<ul><li><keyword id="830092" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="zomato" source="Orion">Zomato</keyword> has relaunched its Gold loyalty program, offering discounts and special access to subscribers.</li><li>Gold subscribers will get free deliveries and up to 30% discount on food deliveries.</li><li>The company has also announced up to 40% discount for dining.</li></ul>Popular food delivery app Zomato has relaunched its Gold loyalty program, replacing the company’s “Pro Plus” membership that was discontinued in 2021. The <keyword id="7913404" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="zomato-gold-membership" source="Orion">Zomato Gold membership</keyword> is expected to be available to members soon. Users who subscribed to the company’s Pro Plus membership will get three months of complimentary Gold membership. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Zomato Gold price" comment="subhead" text="Zomato Gold price"><keyword id="16229038" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="zomato-gold-price" source="Orion">Zomato Gold price</keyword></cmsannotation> <keyword id="4299597" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="zomato-gold" source="Orion">Zomato Gold</keyword> has been launched with an introductory price of ₹149 for three months. The company has not revealed the price for an annual subscription yet. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Zomato Gold benefits" comment="subhead" text="Zomato Gold benefits"><keyword id="16229042" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="zomato-gold-benefits" source="Orion">Zomato Gold benefits</keyword></cmsannotation> Zomato has announced several benefits for food deliveries and dining. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Zomato Gold benefits for food deliveries" comment="subhead2" text="Zomato Gold benefits for food deliveries">Zomato Gold benefits for food deliveries</cmsannotation> The biggest benefit that Zomato will offer with Gold is free food deliveries. This will be limited to restaurants within 10 km of you and applicable on orders above ₹199. This is handy for someone who regularly places orders on Zomato. <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/apps/news/swiggy-one-membership-price-benefits-and-everything-you-need-to-know/articleshow/87848507.cms">Swiggy One</a> offers a similar benefit, offering free deliveries within 10 km of the user on orders above ₹149. In addition to free deliveries, users will also get discounts of up to 30% at over 20,000 restaurants across the country. Zomato will also offer a “no delay guarantee” to Gold subscribers and delayed deliveries will result in the user getting a ₹100 coupon instantly. The final benefit offered under Gold for food deliveries is VIP access during rush hour. Under this, Gold subscribers will still have access to restaurants during high demand, meaning they will get priority over normal users. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Zomato Gold benefit for dining" comment="subhead2" text="Zomato Gold benefit for dining">Zomato Gold benefit for dining</cmsannotation> Zomato Gold also brings offers for dining. This time, the company has partnered with over 10,000 restaurants across the country, allowing Gold users to get discounts of up to 40% while dining out. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/mobile/news/the-oneplus-11-may-undercut-the-iqoo-11-to-be-the-cheapest-snapdragon-8-gen-2-smartphone-in-india/articleshow/97269913.cms">The OnePlus 11 may undercut the iQOO 11 to be the cheapest Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 smartphone in India</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/logitech-mx-mechanical-keyboard-review-a-premium-mechanical-keyboard-for-professionals/articleshow/97255605.cms">Logitech MX Mechanical Keyboard review – a premium mechanical keyboard for professionals</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/mobile/news/samsung-galaxy-s23-series-to-launch-soon-launch-date-expected-price-and-features/articleshow/97243146.cms">Samsung Galaxy S23 series to launch soon – launch date, expected price and features</a>

Zomato Gold re-launched with free deliveries, VIP access, up to 40% discount on dining, and more

