Roundtable on sustainable palm oil

Divya Karyza and Yvette Tanamal (The Jakarta Post) PREMIUM Jakarta   ● Thu, May 19 2022 Oil palm smallholders plan to organize another street protest in Jakarta to further pressure the government to lift its palm oil export ban, after having organized a sizable protest on Tuesday. Indonesian Oil Palm Farmers Association (Apkasindo) chairman Gulat Manurung said on Wednesday that, if the ban was not reviewed within the near future, the organization had plans to bring 1 million palm kernels to the Hotel Indonesia traffic circle in Central Jakarta, where the kernels would be processed into red palm cooking oil then sold, as a form of protest. Apkasindo previously organized hundreds of smallholder farmers to stage a protest in Jakarta and other parts of the country on Tuesday, demanding the government end a palm oil export ban that has slashed their income as fresh fruit bunch (TBS) prices continue to free fall amid an expected domestic supply glut. to Read Full Story … [Read more...] about Palm oil farmers plan second street protest against export ban

BRUSSELS — The world economy is heading into a potentially grim period as rising costs, shortages of food and other commodities and Russia’s continuing invasion of Ukraine threaten to slow economic growth and bring about a painful global slump. Two years after the coronavirus pandemic emerged and left much of the globe in a state of paralysis, policymakers are grappling with ongoing challenges, including clogged supply chains , lockdowns in China and the prospect of an energy crisis as nations wean themselves off Russian oil and gas . Those colliding forces have some economists starting to worry about a global recession as different corners of the world find their economies battered by events. Finding ways to avoid a slowdown while continuing to exert pressure on Russia for its war in Ukraine will be the primary focus of finance ministers from the Group of 7 nations who are convening in Bonn, Germany, this week. At a news conference on Wednesday, Treasury Secretary Janet L. … [Read more...] about Economic Headwinds Mount as Leaders Weigh Costs of Confronting Russia

In a plush, tree-lined bylane of Alwarpet, in a neighbourhood accustomed to buttery croissants and French- pressed coffee, sits a little corner mess where you can have unlimited portions of rice, dried fish sambal, meen kuzhambu, chicken curry, rasam, sambar, kootu and poriyal for just ₹160. At lunch on a heat-stricken weekday, all five tables under a quietly humming AC are full. “It is heartening to see walk-ins from every demographic: from security guards to executives in huge SUVs,” says 30-year-old Vikram Reddy, one of the four entrepreneurs behind Kaaram Karaikudi Mess. He pauses mid-conversation to bid adieu to an elderly guest with a cane, being helped out gently by a young companion — the duo has been a regular ever since the two-week-old restaurant opened. Repeat customers — and the patronage of established chefs and some celebrities — are Vikram’s proof that he was right in his basic business premise: “Everyone misses simple traditional food, and wants to eat it in … [Read more...] about Chennai’s young restaurateurs celebrate street food and home-style meals

The statement issued by Sri Lanka’s newly appointed Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe was nothing short of an intimation, nay confirmation, of the apocalyptic economic crisis that the island nation confronts. The numbers thrown by Mr Wickremesinghe are self-explanatory of the mess that he will need to clean up to put Sri Lanka back on track. Government revenues cover only 40 per cent of the expenditure being incurred. The fiscal deficit is around 13 per cent of GDP. The foreign exchange reserves are virtually non-existent. According to Wickremesinghe, “It is a challenge for the treasury to find USD 1 million.” Petrol stocks are down to just one day. Sri Lanka is looking at power cuts of around 15 hours a day because a quarter of the electricity is produced from oil which the government has no money to buy. There are huge shortages of medicines. Shortages of virtually every other commodity, including food, are inescapable. With the government being “compelled to print money” to pay … [Read more...] about India Must Lead Quad Effort to Pull Out Sri Lanka from Clutches of China’s Debt Trap Diplomacy

BEIJING, May 18 (Xinhua) -- A number of foreign dignitaries and heads of international organizations on Wednesday congratulated the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT) on its 70th anniversary. Indonesian President Joko Widodo, who attended a video summit marking the anniversary, said Indonesia and China have a lot in common as trade cooperation has developed rapidly, and investment in various sectors, particularly in mining and metallurgy, electricity and infrastructure, manufacture, agriculture, and fishery, reflects common interests. Today, the world needs greater collective actions and inclusive collaborations between developed countries and developing economies, he said. Indonesia will optimize its G20 presidency for the matters, the president said. Ecuadorian President Guillermo Lasso said that looking to Asia is looking to the future of the world, and that is why Ecuador has made joining the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for … [Read more...] about Foreign dignitaries, heads of int’l organizations congratulate CCPIT on 70th anniversary