#food industry news india

[newbusinessideas]

15 Food Processing Business Ideas You Can Start with Small Machines

🎬 Calling all food business dreamers! 🍟🍱 Wanna know the secret to skyrocketing your small business? These Top 15 Food Processing Machines are your golden ticket! 🌟 Don't miss out on the kitchen revolution! 💥💡 #SmallBizMagic #foodbusinessideas

Starting a small food processing business can be an exciting venture, but it also comes with its fair share of challenges. One of the key aspects to consider is the efficiency of your food processing operations. Food processing machines play a crucial role in the success of small businesses in the food industry. These machines are specialized equipment designed to perform various tasks involved…

[insperonjournal]

New Food Technology Trends In 2022.

Undoubtedly, technology has made a huge impact in recent years. As a result, many industries have gone through tremendous growth. The food industry is one of the industries that has embraced the technological revolution. Moreover, the post-pandemic era resulted in innovative food tech trends.

If you want to know more about new technology in food production, Insperon Journal is the right place for you. We bring to you the latest tech news. One of our website sections are dedicated to food tech updates.

What are some popular food tech trends in 2022?

2022 has seen the continued transformation in the food tech industry that has only picked up since the pandemic hit. This includes things ranging from nutrition plans to the use of robotics in the food industry. Let’s know about some of the popular food tech trends in 2022.

Customized Nutrition Plans

Post-pandemic era has made people more aware of the importance of health and nutrition. As a result, people are more drawn toward healthcare plans. Subsequently, e-commerce food firms have recognized consumers' needs. This has led to more customized plans. people are more prone to search for a food tech app that assists them with customized nutrition plans.

Vacuum Frying

In addition to rising customized nutrition plans, the vacuum frying food production tech is rising. This is because this process doesn't involve unhealthy oil absorption. It offers a healthier option when compared to regular frying. The frying temperature is lower resulting in lesser absorption of oil. Moreover, vacuum-fried foods have lesser fat than regular fried foods. In addition to that, the process also helps in the retention of flavor and nutritional content of food.

Digitization Of Restaurants

It is no doubt that the pandemic has made huge shifts in the food industry. As a result, restaurants were inculcating digitization in keeping customer safety in mind. Moreover, this process continues on a larger scale because it comes with benefits. Digital menus, cashless payments, and self-service methods are some of the benefits that come with digitization. On the other hand, for food businesses, this works in favor in terms of efficiency and data-driven operations.

Robotics

Some restaurants around the world are incorporating robotics into their food chains. To clarify, they are deploying hospitality robots, robot chefs, and robot services. Moreover, this improves customer service and also safety. Additionally, they claim efficiency and better food quality control. Therefore, food robotics is something to look forward to in the years to come.

3-D Food Printing

3-D printed food is food prepared using an automated additive process. However, its applications, for now, are limited to the intricacies involved in food. For example, edible food designs. This is one of the solutions that decrease food production costs. Additionally, it also reduces food wastage. This is because they use food waste to print edible food.

In conclusion, food tech is blooming and will continue to do so in the future as well. The food processing industry will cross 535 billion USD by 2025 according to industry predictions. This progress has a lot to do with food tech bringing about tremendous changes. It can also be attributed to consumers choosing quality and healthier alternatives over unhealthier ones.  Most of the trends such as vacuum drying, 3-D printing, and personlized nutrition plans prove just that.

If you are a food start-up firm, the food tech update newsletter is a great way to catch up on the ins and outs of food tech. Want to get the latest tech updates? Insperon Journal is a one-stop website for all your tech update needs.

[metamatar]

When electronics manufacturing took off in China in the 1980s, rural women who had just begun moving to the cities made up the majority of the factory workforce. They didn’t have many other options. Managers at companies like Foxconn preferred to hire women because they believed them to be more obedient [...]

Hiring a young, female workforce in India comes with its own requirements — which include reassuring doting parents about the safety of their daughters. The company offers workers free food, lodging, and buses to ensure a safe commute at all hours of the day. On days off, women who live in Foxconn hostels have a 6 p.m. curfew; permission is required to spend the night elsewhere. “[If] they go out and not return by a specific time, their parents would be informed,” a former Foxconn HR manager told Rest of World. “[That’s how] they offer trust to their parents.”

[...] the Tamil Nadu government sent a strong signal welcoming Foxconn and other manufacturers: Authorities approved new regulations that would increase workdays from eight to 12 hours. This meant that Foxconn and other electronics factories would be able to reduce the number of shifts needed to keep their production line running from three to two, just like in China. [...] Political parties aligned with the government called the bill “anti-labor” and, during the vote, walked out of the legislative assembly. After the bill passed, trade unions in the state announced a series of actions including a demonstration on motorbikes, civil disobedience campaigns, and protests in front of the ruling party’s local headquarters. The government shelved its new rule within four days.

Indian Foxconn workers told Rest of World that eight hours under intense pressure is already hard to bear. “I’ll die if it’s 12 hours of work,” said Padmini, the assembly line worker.

For the expatriate workers, the slower pace of the factory floors in India is its own shock to the system. A Taiwanese manager at a different iPhone supplier in the Chennai area told Rest of World that India’s 8-hour shifts and industry-standard tea breaks were a drag on production. “You have barely settled in on your seat, and the next break comes,” the manager lamented.

