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arcticdementor · 3 years

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On a sunny day in early 2017, Sundar Pichai, Alphabet Inc.’s chief executive officer, returned to his alma mater, the Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur, in West Bengal, to speak before 3,500 students. Welcomed as the “rock star” leader of the “world’s most innovative company,” he reminisced about skipping classes and meeting his college girlfriend—now his wife. He also pitched Google to the soon-to-be-graduates in attendance. How many wanted to work there, the interviewer asked. Hundreds of hands went up. “Wow, maybe we should open a campus in Kharagpur,” Pichai joked.

As far as feeder schools go, it doesn’t get much better for Google than the network of 23 ultracompetitive, government-funded IITs. Every year hundreds of their graduates join the world’s biggest tech companies. In 2003, when the school system celebrated its 50th anniversary, Bill Gates delivered a keynote speech praising grads who’d come to work at Microsoft Corp. over the years, noting that the company had, in turn, invested more money in the IITs than in any other institution outside the U.S. and the U.K.

For all the IITs’ proficiency at training and placing students, though, the coders, programmers, product developers, and engineers fanning out to global tech bring with them the troubled legacy of India’s caste system. On campus, students are surrounded by—and in some cases participate in—a culture of discrimination, bullying, and segregation that targets fellow pupils from India’s Scheduled Castes, also known as Dalits. The IITs officially discourage such harassment, but the prejudice against these students remains quite open.

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Dalit IIT graduates who’ve managed to land jobs in the U.S. say that such attitudes can be found there, too. Last year a Dalit graduate of IIT Bombay filed suit in the U.S. against Cisco Systems Inc. and two of his fellow alums, saying he’d experienced caste-based discrimination at their hands while the three of them were employed at the company. The accompanying publicity prompted a wave of complaints about caste discrimination in American tech—allegations that seemed to blindside the industry.

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Despite this, coded and overt forms of discrimination against Dalits persist, with the education system serving as a primary vector. At secondary school in Rajasthan, Mahesh Kumar recalls, he and his father swept the classrooms as a condition of Kumar’s scholarship; they were expected not to make contact with the teachers’ belongings so as not to taint them. When Kumar gained admission to IIT (BHU) Varanasi in 2013, he tried to obscure his caste status by dropping his last name, but it didn’t help. At the beginning of an IIT school year, senior students often orchestrate a hazing ritual known as kholna, calling on first-year students to give their name, their hometown, and the rank they achieved on the entrance exam. If a surname isn’t a giveaway, an unusual rank on the entrance exam will be.

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Dalits in the IIT system often have a rougher path to employment. After his first few semesters in Varanasi, Kumar fell into a deep depression and took time off from school. Overwhelmed by debt, he considered bidding for a sewer-cleaning contract that paid 4,000 rupees ($55) a month. The social hierarchy that considers Dalits “impure” consigns them to poorly paid, “unclean” jobs such as scavenging, cleaning sewers, and disposing of dead animals. Kumar even considered selling a kidney.

Then came a stroke of good fortune. A local paper reported that an IIT student was considering sewer cleaning and organ donation, prompting an outpouring of donations. Kumar returned to Varanasi and graduated in 2019. He now works as an assistant manager with a government-owned mining company in the eastern city of Durgapur.

There’s no reliable data on IIT student placement rates or professional salaries, but anecdotal evidence suggests the grind is worth it for many. In December, when students traditionally begin receiving job offers, news outlets relay how quickly they’re coming in, and schools boast of how many graduates will make 10 million rupees or more.

In a 2017 paper, French researchers Odile Henry and Mathieu Ferry found that not all IIT graduates are greeted by such an enthusiastic job market. Lower-caste students were barely half as likely to get jobs as general-pool students with similar majors and academic performance; they were also paid less. The researchers attributed the difference primarily to a divide between Dalit and non-Dalit students in soft skills and social capital. In the lucrative private sector, recruiters look beyond grades for candidates who demonstrate curiosity, leadership, poise, or a competitive spirit—qualities that might show up in, say, extracurricular activities, a glowing recommendation from a teacher, or simply a student’s confidence in an interview.

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Last year, allegations of caste bias got a public airing some 8,300 miles away from the IIT campuses. On behalf of the Indian Cisco Systems employee who alleged he’d been discriminated against based on his caste, California’s Department of Fair Employment and Housing brought a suit in San Jose against the company and two other Indian employees. All three were graduates of IIT Bombay.

American law protects workers from disparate treatment based on a handful of characteristics, including race, sex, religion, and disability status. This was the first time, though, that anyone had argued those protections should extend to Dalits. The complaint said that the unnamed employee had faced discrimination by two upper-caste managers since 2015 and that he’d reported one to human resources for outing him as a Dalit and informing colleagues he’d enrolled in the IIT through affirmative action. The employee said the discrimination had continued under the second manager.

Cisco denied the charges. “We have zero tolerance for discrimination and take all complaints of unfair treatment very seriously,” a spokesperson says. “In this case, we thoroughly and fully investigated the employee’s concerns and found that he was treated fairly, highly compensated, and afforded opportunities to work on coveted projects.” In its response to the suit, Cisco made an additional argument: Because caste isn’t a protected category under U.S. civil rights laws, the allegations are immaterial and should be stricken. The court recently denied Cisco’s petition to move the case to arbitration, and the company has filed an appeal.

Advocacy groups in the U.S. have weighed in on both sides. The Hindu American Foundation filed a declaration in support of Cisco, saying that though it vehemently opposes “all forms of prejudice and discrimination,” the state’s case “blatantly violates the rights of Hindu Americans.” Meanwhile, the Ambedkar International Center, a Dalit advocacy group, filed a brief in support of the state, encouraging the court to acknowledge caste discrimination and set a precedent prohibiting it. “American civil rights law has little experience with the Indian caste system, but it is very familiar with the idea of caste: the notion that some people are born to low stations in life in which they are forced to remain,” the motion reads.

