radiofree.asia

Category: India

  • Evo Foods Announces New Partnership With Ginkgo Bioworks For Next-Gen Egg Products

    4 Mins Read

    Indian plant-based egg startup Evo Foods has announced it is partnering with Ginkgo Bioworks to create new ingredients for its products. The latter offers an established cell programming platform which will be leveraged to develop animal-free egg proteins. These will be included in Evo’s product portfolio in a bid to create the most realistic plant-based eggs.

    Founded in 2020, Evo is focussed on creating animal protein replacements that can be swapped out for their conventional counterparts seamlessly. The company notes that current egg products are still lacking in terms of taste, texture, nutrition and functionality. Working with Gingko is hoped to be the final puzzle piece to vegan egg superiority.

    Evo egg
    Photo by Evo Foods.

    On a mission to improve vegan eggs

    Evo looks to end animal agriculture for egg production with its developments while increasing food security. With roots in Mumbai and a recently established U.S. presence, the startup leverages India’s crop biodiversity to power its existing products, which include the “world’s-first” heat-stable boiled egg analogue. 

    Unveiled in March this year, the “heat and eat” vegan boiled follows the debut of a liquid egg replacement made from mung beans in 2021.

    “As consumers and food brands alike call for more sustainable food options, we are excited to collaborate with Ginkgo to pioneer a new class of animal-free ingredients, “Kartik Dixit, CEO at Evo Foods said in a statement. “Evo is committed to playing a part in feeding our ever-growing world, and this partnership will support us as we develop next-generation products in this market.”

    Gingko will be supplying Cell Development Kits (CDK) as its contribution to the strategic partnership. These will allow for cost-effective cell programmes to be launched, while slashing project timeframes traditionally needed to create engineered proteins. The proteins Evo will replicate will, potentially, allow for a faithful replication of regular egg flavours and more.

    Evo Foods’ vegan boiled egg. Photo by Evo Foods.

    Taking eggs out of the food system

    By 2020 egg production globally surpassed 86.67 million metric tonnes. Since 1990, the volume of production has increased more than 100 percent. This has been attributed, in part, to eggs being consumed as a secondary protein source, after meat.

    Egg production is an ethically and environmentally controversial industry. To produce the world’s glut of eggs, more than 300 million chickens are used for their laying ability each year. Factory-farmed birds are subjected to countless cruel mutilations, including beak trimming, before being confined to a minuscule wire cage for the duration of their lives. Cages often hold up to 10 birds, each creating filth that covers the others. Birds that die in captivity are frequently left in the cages to rot.

    ‘Free range’ hens are something of a misnomer as well. Farms are allowed to keep up to 9 birds per square metre. For context, The Guardian compares this to 14 adult humans living in a one-room flat.

    Evo looks to remove the need for animal eggs entirely and it isn’t the only startup working to do so.

    Photo by Evo Foods.

    Plant-based eggs getting animal farmers in a flap

    Vegan egg substitutes are on the rise. From broad bean-based liquid developments, a la The VGN in Germany, to Eat Just recently gaining regulatory approval for E.U. sale of its mung bean eggs, a lot is happening.

    The Every Co is taking a different approach to egg protein replacement. Instead of focussing on a whole egg liquid product, it uses precision fermentation to mimic egg white protein for use in other items. Most recently it showcased the functionality of its Every EggWhite by partnering with exclusive patisserie Chantal Guillon, to debut vegan macarons.  

    Even large-scale egg users are looking at the potential and marketability of plant-based alternatives. Japanese mayo giant Kewpie just announced it has developed a vegan egg product, called Hobotama. Translating to ‘almost eggs’, the dish is a scrambled egg replacement made using soy milk.

    Lead photo by Evo Foods.

    The post Evo Foods Announces New Partnership With Ginkgo Bioworks For Next-Gen Egg Products appeared first on Green Queen.

    This post was originally published on Green Queen.

  • People travelling abroad are eligible to take the Covid-19 booster shots as required

    At present, in India, the third precaution dose of Covid-19 vaccines has been made available to the 18-plus population groups

    This post was originally published on The Asian Age | Home.

  • Reform WHO for a better world: Modi

    The prime minister said there was a need for building a resilient global supply chain and enabling equitable access to vaccines & medicines

    This post was originally published on The Asian Age | Home.

