before touring other UK venues. In fact the ticket prices seem steep, especially as the show is over in 45 minutes. 'They are very much in line with other immersive experiences,' Siddall replies. 'We want everybody to be able to see this.' Really? When I went online to book for this weekend I found adult (over-16) tickets priced at £29.95, children's tickets at £19.95, and the family ticket (two adults, two children) a hefty £80. It's not exactly flinging open the doors to the poor of Salford and Manchester, is it? 'Yes, at peak times it will be more expensive,' Siddall concedes, 'but there's quite a range of pricing there for people to work with.' How is the ticket revenue being divided between the NPG and Frameless? 'We have an arrangement with Frameless that I can't delve into,' she says. She points out that this project is not the only way in which the NPG will reach out to the country in the coming year. J oshua Reynolds's magnificent Portrait of Mai, which the NPG helped to buy for a jaw-dropping £50 million in a unique 50/50 sharing deal with the Getty Museum in Los Angeles, embarks this month on a national tour — Bradford (for its City of Culture year), Cambridge and Plymouth — with what Siddall describes as a 'fantastic learning and engagement programme built round it'. Her other recent initiative demonstrates how important it now is for directors of arts institutions to have friends in wealthy places — something that Siddall undoubtedly put into practice during her time at Frieze and, before that, the auction house Christies. She has persuaded Anastasia and Igor Bukhman — Russian-born billionaires living in London with Israeli passports and a fortune made from an online gaming business — to donate £1 million so that that NPG can start a new fund, Collecting the Now, to buy 'major contemporary artworks'. It will run for three years and the first two artworks have already been acquired: a self-portrait by Sonia Boyce, and a satirically embellished portrait bust of Edward VII by Hew Locke. 'It's particularly important for museums like the NPG to collect works by living artists, reflecting our times, before they become too expensive,' Siddall says. 'This fund will enable us to think more strategically and be more nimble about acquisitions. Making quick decisions is sometimes essential when buying contemporary art.' Also essential, one imagines, is the knack of wooing art-loving, m ega-rich individuals like the Bukhmans, especially at a time when (if you believe the newspapers) thousands of multimillionaires are quitting Britain for less taxing regimes. 'Oh, there are still a few around,' Siddall says with a laugh. 'But yes, that's really critical. I hope they [the Bukhmans] will be an inspiration to others. We have such high ambitions for the NPG. There are so many things we would love to do, whether it's learning programmes, exhibitions, building the collection or taking shows round the country. But we do need financial stability and donors to achieve those.' • Nicholas Cullinan, British Museum boss: 'I won't conform to political agendas' It could be that Siddall has a self-inflicted problem, however, when it comes to attracting potential sponsors. Five years ago she co-founded Gallery Climate Coalition, committing all its member galleries to a 50 per cent reduction in their carbon emissions by 2030. The following years she raised over £5 million for the environmental charity ClientEarth by persuading artists to donate works. She then founded Murmur to champion the idea that 'the arts industries have the potential to ignite a critical mass of action on the climate crisis and to be leaders on this vital issue'. Unsurprisingly the anti-oil pressure group Culture Unstained, which ferociously denounces sponsorships such as BP's £50 million to the British Museum, announced that it was 'encouraging' to see Siddall appointed to the NPG. Were the eco-warriors right to be encouraged? A portrait of Malala Yousafzai at Stories – Brought to Life DAVID PARRY A portrait of Emmeline Pankhurst at Stories – Brought to Life DAVID PARRY 'Like many of us, I care about the future of the planet,' Siddall replies, 'and it's right that we look at the sustainability of our own building. But in terms of support from sponsors for institutions, it's vital to be able to achieve what we want to do, and I'm very grateful for the corporate partners that we do have.' What would she do if she was offered sponsorship by, say, Baillie Gifford, the investment giant that has tiny links to fossil-fuel companies yet was dumped as a sponsor by various literary festivals? 'It's hard for me to comment because it's another organisation and I wasn't involved,' she replies. 'But I would definitely encourage corporates and individuals to think about how they can help our sector continue to flourish.' Should the UK's national museums still have free admission? No other country does it. 'Yes, it creates this incredibly democratic access to culture,' Siddall replies. OK, what about London imposing a hotel or city tax on visitors, to be spent on culture? At least tourists would then be contributing something towards the huge cost of running the museums they are free to enjoy. 'I'm sure those conversations are underway,' she says. She is clearly already skilled in the corporate art of giving absolutely nothing away. She will go far. Stories — Brought to Life is at MediaCity, Salford Quays, from May 2 to Aug 31,