In China, Foxconn relies on lax enforcement of the country’s labor law — which limits workdays to eight hours and caps overtime — as well as lucrative bonuses to get employees to work 11 hours a day during production peaks [...] five Chinese and Taiwanese workers said they were surprised to discover that their Indian colleagues refused to work overtime. Some attributed it to a weak sense of responsibility; others to what they perceived as Indian people’s low material desire. “They are easily content,” an engineer deployed from Zhengzhou said. “They can’t handle even a bit more pressure. But if we don’t give them pressure, then we won’t be able to get everything right and move production here in a short time.” [...] At the same time, the expat staff enjoy the Indian work culture of tea breaks, chatting with colleagues, and going home on time. They recognize they are helping the company spread a Chinese work culture that they know can be unhealthy. [...]

On the assembly line, Foxconn’s targets were tough to reach, workers said. Jaishree, 21, joined the iPhone shop floor in 2022 as a recent graduate with a degree in mathematics. (With India’s high level of unemployment, Foxconn’s assembly line has plenty of women with advanced degrees, including MBAs.) [...] “At the start, during my eight-hour shift, I did about 300 [screws]. Now, I do 750,” she said. “We have to finish within time, otherwise they will scold us.” [...]

Mealtimes are an issue, too. In December 2021, thousands of Indian Foxconn employees protested after some 250 colleagues contracted food poisoning. In response, the company changed food contractors, and increased its monthly base salary from 14,000 rupees to 18,000 rupees ($168 to $216) — double the minimum wage prescribed by the Tamil Nadu labor department for unskilled workers. [...]

Working conditions take a physical toll. Padmini has experienced hair loss because she has to wear a skull cap and work in air-conditioned spaces, she said. “Neck pain is the worst, since we are constantly bending down and working.” She has irregular periods, which she attributes to the air conditioning and the late shifts. “[Among] girls with me on the production line, some six girls have this problem,” Padmini said. Workers said they regularly see colleagues become unwell. “The day before yesterday, a girl fainted and they took her to the hospital,” [...] Padmini, at 26, believes she is close to the age where the company might consider her too old. “They used to hire women up to age 30, now they hire only up to 28,” she said.

[probablyasocialecologist]

Activists and scientists have been warning for years that schemes to offset carbon emissions by planting trees or other crops would lead to a surge in land grabbing, especially in the global South. These warnings are now proving true. GRAIN combed through the various registries of carbon offset projects to try and get a better sense of this new land grab and how it is unfolding. We identified 279 large-scale tree and crop planting projects for carbon credits that corporations have initiated since 2016 in the global South. They cover over 9.1 million hectares of land -- an area roughly the size of Portugal. The deals add up to a massive new form of land grabbing that will only increase conflicts and pressures over land that are still simmering from the last global land grab spree that erupted in 2007-8 in the wake of global food and financial crises. They also signify that new sources of money are now flowing into the coffers of companies specialised in taking lands from communities in the South to enrich and serve corporations, mainly in the North. To date, 52 countries in the global South have been targeted by these projects. Half the projects are in just four countries: China, India, Brazil and Colombia, which are developing their own industries of carbon project developers. But projects in these countries account for less than a third of the total land area involved. The most affected region, in terms of land area, is Africa, with projects covering over 5.2 million hectares. Many of the projects involve land deals to set up giant eucalyptus, acacia or bamboo plantations. Typically, these are pasture lands or savannahs that were used until now by local communities for grazing livestock or growing food.

17 September 2024

[mammonscheeks]

demon brothers + dateables as destinations in the human world

✎ a/n: these are my opinions! i'm south and west asian, so i am most knowlegeable about those countries, please correct me if i've said anything incorrect!

LUCIFER

new york city, usa. he likes the cold, industrial corporate feel of nyc. it helps him avoid his feelings.

anywhere in germany. he likes their no-nonsense culture and unspoken social rules.

MAMMON

las vegas, nevada, usa. he always begs mc to take him there. the flashy lights and casinos are right up his alley.

dubai, uae. he loves the luxurious feel of it, and how its the center of celebrity gatherings, vacations, and parties.

LEVIATHAN

tokyo, japan (especially the akihabara/electronic district). he's always updated on pop culture and the newest technology/games.

seychelles island, africa. he likes swimming, but not socializing on the beach. that's why he likes isolated islands.

SATAN

london, england. he's interested in their medival history and seeing the places that inspired novels like harry potter and the sherlock holmes franchise.

cat island in japan, or any mediterranean country where cats freely roam.

ASMODEUS

paris, france. he'd love paris fashion week. he also just seems french to me, idk.

seoul, south korea. he'd adore seoul's culture, everything from the modern sappy kdramas to traditional dresses, like hanbok. he would bring an empty suitcase to stuff it with beauty products.

BEELZEBUB

mumbai, india. this metropolitan city in india offers so many different kinds of food. he would love to eat his way through the city, if not the entire country.

every city in mexico. he'd try the regional cuisine, but also hang out at the beach with his brothers and mc (so cute).