  • Sedition law suspended by India’s Supreme Court

    Having posted before about this nefarious law [see also: https://humanrightsdefenders.blog/2021/06/16/delhi-high-court-re-establishes-that-criticism-is-not-sedition/], it is good news that on 11 May 2022 India’s Supreme Court suspended this law which activists say is often used by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government to target free speech and dissent.

    Mr Modi’s critics say that the law, which was once used by Britain to target independence hero Mahatma Gandhi, has been abused by his government against many journalists, activists, and students. Section 124A of the Indian penal code gives wide-ranging powers to the police to arrest people, who can even face life imprisonment, for an act or speech that “brings or attempts to bring into hatred or contempt, or excites or attempts to excite disaffection towards the government”.

    India’s official crime data says 236 people faced sedition charges between 2018 and 2020. India sparked global outrage last year after 22-year-old climate change activist Disha Ravi was arrested for sedition for allegedly creating a “toolkit” to aid anti-government farmer protests.

    See also:

    https://humanrightsdefenders.blog/2022/03/21/india-sinking-in-civic-freedoms-survey/

    “The rigours of Section 124A (are) not in tune with the current social milieu, and was intended for a time when this country was under the colonial regime,” India’s chief justice N V Ramana, part of a three-judge bench hearing a petition against the law, said. Mr Ramana asked the government not to file any new sedition cases and pause ongoing sedition investigations.

    “All pending trials, appeals and proceedings” under sedition, the court said, “be kept in abeyance” until the “re-examination of the provision is complete“.

    The government had said Monday that it had decided to “re-examine and reconsider” the law but it remained in force. The top court also urged people jailed for sedition to approach local courts for bail.

    Amnesty International welcomed the Supreme Court’s order “For far too long, authorities have misused the sedition law to harass, intimidate, and persecute human rights defenders, activists, journalists, students, filmmakers, singers, actors, and writers for peacefully exercising their right to freedom of expression,” Aakar Patel, Chair of Amnesty International India’s Board, said. “Sedition has been used as a tool of political repression by successive governmens”i

    Nagpur-based lawyer Nihalsingh Rathod, who represents many accused in the Elgar Parishad case said the legislature should have re-examined the relevance of sedition a long time ago. The Supreme Court’s interim order was an important step in rights jurisprudence, he said.

    “It won’t bring complete respite as no state invokes an isolated provision. In present cases too they invoke many provisions, including UAPA. But still, it brings hope that the process of looking at sedition and jurisprudence around it is being re-examined. It offers some hope that sedition law will undergo some churn that has never happened,” he said…

    https://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/indias-top-court-suspends-use-of-controversial-sedition-law/wy0racqs4
    https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/india/sedition-law-lawyers-and-free-speech-activists-welcome-sc-order/articleshow/91500777.cms?utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst

    This post was originally published on Hans Thoolen on Human Rights Defenders and their awards.

  • Allahabad HC to hear petition today seeking to open 22 closed doors in Taj Mahal

    The plea also cited the claims by some historians and some Hindu groups about the monument being an old Shiv Temple

    This post was originally published on The Asian Age | Home.

  • PM Modi gets emotional while interacting with beneficiary during Utkarsh Samaroh

    Getting emotional on the response of the girl, the Prime Minister maintained a few moments of silence and lauded her strength

    This post was originally published on The Asian Age | Home.

  • Uttar Pradesh DGP removed for ‘inefficiency’, ‘neglecting work’

    Mukul Goel has been made the Director General (DG) of the Civil Defence department, the statement said

    This post was originally published on The Asian Age | Home.

  • Soldiers out in Colombo; India denies plans to send its troops

    No takeover plan: Sri Lanka military, Central Bank chief threatens to quit

    This post was originally published on The Asian Age | Home.

  • Modi takes decisions for good of all Indians: Shah

    Shah said under Modi’s leadership, the BJP reached every nook and corner of the country and broken several myths

  • Further expands global C-130 customer base with Indian Air Force

    Marshall Aerospace has underlined its credentials as the world’s leading Lockheed Martin approved C-130 Heavy Maintenance Centre for C-130J aircraft by securing a contract with Lockheed Martin to carry out the 12-year maintenance inspections on the Indian Air Force’s fleet of C-130J Super Hercules.   The contract will see the company carry out the in-depth […]

    The post Further expands global C-130 customer base with Indian Air Force appeared first on Asian Military Review.

