SAJAforum

DESI SPOTTING: Nikhil Arora and BTTR Ventures getting attention

Coffee might power red-eyed Americans at 7 a.m., but it’s the leftover waste of java grounds that is driving a young business venture in California.

Nikhil Arora (pictured at right, above) and his partner Alejandro Velez, both 22, are the founders of BTTR Ventures, an initiative in San Francisco that converts tons of America’s coffee ground waste into gourmet mushrooms. The company was nominated for Business Week’s America’s Best Young Entrepreneurs and BBC’s World Challenge competition (vote for them before the Nov. 13 deadline here).

The two Berkeley alumni were sitting in a business ethics course last December when a lecturer told the class about women in Colombia and Africa who were fighting malnutrition with used coffee. Thinking of America’s strong coffee habit, Velez and Arora decided to partner up and try out the idea themselves – starting off in a fraternity kitchen.

“We spent the last semester knee deep in coffee and experimenting to see if our idea would work,” Arora said.

They worked with Berkeley’s ecology department and received a $5000 grant from the social innovation department. Arora and Velez took their mushrooms door to door for feedback from friends, restaurants and food producers.

Arora was originally going to continue a consulting career before founding BTTR Ventures.

He said his family was surprised, but supportive. Arora’s older brother is also an entrepreneur who started an advertising web site, www.retargeter.com. But he said explaining a green startup to some of the Indian community, and his grandparents, was a little harder.

“I’ve always had this itch to do something of my own,” he said.

BTTR Venture is now supported by franchises such as Whole Foods and Peet’s Coffee & Tea.

The company is expanding their products to include shitake mushrooms and gourmet home gardens that will harvest mushrooms multiple times. Arora said he hopes to also increase the availability of their products to more people.

“That’s one of our biggest things – local fresh food movement has been tailored to wealthy and upper class people, but it should be something that’s open [to everyone].”

Commitment to society is a core principle of the venture. The team donates the used coffee grounds for compost, and helps support a gardening program for high school students.

Arora said he hopes the company will grow to include more social-minded projects and business ventures.

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SAJA-NY EVENT: Meet Newsmakers Jairam Ramesh & Rajendra Pachauri

SAJA-NY and Vermilion Restaurant in association with the The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) present a conversation with two influential figures in the world of environment and climate change...

 

MEET NEWSMAKERS Mr Jairam Ramesh and Dr. Rajendra Pachauri

 

Jairam Ramesh, India's environment minister (former minister of state for commerce and industry)
- he will play a crucial role in the outcome of Copenhagen climate change conference in December as India's stance as a fast-growing economy will impact not only the positions of the United States, but also that of developing countries

 

Dr. Rajendra K. Pachauri
- received the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize on behalf of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (which he leads)
- in July 2009 became director of the Yale Climate and Energy Institute
- Director General of TERI

Monday, Sept. 21, 2009
6-7:30 p.m.
Vermilion Restaurant
480 Lexington Ave @46th St (just blocks from Grand Central Terminal and UN HQ)

This will be an informal opportunity to meet Dr. Pachauri and Minister Ramesh; they will make some remarks and do a Q&A.

Free and open to the public. Cash bar.

 

RSVP required - fill in the form at http://bit.ly/sajarsvp

 

Feel free to send questions in advance to saja@columbia.edu

 

For background on India's role in climate change negotiations, follow these links:

http://en.cop15.dk/news/view+news?newsid=2091

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20090911/sc_afp/indiadenmarkenvironmentclimatewarmingun

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/20/world/asia/20diplo.html

http://en.cop15.dk/news/view+news?newsid=876

 

- - -

Our hosts: Vermilion (NYC & Chicago) - contemporary Indian Latin cuisine - lauded by FT, Gourmet, Bon Appetit, WSJ. www.thevermilionrestaurant.com

 

OBAMA: "Did you have something to do with that?"