<ul><li><keyword id="6355203" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="qatar" source="Orion">Qatar</keyword> is hosting the 2022 <keyword id="57149" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="fifa" source="Orion">FIFA</keyword> World Cup across eight stadiums with an average capacity of 47,500 seats. </li><li>Over 2.45 million FIFA tickets have already been sold with the next ticket window opening in September. </li><li>Doha is a four hour flight from India and Indian travel agencies are offering FIFA World Cup packages. </li></ul>With less than 100 days left for the world’s biggest sporting event FIFA World Cup, tickets are flying off the shelves. As many as 2.45 million tickets are already sold out for Qatar <keyword id="653179" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="FIFA-World-Cup-2022" source="Orion">FIFA World Cup 2022</keyword>, and Indians too are planning trips to Doha. It comes as no surprise, since Doha is a four hour flight from India. Even without Indian representation, India has many football fans and the 32-team event with 65 matches across eight avenues, is taking a lot of them to Qatar. “We have booked over 160 travel packages until now. Over 70% of the queries have come from Kolkata. Although the tickets of the most important matches are sold out, we do have executive travel packages for flight and accommodation,” said Adit Sarin, founder of LestacIndia, a travel agency in India. Apart from LestacIndia, agencies like Fanatic Sports, Asia-based travel agency for customized sporting events and Make My Trip too have launched packages for the season. Travel and Ticket Categories for FIFA The average venue capacity of FIFA World Cup venues is 47,500 <a href="https://www.stadiumguide.com/tournaments/fifa-world-cup-2022-stadiums-qatar/">seats</a>. The FIFA federation has divided the tickets into four categories. Tickets for fans are only available in the categories 1, 2 and 3 as category 4 is reserved for Qatar residents. After the launch of the phase 1, 2 and 3 of FIFA tickets, the federation has announced the next sales phase to be launched in <a href="https://www.fifa.com/fifaplus/en/articles/fifa-world-cup-qatar-2022-tm-ticket-sales-reach-2-45-million">September</a>. This last minute sales phase will be allocated on a first-come first serve basis. The most expensive tickets would be from the Category 1 ticket finals costing over ₹1 lakh per person. Other categories are spread across categories 2 and 3 with the cheapest category 4 tickets only reserved for Qatar residents. In total, 65 games will be played at the FIFA World Cup 2022. While many travelers would reside at fan villages and hotels, food can be quite expensive. The average food cost for a tourist in Doha is ₹3,800 per day. “The public transport is free but the stay at the fan village is costly, with $70 per day only for accommodation. But we are excited nevertheless. This will be the last world cup for football mega stars <keyword id="704" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="lionel-messi" source="Orion">Lionel Messi</keyword> and Christiano Ronaldo. Qatar world cup is extra special because underdogs like Belgium and African teams came into the limelight,” said Shilarze Saha Roy, a 35-year-old from Kolkata, India attending the world cup. “Brazil, after a long time, will be favorites again,” added Roy. What are the packages? FIFA <a href="https://hospitality.fifa.com/2022/en/?utm_source=Social%20Media:%20Facebook&amp;utm_medium=Paid%20Post%20-%20Video&amp;utm_campaign=100%20Days%20To%20Go%20-%20ENG%20Boosted%20Post&amp;utm_id=FIFA%20WORLD%20CUP%20QATAR%202022%E2%84%A2&amp;fbclid=IwAR2Uj0YiwP9cn66VR1TA8W41qCa_o0cCW_FtBrVqtSKb6W2K0fFF_7xSTpY">listed</a> hotel packages starting from ₹26,934 per person. The packages can be broadly classified into three categories — premium, premium economy and economy. The ticket costs can be accessed<a href="https://www.fifa.com/fifaplus/en/tickets?cid=FIFA_Draw_Tickets_20220312_En"> here.</a> Middle and upper-middle packages Three travel agencies in India are listed below for offering travel packages that don’t include match tickets. Fanatic Sports, a Mumbai-based sports travel agency, has been appointed as the joint match hospitality partner in India for the FIFA World Cup in Qatar 2022. Its packages begin from ₹75,929 with the highest price being over ₹3 lakh. LestacIndia is offering travel packages for Indians traveling to Doha. This, however, does not include match tickets. The four-night package begins from ₹51,000 per person. MakeMyTrip is offering five flexi packages for the world cup ranging from ₹32,000 to ₹86,000 per person. LestacIndia packages <table style="border-width: initial; border-style: none;" class="redcator-table-advance"></colgroup><tbody><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 0.75pt;border-right:solid #000000 0.75pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 0.75pt;border-top:solid #000000 0.75pt;vertical-align:top;padding:6pt 6pt 6pt 6pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Category of accomodation for 4 nights in Qatar during FIFA world cup 2022 </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 0.75pt;border-right:solid #000000 0.75pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 0.75pt;border-top:solid #000000 0.75pt;vertical-align:top;padding:6pt 6pt 6pt 6pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Approx cost per person </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 0.75pt;border-right:solid #000000 0.75pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 0.75pt;border-top:solid #000000 0.75pt;vertical-align:top;padding:6pt 6pt 6pt 6pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">2* Category of Accommodation in FIFA package </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 0.75pt;border-right:solid #000000 0.75pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 0.75pt;border-top:solid #000000 0.75pt;vertical-align:top;padding:6pt 6pt 6pt 6pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">₹51K-90K </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 0.75pt;border-right:solid #000000 0.75pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 0.75pt;border-top:solid #000000 0.75pt;vertical-align:top;padding:6pt 6pt 6pt 6pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">3* category of accommodation in FIFA package </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 0.75pt;border-right:solid #000000 0.75pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 0.75pt;border-top:solid #000000 0.75pt;vertical-align:top;padding:6pt 6pt 6pt 6pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">₹75K- 275K </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 0.75pt;border-right:solid #000000 0.75pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 0.75pt;border-top:solid #000000 0.75pt;vertical-align:top;padding:6pt 6pt 6pt 6pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">4* category of accommodation in FIFA package </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 0.75pt;border-right:solid #000000 0.75pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 0.75pt;border-top:solid #000000 0.75pt;vertical-align:top;padding:6pt 6pt 6pt 6pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">₹150K-700K </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 0.75pt;border-right:solid #000000 0.75pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 0.75pt;border-top:solid #000000 0.75pt;vertical-align:top;padding:6pt 6pt 6pt 6pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">5* category of Accommodation in Qatar FIFA package </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 0.75pt;border-right:solid #000000 0.75pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 0.75pt;border-top:solid #000000 0.75pt;vertical-align:top;padding:6pt 6pt 6pt 6pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">₹290K – 170K </td></tr></tbody><tbody></tbody><tbody></tbody><tbody></tbody></table> The cheapest range of packages offered by the company begin at ₹35,000 for three nights in Qatar by LestacIndia and MMT. Package for the same amount of nights from MMT will cost ₹32,250 per person. LestacIndia <table style="border-width: initial; border-style: none;" class="redcator-table-advance"></colgroup><tbody><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 0.75pt;border-right:solid #000000 0.75pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 0.75pt;border-top:solid #000000 0.75pt;vertical-align:top;padding:6pt 6pt 6pt 6pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Category of accomodation for 3 nights in Qatar during FIFA world cup 2022 </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 0.75pt;border-right:solid #000000 0.75pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 0.75pt;border-top:solid #000000 0.75pt;vertical-align:top;padding:6pt 6pt 6pt 6pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Approx cost per person </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 0.75pt;border-right:solid #000000 0.75pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 0.75pt;border-top:solid #000000 0.75pt;vertical-align:top;padding:6pt 6pt 6pt 6pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">2* Category of Accommodation in FIFA package </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 0.75pt;border-right:solid #000000 0.75pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 0.75pt;border-top:solid #000000 0.75pt;vertical-align:top;padding:6pt 6pt 6pt 6pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">₹ 35K-60K </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 0.75pt;border-right:solid #000000 0.75pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 0.75pt;border-top:solid #000000 0.75pt;vertical-align:top;padding:6pt 6pt 6pt 6pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">3* category of accommodation in Fifa package </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 0.75pt;border-right:solid #000000 0.75pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 0.75pt;border-top:solid #000000 0.75pt;vertical-align:top;padding:6pt 6pt 6pt 6pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">₹ 55K- 2 lakh </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 0.75pt;border-right:solid #000000 0.75pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 0.75pt;border-top:solid #000000 0.75pt;vertical-align:top;padding:6pt 6pt 6pt 6pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">4* category of accommodation in Fifa package </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 0.75pt;border-right:solid #000000 0.75pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 0.75pt;border-top:solid #000000 0.75pt;vertical-align:top;padding:6pt 6pt 6pt 6pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">₹ 1.3 lakh -6 lakh </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 0.75pt;border-right:solid #000000 0.75pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 0.75pt;border-top:solid #000000 0.75pt;vertical-align:top;padding:6pt 6pt 6pt 6pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">5* category of Accommodation in Qatar FIFA package </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 0.75pt;border-right:solid #000000 0.75pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 0.75pt;border-top:solid #000000 0.75pt;vertical-align:top;padding:6pt 6pt 6pt 6pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">₹2.5 lakh – 1.5 lakh </td></tr></tbody><tbody></tbody><tbody></tbody><tbody></tbody></table> Premium Economy: <keyword id="109797" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="qatar-airways" source="Orion">Qatar Airways</keyword> Qatar Airways too is offering seven travel packages with tickets. This would include hotel stay in the category of one’s choice, match tickets and a cruise ship that will dock at Qatar. Capital travel, in association with Etihad Airways, has announced flight and one-night accommodation packages for ₹18,060 excluding tickets. The Qatar Airways ‘Support Your Team Package’ for a 13-night stay will range from over ₹5 lakh to ₹1 crore. The package includes four match tickets of the fan’s favorite team, with one ticket randomly selected. Early Groups Packages for the premium category includes a seven-night stay and three matches with residence in five star hotels of Qatar. They range from ₹6 lakh to ₹1 crore. The round of 16 packages consist of four nights, with two matches ranging from ₹3.9 lakh to ₹5.7 lakh. Another premium package can be accessed through Indian travel agency LestacIndia. <table style="border-width: initial; border-style: none;" class="redcator-table-advance"></colgroup><tbody><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 0.75pt;border-right:solid #000000 0.75pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 0.75pt;border-top:solid #000000 0.75pt;vertical-align:top;padding:6pt 6pt 6pt 6pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Category of accomodation for 3 nights in Qatar during FIFA world cup 2022 </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 0.75pt;border-right:solid #000000 0.75pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 0.75pt;border-top:solid #000000 0.75pt;vertical-align:top;padding:6pt 6pt 6pt 6pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Approx cost per person </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 0.75pt;border-right:solid #000000 0.75pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 0.75pt;border-top:solid #000000 0.75pt;vertical-align:top;padding:6pt 6pt 6pt 6pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">2* Category of Accommodation in FIFA package </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 0.75pt;border-right:solid #000000 0.75pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 0.75pt;border-top:solid #000000 0.75pt;vertical-align:top;padding:6pt 6pt 6pt 6pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">₹ 75K-120K </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 0.75pt;border-right:solid #000000 0.75pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 0.75pt;border-top:solid #000000 0.75pt;vertical-align:top;padding:6pt 6pt 6pt 6pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">3* category of accommodation in Fifa package </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 0.75pt;border-right:solid #000000 0.75pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 0.75pt;border-top:solid #000000 0.75pt;vertical-align:top;padding:6pt 6pt 6pt 6pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">₹100K- 300K </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 0.75pt;border-right:solid #000000 0.75pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 0.75pt;border-top:solid #000000 0.75pt;vertical-align:top;padding:6pt 6pt 6pt 6pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">4* category of accommodation in Fifa package </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 0.75pt;border-right:solid #000000 0.75pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 0.75pt;border-top:solid #000000 0.75pt;vertical-align:top;padding:6pt 6pt 6pt 6pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">₹ 210K-900K </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 0.75pt;border-right:solid #000000 0.75pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 0.75pt;border-top:solid #000000 0.75pt;vertical-align:top;padding:6pt 6pt 6pt 6pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">5* category of Accommodation in Qatar FIFA package </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 0.75pt;border-right:solid #000000 0.75pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 0.75pt;border-top:solid #000000 0.75pt;vertical-align:top;padding:6pt 6pt 6pt 6pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">₹ 350K – 200K </td></tr></tbody><tbody></tbody><tbody></tbody><tbody></tbody></table> After accessing these travel packages, there are a number of checklist documents required for travel to Qatar which have been listed below: <ul><li><keyword id="14724602" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Hayya-Card" source="Orion">Hayya Card</keyword> (<a href="https://hayya.qatar2022.qa/web/hayya/home">apply</a> after buying a match ticket): Having Hayya will give free access to public transport in Qatar during the day of the match.</li></ul><ul><li>Visa, if applicable</li></ul><ul><li>Travel insurance policy</li></ul><ul><li>Passport with six months validity</li></ul><ul><li>Valid vaccination certificate (booster recommended)</li></ul><ul><li>Covid-free certificate</li></ul>The weather in Doha during November and December 2022 would be pleasant ranging from 21-30 degrees. However, the temperature across stadiums may just pick up, hence pack accordingly. SEE ALSO: <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/sustainability/news/india-to-witness-45-50-mg-ev-on-the-road-by-2030-with-various-charging-technologies-says-a-new-report/articleshow/93882300.cms">India to witness 45-50 mg EV on the road by 2030, charging a primary concern, says a new report</a> <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/stock-market/news/hcl-tech-beats-wipro-to-become-indias-third-largest-it-company/articleshow/93879712.cms">HCL Tech beats Wipro to become India’s third largest IT company</a>