BELPHEGOR

cairo, egypt. he was once fascinated with humans, and often watched them build civilizations from heaven when he was an angel. he would enjoy the historical wonders of egypt.

reykjavic, iceland. idk why he just gives me iceland vibes. life there can be slow and cold, and it often gets less light than other countries.

DIAVOLO

transylvania, romania. he loves its breathtaking castles and culture, and is intrigued with all the pop culture references of vampires.

petra, jordan. this is a significant place in abrahamic religions, known for being haunted by demons, or jinn. diavolo would be fascinated by this history, whether its actually haunted or not. i know he'd eat up those scary ghost tours (insert fic about that here) and even probably try and scare a few tourist groups, despite barbatos advising him against it.

BARBATOS

istanbul, turkiye. istanbul has well-maintained structures from the byzantine empire, the ottoman empire, and even "newer and hip" neighborhoods. barbatos, being able to see the past and future, would appreciate the blend of it all here, like he's walking through time.

kathmandu, nepal. he'd enjoy the peace of monasteries and mountains, which are as old as the earth itself.

SIMEON

tuscany, italy. he'd enjoy the vast fields, heavenly sunsets, small towns and historic churches. he would find tuscany a peaceful place to write, but appreciates the community feel of small italian towns. would definitely be so friendly he'd get invited to eat dinner at a random family's house.

thessaloniki, greece. he would absolutely love seeing all the greek orthodox churches there, with their blue and white colors and dome roofs. he is just amused to see the religious structures humans have created. he'd also probably be interested in greek mythology, even though he's an angel.

LUKE

cape town, south africa. he would be so excited to see penguins at the beach and would enjoy the burst of color south africa offers. he'd also enjoy the modern bakeries and desserts in south africa.

lyon, france. the country is known for desserts. luke would probably take a baking class there to learn how to bake more things.

SOLOMON

salem, or just any small town in massachusetts. as a sorcerer, he's intrigued with their history of "witch hunting" and the paranormal.

lalibela, ethiopia. being old, he's intrigued with how ancient cities like lalibela have changed since biblical times. he also probably enjoys learning about different cultural practices and what they have in common with his sorcery. he also wants to learn how to cook more dishes from different countries, but fails miserably

[rupalic]

Growth Strategies Adopted by Major Players in Turf Protection Market

In the dynamic landscape of the turf protection industry, key players like Syngenta Crop Protection AG (Switzerland), UPL Limited (India), Corteva Agriscience (US), Nufarm (US), Bayer AG (Germany), and BASF SE (Germany) are at the forefront of innovation and market expansion. These industry leaders are driving growth through strategic initiatives such as partnerships, acquisitions, and cutting-edge product developments, solidifying their positions as influential forces in shaping the future of the turf protection industry. Their efforts not only enhance their global presence but also set new benchmarks for industry standards and customer expectations. The global turf protection market size is estimated to reach $8.1 billion by 2028, growing at a 4.9% compound annual growth rate (CAGR). The market size was valued $6.4 billion in 2023.

Top Global Turf Protection Leaders to Watch in 2024

· Syngenta Crop Protection AG (Switzerland)

· UPL Limited (India)

· Corteva Agriscience (US)

· Nufarm (US)

· Bayer AG (Germany)

· BASF SE (Germany)

· SDS Biotech K.K. (Japan)

· AMVAC Chemical Corporation (US)

· Bioceres Crop Solutions (Argentina)

· Colin Campbell (Chemicals) Pty Ltd (Australia)

· ICL Group Ltd. (US)

Investments and Innovations: Key Strategies of Top Turf Protection Companies

🌱 Syngenta Crop Protection AG: Leading the Way in Integrated Pest Management

Syngenta Crop Protection AG, a global agribusiness based in Switzerland, operates prominently in the crop protection and seeds markets. The company offers a comprehensive range of herbicides, insecticides, fungicides, and seed treatments, helping growers worldwide enhance agricultural productivity and food quality. With a presence in over 90 countries, Syngenta’s reach is truly global. In October 2020, Syngenta further strengthened its position by acquiring Valagro, a leading biologicals company. Valagro’s strong presence in Europe, North America, Asia, and Latin America complements Syngenta’s existing crop protection chemicals. This acquisition allows Syngenta to offer more integrated pest management strategies that reduce reliance on synthetic chemicals, while Valagro’s expertise in plant nutrition promotes healthier turfgrass growth and improved soil health.

Know about the assumptions considered for the study

🌍 UPL Limited: Innovating Turf Management Solutions Globally

UPL Limited, formerly known as United Phosphorus Limited, is a global agrochemical company based in India, providing a wide range of agricultural solutions, including crop protection products, seeds, and post-harvest solutions. UPL is a key player in turf management, offering innovative solutions for golf courses, sports fields, and other turf areas. Their product portfolio includes herbicides, fungicides, insecticides, and plant growth regulators, all designed to enhance turf quality and health while effectively controlling pests and diseases. Operating in over 130 countries across North America, South America, Europe, and Asia Pacific, UPL has 28 manufacturing sites worldwide, solidifying its position as a leader in the global turf protection market.