Times Now correspondent Simrat Ghuman was "walking on air" after President Obama called on her to ask a question during his news conference at the G-20 summit in London. (Is it just me, or does that number seem to change every year, and entirely without warning?) Apparently, Ghuman was so high in the clouds that she couldn't help but interrupt Obama's answer:

QUESTION: Hi, Mr. President.

OBAMA: How are you?

QUESTION: Thank you for choosing me. I'm very well. I'm (inaudible) from the Times of India.

OBAMA: Wonderful.

QUESTION: You met with our Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. What did you -- what are you -- what is America doing to help India battle terrorism emanating from Pakistan?

OBAMA: Well, first of all, your prime minister is a wonderful man.

QUESTION: Thank you. I agree.

(LAUGHTER)

I agree.

OBAMA: You know, did you have something to do with that?

(LAUGHTER)

You seem to kind of take credit for it a little bit there.

(LAUGHTER)

QUESTION: We're really proud of him, so...

OBAMA: Of course. You should be proud of him. I'm teasing you. I think he's a very wise and decent man and has done a wonderful job in guiding India, even prior to being prime minister, along a path of extraordinary economic growth that is a marvel, I think, for all the world.... [link]

Must-see video of the entire exchange (including Obama's full response) is above, and the rest of Obama's answer appears after the jump. No word on whether Prime Minister Singh is now "walking on air" as well. However, the next time someone tells me that Sree Sreenivasan and Arun Venugopal are "wonderful men," I'll be tempted to interrupt and say "thank you."

Unfortunately, Ghuman's pride in her Prime Minister stole some of the media oxygen from the actual response to her own question. However, as the Associated Press notes, in his response Obama said that "in a nuclear age, at a time when perhaps the greatest enemy of both India and Pakistan should be poverty, ... it may make sense to create a more effective dialogue between India and Pakistan."

DESI SPOTTING: Rajendra Pachauri, Nobel Laureate, to head new Yale institute

Big news in the world of the environment...

Yale University News
Office of Public Affairs
Phone: 203/432-1345
Fax: 203/432-1323
http://www.yale.edu/opa
   
Contact: Suzanne Taylor Muzzin 203-432-8555 or suzanne.taylormuzzin@yale.edu
For Immediate Release: March 10, 2009

Pachauri To Head New Climate and Energy Institute at Yale

Rajendra K. Pachauri will lead the newly established Yale Climate and Energy Institute (YCEI), University President Richard C. Levin has announced.
 
Pachauri has chaired the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) since 2002 and has been director general of The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) since 2001. He will retain these positions while taking up his new half-time position at Yale. Pachauri has been an active leader in the global climate policy debate and played a major role in laying the groundwork for the 1997 Kyoto Protocol.

US-INDIA: President Bush signs historic civilian nuclear agreement

From left: President George W. Bush addressing the Indian-American Community before signing the India-US Nuclear Cooperation Approval and Non-proliferation Enhancement Act on 8 October, 2008, in Washington DC. Also seen in the picture from left are Congressman Joseph Crowley, Congressman Eliot Engel, Senator Christopher Dodd, Vice President Dick Cheney, Senator John Warner, Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman and Indian ambassador Ronen Sen.

If Americans had not been confronting their worst financial crisis in over 70 years, not to mention a presidential election, the US-India civilian nuclear agreement may have made a bigger splash here. The irony is that when President Bush signed the deal today, it was termed a signature achievement of his administration, and yet it passes by relatively un-noticed, as his approval ratings stay mired in the low 20s.

Here are the president's remarks on the deal, as per the Associated Press:

"By undertaking new cooperation on civil nuclear energy, India will be able to count on a reliable fuel supply for its civilian reactors, meet the energy demands of its people, and reduce its independence on fossil fuels," Bush said at a ceremony in the East Room. "For our part, the United States will gain access to a growing market for civilian nuclear technologies and materials that will help American businesses create more jobs for our people here at home."