Best travel packages for Indians traveling to Doha for FIFA World Cup 2022

<ul><li>After the Indian government imposed a ban on single-use plastic last week, conglomerates like Parle Agro, Dabur, Amul and Mother Dairy, are rushing to replace their plastic straws with paper options.</li><li>Many other companies and even consumers are looking for cheaper alternatives to plastic.</li><li>Sustainable ecommerce platform <keyword id="13180401" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="sustainkart" source="Orion">SustainKart</keyword>’s co-founder and CEO tells us what India is purchasing after the ban and how it will bring about changes in consumer behaviour.</li></ul>What goes around comes around, especially when it comes to plastics. Even a worn-out piece of cloth that we decide to throw, something as simple as a handkerchief, never really goes ‘away.’ It all ends up in a <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/sustainability/news/sustainable-lifestyle-changes-are-the-need-of-the-hour-heres-how-you-can-take-baby-steps/articleshow/91978301.cms">landfill</a>. According to a PwC and Assocham <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/sustainability/news/sustainable-lifestyle-changes-are-the-need-of-the-hour-heres-how-you-can-take-baby-steps/articleshow/91978301.cms">report</a>, landfills are brimming with so much urban waste that by 2050, India is reportedly going to need a landfill that's the size of its capital, New Delhi! So, to reduce India’s plastic usage, the government announced a ban on single-use plastic last week. The ban has led to an increase in demand for sustainable products. Cheaper sustainable options There are a lot of sustainable alternatives to plastic in the market, including cloth, natural fibres, paper, biodegradable cornstarch packaging, etc. However, unlike a plastic bag that Indian consumers would get for free from their vegetable vendors or retail stores, the cheapest cloth bag costs between ₹10-15. 50 pieces of paper straws are available for ₹68, on other hand, plastic straws could be easily found for ₹25 on e-commerce websites. Almost all sustainable alternatives currently cost a lot more than single-use plastics. Conglomerates like Parle Agro, Dabur, Amul and Mother Dairy, among others, are rushing to <a href="https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/industry/cons-products/fmcg/plastic-ban-companies-switch-to-paper-straws/articleshow/92600206.cms?from=mdr">replace </a>their plastic straws with paper options. As more brands switch from plastic to costlier sustainable alternatives, the added cost will be passed on to the consumers, making the goods we buy more expensive. “Due to the enormous consumption of plastic, the price points of plastic materials are very much cheaper than the other alternatives. Close to the plastic price point will be cornstarch. However, if the consumption of these alternative materials increases in the market, the prices will automatically reduce,” Kanthi Dutt, co-founder and CEO of SustainKart, a sustainable e-commerce platform, told Business Insider India. Sustainable bottles, toothbrushes and earbuds are selling like hot cakes SustainKart has witnessed a jump in demand for plastic bottle replacements. “Compared to May 2021, we are selling double the quantity of steel/copper bottles on SustainKart every month now,” Dutt said. Younger audiences and pet parents are leading India towards sustainable practices. They are also brushing up their gardening skills in the monsoon season. “Travel and wellness products such as toothbrushes, earbuds, steel straws, and skincare are high selling. Holistic nutrition and food is the second-largest selling category. Also, we believe that pet parents and young parents think of sustainability more strongly,” said Dutt. In the last six years, Dutt said, eco-friendly products have witnessed twice the demand in India. “Consumers have started to realise the impact of single-use plastic after reading about pollution-related news during Covid. The ban on single-use plastic will influence the growth in sales of eco-friendly products,” he said. The <a href="https://www.financialexpress.com/brandwagon/organic-growth/2231244/">clean </a>and green market is growing massively in India. SustainKart expects sustainable e-commerce to become a big business in India in a few years and is hoping to leverage its first mover advantage to capture a large share of this market. “Unlike ever before, we see numerous sustainable, clean and green DTC (direct-to-consumer) brands launching daily. We believe that the more the brands, the more the awareness and reach, and the easier it would be for us to capture a huge pie of the market size,” said Dutt. In the last six months, SustainKart has catered to over 1.7 lakh customers. It is drawing close to ₹2 crore as its monthly recurring revenue (MRR). Its last funding round valued SustainKart at $15.5 million. Samantha Ruth Prabhu, Indian actor, is an investor in the company.

Plastic ban will create demand for green alternatives and bring down prices

<ul class="summary-list"><li>The world has averted a "true apocalypse" from the <keyword id="11896310" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="climate-crisis" source="Orion">climate crisis</keyword>, said writer David Wallace-Wells.</li><li><keyword id="12195931" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="renewable-energy" source="Orion">Renewable energy</keyword> is now cheaper than fossil fuels and attracting larger investment growth.</li></ul>Let's be honest: There's no time like the present to have climate anxiety. Millions of people are sweltering across the Northern Hemisphere as extreme heat hits countries from the UK and Spain to Tunisia and China. These lethal heat waves and other natural disasters will become more frequent unless countries and corporations shift away from fossil fuels and deploy renewable energy at a rapid clip. That just got harder in the US, where $300 billion in tax credits for solar and wind projects and energy storage stalled in Congress.But even David Wallace-Wells, a New York Times writer who authored "The Uninhabitable Earth" that warns we aren't nearly alarmed enough about the perils of the climate crisis, can see some bright spots behind the bad headlines. Wallace-Wells, <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-world-is-on-fire-heres-a-realistic-plan-to-save-humanity/id1594471023?i=1000570514293">on a recent episode of "Plain English" with Derek Thompson</a>, discussed how solar and wind power are now cheaper than fossil fuels and how humans have managed to "pull ourselves out of the range of a true apocalypse."<h2>The price of solar and wind power has dropped dramatically in the past decade</h2>Solar power is now the cheapest electricity in history and the majority of the world's population lives where it costs less to produce new power from solar and wind than from dirty energy, Wallace-Wells said, citing the International Energy Agency. That was true even before coal and gas prices soared this year because of inflation and Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The IEA in June <a href="https://www.iea.org/news/record-clean-energy-spending-is-set-to-help-global-energy-investment-grow-by-8-in-2022">also reported that investment</a> in clean energy is growing faster than investment in fossil fuels globally. Climate experts anticipate spending on <keyword id="12337458" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="renewables" source="Orion">renewables</keyword> to surpass $1.4 trillion this year, accounting for nearly 75% of the overall growth. That is still well short of what's needed to keep global warming below catastrophic levels, the report said, but it's a sign spending is headed in the right direction. Another caveat is that most of that investment is in wealthy economies, with some exceptions such as solar in India. Clean-energy spending in the developing word is still stuck at 2015 levels. Still, the price drop has created "a whole new paradigm" because it means the poorest countries can at least plan for a renewable future, Wallace-Wells said. <h2>The scariest warming predictions have been scaled back</h2>Some of the most extreme warming scenarios that scientists warned about as recently as a few years ago now seem implausible, Wallace-Wells said. Some earlier research had forecast that the planet could warm by up to 5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels under a business-as-usual future. That has been revised down to nearly 3 degrees by the end of the century — a threshold climate scientists still warn is catastrophic. Coral reefs — which millions of people rely on for food, jobs, and flood protection — would die, for example, and natural disasters that historically struck once a century would hit annually."What that means is that we have pulled ourselves out of the range of true apocalypse and we are now staring at a future in which we are going to be dealing with huge climate challenges and suffering, but in which a lot remains up to us to determine how we navigate that landscape," Wallace-Wells said. "The climate impacts are only half the story, and the human response is the other one," he added. "We're not engineering a great human response right now, but at least it's possible." <h2>The US has slashed emissions by more than 17% without major climate policies </h2>A shift away from coal and its replacement with natural gas, which produces half as much carbon dioxide as coal when burned, largely drove the trend.Now the challenge is deploying more renewable energy, <a href="https://www.eia.gov/tools/faqs/faq.php?id=427&amp;t=3">which only generates 20% of US power</a>, in part because wind and solar require a lot of land. Wallace-Wells said local communities that don't want these kinds of projects in their backyards are still resisting the change.