🏆 Bayer AG: Streamlining for a Focused Future in Turf Protection

Bayer AG, a multinational pharmaceutical and life sciences company headquartered in Leverkusen, Germany, operates across three business segments: Pharmaceuticals, Consumer Health, and Crop Science. The company’s Crop Science division caters to the turf protection market, offering products such as herbicides, insecticides, and fungicides. With operations in over 90 countries, including regions like North America, South America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Asia Pacific, Bayer maintains a strong global presence. In March 2022, Bayer sold its Environmental Science Professional business, which includes turf protection products, to private equity firm Cinven for USD 2.6 billion. This strategic divestment is part of Bayer’s ongoing efforts to streamline its portfolio and concentrate on core businesses, ensuring a more focused approach to its future operations.

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Lori Ann Larocco at CNBC:

Billions in trade came to a screeching halt at U.S. East Coast and Gulf Coast ports after members of the International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) began walking off the job after 12:01 a.m. ET on October 1. The ILA is North America’s largest longshoremen’s union, with roughly 50,000 of its 85,000 members making good on the threat to strike at 14 major ports subject to a just-expired master contract with the United States Maritime Alliance (USMX), and picketing workers beginning to appear at ports. The union and port ownership group failed to reach agreement by midnight on a new contract in a protracted battle over wage increases and use of automation. In a last-ditch effort on Monday to avert a strike that will cause significant harm to the U.S. economy if it is lengthy — at least hundreds of millions of dollars a day at the largest ports like New York/New Jersey — the USMX offered a nearly 50% wage hike over six years, but that was rejected by the ILA, according to a source close to the negotiations. The port ownership group said it hoped the offer would lead to a resumption of collective bargaining.

The 14 ports where preparations for a strike have been underway are Boston, New York/New Jersey, Philadelphia, Wilmington, North Carolina, Baltimore, Norfolk, Charleston, Savannah, Jacksonville, Tampa, Miami, New Orleans, Mobile, and Houston. New York Governor Kathy Hochul said in a statement issued shortly after midnight that “the first large-scale eastern dockworker strike in 47 years began at ports from Maine to Texas, including at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. In preparation for this moment, New York has been working around the clock to ensure that our grocery stores and medical facilities have the essential products they need.” Rhetoric from ILA leadership has been aggressive in the weeks leading up to the strike, with ILA president Harold Daggett, who was a union member the last time it went out on strike in 1977, telling rank-and-file members — who unanimously voted to authorize a strike — in a recent video message, “We’ll crush them.” 

[...] The most significant issues would be faced by food and automobile industries, Kamins said, as they rely especially heavily on the ports that will be shut down. While a surge in inflation is highly unlikely even with a longer strike, even a modest reacceleration could create uncertainty and force the Federal Reserve to be more cautious about lowering interest rates, which would weigh on the overall outlook for job growth and investment. A one-week strike could cost the U.S. economy $3.78 billion, according to an analysis by The Conference Board, and cause supply chain slowdowns through mid-November. In all, the ports threatened with strikes handle $3 trillion annually in U.S. annual international trade.

Many industries are preparing for major repercussions. Noushin Shamsili, CEO and president of Nuco Logistics, which specializes in pharmaceutical imports and exports, said the strike comes at a critical time for inventory replenishment for the pharma sector. “Almost all of this industry is just on time,” said Shamsili. “Raw materials are being brought in to complete drug manufacturing. Medical supplies for clinics and hospitals are on these vessels. For a while importers did not bring in a lot of cargo because they were overflowing with supplies post-Covid. Now they have started reordering medical devices, gloves, syringes, and tubing.” Shamsili also said the East Coast ports are a gateway for generic medicine made in India. Approximately 48% of the active pharmaceutical ingredients used in the U.S. are being imported from India. Without these APIs, medications cannot be produced. APIs are also manufactured in Europe, which also use the East Coast ports as U.S. points of entry.

[...] The Biden administration finds itself in a delicate political moment, with the presidential election one month away and President Biden vowing he will not use existing labor law to force union workers back on the job, which is within his powers under the Taft-Hartley Act. The Taft-Hartley Act, passed in 1947, was a revision of U.S. law governing labor relations and union activity that granted a U.S. president the power to suspend a strike for an 80-day “cooling off period” in cases where “national health or safety” are at risk. 

Today begins the strike along East Coast and Gulf Coast ports after International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) members walked off their jobs.

This strike, depending on how long it lasts, could have a major impact on the elections and the economy.

[fatehbaz]

Kurdish ecology. Indigenous seeds and food heritage. Palestinian edible plant archive. Ezidi foods and reverence for landscapes. The narratives of “exiled foods.” Suryani, Zaza, Kurdish, and Armenian displacement. Okra and mustard greens. Dispossession and native plants in  Anatolia and the Mediterranean. Imagining alternative worlds and affirmative care structures. Landscapes breathing in slow, deep time. Seed exchanges and “entanglement of solidarity” across regions in defiance of military surveillance, industrial monoculture, and extraction. “Homeland is not where you were born, it is where you are fed.”

---

Okra is strong and can survive the precarity of exile and migration: it can be found in a Bangladeshi vegetable stand in Rome, an Ezidi camp in Diyarbakır, or a guerilla garden along the highway in Kowloon. Okra is one of the world’s oldest cultivated crops, spread by the processes of colonization and the slave trade from Africa and India to the Mediterranean and westward to the new world. Its versatility makes it well suited for states of dispossession and survival. [...] The colonization and standardization of landscapes is always rooted in controlling the cultivation and erasure of localities. [...] Today, the same region [Anatolia and the Mediterranean] is inundated with wars and oppressions that destroy not only biodiversity but also the intangible heritage of ingredients and their narratives across our earth.