BBC News
01-05-2025
- Entertainment
- BBC News
Charles Darwin to Ncuti Gatwa: Famous faces come to life in art show
From Winston Churchill to Amy Winehouse, Charles Darwin to Doctor Who star Ncuti Gatwa, portraits of a host of British icons feature in the first immersive exhibition to use one of Britain's national art National Portrait Gallery (NPG) has combined digital versions of portraits from its collection with animated graphics and voiceovers to tell the stories of 19 celebrities and historical is the latest in a wave of increasingly popular immersive art shows, which fill gallery walls with large-scale projected show launches in Salford on Friday before going on a UK tour. But while access to see the original portraits in the NPG in London is free, entrance to the Stories Brought To Life exhibition costs up to £35. NPG director Victoria Siddall told BBC News: "The main driver of this is taking the collection to new audiences outside of London."But there is another element to that, of course, which is raising revenue, which is absolutely crucial for museums to thrive."Obviously we're always looking at new innovations that can help engage audiences. And if that brings us revenue too that's wonderful."All national galleries charge for admission to special exhibitions, she gallery has forecast an operating deficit for the latest financial year. The use of the striking paintings and photos with animated graphics, music and narration was a "powerful combination", Siddall exhibition is being held in a pop-up venue at MediaCity in Salford until August and will then tour to five more locations, but they have not been venue's walls are filled with about 40 giant picture frame-style boxes, which the portraits and animations are projected of the chosen personalities, such as Malala Yousafzai, Churchill and Audrey Hepburn, tell their stories in their own words; while actors narrate the sections about others, including William Shakespeare and Emmeline a whistlestop guide to selected slices of history, with each person's story told in two or three minutes, and the entire show taking about 45 minutes. It ends with Queen Elizabeth II. Standard adult tickets cost between £22 and £30, with an extra £5 for a flexible ticket, and some "affordable" £10 tickets available on Coker, editor of arts outlet Alt A Review, said she thought it was worth it, but that the price could exclude some people."Right now with the cost of living it might not be something everybody can afford," she said."It's thought-provoking and it actually makes you think about each individual subject again, and takes you back to those moments in time, which you're not necessarily going to get from a looking at a portrait on its own." In recent years, artists from Vincent van Gogh to David Hockney have successfully been given the immersive weekend, LS Lowry will also be added to the list when a new, free immersive experience brings his trademark matchstick men to life at Salford's Lowry arts walls, floor and ceiling of one gallery become the canvas for projections of the artist's 1953 painting Going To The Match. The crowds flocking to watch Bolton Wanderers FC are animated, zooming in on sections of the six-minute experience is narrated by Bolton comedian and actress Sophie Willan, and visitors can then see the real painting in the next gallery. "People are going and standing in front of the painting and then looking for elements that have come to life, and that is a different way for them to be able to engage with the real artwork,' The Lowry chief executive Julia Fawcett venue bought the painting for almost £8m in 2022 and has spent two years working on the immersive version. Fawcett said she did not consider charging for entry."Our galleries are free and this is part of our gallery offer," she said. "For us, it was about making sure we reached the widest possible audience."We know immersive [art] is popular but we know also that price can be a barrier, and it would be counter-intuitive, when you have a project that is about reaching more audiences and deepening people's love and appreciation of the artist, to put a barrier in place."