The case inspired a flood of tech workers to tell their own stories. A U.S.-based Dalit advocacy group, Equality Labs, told the Washington Post in October that more than 250 tech workers had come forward in the wake of the Cisco suit to report incidents of caste-based harassment. Thirty Dalit engineers, all women, also shared a joint statement with the Post that said they’d experienced caste bias in the U.S. tech sector.

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It would be naive for U.S. companies to assume that Indian hires leave their prejudices on the subcontinent, says Sarit K. Das, a professor of mechanical engineering at IIT Madras who until February was director of IIT Ropar. “Graduates carry this to Amazon or Google or wherever, and the feeling toward the other person is that you didn’t make it like me, you are inferior,” he says.

Ram Kumar, a Dalit alum of IIT Delhi, has worked in the tech industry for more than two decades, with stints at Cisco, Dell, and other companies. When he arrived in Silicon Valley in the early 2000s, he found “another mini-India arranged by clusters of Indian hierarchy,” he says. Whereas dominant-caste Indians might see expat communities as sources of professional networking and support, Kumar avoids them. “People will try to segregate you once they find out your caste,” he says. As a matter of self-preservation, “I’ve avoided good opportunities when I see that the CEO or CTO is Indian.”

#saritha rai #bloomberg.com #silicon valley #immigration #india #caste #dalit

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juniperpublishers-sciences · 4 years

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Improved Paddy Straw as Ruminant Feed: A Review-Juniper Publishers

Abstract

Paddy straw is a major agro-residue fed to ruminants in India. Feeding only rice straw does not provide enough nutrients to the ruminants even for maintenance due to the low nutritive value of this highly lignified material containing high concentration of anti-nutrition factors like lignin, silicates and oxalates. Despite the improvements of crop residues through various processing methods such as physical and chemical, the efficient utilization to desirable extent is still awaited. So utilization of paddy straw in association with concept of complete feed along with biological agents is need of the hour to maximize advantage from given feeds in animal production systems.

Introduction

In tropical zones of the world, ruminants depend on grazing on natural pastures usually during summer months when these pastures have abundant biomass or these animals are fed with cut grass and crop residues. Most of these areas face seasonal periods in which there is decrease in availability of herbages in these pasture. There is also reduction in the content of digestible energy and crude protein. In these areas rice straw is abundantly available from paddy cultivation and farmers offer rice straw as the main roughage source to their animals. This is particularly the case in developing Asian countries such as Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia and India [1]. Approximately 80% of the world's rice is grown by small scale farmers in many developing countries including South East Asia (Table 1) and it is common to use rice straw for animal feeding. As per reports of Devendra [2] that of the total rice straw production, 30-40% is utilized for animal feeding in South East Asia, including China and Mongolia, as rice straw being the principal crop residue fed to more than 90% of the ruminant livestock in this area [3]. Rice straw becomes especially important during periods when other feeds are deficient. In general, the maximum intake of rice straw by ruminants is about 1.0 to 1.2kg per 100kg live weight [2]. As per Saritha et al. [4], the major agro-residues in terms of volumes generated in India (in million metric tons, MMT) were rice straw (112.00), rice husk (22.40), wheat straw (109.90), sugarcane tops (97.80) and bagasse (101.30).

Chemical composition of paddy straw and constraints in feeding to ruminants

The chemical composition of paddy straw varies between varieties and growing seasons, with higher nitrogen and cellulose contents in early season rice compared to others [5]. Paddy straw contains 25-45% cellulose, 25-30% hemi- cellulose and 10-15% lignin with low nitrogen, vitamins, minerals and high quantities of silica which hinder the nutrient availability to rumen microbes and eventually limits the necessary nutrient uptake for a satisfactory performance of the animals [6,7]. Presence of anti-nutritional factors like silicates and oxalates in rice straw with low nutritive value, poor palatability and limited ruminal degradation render paddy straw as non-maintenance type of fodder, so cannot support nutrient requirement of the animals when fed alone [6,8].

Compiled from Prasad et al. [39], Singh & Oosting [52], Shen et al. [49], Van Soest [59], Wanapat et al. [62], Ganai & Teli [19], Akinfemi & Ogunwole [4], Hossain et al. [22], Gomma et al. [21], Hussein et al. [23], Sheikh et al. [48].

The chemical and mineral compositions of rice straw, cited by different workers, are illustrated in Table 2. Rice straw consists predominantly of cell walls, comprised of cellulose, hemi cellulose, and lignin. To break down these components cellulase, hemi cellulase and ligninase are required [9]. In ruminants cellulase and hemicellulase are produced by rumen microorganisms however, lignin cannot be broken down in the rumen due to the lack of ligninase. Lignin, however, has important effects on livestock production through effects on degradability and feed intake. Theoretically, lignin located between the cellulose micro fibrils is regarded as the most abundant natural aromatic organic polymer that plays a role in resisting compressing forces, providing protection against consumption by insects and mammals, and also inhibiting the rate and degree of microbial degradation [10]. Silica, one element of the rice cell walls, can be present in high concentrations ranging from 5% to 15%, depending on the rice variety [11] and the availability of this mineral in the soil [12]. Silica reduces palatability and the degradability of rice straw in the rumen due to its direct action in preventing colonization by ruminal microorganisms [12,13]. The role of silica on the quality of rice straw was also reviewed by Van Soest [8], in an attempt to put into perspective the problems of silicon metabolism. Besides cell wall polymers, rumen organisms need other nutrients for growth and metabolism.