“Survival-with” and “through” is something of an entangled kinship that can be described as migrating ingredients, refugee seeds, and exiled foods. Works by artists Seçkin Aydın and Gülsün Karamustafa deal with forced eviction and exile from their homelands in different historical periods in the last century in Anatolia. Aydın is a Zaza minority from an evicted Kurdish town called Kulp (Diyarbakır Province). His work I can’t carry my grandma, i can also not eat her or wear her (2015) uses the metaphor of Aydın’s grandma keeping small fruits in his pocket during their journey of exile when he was a child. [...]

Karamustafa’s work Heimat Ist Wo Mann Isst (1994) depicts three spoons wrapped in an old cloth. The title means “Homeland is not where you were born, it is where you are fed,” which refers to cross-Balkan and Anatolian transnational migration.

---

Practices of collecting and archiving heirloom seeds are a form of solidarity and resistance against extractive capitalism and industrialized agriculture. Such projects protect and aim to restore natural habitats and biodiversity. They are critical of dominant monocultural approaches [...]. How can we consider a more-than-human ethics around seed and seed heritage? How can we collect cross-narrative assemblages of seed heritage? [...]

Indigenous phenomenologies are essential for tracing food heritage and the ingredients that are tightly connected to local communities of Zazas, Ezidis, Armenians, Suryanis, Kurds, and others who are continuously exiled by force in the ongoing extracted landscapes of the Tigris. Often with colleagues we find ourselves discussing, for example, the giyayê xerdelê (mustard greens) that can be easily foraged in the hills of Heskîf, a millennia-old archeological heritage site that has almost been destroyed by the nearby Ilisu Dam, which justifies the expropriation of lands from Kurdish villages and from many nomadic shepherds who were forced to leave. Military surveillance of farmers and of the common grazing grounds of Ezidi, Suryani, and Kurdish villages leads to a loss of the network [...].

Kurdish ecology activists Bişar İçli and Zeki Kanay, who were banned from their municipality and their university positions by the Turkish government in 2017, started an agro-ecological solidarity commune in Diyarbakır. They archive, exchange, and create networks of seeds around the Tigris River basin, producing an entanglement of solidarity infrastructure among Kurdish communities against military surveillance and capitalism-led extraction in this region.

---

Cineria, an Ezidi village near Batman, Turkey, was nearly emptied out in the 1980s due to conflict in the region between the Kurdish movement and the Turkish state. [...] Soil, stone, rocks, caves, and water are fundamental cosmological elements of Ezidi cultural practice connecting the past, present, and future. Each year the village hosts semi-nomadic Zaza shepherds who migrate from another southeastern Turkish city, Bitlis [...]. The Ezidis accommodate the shepherds for six to seven months in Cineria; both communities communicate using the Kurmanji language. [...]

Long walks through landscapes are a basic practice of Ezidi women, where they learn about the land and the cultivation cycle connected to Ezidi cosmology, which is about keeping and protecting ingredients, seeds, and healthy soil. Honouring nonhuman elements is fundamental to Ezidi cosmology. As Ezidi women walk through the landscape, they tell stories of dispossession, mourn for lost soil and seeds, and whisper continously: “av, agîr, erd, ba, roj.” [...]

---

Palestinian geographer Omar Tesdell, who created the Palestinian edible plants archive, tells us that landscapes move in slow, deep time, and that all wild plants, seeds, and healthy soil are our heritages. These heritages will not only support our precarious societies but may create an ethical, responsible entanglement of resilient coexistences for our collective future. [...]

Following an okra plant through narratives, infrastructures, forgotten languages, and entangled exiles is not a metaphor. As artist Jumana Manna writes, we strive toward “imagining alternative/affirmative care structures that remain, within and beyond the current reality, aligned towards plant and human life alike.” Navigating through migrating ingredients, refugee seeds, and exiled foods, we witness and learn about extractive strategies, state-making, and slow violence.

---

Text by: Pelin Tan. “Entangled Exiles.” e-flux (journal). Issue 131. November 2022. [Italicized first paragraph/heading added by me.]

[climatecalling]

Big Oil faces a tiny foe on the streets of Asia and Africa. The noisy, noxious vehicles that run on two and three wheels, carrying billions of people daily, are quietly going electric — in turn knocking down oil demand by one million barrels a day this year. ... The global majority doesn’t roll on four wheels. In Nairobi and Hanoi, motorcycles serve as taxis. In Mumbai, scooters can carry a family of four. In China, electric bicycles are how millions commute. “Electric bikes are quieter, much more efficient and good for the environment,” said Jesse Forrester, the founder of Mazi Mobility, which has 60 electric motorcycle taxis, known as boda-bodas, on the roads in Nairobi. “There’s a quiet revolution now in Kenya driving this transformation for the future.” .... In Darbhanga, a new acid-battery rickshaw, like the one Mr. Rai drives, sells for around 175,000 rupees, or $2,100. That’s half the price of a new rickshaw powered by natural gas. Charging the battery costs 20 rupees (25 cents), one-fourth of the price of filling a gas tank. The rebates seem to be working. Reliance Industries, India’s biggest company, is converting its three-wheeled cargo vehicles from gas to electric. Food delivery services are going electric as quickly as possible.