    This post was originally published on Asian Military Review.

  • Greens condemn ‘two-tier’ NZ migrant policy as entrenching inequities

    RNZ News

    The New Zealand government’s immigration decisions amount to a “white immigration policy”, creating a two-tier system that will entrench inequities, claims the Green Party.

    National and ACT are also critical of the moves announced by Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and top ministers at a Business NZ lunch in Auckland today.

    The new policy sees New Zealand’s border fully reopening at the end of July, with sector-specific agreements to support a shift away from lower-skilled migrant labour.

    Green Party immigration spokesperson Ricardo Menéndez March said it would entrench a two-tier system.

    “The workers that we called essential throughout the pandemic, many will be missing out on genuine pathways to residency and we are narrowing down pathways to residency for those that we consider high-salary migrants. This will entrench inequities,” he said.

    “There are really clear wage gaps along ethnic lines — we’re effectively encouraging specific countries to come and become residents whereas people from the Global South who will be coming here, working in low wage industries, with no certain path to residency.”

    He was also concerned about the prospect of international students losing working rights after their studies, and the roughly 16,000 overstayers in New Zealand.

    ‘Feels like a white-immigration policy’
    “When we contextualise that many of the students and workers on low wages are from India and the Philippines, it kinda feels like we are creating a white-immigration policy – whether intentionally or otherwise.

    “We’re also missing stuff around an amnesty for overstayers as well as addressing issues around migrant exploitation … we’ve been told by the Productivity Commission and many groups that migrant workers need to have their wages decoupled from single employers.

    “These are people who have been living here for quite some time, many who are doing really important work but unfortunately are being exploited. If we’re really serious about enhancing workers’ rights, an amnesty should have been part of the rebalance.”

    The new immigration settings streamline the residency pathway for migrants either in “Green List” occupations or paid twice the median wage.

    National’s immigration spokesperson Erica Stanford said the broad brush approach was lazy.

    “They could be far more nuanced and actually have fair wage rates per industry, per region, but instead they’re taking the easy route and a broad brush approach.

    “I think it’s based on an unfair assumption that migrant workers drive down wages which, by the way the Productivity Commission said actually doesn’t happen.”

    Families ‘separated for too long’
    ACT Party leader David Seymour said the border should be open right now and families have been separated for far too long.

    “It’s not opening the border in July, it’s opening up applications in July,” he said.

    “Immigration New Zealand says that it will be five months on average to process a visa. The reality is if you’re one of 14 percent of New Zealanders born in a non-visa waiver country then your non-resident family can’t visit this year.”

    Businesses are relieved the border will fully open and many will attempt to attract migrant workers here.

    Business New Zealand’s director of advocacy Catherine Beard said skills shortages were across the board.

    “One of the top headaches that we hear everywhere from every sector is a shortage of talent so we really need to throw the welcome mat open to immigrants. We’re competing with other countries for this talent and it’s really hurting.”

    NZ Wine Growers chief executive Phil Gregan said re-opening the border to holidaymakers and tourists was important.

    “First, it’s a positive signal that we’re open for business. I think it’s also going to have very positive impacts on tourism, on hospitality and our business on wine reseller doors hopefully.”

    The wine sector is reliant on seasonal workers.

    This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

  • SC stays proceedings in sedition cases, asks Centre, states to not file fresh FIRs

    On Tuesday, the bench had asked the Centre make its stand clear within 24 hours on keeping the pending sedition cases in abeyance

    This post was originally published on The Asian Age | Home.

  • Cyclone Asani weakens as it approaches Andhra coast

    The weather system was expected to move away from the coast and further weaken into a depression by Thursday

    This post was originally published on The Asian Age | Home.

  • SC to government: Put sedition law on hold till review

    Expressing concern at the misuse of the sedition law, the CJI said, there are concerns. Cases are pending… the law is being misused

    This post was originally published on The Asian Age | Home.

  • Shivkumar Sharma, the santoor king, dies at 84

    Pandit Shivkumar Sharma will be cremated with state honours on Wednesday

    This post was originally published on The Asian Age | Home.