Since rice straw does not contain enough sugars, amino acids and minerals for efficient microbial growth, feeding ruminants with only rice straw, without any supplementation of other required nutrient sources, will result in poor performance of the animals [14]. The combination of low intake, low degradability, low nitrogen content and an unbalanced mineral composition means that rice straw alone may not even meet the animal's maintenance needs. Poor degradability is caused by a series of factors [9]. The fiber is very difficult to degrade, which is partly an intrinsic characteristic of the straw fiber (higher lignin and silca content). The degradation of the straw fiber is also complicated by the poor functioning of the rumen due to the unbalanced availability of nutrients, the low protein content, the lack of easily available energy and the low content of essential minerals such as phosphorus and sulphur. Hence, due to the low degradability and the poor rate of degradation, animals will tend to consume less. The generally accepted theory of feed intake regulation for poor quality roughages is that the capacity of the rumen to process the feed is the major factor determining voluntary feed intake [15,16]. The rumen processing capacity is characterized by rumen fill, the rate of degradation of potentially degradable matter and the rate of passage out of the rumen. Devendra [2] summarized that the main determinants of intake and degradability of rice straw depend on their morphological characteristics, such as the proportion of the different plant parts (leaves and stems), their chemical composition and the distribution of the different chemical components in the tissues, their relative amounts of cell contents and cell walls and the physical and chemical nature of the cell walls. These factors influence the chewing behavior of animals and the extent of fragmentation in the reticulo-rumen. As per Theander & Aman [17], rice straw contains a relatively high proportion of leaf (60%), compared to other cereal straws such as barley (35%), oats (43%) and wheat (20-41%). Vadiveloo [18] reported that leaves of rice straw contain less NDF than the stems, but more ash and acid-insoluble ash, resulting in a lower in vitro dry matter digestibility (IVDMD) of the leaves (50-51%) compared to the stems (61%). In goats, Phang & Vadiveloo [19] observed an in vivo dry matter digestibility of 56.2% for rice leaf and 68.5% for the stem. However, treatment with a 4% urea solution for 21d increased the IVDMD of the leaf fraction more than that of the stem fraction [18]. Since rice straw consists of approximately 60% leaves [20], which are less degradable than stems, improving the feed value of rice straw should focus on improving the degradability of the leaves.

Possible strategies to improve rice straw utilization in ruminants

Feeding only rice straw does not provide enough nutrients to the ruminants even for maintenance due to the low nutritive value of this highly lignified material. Basically, the key to improving the use of crop residues for ruminants is to overcome their inherent barriers to rumen microbial fermentation. In the case of rice straw, the important factors that restrict bacterial degradation in the rumen are its high levels of lignification and silicification, and its low contents of nitrogen, vitamins and minerals [21]. The high level of lignification and silicification, the slow and limited ruminal degradation of the carbohydrates and the low content of nitrogen are the main deficiencies of rice straw, affecting its value as feed for ruminants [8]. To improve the feeding value of rice straw, it can be treated with different means and methods and other required nutrients can be supplemented in the ration of the animal. Strategies to improve the utilization of rice straw are summarized.

Physical and chemical treatment

Extensive work has been done to improve nutritive value of crop residues by chemical and physical treatments. In physical treatment crop residues can be ground, soaked, pelleted or chopped to reduce particle size or can be treated with steam or X-rays or pressure cooked. Many of these treatments are not practical for use on small-scale farms, as they require machines or industrial processing. This makes these treatments in many cases economically unprofitable for farmers as the benefits may be too low or even negative [9] By treating rice straw with urea or calcium hydroxide or by supplementing rice straw with protein, the intake, degradability and milk yield can be enhanced as compared to feeding untreated rice straw alone [22,23]. In past years, several studies have been reported on the physical and chemical characterization and utilization of rice straw as ruminant feed [5,17,24]. In addition, numerous methods of physical, chemical and biological treatments have been investigated, including supplementation with other feed stuffs or components in order to improve the utilization of rice straw by ruminants [25-30]. The most commonly used alkaline agents are sodium hydroxide (NaOH), ammonia (NH3) and urea. Chemical treatments appear to be the most practical for use at farmers level, the chemicals are relatively cheap and the procedures to use them are relatively simple. However, safety precautions are needed for their use as these chemicals themselves are not harmless. Warly et al. [31] showed in a field trial that a ration of rice straw supplemented with soybean meal increased both degradability and intake. Because of the poor quality of untreated rice straw, supplementation easily can increase milk production, as shown for supplementation with cottonseed meal with an urea molasses- multi-nutrient block [28,32,33] and urea molasses treatment [34].

Rice straw is usually fed untreated without supplements in spite of the fact that many methods for improved utilization of rice straw have been developed and recommended. There are several reasons for farmers not to adopt the already developed methods for improved utilization of straw, such as physical, socio-economic conditions and practical reasons [2].

Biological Methods

Despite the improvements of crop residues through various processing methods such as physical and chemical, the efficient utilization to desirable extent is still awaited. Hence, it is the need of the hour to utilize these crop residues available in appreciable quantum locally in association with concept of complete feed technology and use of biological agents (feed additives) to maximize advantage from given feeds in animal production systems. Biological treatment is a much favorable option and is believed to be more eco-friendly and safer than the use of chemicals. Various methods of biological treatment/ fortification of paddy straw to enhance its utilization in animals include treatment with white rot fungi, ensilage with agro-industrial byproducts like apple pomace or fortification with proteins, greens or enzymes [35-38]. Although the use of white rot fungi causes significant loss of dry matter and organic matter [21,39] besides needs much more technical know and sometimes beomes impracticable at farmers level. The ensiling of straw with fruit pommace or poultry excreta or rumen liquor does not need sophisticated infrastructure with such facilities available at farmers level, but the advantage of these methods lies in fact of improving digestibility of nutrients, gain in body weight and overall performance of animals. Despite being safe and environmental friendly these biological agents have potent effect on digestibility of fodder by manipulating rumen environment. Gado et al. [40] reported decrease in the total phenolics, saponins and aqueous fraction with higher average daily gain, TDN and digestibility coefficients for DM, OM, CP, CF, NDF and ADF in Ossimi male lambs fed paddy straw ensiled orange pulp treated with exogenous enzymes diet than control. In other study Gado et al. [40] suggested a strong potential in improving digestibility and degradation of NDF and ADF of rice straw pre-treated with exogenous enzymes. Karunanandaa et al. [26,41] also reported enhanced IVDMD in both leaves and stems of rice straw by incubation with white-rot fungi (Pleurotus sajor-caju) for 30 days. However, entire rice straw (leaf and stem) treated with Cyathus stercoreus had the highest IVDMD compared to the other fungi. This improved digestibility of biologically treated straw is result of improvement in chemical composition as Akinfemi & Ogunwole [4] evaluated chemical composition and in vitro digestibility of rice straw treated with Pleurotus ostreatus, Pleurotus pulmonarius and Pleurotus tuber-regium found significant increase in the crude protein and significant decrease in crude fibre, cellulose, neutral detergent fibre, acid detergent fibre and acid detergent lignin of fungal treated rice straw than control. Fungal treated rice straw showed higher values of minerals (Ca and Mg), gas volume, metabolisable energy, organic matter digestibility and short chain fatty acid were also higher in fungal treated straw than control. White rot fungi efficiently degraded the lignin and enhanced the in vitro digestibility of paddy straw [4]