No paywall: https://web.archive.org/web/20231209105128/https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/09/business/energy-environment/two-three-wheel-electric-vehicles.html

[hebenet]

The Bihar Industrial Investment Promotion Policy 2016 which is effective from 1.09.2016 and will continue till completion of five years. Further, Bihar government in its cabinet meeting held on 26.06.2020 has come out with a few amendments in this policy which shall be effective from the date of notification. The existing benefits such as interest subvention, SGST reimbursement, Stamp duty & land registration charges, etc shall continue. The highlights of amendments are:

The validity period of the policy is extended and shall be continued till 31.03.2025

Units having investment less than Rs. 25 Lacs or proposed employment less than 25 person shall not be eligible for application under this policy

Dry warehousing with cleaning and drying facilities, cold chain system and bottling units (Juice, Ketchup and Squash) are shifted from Non-priority sector to Priority sector

[devoted1989]

FORCED MOLTING - A MERCILESS PRACTICE 

At the onset of winter, most chickens naturally molt. They replace all their feathers in order to maintain good plumage. The hen stops laying eggs and concentrates her energies on staying warm and growing new feathers.

With the advent of factory farms, the food-buying public expects cheap, plentiful eggs year – round.

The egg industry therefore exploits this natural process by forcing an entire flock to molt simultaneously. By strategically rotating one flock out of production and through molt while others are laying, egg production is kept as consistent as possible.

During a forced molt, the birds cease producing eggs, which allows the bird's reproductive tracts to regress and rejuvenate. After the molt, the hen's egg production rate usually peaks slightly lower than the previous peak, but egg quality is improved. 

Hens go through a traumatic and cruel process in order that they may produce a few more eggs before being sent off to slaughter.

Forced molting is induced by keeping the hens in darkness in long, low sheds called “blackout houses” and putting them under stress - usually by withholding food for a period of up to two weeks. Hens are force molted in the United States "until their combs turn blue."

It is deemed more profitable to manipulate older hens during their later laying seasons rather than to slaughter them after 1 to 2 years of relentless egg - laying on a calcium-deficient diet.

Many chickens die during the process. Survivors may be force-molted two or three times.

At any given time over 6 million hens in the U.S. are being systematically starved. (UPC)


Forced molting has been outlawed in many countries outside of the U.S. including the UK, the EU and India.


Sadly the majority of chickens are confined on cruel factory farms. And whether they are being raised for their meat or eggs, they are all subjected to extreme confinement, mutilations without painkillers, and a ruthless slaughter.

You can take a stand for chickens and other animals every time you eat by choosing delicious vegan friendly foods.

Images from top left: 1, 2 & 3 found on Pinterest, 4 with kind permission from Jo - Anne McArthur.

[dailyanarchistposts]

Biotechnology and the future of humanity

Biocide or Genocide?

The high cost of chemical and mechanical inputs and expensive new seed varieties favours large farmers over small; they are bankrupted, lose their land and end up either in the huge and squalid shanty towns and slums that surround so many majority world cities or as agricultural labourers on big farms or plantations. Here they may be one of the over 40,000 ‘Third World’ farm workers killed each year as a result of contact with agro-chemicals. A 1994 UN report estimated 1,000,000 people a year are made ill as a result of over- exposure to agro-chemicals. The increasing use of animal products as well as leading to the misery, waste and pollution of factory farming is also responsible for the erosion of biodiversity and peoples livelihoods in the majority world. For example almost all of Central America’s lowland and lower montane rainforest has been cleared or severely degraded mainly in order to raise cattle for export. The crops most grown under ‘Green Revolution’ and GM regimes of industrial food production are maize and soya, not for human consumption but for animal feed. Small scale organic farming systems based around plants and supporting the producers directly are being destroyed in favour of chemical soaked monocultures to feed the farm animals necessary to feed the animal product heavy global food economy.

Because ‘pests’ and ‘weeds’ can rapidly become immune to herbicides and biocides chemicals don’t even do what they say they do; pesticide use in the US increased by 500% between 1950–1986 yet estimated crop loss due to pests was 20%, exactly the same as in 1950. The damage done by the production and use of biocides and artificial fertilisers is almost unimaginable. Pesticide pollution of the natural world (air, water & soil) is one of the major reasons for the staggering loss of biodiversity (estimated at a loss of 30,000 species a year) we are witnessing as the world is slowly turned into a huge agro-chemical-industrial facility. Pesticide and artificial fertiliser pollution, along with other petro-chemical forms of pollution and increased exposure to radiation, are responsible for massive rates of cancer and birth abnormalities. Then there are the ‘accidents’ which show the system’s inhumanity even more clearly: such as the 1984 explosion at Union Carbide’s insecticide factory in Bhopal, India which left 3,000 dead and 20,000 permanently disabled. Or the less well-publicised events in Iraq in 1971–1972 when large quantities of wheat seed that had been treated with anti-fungus compounds containing mercury were ‘accidentally’ baked into bread. 6,000 neurologically deranged people were admitted to hospital and at least 452 died. Corporate propagandists would have us believe that these are unfortunate side effects of a beneficial technology we desperately need to ‘feed the world. Yet, as anyone who takes the trouble to find out the facts must be aware, the world produces more food than is necessary to feed the human population and the reasons people go hungry are landlessness, poverty, and social dislocation caused by capitalist oppression and war.