3 reasons to not be completely depressed about the climate crisis, even while terrible heat waves rage

<ul><li><keyword id="2407038" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="dmart" source="Orion">DMart</keyword> is among the top 15 companies in terms of valuation as it crossed market cap of ₹3 lakh crore last week.</li><li>However, the company’s shares noticed a sharp 7% dip on Monday after the company announced its September quarter results on Saturday.</li><li>Analysts have cited lack of fundamental changes in DMart’s business as one of the reasons why investors are trying to take a step back.</li></ul>DMart has added 43 stores in 2021, the revenue has hit a new record between July and September and the profit has grown too — well above its pre-pandemic level — but the stock took a 7% dip in trade on Monday after the second quarter earnings report came out Saturday. The street’s concern is the lack of strength shown by India’s largest retail chain (by market value) in the online space. <div type="image" title="DMart is continuing to do what it knows best but the street wants more" msid="87127521" hostid="261"></div> Stock broking firm JM Financial highlighted that DMart Ready’s ⁠— the ecommerce front of <keyword id="6410316" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="avenue-supermarts" source="Orion">Avenue Supermarts</keyword> ⁠— revenue declined 8% between July and September compared to the previous quarter. This was despite the soft launch in two new cities — Surat and Vadodara. <div type="image" title="DMart is continuing to do what it knows best but the street wants more" msid="87114918" hostid="261"></div> Shares of Avenue Supermarts have risen 76.4% this year on hope that India’s fourth richest man will take a bigger leap towards digital sooner than later. However, from the looks of it, he is taking very careful steps into the online retail world. <div type="image" title="DMart is continuing to do what it knows best but the street wants more" msid="87127541" hostid="261"></div> “The stock’s recent run-up and valuation have happened without any fundamental change in the business prospects,” highlighted a report by Edelweiss Securities. The stock broking firm further highlighted that the massive opportunity in the brick-and-mortar stores have been factored in but the further re-rating would now depend on “significant strides” in the online grocery operations or a step up in store addition. Take for instance, its online competitor JioMart is already serving customers in over 200 cities. Even within the areas where DMart has an online presence, the only thing that is driving growth are big discounts. DMart Ready is currently among <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/news/dmart-and-jiomart-are-offering-deep-discounts-to-catch-up-with-bigbasket/articleshow/86750826.cms">the cheapest online stores</a> and has been trying its best to take on the biggest e-grocer in the country BigBasket, which is now owned by Tata Digital. According to a recent report by Jefferies, JioMart has the highest discounts in packaged foods, beverages and home care whereas JioMart is best suited for dairy, basic staples and personal care. Watch More: DMart and JioMart are offering deep discounts to catch up with BigBasket <div type="Video" msid="87011977" hostid="261" title="DMart and JioMart are offering deep discounts to catch up with BigBasket" dataSource="BUSINESSINSIDER" thumbUrl="https://denmark.timesinternet.in/cmslite/api/app/images.jpg?msid=87011977"></div> The expansion of physical stores on the other hand has been strong over the last couple of years but even that has slowed in the last two quarters. However, this expansion is coming at a very low cost. Between September 2020 and September 2021 quarters, DMart’s other expenses have grown 3.2% despite nearly 11.8% increase in the store front. This indicates a “significant cost control” and “operating leverage”, as per a report by stock broking firm Prabhudas Lilladher. <table style="border-width: initial; border-style: none; table-layout: fixed; width: 468pt;" class="redcator-table-advance"></colgroup><tbody><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Quarter </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Stores added </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Apr-June 2020 </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">2 </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">July-Sept 2020 </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">6 </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Oct-Dec 2020 </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">1 </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Jan-Mar 2021 </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">13 </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Apri-June 2021 </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">22 </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">July-Sept 2021 </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">8 </td></tr></tbody><tbody></tbody><tbody></tbody></table>Source: Avenue Supermarts’ financial statement Right now, investors seem to be demanding a clearer promise of the future and what DMart’s chief executive Ignatius Navil Noronha’s strategy is going to be. In the meantime, analysts are cautious with their recommendation on the stock. <table style="border-width: initial; border-style: none; table-layout: fixed; width: 468pt;" class="redcator-table-advance"></colgroup><tbody><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Broking house </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Target price </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Motilal Oswal </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">₹4,900 </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Edelweiss </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">₹3,782 </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">ICICI Securities </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">₹4,000 </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Prabhudas Lilladher </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">₹5,359 </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">JM Financial </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">₹ 4,055 </td></tr></tbody><tbody></tbody><tbody></tbody></table> SEE ALSO <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/telecom/news/airtel-vodafone-idea-and-reliance-jio-have-till-october-29-to-opt-for-the-agr-dues-moratorium/articleshow/87107590.cms" data-type="tilCustomLink">Airtel, Vodafone Idea and Reliance Jio have till October 29 to opt for the AGR dues moratorium</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/cryptocurrency/news/brazil-buys-4-billion-in-crypto-ahead-of-bitcoin-law/articleshow/87109498.cms" data-type="tilCustomLink">Brazilians bought more than $4 billion in cryptocurrencies this year as the country looks to regulate Bitcoin</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/facebook-says-its-hiring-10000-people-in-europe-to-help-build-mark-zuckerbergs-metaverse/articleshow/87107124.cms" data-type="tilCustomLink">Facebook says it's hiring 10,000 people in Europe to help build Mark Zuckerberg's 'metaverse'</a>

DMart is continuing to do what it knows best but the street wants more

New Delhi, Riding on its <keyword id="764949" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="stellar-performance">stellar performance</keyword> in China and India, <keyword id="6369515" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="MediaTek">MediaTek</keyword> became the <keyword id="10501245" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="biggest-smartphone-chipset-vendor">biggest smartphone chipset vendor</keyword> with 31% market share in Q3 2020 for the first time, as <keyword id="554032" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Smartphone-sales">smartphone sales</keyword> rebounded in the September quarter. Meanwhile, Qualcomm was the biggest 5G chipset vendor globally in the <keyword id="4021103" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Third-Quarter">third quarter</keyword>, according to Counterpoint Research. "MediaTek's strong market share gain in Q3 2020 happened due to three reasons — strong performance in the mid-end smartphone price segment ($100-$250) and emerging markets like LATAM and MEA, the US ban on Huawei and finally wins in leading OEMs like Samsung, Xiaomi and Honor," said Research Director Dale Gai. The share of MediaTek chipsets in Xiaomi has increased by more than three times since the same period last year. "MediaTek was also able to leverage the gap created due to the US ban on Huawei. Affordable MediaTek chips fabricated by TSMC became the first option for many OEMs to quickly fill the gap left by Huawei's absence," Dei said in a statement. Qualcomm powered 39% of the 5G phones sold worldwide. The demand for 5G smartphones doubled in Q3 2020 – 17% of all smartphones sold in Q3 2020 were 5G. This impressive growth trajectory is going to continue, more so with Apple launching its 5G line-up. One-third of all smartphones shipped in Q4 2020 are expected to be 5G enabled. Research Analyst <keyword id="3657071" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="ankit-malhotra">Ankit Malhotra</keyword> said: "Qualcomm and MediaTek have both reshuffled their portfolios, and consumer focus has played a key role here". Last year, MediaTek launched a new gaming-based G-series, while Dimensity chipsets have helped in bringing 5G to affordable categories. The world's cheapest 5G device, the realme V3, is powered by MediaTek. "The immediate focus of chipset vendors will be to bring 5G to the masses, which will then unlock the potential of consumer 5G use cases like cloud gaming, which in turn will lead to higher demand for higher clocked GPUs and more powerful processors," Malhotra elaborated. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/stock-market/news/mrs-bectors-food-ipo-investors-saw-their-money-double-on-listing-day/articleshow/79934860.cms">Mrs Bector’s Food IPO investors saw their money double on listing day</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/thelife/personalities/news/from-taking-on-yahoo-to-being-tamed-by-chinas-communist-party-its-been-a-roller-coaster-decade-for-jack-ma/slidelist/79935613.cms">From taking on Yahoo to being tamed by China’s Communist Party— it’s been a roller coaster decade for Jack Ma</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/careers/news/ey-is-looking-to-hire-9000-techies-in-2021-to-boost-its-digital-services/articleshow/79936576.cms">EY is looking to hire 9,000 techies in 2021 to boost its digital services</a>