In another study Ganai & Teli [21] reported increase in CP, DCP and TDN content and nitrogen balance in Corriedale sheep fed paddy straw treated white rot fungi (Pleurotus ulmarius). Similarly Abdel-Azim et al. [42] reported that treating rice straw and corn stalks with Trichoderma viride, improved feeding value resulting in higher intake, N balance and growth rate in cross-bred lambs. The author also reported that DM consumption of fungal treated paddy straw was significantly higher than untreated straw. Bassiouni et al. [43] studied the effect of fibrolytic enzymes supplementation on In Situ degradability of DM, CP and CF of different rations consisted of concentrate feed mixture + berseem hay, dried sugar beet tops, corn silage, rice straw or wheat straw in different ratios 60:40or 40:60 incubated in canulated multiparous Friesian cows. Rations contained rice straw showed the lowest (P<0.05) values of in situ DM, CP and CF disappearance. In support of these findings Khattab et al. [37] studied chemical composition, nutritive value, in vitro digestibility and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) of rice straw (RS) and Pleurotus ostreatus spent rice straw (SRS) and reported higher protein, amino acids (mg/100g) content, in vitro dry matter disappearance (IVDMD) and in vitro organic matter disappearance (IVOMD) for SRS compared to RS while, DM, OM, NFE, CF, NDF, ADF, ADL, hemicellulose and cellulose were less for SRS than for RS. Pothiraj et al. [44] reported that fibrolytic enzymes of A. nigersuch as cellulase, p-glucosidase and xylanase had reduced the lignocellulose compound of the rice straw (Figure 1).

Some studies, using fibrolytic enzymes alone could not significantly increase the degradability of rice straw because the ability of these enzymes to break down the esterified bonds within lignin-carbohydrate complexes may be limited. However, when using in combination with other pre-treatments they could increase degradability and in vitro fermentation characteristics, as shown by Eun et al. [51] treated rice straw with xylanase or cellulase in combination with ammonia, Hussein et al. [52] treated rice straw with urea and commercial effective microorganisms, Liu & 0rskov [29] treated rice straw with cellulase in combination with steam pre-treatment, Wang et al. [46] treated rice straw with multi-enzymes (xylanase, β-glucanase, carboxymethyl cellulase and amylase) in combination with NaOH, found that the use of combinations of fibrolytic enzyme with these pre-treatments is expected to have a synergistic effect on the nutritive improvement of rice straw. evaluated use of rumen liquor, chicken manure and commercial probiotic to improve nutritional value of rice straw and reported that crude protein level of rice straw fermented with chicken manure was the highest followed by that of rumen liquor treatment and significantly different from those of commercial probiotic and control treatments. Crude fiber level of rice straw fermented with manure showed the lowest level but not significantly different from rumen liquor and commercial probiotics. These values were significantly lower than control. While assessing the effect of incorporation of wheat straw-rice straw (WS-RS in 50:50 ratio) or Pleurotus florida harvested spent WS-spent RS (50:50) in kids, Kaur et al. [47] observed a higher DM intake (0.80 vs. 0.65kgd-1), digestibility of majority of nutrients (except cellulose which was depressed), N-retention (5.36 vs. 4.87g), apparent biological value (63.08 vs. 53.43%) and daily live weight gain were comparable in both the groups. Apart from enzymatic treatment [37] reported the microbial application of rice straw degraded the lignocellulosic contents, thus improving the rumen DM degradability which would affect the weight gain of animal. By degrading the lignocellulosic contents of rice straw, more nutrients are made available for ruminal microflora, which in turn will sustain the longevity of the microbes.

More importantly, harmful microorganisms such as toxin-producing fungi that contaminate the rice straw could be suppressed by application of microbials on the feedstuff, proving its ability to restrain the growth of the harmful toxin- producing fungi. Gomaa [48] verified the potential benefits of supplementing rice straw with exogenous anaerobic bacterial enzymes (ZAD) and orange pulp for Ossimi sheep found significant (P<0.05) decreases in %CF, %NDF; while %CP, %ADF and %ADL values increased for rations containing either ZAD, orange pulp or both. Rams fed rations containing either ZAD, orange pulp or both significantly increased (P<0.05) ruminal ammonia-N, total volatile fatty acids plasma total protein with low level of gas production post feeding values. Similarly Salehpor et al. [49] evaluated the effect of rice straw processing by Lactobacillus, multi enzymes and calcium hydroxide on the digestibility and nutritional value. Each of three processing operation, reduce the amount of ADF, cellulose and hemicelluloses in the straw. The same trend also has been in the NDF and bacterial processing has the lowest and enzymatic, chemical and control straw have the greatest amount of NDF, respectively. The amount of gas production rate in the bacterial methods was more than the other methods and with increasing incubation time, shows upward trend. Addition of lignocellulolytic enzymes and bacterial lignocellulolytic on rice straw resulted in significant improvement of all the fermentation products (volatile fatty acid, acetate, propionate, butyrate, and ammonia) between control and treatment groups. Lignocellulolytic enzymes @ 5% of dry matter dose rate resulted in optimal products of volatile fatty acid and ammonia [50].