Today's signing came a week after the Senate overwhelmingly approved the deal (see the vote breakdown: all Republicans voted yes). The House of Representatives passed it on September 27, by a vote of 298 to 117 (breakdown). And it was three years after the nuclear deal was initially proposed by Bush and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. Just three months ago, Singh passed through his trial by fire: a confidence vote brought on by opposition to the deal; he won the vote and his Congress party remained in power, but only after losing integrity, as reports surfaced that many votes were obtained through bribes.

For a complete chronology of the deal, from July 28, 2005 through today's signing, check out the timeline at The Economic Times.

Coverage:

• Press Trust of India: "Bush inked the authorising legislation finally approved by the US Congress last week in a high profile ceremony at the White House's ornate East Room reversing 34 years of US policy to eventually allow American businesses to have a share of India's 100 billion dollar nuclear pie."
• Los Angeles Times blog: "Bush's success in squeezing the legislation out of Congress in its final days reflected, once again, the ability of a lame-duck president with approval ratings below 30% and facing a hostile House and Senate to nonetheless achieve some top priorities."

RETAIL: My Little Pakora launches - organic children's clothes

Yeah, we know: cho chweet!

Sonia Gupta reached out to tell us about her new organic clothing company, My Little Pakora. Her idea was to integrate South Asian design elements and traditions with green movement principles, in the hopes that conscientious desi parents would be just as attracted to the products as non-desis. So, aside from baby clothes that say Om or Haathi on them, you can find a primer on incorporating Ayurveda into one's pregnancy.

The eco-friendly clothes aren't cheap: a onesie like the one modeled here costs $22, while a baby blanket is $45.

We asked Sonia, who's based in Massachusetts, a few questions about her products, and her target audience.

SAJAforum: Before you actually launched, what did you learn about marketing your products?

Our target audience can be categorized as Dual Income South Asian professional households with newborns in the top 30 MSAs (metropolitan statistical areas).  This specific niche has the discretionary income, comfort with e-commerce, and desire to invest in their children that make them the ideal customers and reinforce their cultural identity. Their e-commerce profile is in line with Forrester's and Net/Neilsen's e-commerce affluents who appreciate a bargain or free shipping but are not especially affected by the downturn.

DEVELOPMENT: Sabeer Bhatia's new city outside Chandigarh

The San Francisco Chronicle has picked up on a story that the Indian press was all over in mid-July: Sabeer Bhatia's big urban development planned for outside Chandigarh. The project is meant to serve as the next Silicon Valley, without all the mess of Bangalore. From the article:

Granted, over the past decade, Bhatia has had his hand in several technology startups and post-startups both here and in India, some mildly successful, some not. But his latest project is one that comes from the heart: He is trying to develop an Indian version of Silicon Valley, a sustainable city spread over 11,000 acres in northern India that he envisions will be home to 1 million residents employed largely by world-class universities and A-list companies that act as the country's idea generators. He calls it Nano City.

Can this planned city overcome the problems that previous planned cities have struggled with? The argument against planned cities has been that they can't deal with organic growth; that their ordained layouts run counter to the slow, unpredictable evolution of human settlements. Urban planners frequently rail against the fashions of earlier urban planners - a common complaint is that the men who put forth mega-projects only succeeded by wiping out older neighborhoods, which had developed over decades, or centuries.

ENVIRONMENT: Is Bangladesh Growing?

Some scientists predict the rising sea level could submerge Bangladesh by 2100. But new research shows that the country well-known for its massive floodings wouldn't drown.

According to New York Times' science blog Dot Earth,the fate of Bangladesh’s lowlands will be determined by a mix of changes in the height of the Indian Ocean, subsidence of deltas as aquifers are drained and newly deposited sediments compress, and the addition of all that Himalayan soil.

But new research shows Bangladesh's landmass is growing because of sediment dumped by rivers, the BBC reports:

Satellite images of Bangladesh over the past 32 years show that the country is growing annually by about 20 square kilometres (7.72 square miles), said Maminul Haque Sarker of the Dhaka-based Centre for Environment and Geographic Information Services.