MediaTek becomes largest smartphone chipset vendor with 31% market share in Q3

<ul><li>It takes 45 documents to open a restaurant in India. </li><li>According to the latest <keyword id="6354872" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Economic-survey">economic survey</keyword>, <keyword id="8690890" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="opening-a-restaurant">opening a restaurant</keyword> business needs 12 to 16 licenses — way more, in fact four times that of Singapore and China, which require merely four licenses. </li><li>Delhi requires 26 documents — including liquor license, food safety and music — which is more than the number of documents needed to buy arms and guns with 19 documents. </li><li>It takes another 35 days to get access to water and sewer connection.</li></ul>It takes 45 documents to open a restaurant in India — thanks to the regulatory licenses needed to facilitate it. According to the latest economic survey prepared by the Chief Economic Advisor, KV Subramanian, opening a restaurant business needs 12 to 16 licenses — four times that of Singapore and China, which require merely four licenses. 
 
 
 <div type="image" title="Licenses needed to open a restaurant" msid="73802601" hostid="261"></div>







 Among the metropolitan areas, Bengaluru requires 36 documents mandatory for approval while Mumbai gives a go ahead with 22, as per the National Restaurants Association of India (NRAI). The national capital, on the other hand, requires 26 documents — including liquor licence, food safety and music. That is, in fact, more than the number of documents needed to buy arms and guns with 19 documents. Construction permit And, the construction permit and warehouse costs just add to it. The businesses in Delhi have to undergo several procedures — which takes almost four months to finally get a construction permit and another 35 days to get access to water and sewer connection. This is double the amount of time needed to build one in Hong Kong — which leads in the World Bank rankings to obtain construction permits. However, India has improved in the process of obtaining permits in the last five years. In 2014, the process took over six months to facilitate restaurant owners to actually start building on the land. These are some of the gaps highlighted by Subramanian in the latest <keyword id="7828702" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Economic-Survey-2020">Economic Survey 2020</keyword> that are affecting the ease of doing business in India. The survey also calls for the government to introduce more reforms to facilitate businesses. See also: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/policy/economy/news/top-highlights-from-india-economic-survey-2020-ahead-of-budget/articleshow/73797332.cms?src=hp_ts">'Boost home sales to revive banks' ⁠— that and other top highlights from India Economic Survey 2020</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/india/news/here-is-the-price-of-a-thali-in-every-india-state-and-jharkhand-has-the-cheapest/articleshow/73799864.cms?src=hp_latest">Thalinomics: here is the price of a thali in every India state — and Jharkhand has the cheapest</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/apple-iphone-7-and-ipod-price-and-value-addition-in-different-countries/articleshow/73801274.cms?src=hp_latest">Here’s how much countries gain from putting together iPhone 7 and iPod ⁠— Economic Survey’s case for ‘Assemble in India’</a>

These are the documents needed to open a restaurant— the checklist is much smaller for a gun

<ul><li>One of India’s biggest producers, <keyword id="6354597" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Ekta-Kapoor">Ekta Kapoor</keyword>, says streaming giants will go for movies which are economical. </li><li>She suggested Indian film makers to start producing cost-effective films so that they can approach OTT players in case they are unable to release their films theatrically. </li><li>Kapoor is confident that people will still watch films — even if they stream it online. </li></ul>Indian film and television producer Ekta Kapoor believes the budgets for movies should go down by at least 30% post the COVID-19 crisis. “I would say to keep in mind that tomorrow supply vs demand might change with different apps, because there are only three or four big apps picking up films people like us will be making more content instead, they will have to deliberately keep cost at 30% lower, one sector i.e theatres have gone down,” Ekta Kapoor, Joint Managing Director and Creative Head of '<keyword id="1227219" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Balaji-Telefilms-Limited">Balaji Telefilms Limited</keyword>', told Business Insider in its latest episode of the Big reset. <div type="twitter" handle="BiIndia" handlename="Business Insider India🇮🇳" image="http://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/1232926719016718336/sfffJHNV_normal.jpg" favoritecount="63" retweetcount="35" status="#TheBigReset | @Biindia's @iyer_sriram speaks to @SunjoyJ of @orfonline, @BTL_Balaji's @ektarkapoor, @oyorooms'… https://t.co/KazRSOwkCG" createdat="1591785193000" id="1270665315731386369"></div> Kapoor is the Managing director of Balaji Telefilms and is famous for producing some of best-selling soap operas for more than two decades. She suggested Indian film makers to start producing cost-effective films so that they can approach OTT players in case they are unable to release their films theatrically. “Since everyone is aware of the situation being so drastic, the industry must come together and say let’s make cost-effective films, tomorrow if they don’t release in the theatres there are many apps,” Kapoor told Business Insider “Film will be watched” While India was under lockdown, the multiplexes did not only lose ticket sales but also sales from pricey food and cold drinks served within the theatres. This, in turn,will reduce the returns multiplexes used to share with the film producers. “We (Balaji telefilms) are now pumping more money into films because we believe deliberation will lead to celebration — and it takes one and half to a year to make a movie. We’re hoping that there is a mindset change and we are investing” Kapoor says Balaji telefilms simultaneously is also investing in digital platforms now and television. “We are not scared as the producers of the industry know if the film can’t be released automatically there’s a digital platform where the film will be watched,” Kapoor added. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/international/news/a-chinese-company-trump-tata-nano-by-selling-the-worlds-cheapest-car-but-it-still-looks-like-a-giant-matchbox/articleshow/76300728.cms">A Chinese company trump Tata Nano by selling the world’s cheapest car — but it still looks like a giant matchbox</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/thelife/personalities/news/arun-bharat-ram-and-arvind-lal-the-two-businessmen-became-billionaires-during-the-lockdown/articleshow/76297080.cms">Arun Bharat Ram and Arvind Lal — the two businessmen who became billionaires during the lockdown</a>

Indian filmmakers should cut production cost by at least 30%, says Ekta Kapoor

<ul><li>An ICMR survey says that the highest intake came from vegetarian dishes like dal fry, rice, stuffed paratha, chuduva, bisibelebath, and pulihora. </li><li>People in Delhi and Ahmedabad consumed high levels of visible fat among the seven metro cities. </li><li>Mumbai and Hyderabad consumed the lowest visible fat amongst the seven metroes surveyed. </li></ul>Who likes to have dal without a sputtering tadka of red chillies? Well it is this love for delicious food might be inching up your fat intake. Along with dal fry, dishes like stuffed paratha, chuduva (poha), Karnataka’s staple Bisibelebath and Andhra’s favourite pulihora (tamarind rice) — have all been listed as foods with high amounts of ‘visible fat’ by an ICMR survey. It doesn’t matter if you are a mutton <keyword id="41887" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="biryani">biryani</keyword> person or a chicken biryani person. Almost all non-vegetarian foods like, fish, chicken, egg and mutton give high amounts of visible fat, says the survey by Indian Council of Medical Research-National Institute of Nutrition (ICMR-NIN). But vegetarians have nothing to be too happy about either. Those who love to eat rice with potato fry and other tubers and roots consume more ‘visible’ fat, the survey says. Moreover, researchers noted that contrary to general belief, vegetarians consumed more fat than non-vegetarians in the seven metros they surveyed. Delhi and Ahmedabad top the fat charts The Dil-wala Delhi meals and Gujarati meals which “cannot-be-served-without-ghee” also made it to the top of the list. The survey says that Delhi and Ahmedabad consumed the highest levels of visible fat among the seven metros <keyword id="8796353" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="whilemumbai">whileMumbai</keyword> and Hyderabad consumed the least. The other cities which were a part of the survey were Bengaluru, Chennai and Kolkata. 
 <div type="image" title="pexels-photo-941869." msid="74192649" hostid="261"></div>