Similarly Samsudin et al. [51] found improved nutritive values of rice straw fed to goats when treated with Aspergillus niger, fungal and effective microbes (EM). No significant (P>0.05) difference was observed on the chemical composition of rice straw treated with A. niger except the CP content increased significantly (P<0.01) when compared with untreated rice straw. However, when the fungal-treated rice straw was inoculated with EM, significant (P<0.01) improvement was observed in DMD, CP, OM, NDF, ADF and cellulose content of the rice straw compared with control. In other study Elmoghazy et al. [53] evaluated effect of sheep diets containing lignolytic microbiological treated (Bacillus licheniformis, Ruminococcus albus, Aspergillus oryzae, Rhizopus nigricans & Saccharomyces cerevisiae) rice straw on blood parameters and nitrogen balance. Results exhibited that the microbiological treatments significantly decreased the DM and CF while CP was significantly increased. Regarding nitrogen balance, haemato- biochemical and serum enzymes (aspartate transaminase and alanine transaminase) were not affected with microbiological treatment. The use of combinations of fibrolytic enzyme with these pre-treatments is expected to have a synergistic effect on the nutritive improvement of rice straw. Especially, the use of lignin-degrading enzymes, originating from fungi, seems a promising development. Although, application of enzymes has proven to increase the feed value of poor quality feedstuffs, its use by smallholder farmers is, for the time being, economically unattractive. However, it becomes a promising technology when used at commercial level [54-65].

Conclusion

Rice straw being the principle agro-residues in terms of volumes generated in India, is poor in nutritive value with high level of lignification and silicification. So feeding of rice straw to livestock does not provide enough nutrients even for maintenance. Rice straw is usually fed untreated without supplements in spite of the fact that many methods for improved utilization of rice straw have been developed and recommended such as physical, chemical and biological treatments. Among these methods, biological treatment is a much favorable option and is believed to be more environmental friendly and safer.

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mylucky137276 · 2 years

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Bad news for Amazon as Ambani's RIL seizes the future of retail in India

In the end, Indian billionaire Mukesh Ambani settled the dispute over who gets to own the assets of beleaguered Future Retail Ltd. not in an arbitration tribunal in Singapore, or in a courtroom in New Delhi, but in a shopping aisle.

Future Retail had been subleasing store space from the tycoon’s Reliance Industries Ltd. Indeed, it was kept operating only on Ambani’s forbearance because Future couldn’t come up with the rent. But with Amazon.com continuing to block Reliance’s $3.4 billion purchase of Future’s assets, Ambani decided to make the acquisition a fait accompli: He terminated the leases and is taking control of the properties.

It was a dramatic denouement to a three-year-old saga. Amazon was Future’s original rescuer, investing $192 million into a gift voucher unit controlled by its founder Kishore Biyani so he could use the money to steady the debt-laden Indian retailer.

The condition of that 2019 deal was that assets — about 1,500 stores nationwide — wouldn’t be sold to Ambani, who owns India’s largest retail empire. When Biyani did exactly that after Covid-19 decimated operations, Amazon began proceedings against Future for breach of contract. The Reliance deal was in limbo — until Ambani decided he’d had enough.

The desperation was palpable in the messages Future sent Reliance. “Please confirm that there will not be any reduction in consideration payable,” said a March 2 missive from Future, as reported by Saritha Rai and P R Sanjai of Bloomberg News. Then, one paragraph later, “It is important for our stakeholders to have visibility on the final consideration.” Was Future Retail living under a rock? Its bailout by Ambani was always clearly a commercial deal, not a humanitarian mission. It was Future’s job to take care of its stakeholders, including creditors.

And where’s Amazon in all this? By now, it must have learned that taking on Ambani on his home turf was futile. Once the ground had shifted from under its feet, Amazon offered an out-of-court settlement over its funds infusion in Future Coupons Pvt. — which had been its first move in the drama. Amazon couldn’t have rescued Future Retail directly because India’s draconian foreign direct investment rules were in the way. So it did the next best thing: funding privately held Coupons and, thus, indirectly exercising some control over Retail.

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newsupdatesbykiara · 2 years

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Bad news for Amazon as Ambani's RIL seizes the future of retail in India

#amazon #future #future retail #future retail amazon deal #mukesh ambani #reliance industries future retail

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monterplant · 2 years

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Reliance buys majority stake in Indian robotics startup Addverb, which uses robots to make e-commerce warehouses and energy production more efficient, for $132M (Saritha Rai/Bloomberg)

Saritha Rai / Bloomberg: Reliance buys majority stake in Indian robotics startup Addverb, which uses robots to make e-commerce warehouses and energy production more efficient, for $132M — Billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries Ltd. is buying an Indian robotics startup as the conglomerate scales … (more…)

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storiestamil · 2 years

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Reliances JioMart turns to WhatsApp to break Amazon grip on grocery buyers - Business Standard

Reliances JioMart turns to WhatsApp to break Amazon grip on grocery buyers – Business Standard

Topics JioMart | Reliance Industries | Amazon Saritha Rai | Bloomberg Last Updated at November 30, 2021 07:15 IST https://mybs.in/2Zj8K2A Indians can now use WhatsApp to order groceries from billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s JioMart via a new “tap and chat” option, as his Reliance Industries Ltd. challenges the domination of Amazon.com Inc. and Walmart Inc.-owned Flipkart. Delivery is free and there’s…

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tamarovjo4 · 4 months

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Researchers say AI robot CyberRunner outmaneuvers humans in the maze game Labyrinth, in a breakthrough for AI beating humans at direct physical applications (Saritha Rai/Bloomberg)

http://dlvr.it/T0N6tH

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indiamedicaltourism · 8 months

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Kidney Transplant in India

Human beings have one pair of kidneys and it is located right below the rib cage. The kidney serves a major function in removing the waste. Apart from excreting waste, the kidney also takes care of blood pressure, balances the chemical elements present in our body, secretes essential nutrients, and refines the blood.