[probablyasocialecologist]

For the third year in a row, global hunger is stuck at catastrophically high levels. Progress on the global hunger crisis has stagnated following a sharp deterioration between 2019 and 2021. 733 million people continue to face hunger today. This is 36% higher than a decade ago. 2.33 billion people – nearly 30% of the world – continue to be moderately or severely food insecure. While about 2.8 billion – one third of people in the world – are unable to access a healthy nutritious diet. The world is far off track to achieve the zero hunger goal or any of the seven global nutrition targets by 2030 – without major changes to food systems. This is not a blip, and can no longer just be blamed on the pandemic. This is an ever-clearer signal that the global industrial food system is failing, and is disastrously vulnerable to increasing climate, hunger, conflict and financial shocks. We need a food system transformation to tackle the new normal of hunger. Climate change was the most prevalent driver of food insecurity and malnutrition in 2023. The major drivers of hunger – conflict, climate change and economic shocks – are occurring more often and at higher intensity, resulting in increasing numbers of hungry and food-insecure people. Already this year we’ve seen climate shocks devastate staple food production in Brazil, Mexico, China and India, with studies linking higher temperatures with increased food prices. Building climate resilient food systems is literally a matter of life and death — and must be an urgent priority globally. This means more diversified and localized production and food chains, instead of global industrial food chains.

24 July 2024

[pappito]

"A Hamilton dairy company has been fined $420,000 for using false claims on its packaging.

Milkio Foods Limited had descriptions like '100 per cent Pure New Zealand' and 'from the clean green pasture based dairy farms in New Zealand' on its ghee products - despite using butter imported from India.

It also used false and incomplete information to retain approval to use the FernMark logo - a trusted symbol to identify products made in New Zealand.

The Commerce Commission was referred the case by the Ministry for Primary Industries and charged Milkio with 15 breaches of the Fair Trading Act."

ó, a mi érinthetetlen, szent tejiparunk...

Judge Ingram referred to the use of FernMark as the cherry on top of Milkio's brand positioning strategy, intended to provide an additional and unassailable layer of quality assurance to the consumer.

"In this case the claimed level of negligence or carelessness reaches a level that might fairly be described as wilful blindness, perhaps to the point of commercial sleepwalking."

[hoperays-song]

Jia Information!!!

Ok, so I recently realised I never posted anything about Jia, my OC version of Johnny's mum, and considering how important of a character she is in legit nearly all of my works, I obviously had to remedy that.

So here we go, some info on the one and only Jia Taylor!

(Picrew, Info, and Backstory actually lol)

------------------------------------------------------------

------Picrew------

------Info------

Legal Name: Jia Saanvi Taylor ‘nee Sutar

Common Name: Jia Taylor

Nicknames: Ji

Pronouns: She/Her

Age: 34 (at death)

Birthday: February 13, 1975

Sexuality: Omnisexual

Gender Identity: Cisgender

Height: 5'7"

Ethnicity: Indian

Languages Spoken: Hindi, English

Diagnosis: Depression, PTSD

Hair Color: Dark Brown

Eye Color: Golden Brown

Scars/Tattoos/Piercings/Markings: Two piercings each ear

Family Members: Bio father (Aarav), Bio Mom (Reeva), Bio older sister (Jahnavi), Bio younger brother (Jahnu), and Bio Child (Johnny)

Habits/Stims: Tapping fingers like playing a piano, humming songs at random

Romantic Partners: Marcus Taylor (husband)

Notes:

worked as a pianist and a music teacher

died due to complications with her Limb Girdle Muscular Dystrophy, just like both her siblings

moved to England when she was 12 years old

was a devout Hindu and a vegetarian

loved cooking since her father was a chef, and taught all the recipes to her husband before she passed

her final words were telling her six year old son she loved him

------Backstory: TW: Death, Chronic Disorders------

Born in Madurai, India as Jia Saanvi Sutar, Jia was the technical second child to her parents. However, her older sister had passed away suddenly as a baby and it was hardly ever talked about in her household. She was quickly flagged and tested positive for Limb-Girdle Muscular Dystrophy and began using a cane as a child. Other than that though, early childhood for Jia was largely uneventful.

When she was around seven, she started playing piano and it became very obvious she was a prodigy. She was sent to a private music school so she could hone her skills. The next year was a mixed bag however as she lost her mother and her baby brother was born. Jahnu, her brother, quickly turned into one of the two center points for Jia's world, music being the other, essentially become coping mechanisms when her mother passed away due to complications with his birth.

But again, her life settled into a pretty mundane but steady rhythm for four years, only focusing on her studies and her family. When a job came up for her dad in London, she encouraged him to accept it, leading to the family moving. They all did well with the move and there were little problems on their end of things, the children even planning to get dual-citizenship when they got older.