 “The visible fat consumption levels were significantly higher in Delhi and Ahmedabad at 44.4 gm per person/day and 43.9 gmrespectively, while the average intake in Hyderabad and Mumbai were the lowest at 25.1 gm,” says Prof P K Seth, chairman of International Life Sciences Institute India. ‘Don’t ditch your biryani but eat healthy’ Seth added that the average intake of all metros pooled was at 32.6 gm per person/day. ICMR recommends 20 gm per person per day. Overall, 18% of the total intake of energy came from visible fat. “Although, we know you can’t ditch your beloved biryani, but it is important that people are motivated to consume balanced diets, adopt a healthy lifestyle, undertake physical activity including Yoga,” said Seth. He also said that healthy dietary practices must begin early in life. See also: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/india/news/here-is-the-price-of-a-thali-in-every-india-state-and-jharkhand-has-the-cheapest/articleshow/73799864.cms">Thalinomics: Here is the price of a thali in Indian states — and Jharkhand has the cheapest</a>

Meals in Delhi and Ahmedabad have the highest amount of fat

<ul><li><keyword id="1552189" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Pine-Labs">Pine Labs</keyword> android <keyword id="4468868" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="PoS-device">PoS device</keyword> already has 50,000 touch points across 100 cities. </li><li>In an interview with Business Insider, Kush Mehra, chief business officer, Pine Labs talks about why the company is not worried about competition. </li><li>The PoS market is heating up in India with players like <keyword id="6357120" type="DEFINITION" weightage="20" keywordseo="paytm">Paytm</keyword>, Mswipe among others.</li></ul>Merchants payments platform Pine Labs, which sells point-of-sale terminals, knows the segment is getting crowded – after Paytm brought its own Android PoS. Yet, it's not worried. Last year, after rigorous development and efforts, Pine Labs launched their Android PoS device, which is already present in 50,000 touch points across 100 cities. Re-engineering the offline payment market “This is probably after a very long time that a product has come in the market and has become transformational in the point-of-sale offline market,” Kush Mehra, chief business officer, Pine Labs told Business Insider. Pine Labs has been in the merchants payment business since 1998. In that market, the company currently has a wide user base of 150,000 unique merchants which translates to 460,000 touch points. But they also saw a design gap in the market – PoS was still backed on traditional devices which supported basic payments. “But it was time to reengineer the whole thing and that’s how Android PoS came about,” he said. The Android PoS will not just accept all payments – from card to wallets; it will also offer EMI options on credit and debit cards. ‘Merchants are happy to pay a premium’ In February 2020, digital payments leader Paytm in February 2020 also launched point-of-sale device which will accept everything under the universe – Paytm wallet, debit/credit cards, all UPI apps and even offer EMI options. Then there's Mumbai-based Mswipe, which raked in ₹1.42 billion in revenue post demonetisation in the year of 2016-17. Meanwhile, Poynt – a smart terminal which is the brainchild of Osama Bedier, the creator of Google Wallet – is also looking at India as an ideal market. Poynt, as Bedier likes to call the ‘Android’ for digital payments. Yet, Mehra believes that its device which is not linked with a particular bank and gives a wide variety of options to the merchant, sets it apart. “Merchants look at us the best financing option. The market is still very big and under penetrated. Less than 20% of the total merchants in India are digitised. Our proposition is very unique which is targeted according to segments. We are flexible according to the merchant,” said Mehra. For this, merchants are happy to pay a premium as well. “Unlike our competitors we don’t have to say that our Android PoS is the cheapest or anything. Over the last nine months we have seen that if you solve merchants' problems, they are happy to pay a premium,” he said. Pine Labs, which has customers like Reliance Retail, Air Asia, Future retail, Jubilant Foodworks etc., now aims to target the small and medium segment even more and identifies it as a high growth area. “Until about 2 years ago, 20% of our merchants used to be SMEs, now more than 50% are from the SME segment. We see this number growing to 70%,” said Mehra. In 2020, Pine Labs has set targets for itself. It wants to double down on its Android PoS touchpoints. “The journey has just started, we were ahead of the curve by bringing it first to the market,” said Mehra. See Also: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/paytm-pos-device-can-accept-credit-cards-debit-cards-e-wallets-and-even-take-food-orders/articleshow/73932263.cms">Paytm's new device can accept credit cards, debit cards, e-wallets – and even take food orders</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/from-mswipe-to-poynt-startups-are-investing-in-smart-billing-machines/articleshow/68684412.cms">A lot of money is flowing into making 'smart' billing machines in India</a>

Pine Labs is not worried about Paytm – and aims to double down on PoS transactions in a year