In some cases, both kidneys stop functioning due to Injuries in an accident, or individuals suffering from diabetes and high blood pressure often suffer from Kidney failure. Patients suffering from kidney failure usually suffer from swelling in feet and hands, weakness, and much more. When the kidney stops its functionality doctors either refer it for dialysis or a kidney transplant. It's preferred to opt for a kidney transplant which can inhibit the growth of toxic elements in the body.

A kidney transplant is a medical procedure where a patient who is suffering from kidney failure can undergo the replacement of his damaged kidney with a healthy kidney. The Kidney transplant cost in India varies with the availability of the kidney donors and the patient current condition. Here is a small detail regarding the Price of kidney transplants in India.

Kidney transplant cost in India

The Kidney transplant price in India ranges from 6, 00, 000 Rupees to 14, 00, 000 Rupees. Other charges like consultation fees, x-rays, lab tests, Hospital costs, medicines, and much more, can cost you extra. The Cost of kidney transplants in India can vary with the hospital treatment procedure, patient condition, donor availability, cost of injections, and surgery cost. Also, if the patient is in critical or emergency condition the treatment cost may again vary.

Top Kidney Transplant Hospitals in India

Fortis Hospital in Bangalore is one of the Top Kidney transplant hospitals in India. The hospital is situated in the Bannerghatta road.

Medanta- the Medicity Hospital in Gurgaon is a Top hospital for Kidney transplants in India. The hospital has a huge infrastructure and well-qualified specialists.

Apollo Hospitals situated in Greams Road, Chennai is a well-known reputed hospital and has been treating patients for more than four decades

Top Kidney Transplant Doctors in India

Dr. Saritha Vinod is one of the Top kidney transplant doctors in India with more than twenty years of experience and also she has accomplished several kidney transplant surgeries. Currently, she is serving at Apollo Spectra Hospital in Chennai.

Dr. Sandeep Guleria is also a Top Doctor for kidney transplant in India with more than thirty years of experience. Presently he is practicing at Indraprastha Apollo Hospital in New Delhi.

Dr. Sharad Sheth from Mumbai is serving at Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital in Mumbai. He has been treating patients suffering from kidney for more than 38 years.

Al Afiya Medi Tour is a top medical tourism company in India. It offers medical tours from all the countries of the world to India. Some of the main countries are Bangladesh, Zambia, Namibia, Iraq, Kenya, Nigeria and so on. We provide free assistance for TURP surgery in India, lung cancer treatment, best kidney hospital in India, stomach cancer treatment in India, liver transplant in India, best hospital for heart valve replacement, bone marrow transplant in India, arthroscopic surgery, best liver transplant hospital in India, brain tumor surgery cost in India, top bone marrow hospital in India etc. If you are looking for free medical and healthcare consulting to find the best hospital and top specialist doctor for any treatment in India then to alafiyameditour.com.

Source: https://bestmedicaltourismcompanyinindia.blogspot.com/2023/09/kidney-transplant-in-india.html

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innspubnet · 2 years

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Curcumin extract nanoparticles: preparation, characterization and antimicrobial effect | JBES Journal @tumblr

By: Awatif I Muhammed, Baraa M Thakir, Rana A Kamal, Dalia M Hassan, Safa F Ali, Noor Mahdi

Journal Name: Journal of Biodiversity and Environmental Sciences

Abstract

In recent years, synthesized zinc oxide nano particles have been increasingly investigated for different medicinal uses. In the present study, we aimed at the biosynthesis of zinc oxide using a cur-cumin extract. Although, toxic effects of cur-cumin derivative and zinc oxide nano particles in different concentration have been studied specifically on animal models besides the antibacterial activity of synthesized cur-cumin extract and zinc oxide nano particles. The aim of the study was to synthesize extract combined zinc oxide nano particles. Methods: The synthesized nano particles and extract were characterized for the particle size distribution, morphology, optical properties and surface charge by using UV visible spectroscopy, dynamic light scattering (DLS), (TEM) and (SEM). Elemental composition and structural properties were studied by energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) and X-ray diffraction spectroscopy (XRD). Results: The synthesized nano particles and cur-cumin were irregular shape and had a size distribution in the range of 50–100 nm. The in vitro toxicity effects of zinc oxide and extract showed no toxic effect with different concentration with antibacterial effect.

Reference

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Anand P, Kunnumakkara AB, Newman RA. 2007. Aggarwal, “Bioavailability of curcumin: problems and promises ” Molecular Pharmaceutics 4(6), 807-818.

Droepenu EK, Boon SW, Chin SF, Kuan YK, Zaini BA, Asare EA. 2019. Comparative Evaluation of Antibacterial Efficacy of Biological Synthesis of ZnO Nanoparticles Using Fresh Leaf Extract and Fresh Stem-Bark of Carica papaya. Nano Biomed. Eng 11(3), 1-4.

Freitas RA. 2005. “What is nanomedicine?” Nanomedicine: Nanotechnology, Biology, and Medicine 1(1), 2-9.

Jaruga E, Salvioli S, Dobrucki J. 1998. “Apoptosis-like, reversible changes in plasmamembrane asymmetry and permeability,and transientmodifications in mitochondrialmembrane potential induced by curcumin in rat thymocytes,” FEBS Letters 433(3), 287-293.

Jayarambabu N, Siva Kumari B. 2015. Benefcial role of zinc oxide nanoparticles on green crop production. Int J Multidiscip Adv Res Trends II, 273-282

Kumar SA, Chen SM. 2008. Nanostructured Zinc Oxide particles in chemically modified electrodes for biosensors applications, Analytical Letters 41(2), 141-158.

Massimiliano DV, Stephane E, James RH. 2004. Introduction to Nanoscale Science and Technology Article 1-5.