This was due, he said, to the billion tonnes of sediment that the Ganges, the Brahmaputra and 200 other rivers bring from the Himalayas each year before crossing Bangladesh.

Only about a third of this sediment, he said, makes it into the Bay of Bengal.

Much of the rest is dumped in Bangladesh's vast delta, attaching itself to river banks, or even creating new islands.

According to the London Times, the Centre for Environment and Geographic Information Services (CEGIS) reached its conclusion after studying satellite images of the country dating back to 1973.

More from the Times:

ENVIRONMENT: A holy man's plan to clean the Ganges

The Ganges is revered by Hindus across the world and a plunge in the holy river is considered to free the human soul from their sins.

However, the holiest of all rivers for the Hindus has been turned into an unholy mess. The increasing population, mismanaged sewage and industrialization has caused serious implications for the Ganges in the holy town of Varanasi, India.

From the Christian Science Monitor's Holy Man, Secular Plan: Clean Up the River Ganges:

The Ganges, revered as a symbol of spiritual purity for more than 2,000 years, is today a filthy soup. This is especially true in the ancient pilgrimage site of Varanasi, where 32 old pipes on the riverbank disgorge raw sewage into the flow.

But people like Veer Bhandra Mishra, one of Time's Heroes of the Planet in 1999, are standing up with a mission to clean the polluted river.

According to CSM, Mishra - a professor of hydraulics at Benaras Hindu University and hereditary priest of the nearby Sankat Mochan temple - along with scientists from the University of California in Berkeley, had developed a cheap, sustainable system for diverting the city's sewage away from the river, and cleaning it more than a decade ago. But then the state and central government rejected his plan and a $242-million plan was set aside by the Indian government (From CSM's 1987 story: Cleaning Ganges, India's Polluted Symbol of Purity, No Easy Task).

Today, Mishra stands successful by his plan.

Gentle-mannered Mishra continued his tenacious lobbying, and last year secured a meeting with prime minister Manmohan Singh.       

Last month, he heard what he describes as "the best news in 20 years."

On June 30, the central government wrote to him, telling him it would support a pilot run of his scheme in Varanasi and suggesting it would hold back support for a much costlier, ineffective state government-led scheme.             

Mishra's scheme, instead of depending on scarce supplies of electricity, the system would use gravity to carry sewage to four big pools, built on wasteland several miles outside the city, where it would be broken down by bacteria, algae, and sunlight, CSM reports.

WILDLIFE: Two Tigers Airlifted to Rajasthan to revive population

India’s once thriving tiger population is rapidly declining, prompting great concern from preservation groups. In what the Associated Press called an “unprecedented attempt to revive the tiger population” in Western India, the Indian government airlifted two tigers to a national reserve this week.

According to the article:

The tigers were carried by Indian Air Force helicopters to Sariska Tiger Reserve in the western state of Rajasthan, whose entire tiger population has been wiped out by poachers during the last decade.

Poaching and a vanishing habitat have savaged Indian tigers, which were believed to number in the tens of thousands a century ago. The tiger population has dropped from nearly 3,600 five years ago to about 1,400, according to the latest tiger census in February. 

In its coverage of the tiger airlift, the Times of London details the troubled history of the Sariska Tiger Reserve.

Sariska used to be India's most famous tiger sanctuary and was at the centre of the Project Tiger conservation programme launched by Indira Gandhi, the late Prime Minister, in 1973. In a big embarrassment for Indian wildlife authorities, the Government was forced to admit in 2005 that all of the tigers in the park had been killed.

Since then, the Government has launched an emergency programme to rescue the tiger, vowing to create eight new reserves and a Tiger Protection Force to combat poachers.

More on the issue at The Hindu:

Poaching and a vanishing habitat have hit tiger numbers in India over the years. They were believed to number in the tens of thousands a century ago but the population has dropped from nearly 3,600 five years ago to about 1,400, according to an official tiger census done across the country in February 2008.