Jia seemed to thrive in her new school and started playing gigs not long after the move. She was offered scholarships while still in school and it was pretty obvious that she had a good career ahead of her in the music industry. On the side, Jia became vocal in lots of local movements for equality and justice, even leading them at times. Her family were extremely proud of this and even helped her prepare for them, her brother making signs, and her dad packing food to hand out. Within two years, things were definitely looking up.

However, Jahnu also tested positive for Limb-Girdle Muscular Dystrophy soon after, with his progressing scarily faster than his sister. he had to be hospitalized at eight, Jia and her dad moving across town so they could stay near his bedside. And while that was a harsh adjustment period, life continued as usual for the trio for a few years. It was during this chaos that Jia and her family also were finally given dual-citizenship, a small up not to their year.

Jahnu passed away after four years, spending his final moments with his sister and father. Jia was heartbroken, having lost her remaining sibling and the boy she had raised at the same time. Her father Aarav seemed to feel the same, as not long after, he passed away too, seemingly of a broken heart. This left Jia, by that time a music major in university, without any family or support system. This caused her to spiral a bit and throw herself into her work as a coping mechanism, though her mental health took a huge toll.

Somehow, she managed to scrape by for a year and a half on her own before running into a boy two years her senior at a protest she was organizing. After punching his older brother in the face for being an absolute arse to her, the boy apologized for the whole scenario for several hours, even helping her with the event as a way to make it up to her. By the end of the day, she agreed to meet him again the next day in the same spot, and eventually started dating the man, who's name was Marcus.

Jia and Marcus got on like wildfire, and spent nearly all their free time together, both glad they finally had someone that they could rely on to be there for them. She encouraged him to pursue his passion of being a mechanic and he encouraged her to write her own songs for her own album. They spent a lot of time together going to protests and fundraiser events, as well as work and school, with most of their dates just being them doing their daily routines together. Marcus moved in with her around a year into the relationship as well, though that was largely due to his disownment.

Jia graduated a year later with a master's degree in music and quickly began working as a music teacher for young kids and a piano tutor on the side. Money was tight for the couple, even after Marcus found a job as a mechanic. But surprisingly, not counting the usual couple spats, the two barely fought, and ended up getting married after a few years at Jia's temple. And the couple only seemed to keep doing well from there, with both of them very happy about life and looking forward to the future.

Jia ended up having her only child when she was 28 years old, a son she named Johnathan Demarcus Taylor, with nods to her siblings and parents being prevalent in both his English and Hindi names. The one original part of his Hindi name (aka the only bit not after a family member) was Jiyaan, meaning near heart, which was Jia's way of telling her son she would always be with him, despite her condition worsening.

Jia continued her life as usual after her son was born, still a leading figure in a lot of social movements as well as a music teacher. Her LGMD had progressed to the point where she was wheelchair bound but she claimed to her husband that it did not bother her much, and in fact, made bringing Johnny out a bit easier. However, neither of them actually believed it much. She started dealing with a lot more chronic pain than she had before and began working furiously again, feeling like she had to take advantage of every moment she could.

Jia was 33 was when her health really started deteriorating rapidly however. She collapsed at work, leading to her being rushed to the hospital. She was kept there for several days, before being told that with her current progression, she likely wouldn't live much longer. Jia insisted on returning home, saying that if she was going to die, she wouldn't spend her final months just sitting around waiting for it. The doctors were not fans of this but allowed it and released her into family care.

Jia waited a month and a half before taking medical leave for work, and dedicating her time to taking care of Johnny even more, teaching him as much as she could about their shared interest, music, hoping that that piece of her would be able to bring him comfort when she passed. When he was in school, Jia spent all of her time writing music and letters for her family to open in the future when she wouldn't be there, so at least a part of her would be.

Marcus also started taking more and more time off to spend with them. He had learned most of Jia's favourite recipes by heart years ago when cooking began to get hard for her and now the three spent time together teaching them to Johnny as well. Her son was too young to really understand what was going on and serval times tried to make his mum better with bandaids and kisses, something that Jia always played along with, even though it broke her heart to do so.

In September of that year, when Jia was just 34 years old, she collapsed again when Marcus was out of the apartment for only a second, leading 6 year old Johnny to make a desperate phone call to emergency services when she wouldn't wake up. Marcus returned right after and did CPR until the paramedics arrived and took over, taking Jia back to the hospital.

She remained there this time, too weak to move much on her own. Marcus brought Johnny to see her every single day, right after school and Jia made sure to at least pretend that everything was ok when he was there, singing and humming with him like usual, though at that point she knew she wouldn't be returning home.

Jia died mid-October, with Marcus and Johnny beside her. Her final words were telling her son how much she loved him and always would, no matter what. She has a memorial plaque at a cemetery not far from her old temple in London, besides her father's and brother's, which her husband and son visit every opportunity they have.

Jia was a huge impact on her family's lives but also the lives of others as well. She was a leading advocate for disabled, women's, and queer rights, touching the hearts and minds of dozens. She was also well loved by her colleagues, students, neighbors, and fellow temple goers. Jia was commonly described as loving, dedicated, and a spit-fire, never backing down from what she believed in. She also had a sarcastic streak a kilometer wide and a tendency to be a bit of a jokester with close friends and family.