Pandeya NK. 2005. “Old wives’tales: modern miracles—turmeric as traditionalmedicine in India,” Trees for Life Journal 1(3), 1-5.

Sangeethaa S, Rajesh W, Venckatesh R. 2011. Green synthesis of zinc oxide nanoparticlesby aloe barbadensis miller leaf extract: Structure and optical properties. Materials Research Bulletin 46(12), 2560-2566.

Sathyavathi R, Krishna MB, Rao SV, Saritha R, Rao DN. 2010. Biosynthesis of silver nanoparticles using Coriandrum Sativum leaf extract and their application in nonlinear optics. Adv Sci Lett 3, 01-06

Senthilkumar SR, Sivakumar T. 2014. Green tea (Camellia Sinensis) mediated synthesis of zinc oxide nanoparticles and studies on their antimicrobial activities. Int J Pharm Pharm Sci 6, 461-465

Shankar TN, Shantha NV, Ramesh HP, Murthy IA, Murthy VS. 1980. “Toxicity studies on turmeric (Curcuma longa): acute toxicity studies in rats, guinea pigs & monkeys,” Indian Journal of Experimental Biology 18(1), 73-75.

Sharma RA, Steward WP, Gescher AJ. 2007. “Pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of curcumin,” Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology 595, 453-470.

Song R, Jianbin Yao, Qingqing Shi and Rongbian Wei. 2018. Nanocomposite of Half-Fin Anchovy Hydrolysates/Zinc Oxide Nanoparticles Exhibits Actual Non-Toxicity and Regulates Intestinal Microbiota, Short-Chain Fatty Acids Production and Oxidative Status in Mice. Mar. Drugs 16, 1-23.

Soni KB, Kuttan R. 1992. “Effect of oral curcumin administration on serum peroxides and cholesterol levels in human volunteers,”Indian Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology 36(4), 273-275.

Sun Hu L, Da-Gang Y, Miao Y, Xiao Z, Xing-Yu L, Kun H, Shu-Fang Z, Bi-Jie L, Zhang-Jie S. 2010. An efficient organocatalytic method for constructing biaryls through aromatic C–H activation Chang-Liang. Nature Chemistry 2(12), 1-1044.

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Yang R, Zhang S, Kong D, Gao X, Zhao Y, Wang Z. 2012. “Biodegradable polymer curcumin conjugate micelles enhance the loading and delivery of low potency curcumin Pharmaceutical Research 29(12), 3512-3525.

Yasmeen M,Prabhu B. 2012. Antihyperglycemic and hypolipidemic activities of aqueous extract of Carica papaya Linn. leaves in alloxan-induced diabetic rats. J Ayurveda Integr Med. Apr-Jun 3(2), 70-74.

#zinc oxide nanoparticles #nano characterization #toxic effect #bacterial test #curcumin extract

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indizombie · 4 years

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India is turning increasingly hostile to the monopolistic practices of foreign e-commerce players that dominate the burgeoning market. Responding to widespread complaints, India restricted foreign direct investment in multi-brand retail and this has forced Amazon and Walmart Inc.’s Flipkart, the two biggest e-commerce players in India, to overhaul business models to comply with new rules introduced in December 2018. In 2016, New Delhi had said foreign-owned e-commerce platforms could operate as marketplaces -- facilitating transactions between sellers and consumers -- but not sell directly. Flipkart and Amazon had established wholesale networks to reach their customers. But the more recent regulations target this workaround, banning foreign e-commerce sites from selling goods from companies in which they own a stake or have commercial arrangements with.

Archana Chaudhary and Saritha Rai, 'Why Jeff Bezos' billion-dollar pledge hasn't impressed anyone in India', Economic Times

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seedfinance · 3 years

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The world’s big tech firms are gearing up for a massive fight with Modi’s India, IT News, ET CIO

Saritha Rai and Vlad Savov

India is becoming increasingly confident in its efforts to control online communications, challenging the practices of Twitter and Facebook and threatening to set a precedent that could go well beyond its borders.

The largest US internet companies are fighting against new intermediary rules enacted by Narendra Modi’s government in February that restrict privacy and freedom of expression. Officials have urged Facebook Inc. and Twitter Inc. to remove hundreds of posts this year, divulge sensitive user information, and submit to a regulatory regime that allows for potential jail sentences for executives if companies fail to comply.

While government efforts to exercise more control over user data and online discourse mirror global efforts to control tech giants and their vast influence, Internet firms are particularly at stake in India because – excluded from China – it’s the only billion people market themselves to the market. In contrast to authoritarian regimes like Beijing, critics fear that measures by the world’s largest democracy could offer other governments a blueprint to invade privacy in the name of internal security.

“India has made draconian changes to its rules,” the Electronic Frontier Foundation wrote in April. They “create new opportunities for state surveillance of citizens. These rules threaten the idea of a free and open Internet based on international human rights standards. “

Holding internet companies accountable for published content – and in some cases making executives personally liable – goes beyond what many countries require and is a key point of contention. Trapped in this tug of war are hundreds of millions in India whose use of the Internet is now at stake. Facebook’s WhatsApp is on trial, arguing that the new rules would bypass encryption, a key feature the company has touted in global marketing.

Modi’s government has been targeting Twitter for the past few months as it is considered the social platform of choice for politicians and celebrities. Cabinet ministers have accused the US company of defying orders and proposed removing it from its intermediary status, which should make it directly responsible for the content posted by its users. In May, Twitter tagged tweets from multiple accounts linked to Modi’s party as “compromised media”. Police investigators have since called officers and their offices, putting business in the world’s second most populous nation at risk.

“Twitter is in a no-win situation here,” said Mike Masnick, founder of tech policy blog Techdirt. “Giving in to excessive government demands not only suppresses important speeches, but opens the company to even more pressure to silence government critics in India and elsewhere.”

Representatives from the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MEITY), which oversees regulation, did not respond to multiple calls and emails asking for comments. WhatsApp and Twitter representatives declined to comment beyond previous statements that they were anxious to comply with state regulations.