  • 25 Issues Of Increasing And Serious Concern In India

    There is increasing worry that in some areas of critical importance the situation in India has been deteriorating steadily during the last eight years or so. As India is home to about 18 per cent of people in the world, this is clearly a matter of urgent concern. Hence a review of these disturbing trends is urgently needed with a view to suggesting suitable remedial actions for checking this deterioration.

    Inequalities have been increasing recently to record levels. According to the World Inequality Report, after years of significant reduction of inequalities in the post-independence period, inequalities are coming back to their colonial levels in recent times. This report tells us that the bottom 50% have only 6% of the wealth, while the top 1% have 33% of the wealth. The bottom 50% have only 13% of the income, while the top 1% have 22% of the income.

    The post 25 Issues Of Increasing And Serious Concern In India appeared first on PopularResistance.Org.

    This post was originally published on PopularResistance.Org.

  • Shipyards Ring Full Speed Ahead

    A steady stream of orders are keeping Asian-Pacific warship builders busy. Warship building is at ‘full steam’ at Asian shipyards, with heightened tensions in the region ensuring a steady stream of orders. Australia is undertaking the largest regeneration of the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) since World War II. South Korea and India are well advanced […]

    The post Shipyards Ring Full Speed Ahead appeared first on Asian Military Review.

    This post was originally published on Asian Military Review.

  • Those who tried to spoil Punjab’s atmosphere will get strictest punishment: CM Mann

    The incident is being seen as a major intelligence failure as the office houses the state counter intelligence wing, special task force

    This post was originally published on The Asian Age | Home.

  • Confident AFSPA will soon be revoked from entire Assam: Amit Shah

    Shah said that due to the efforts of the Centre and CM Himanta Biswa Sarma, most of the militant outfits have entered into peace agreements

    This post was originally published on The Asian Age | Home.

  • Bulldozers reach Delhi’s New Friends Colony, day after Shaheen Bagh stir

    This comes a day after the civic body had to return without executing the action in Shaheen Bagh on Monday following protests by locals

    This post was originally published on The Asian Age | Home.

  • Cyclone Asani to recurve in next 24 hours; rain, winds likely in AP, Odisha, WB

    Met department predicted light to moderate rainfall at a few places with heavy to very heavy rainfall at isolated places over coastal AP

    This post was originally published on The Asian Age | Home.

  • Punjab on high alert after blast at Police Intelligence wing HQ in Mohali

    The windowpanes on one of the floors of the building were shattered because of the explosion

    This post was originally published on The Asian Age | Home.

  • Huge protest at Shaheen Bagh halt demolition drive by SDMC

    Massive protests erupted there as hundreds of people, including many women, started a dharna as soon as SDMC officials reached the spot

    This post was originally published on The Asian Age | Home.

  • Government tells Supreme Court it will review sedition law

    The Centre’s latest position is in sharp contrast with the stance it took in its response filed on Saturday

    This post was originally published on The Asian Age | Home.

  • Army chief: China’s intent is to prolong border issue

    Pande also said in the last couple of years the Army has decided to rebalance and reorient to deal with the situation in eastern Ladakh

    This post was originally published on The Asian Age | Home.

  • Congress has been good to all, time to repay debt: Sonia

    Apex decision-making body of the Congress meets on Monday to chalk out the modalities of the upcoming ‘Chintan Shivir’

    This post was originally published on The Asian Age | Home.

  • Hanuman Chalisa row: Mumbai police seek cancellation of Rana couple’s bail

    The police sought cancellation of the bail on the ground that they had allegedly violated one of the conditions imposed by the court

    This post was originally published on The Asian Age | Home.

  • Severe cyclone Asani rages in Bay of Bengal; Odisha plans evacuation

    The system will not make landfall either in Odisha or Andhra Pradesh, IMD Director General Mrutunjay Mohaptra had said

    This post was originally published on The Asian Age | Home.

  • Jahangirpuri violence: ‘Utter failure’ on part of Delhi police, says court

    The court rejected a clutch of bail pleas and said that the issue seems to have been simply brushed aside by senior officers

    This post was originally published on The Asian Age | Home.

  • Anti-encroachment drive: Bulldozers reach Shaheen Bagh, locals stage protest

    Protesters raised slogans against the BJP-ruled South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) as well as the central government

    This post was originally published on The Asian Age | Home.