<ul class="summary-list"><li>A full-scale nuclear war could <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/india-pakistan-nuclear-war-death-famine-2019-10">trigger a global famine</a>. </li><li>Disaster planner David Denkenberger has created a diet that might save humanity in that scenario.</li><li>He suggests eating <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/after-asteroid-volcano-nuke-mushrooms-help-humans-survive-2019-9">foods that can grow without much light</a>, like mushrooms and seaweed.</li><li>He also highlights creative ways to <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/air-meat-alternative-startup-nasa-2019-11">make protein out of natural gases in the air</a>.</li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/?hprecirc-bullet">Visit Businessinsider.com for more stories</a>.</li></ul>More than two centuries ago, the largest volcanic eruption in recorded history pushed millions of people in North America and Europe toward the brink of famine.In 1815, Mount Tambora erupted in Indonesia, pumping dust, ash, and sulfur dioxide into the atmosphere. The explosion triggered freezing temperatures in the summer of 1816, which destroyed crops and vegetation. Birds dropped dead out of the sky. Desperate for food, people reportedly <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/weather/2016/05/26/year-without-a-summer-1816-mount-tambora/84855694/">ate raccoons and pigeons</a>.The period became known as the "volcanic winter" or "year without summer." On average, the global temperature cooled by nearly 2 degrees Fahrenheit. David Denkenberger, a mechanical engineer at the University of Alaska, often uses the eruption as an example when people ask about the possibility of nuclear winter - the period of cold and darkness after a nuclear war - today. "There's definitely historical precedent," he told Business Insider. "But it has been a challenge getting people to think about these bigger disasters."Denkenberger runs the non-profit Alliance to Feed the Earth in Disasters (ALLFED), which researches ways to protect the world's food supply during a global catastrophe. In the event of a nuclear winter, he said, harvesting foods like mushrooms, seaweed, and even sugar from leaves could help create a sustainable "disaster diet."<h2>Nuclear winter could envelop the world in darkness</h2>Nuclear researchers predict that a full-scale nuclear war between India and Pakistan (which are both <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-india-kashmir-pakistan-nuclear-factbo/factbox-india-and-pakistan-nuclear-arsenals-and-strategies-idUSKCN1QI4O5">expanding their nuclear arsenals</a>) could result in the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/india-pakistan-nuclear-war-death-famine-2019-10">detonation of 250 100-kiloton weapons</a> - each more than six times the size of the "Little Boy" atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima, Japan.In that extreme scenario, a cloud of black soot could envelop the sky and block sunlight, causing temperatures to fall dramatically. Key agricultural hotspots could lose the ability to grow crops, triggering a global famine. "It would be instant climate change," Alan Robock, the author of a recent study that examines the <a href="https://advances.sciencemag.org/content/5/10/eaay5478">effects of a nuclear war between the two countries</a>, told Business Insider. "As horrible as the direct effects of nuclear weapons would be, the indirect effects on our food supply would be much worse."But Denkenberger says there are ways to sustain ourselves, even if the land becomes scorched and severe cold descends.<a href="https://www.fungimag.com/spring-08-articles/sustainability.pdf">A paper</a> published in 2008 described about how fungi could survive both a thermonuclear holocaust and a subsequent nuclear winter."The conclusion of the paper was, maybe when humans go extinct, the world will be ruled by mushrooms again," Denkenberger said. "I said, 'Wait a minute. Why don't we eat the mushrooms and not go extinct?'"That paper got him thinking about how other foods could support human life, he said. <h2>Mushrooms and seaweed can grow without much light</h2>Even if a nuclear winter destroyed trillions of trees, mushrooms could feed on that dead matter, creating a regenerative food source that could potentially <a href="https://allfed.info/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Feeding-everyone-if-the-sun-is-obscured-and-industry-is-disabled.pdf">feed everyone on the planet for about three years</a>, according to Denkenberger's estimates. Since mushrooms don't rely on photosynthesis, they can survive without much light. The same goes for seaweed."Seaweed is a really good food source in a scenario like this because it can tolerate a low light levels," Denkenberger said. "It's also very fast-growing. In a nuclear winter, the land will cool down faster than the oceans, so the oceans will remain a little bit warmer. Seaweed can handle relatively low temperatures."To feed everyone on the planet, Denkenberger estimates that the world would need around 1.6 billion tons of dry food per year. Humans could potentially grow that amount of seaweed, he said, in three to six months. But in order consume the proper nutrients to ward off disease, humans <a href="https://allfed.info/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/agriculture-353686-vitamins-update.pdf">can't rely on a single food source</a> (or two). So Denkenberger put together a chart of what a typical 2,100-calorie diet might look like in a post-doomsday scenario. The diet involves a mixture of meat, eggs, sugar, and mushrooms. It also includes dandelions and tea made from tree needles, which contain Vitamin C. Naturally growing bacteria would serve as a source of Vitamin E, which is important for brain function. Denkenberger said he plans to study other natural food sources that could grow near the equator, where there would still be some sunlight post-disaster (though the temperature would be low)."One of the things I've learned by moving to Alaska is that, even in areas where the summers are so cool that trees cannot grow, you can actually grow potatoes," he said. Leaves also contain stringy fiber (cellulose) that could be converted into sugar, Denkenberger added. That process is already happening at biofuel plants, which convert cellulose into sugar to make ethanol.<h2>The cost of a post-disaster diet</h2>If the global agricultural system were to collapse, Denkenberger said, current stores of dry food could feed around 10% of the global population for five years. That, of course, is insufficient.The cost of those supplies would also rise due to demand, he added: "I'm very concerned that the food price will go so high that a billion people just wouldn't be able to afford food."Storing up large quantities of food ahead of a disaster would also be expensive. Denkenberger said such an effort would "cost trillions of dollars and take a long time."Alternatively, he estimated that dry seaweed can be produced for around $1 per pound; that's about the lowest reasonable cost for dry food in a disaster scenario, according to Denkenberger's estimates.That means it would cost around $3.2 trillion to produce enough seaweed to feed everyone on Earth for one year - a price that should, he added, mean almost everyone in the world could afford to eat. <h2>There are creative ways to make protein from thin air</h2>Denkenberger has proposed a few technological solutions for growing food that can't be stored. First, he recommends utilizing natural gas in the atmosphere to produce protein.The Denmark-based company <a href="https://www.unibio.dk/">Unibio</a> is already developing a way to convert methane into a highly concentrated protein that can be dried and packaged into fish food. The Silicon Valley-based company <a href="http://calysta.com/">Calysta</a> is also using gases like nitrogen and methane to feed fish and livestock. In a catastrophe, Denkenberger said, those proteins could be used to feed humans as well. Denkenberger said he's also working on a project funded by NASA that is looking into how to heat coal without any oxygen present. The heating process would produce hydrogen and carbon dioxide that could be converted into protein.But Denkenberger said isn't a fan of using artificial light, such as LEDs, to grow food. He sees that approach as a last resort. "Unfortunately, it's extremely inefficient and expensive," Denkenberger said.Instead, he said, his nonprofit is looking at ways to grow food in greenhouses near the equator, where there would still be some natural sunlight."Then we could grow pretty much any crop at a much lower cost than artificial light," he said. "And because it wouldn't use so much energy, we can use the energy for feeding more people."<h2>These solutions could help after other disasters, too</h2>Denkenberger said employees in the agriculture and government sectors are more concerned about disasters like hurricanes than a full-scale nuclear winter. "If you have a localized disaster, generally the cheapest thing to do is just to ship grain in," he said. "But in certain circumstances, if the transportation is disrupted, that might not work."He thinks some of his solutions, like extracting sugar and protein from leaves, could be applied to feed people during a local catastrophe. But it is also possible to store enough food for a major disaster such as a nuclear war between India and Pakistan, he added."Even though their nuclear arsenals are much smaller than the US and Russia's, there have still been models indicating that it could create a 10% or 20% reduction in the global food supply," he said. "We waste more food than that and feed more food than that to animals."

A full-scale nuclear winter would trigger a global famine. A disaster expert put together a doomsday diet to save humanity.

<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"></div></div></div>Of all the cities in the world, your dollar will go the furthest in Mumbai, India.It's currently the cheapest city to live in, according to the Economist's <a href="http://www.eiu.com/public/topical_report.aspx?campaignid=Wcol2014">World Cost of Living Index</a>.The index, which is calculated every other year, compares countries based on the cost of things like food, drink, clothing, rent, transportation, and utility bills.It's designed to help companies figure out how much to compensate employees who are working overseas. Some of the world's cheapest cities, like fourth-ranked Damascus, Syria, are also among the most dangerous. This list shouldn't be considered a guide for people who are looking to save money by moving overseas - try this <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/4-countries-where-expats-can-live-for-cheap-2014-10">list of places where expats can live for cheap</a> instead - but rather as a look into the cost of living in places far away from home.All prices listed are from the Economist's <a href="http://www.eiu.com/public/topical_report.aspx?campaignid=Wcol2014">World Cost of Living Index</a>. Mandi Woodruff contributed to an earlier version of this article.

The 10 most affordable cities in the world

If you're one of those people who believe it's possible to fall in love with food and would rather have a plate of burger and fries for company than people, well we have a question for you- exactly how much are you willing to spend for a food item? 
 
Okay, before you answer- allow us to give you some background. 
 Let's start with what's considered the cheapest and most widely available food item in India- the <keyword id="6436690" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Paan">paan</keyword>. A paan is an Indian traditional mouth freshener consisting of <keyword id="739459" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="betel-leaves">betel leaves</keyword> and a host of ingredients intended to give you a minty, fresh feeling. These are usually priced as low as Rs 10, going up to Rs 200 and are usually consumed without much thinking. 
 
But what if they have a price tag of Rs 5,000? Nope, this is not a prank. 
 
As it turns out, Tara Pan Centre in Aurangabad run by a tall, white-bearded man called Mohammad Sarfuddin Siddiqui houses the country's most expensive paan which will set you back by Rs 5,000. 
 
The shop which has stood its ground since the last three decades is considered one of Aurangabad's iconic landmarks, giving stiff competition to the Ajanta and Ellora caves in the same vicinity. 
 
What's so great in this paan, you ask? Well, for starters, the paan in question, christened the Kohinoor Paan has travelled the world and been eaten in Kuwait, Jeddah and Dubai. Once upon a time, bundles of this paan would be air-freighted to these countries first thing every morning. 
 
But, thanks to the strict security measures which ended up spoiling the ingredients, the practice of exporting the Kohinoor Paan had to be stopped. 
 
However, that had no effect on its popularity, which has remained unmatched ever since its inception. 
 