India has stated that it welcomes criticism and dissent and its new rules are aimed at protecting public order and preventing harmful content such as child pornography and abuse videos. The country has been grappling with an explosion of fake news on social media in recent years, much of it targeting a largely first-time internet audience unaccustomed to sifting through online falsehoods. It came into conflict with Facebook in 2018 when the government asked WhatsApp to curb the spread of news related to two dozen lynchings. Facebook’s response then was to restrict the forwarding of messages and mark them as “forwarded”.

WhatsApp has more than 530 million users in India, Alphabet Inc.’s YouTube has about 450 million, and Facebook has over 410 million users, making it the largest market for all three. Twitter, a comparatively small minnow with 17.5 million users, is one of the fastest growing areas in India. But that limited reach makes it vulnerable in a nation that was ready to ban popular foreign services a year ago when it banned TikTok – which had 200 million users registered in the country – WeChat and hundreds more China-made apps after a violent clash on the controversial border between the two countries.

As in the US, however, Twitter exerts a disproportionate influence in relation to its size. It is vital to the political discussion in India, and Modi himself is an avid user and has a following of over 69 million, demonstrating its international reach. While ministers have tweeted belligerently on Twitter, no one has yet openly threatened to ban it.

Even during the conflict with China, India can still draw inspiration from its neighbor’s experiences, where the void left by foreign social platforms blocked to resisting strict censorship has created space for domestic alternatives to develop. In fact, Modi’s colleagues have been actively promoting Koo, a local microblogging rival.

“I have to imagine Modi looking at China thinking it can achieve economic prosperity while exercising a lot of authoritarian control over language and communication,” said Katie Harbath, a former Facebook director of public policy with the US the country’s officials worked together in the fall of 2013, ahead of Modi’s first election as prime minister, through earlier this year. “So the big question is where will India go?”

An open letter signed by 14 nonprofits urged the government to suspend implementation of India’s new IT rules that went into effect last month.

Much of the current resentment stems from the government’s drive to control discussions since November over peasant protests, which have centered on proposals to tax farm inputs and remove minimum price support. The government forced Twitter to block some popular figures expressing support for the protesters – such as Punjabi singer JazzyB, whose account has 1.2 million followers but is inaccessible within India – although the company does not have all of its Has implemented demands.

US and EU lawmakers should pay more attention to the South Asian country, Harbath said. Like Masnick, she sees few good opportunities for private companies to oppose laws from above, and it would be up to the international community to steer India back onto a more liberal path.

The US has embraced India as a counterweight to China in recent years and has strengthened defense cooperation as part of the four-nation quad group, which also includes the other democracies of Japan and Australia. For its part, Modi’s government has sought to attract companies looking to diversify their supply chains away from China – which gives it an incentive to maintain good relationships with the Biden government and the American business community at large.

Relationships with American social platforms were much warmer and more cooperative in the early years of the Modi administration. In 2015, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg invited Modi to a town hall event at the company’s headquarters. The two men hugged and smiled at the cameras. But, Harbath said, whenever the government’s popularity has waned since then – following measures like the sudden currency demonetization in 2016 – it has become more aggressive to steer public narrative.

Most recently, Modi’s government was targeted on Twitter by critics who say it botched efforts to fight Covid-19. In response, she has tried to block recent criticism on Twitter, which shows anger and disappointment with the Indian leader.

“Silicon Valley’s social media platforms have a huge base in India and the confrontation is who controls these users,” said Tarun Pathak from Delhi, research director at Counterpoint. “In the next three to five years, around 300 million new users equal to the US population will go online in India, shifting the balance of power for these companies eastward.”

Twitter appointed an interim compliance officer two weeks ago, long after its colleagues assigned permanent representatives, and that person is due to leave the position. A company spokesman did not want to confirm or comment on the reasons.

Meanwhile, Kenner told ET that Twitter had given the government “in writing” details of its newly appointed interim chief compliance officer. Previously, she had contracted a lawyer to act as a complaint and node officer.

On Friday, the head of MEITY, Ravi Shankar Prasad, temporarily blocked his Twitter account because of a complaint about alleged copyright infringement, according to the company. When the frequent Twitter antagonist regained access, he wrote that his “actions indicate that they are not the harbinger of the freedom of expression they claim to be, only interested in pursuing their own ends.” Twitter declined to comment, but cited its original statement that Prasad’s account was temporarily suspended for copyright infringement.

Twitter was recently quoted by Uttar Pradesh police along with journalists and opposition party leaders for hosting a video provoking communal discord, according to local reports. Delhi police also said they are investigating another complaint against Twitter’s Indian chief Manish Maheshwari related to this video allegedly alleging that majority Hindus are attacking a minority Muslim man. The company has since removed the offensive clip and has left no comment other than its statement of compliance with local laws. The government of Uttar Pradesh has petitioned the Supreme Court of India to have Maheshwari lifted from arrest by a lower court.

Without pressure on India to reclaim its online power – as the Washington Post editors called this month – companies like Twitter must carefully weigh their decisions to avoid being ousted by a huge market while upholding their principles, said Harbath.

It is a delicate dance that is becoming more and more common around the world. Countries as far away as Australia, Poland and Nigeria are cracking down on social platforms, claiming they have undue power to determine what is acceptable and meddling in domestic affairs. Nigeria banned Twitter this month and Germany’s hate speech rules will require platforms to remove illegal content quickly or face penalties.

“It’s complicated. A decision by these companies in India will not apply to India alone,” said Prateek Waghre of Bangalore, a research analyst with the Takshashila Institution who studies digital platform governance serve the rest of the world. “

IT and Justice Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad was in the thick of it as the new social media guidelines became a focal point for a showdown between the government and Twitter and WhatsApp on privacy and free speech issues.

source https://seedfinance.net/2021/07/05/the-worlds-big-tech-firms-are-gearing-up-for-a-massive-fight-with-modis-india-it-news-et-cio/

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