Maybe the reason could be that the paan, as its name suggests, is sold in pairs exclusively for couples, also serves as an aphrodisiac, whose effect, Sarfubhai maintains, will last for TWO WHOLE DAYS. 
 
He attributes the paan's unexpected popularity to the fact that couples nowadays are not hesitant to try out props when affection is lost between them, and believe it or not, the demand for this paan soars high during weddings. 
 
Even though Sarfubhai has a team of 23 people to help him out with all the assorted paans that are available at his shop, the Kohinoor Paan is infact prepared solely by him. 
 
This paan, which comes in a pair is typically sold in a colourful pack with three compartments. The paan meant for the male differs from the female one. Besides the secret ingredients that he zealously guards, the male paan comprises mush, a Rs 70 lakh per kg musk, agar, a liquid fragnance found only in West Bengal with a price tag of Rs 7 lakh per kg, saffron at Rs 2 lakh per kg, 80,000 per kg gulab- all wrapped in Kolkata's famed meetha paan patta. 
 
On the other hand, the female version of the paan consists of gulab, safed musali, a root used as an aphrodisiac soting about Rs 6,000 per kg , less quantity of saffron, among other things- all wrapped in the same paan leaf. 
 
There's more. The pack also contains a bottle of musk-scented ittar, which can be found in the third compartment and the paan has some strict instructions- The couple must consume it two hours before the intended action. Meanwhile, the ittar should be judiciously applied on themselves, their pillows and bed. Lastly, the paan can't be spit out. It needs to be consumed completely. 
 
Not surprisingly, the first question Sarfubhai asks anyone looking for the Kohinoor paan is whether they're married!

This Rs 5000 pan may just improve your sex life

If you're planning a beach vacation, you'd better get to it soon. An alarming statistic for you: 67% of Southern California beaches? GONE by 2100. All because of sand. Even if you don't think about the grainy stuff, you use it daily. You're reading this off something made with sand, looking at it through a screen made with sand, surrounded by buildings made with concrete. I could let you guess what's in concrete, but I suspect you're already catching onto a theme here. The following is a transcript of the video.I'll try to make this quick since we don't have a lot of time. The world is running out of sand.Crazy right? We literally have tons of it on beaches, deserts, and under the ocean, but we're using it up faster than the planet can make it.We use sand way more than you'd expect. Worldwide, we go through 50 billion tons of sand every year. That is twice the amount produced by every river in the world.After air and water, sand is our most used natural resource. We use it even more than oil.It's used to make food, wine, toothpaste, glass, computer chips, breast implants, cosmetics, paper, paint, plastics.So where does it all come from? Well, let's ask Vince Beiser! He wrote a book on the subject, called <a href="https://www.amazon.com/World-Grain-Story-Transformed-Civilization/dp/0399576428/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&amp;qid=&amp;sr=">The World in a Grain</a>.Vince Beiser: "So the sand that we use, is what you call 'marine sand.' It's the sand that you find at the bottom of rivers, and on beaches and at the bottom of lakes and oceans." I know what you're thinking, and no, we can't use sand from the desert. Wind erosion makes the grains too round for most purposes. We need angular sand that interlocks like pieces to a puzzle. Like the sand generated from mountain rocks, pelted by rain, wind, and rivers for over 25 thousand years.The major player for sand usage is concrete. Okay, just to clarify: cement is the lime and clay based glue that holds everything together, and concrete is the finished product that you walk on, drive on, and live inside.Concrete is made of 10% cement (lime and Clay) 15% water and -yup: 75% sand. The concrete required to build a house takes on average 200 tons of sand, a hospital uses 3,000 tons, and a mile of a highway requires 15,000 tons.It makes sense that the world makes over 4 billion tons of concrete annually. We need more every year. The number and size of our cities is exploding, especially in the developing world.This change is most noticeable in China, now home to the largest urban area in the world, the Pearl River Delta. Between 42 and 60 million people call the delta home. China now has 102 cities with a population of over a million. Europe has 38. For all those new cities, they need a lot of concrete.Between 2011 and 2013, China used more concrete than the US did in the entire 20th century. Again: in Three years, China built the equivalent to every highway, road bridge in the US. And the Hoover DamSo it's not outrageous to hear that China also outpaces the world in cement production. By a LOT: 2500 metric tons a year.All that cement is going to need a lot of sand to make concrete. Most of it comes from dredging Poyang Lake. An estimated 236 cubic metes of sand are taken from it every year, making it the largest single sand mine in the world.But concrete isn't the only use for sand. China is also using tons of sand to build up islands in the South China Sea, expanding its foothold in the region.And China's not the only nation building islands from nothing. You've seen these before. The Palm Islands and The World were major island building projects in Dubai, and required 186.5 million meters of sand. This depleted the sea floor around the United Arab Emirates, leaving importing sand from Australia as the only option when constructing the world's tallest building, the Burj Khalifa.It's no surprise then that the sand extraction is a $70 billion industry.Vince Beiser: "The easiest, cheapest and best quality sand actually comes from riverbeds. It's very easy to get, you just send a boat out into the middle of a river, with a big suction pump on it. Its basically like a big straw that you drop down to the bottom of the river, suck all that sand up off the bottom."Problem Solved? Nope! The ocean floor isn't miles of sand deep. It's a thin layer over rock, and that layer is home to microorganisms, which feed the base of the food chain. Collecting that sand disrupts fishing in the area and the landscape on shore. When removing sand from the seabed, the shore above water slides into the valley to even itself out. This still leaves shore communities open to flooding and erosion.Vince Beiser: "The recent floods in Houston were actually made worse by sand mining in the San Jacinto River. The San Jacinto is one of the rivers that borders Houston. It's also an excellent source of sand. It has been mined very heavily for sand for the past ten, twenty years." Up to 90% of the world's beaches have shrunk an average of 40 meters since 2008. If you haven't noticed a change in your favorite beach, you're not alone. Popular shores replenish their dying beaches with even more sand, imported from elsewhere. And if we keep it up: Almost 70% of Southern California's spectacular beaches could be completely eroded by 2100.Governments worldwide have begun to regulate and restrict sand mining and concrete production. Now Problem solved, right? Actually, It's caused an entirely new problem: The Black Market of Sand Illegal sand mining has lead to the rise of the Sand Mafia, India's strongest criminal organization.This interconnected group of businessmen, drivers and criminals use their influence, and if that fails, violence and murder to keep the sand flowing illegal sand generates $2.3 billion a year, employing 75,000 of India's impoverished to dive for sand in rivers. Divers work 12-hour days, diving up to 200 times and making only $15 a boatload. Many suffer from bleeding ears and headaches. Deaths and drownings go unreported.Worldwide, illegal sand mining has destroyed entire islands. Two dozen Indonesian islands have disappeared around the same time Singapore imported 17 million tons for it's massive 50-mile land expansion. It wasn't until 2010 that dozens of Malaysian officials were charged with accepting bribes and sexual favors for importing the illegal sand.Vince Beiser: "The first thing that we're going to see in this country, the sort-of canary in the coal mine, that will really let us know that things are starting to get bad, is prices. I believe this is one of the reasons that housing prices have gone up so much, in pretty much all of America's big cities, because the price of sand has about quintupled in the past 30-40 years. And that's one of the critical inputs whenever you're building a house, of course, is sand for the concrete."We do have some alternatives. While crushing rocks and recycled concrete is expensive, it can be used to create concrete-quality sand. Glass bottles can be ground to make 'recycled glass sand' to replenish beaches. Yes, it's totally safe, and no, it won't cut you.Finally, UN Environmental Program suggests better pricing and taxing on sand mining to encourage these alternatives. They also recommend an immediate need for creating regulations in all countries, as well as international waters.Vince Beiser: "The questions isn't 'how can we use less sand?', it's 'How can we use less everything?' Trees, water, fish, we're overusing all of those things, and sand is just another thing we should be adding to the list. Well, we're on track to be a planet of at least 9 billion people in the next 20 years. Most of them are going to want to consume resources the way we do in the Western world, and that is just physically impossible."If we want to enjoy these things, while still enjoying this thing, we need to protect this thing, before we run out of time.

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