Vanilla: The Second Costliest Spice of the World.

After saffron, the vanilla is the second costliest spice in the world. The chances of it becoming more costly, as its production has declined this year in Madagascar, the largest vanilla producing country.  

Vanilla Flower and beans
Wikimedia Commons by H. Zell

 

Vanilla is used from edible products like ice cream, cake, biscuit, curd, and chocolate etc., to cosmetic products like perfumes, moisturizer, shampoos, and soaps. 

The prices of vanilla are increasing from 2014 onwards and now it is the second costliest spice of the world.

The 80% of the global demand of vanilla is fulfilled by Madagascar, but this year a storm completely destroyed the entire vanilla crop on this island country.

There are every possibility that the bourbon vanilla produced in Madagascar reunion and Comoro islands will become more costly.

Along with natural calamities the vanilla producers of Madagascar have to face several challenges. The biggest problem is that of premature plucking of vanilla. For the fear of theft, the farmers pluck the vanilla in the month of March, while the crop ripens in June.

Last year the price of vanilla was from Rupees 25,600 to 38,000 in Madagascar. But the demand for vanilla has not come down even after the drastic increase in its prices.

Last year the total export of vanilla from Madagascar was 1800 to 2000 tons.

Another reason for the escalation in the prices of vanilla is the increase in its demand.

In truth, the trends for the use of real vanilla has increased not only in America and Asia but also in Europe.  

Due to the increasing prices of vanilla, several countries India and Uganda are trying to hands at the farming of it.

But the prices of vanilla are not likely to come down even after its production in other countries, as the vines yield the fruits after four years.

New Cloth Fiber Will Generate Electricity

Recently the scientists have discovered a modern fiber which has the power to generate electricity when it is slightly bent or twisted. This flexible fiber is made of the nanotube. The size of these carbon grains is 10,000 times smaller than the human hair. This is capable of generating electricity from several natural sources. It generates energy by using the activities of sea waves and the small human movements.

It is has been named twistron yarn.

Carter Heinz, the chief author of an article published in “The Science Journal’ explains that one can imagine about “twistron harvester” as a fiber which generates electricity when it is pulled.

In this concept, the nanotube capability is used by the device to convert the spring-like movement into electrical energy. It could be used at several places.

In laboratory experiments, the fiber of a weight less than that of the fly was successful to generate electricity which could light a LED tube.

When attached to the shirt, this fiber was effectively generated sufficient energy to run a breathing sensor. The breathing sensor is used for the surveillance of the babies.

Prof. Ray Brown Texas University of Dallas, who was involved in this research, says that this fiber could be used in smart clothes connected to the internet. 

He said that the commercial world is very much interested in the manufacture of Electronic Clothes, but how such clothes would be energized.

Now the need of battery would come to an end when energy is generated by the movements of the man.

However, the most exclusive quality of the twistron fiber is its ability to work in the sea and to generate energy from the sea waves.

During an experiment conducted in South Korea, it was found that the fiber generated electricity with every sea wave when a small twistron was attached to a thing which could repeatedly sink and float.

Prof. Ray says that this technique could be used in future to build powerhouses in the sea. At that time this fiber would be able to generate electricity for the entire city.

At present this technique is very costly.    

At Paris, both the developed and the developing nations in Climate Agreement have sworn to reduce the production of greenhouse gases. Generally, these gases are produced when the fossil fuels are burnt. But the use of twistron fiber will drastically reduce or even end the dependability of man on fossil fuels. 

Continuous Sitting Causes Untimely Death

The risk of death is more among those who daily sit continuously for 1-2 hours. This risk is more as compared to those who sit for longer durations than 1-2 hours but are found to discontinue prolonged sitting by moving now and then.

A recent study has found that not only the entire duration of sitting but also the way of sitting matters in adverse effects on health.

The researchers found that those who sit continuously without any body movement for 1-2 hours are under greater risks of early deaths than those who sit for the equal or longer durations but are found to move in between.  

According to experts, the people feel that the only important thing is “How much time they spend sitting throughout the day”. Till now it was believed that the health effects are the same even if a person either sits for small intervals or for longer durations.

But in this new research, the scientists attached Activity Monitors to the hips of 7,985 people above 45 years and observed the sitting habits for several days.  

Out of these about 77% were found to be in the habit of sitting for longer durations and abstained from any type of physical activity for more than 12 hours.

After testing the sitting habits, they were further observed for 4 years in which the death of 340 people was reported.

The different sitting postures were evaluated. It was found that the untimely death risk was double among those who sat for more than 13 hours, out of which 1 to one and half hour sitting was without movement; as compared to those who sat for a little duration or those who moved between prolonged sittings.

It was also found the untimely death risks were the least among those who sat for less than half an hour every day.

So be careful to move the body by walking for few minutes, if you are also in a working condition which requires sitting for prolonged durations. This small habit will reduce the untimely death risks to half.

It is noteworthy that this is the most comprehensive research so far conducted on the ill effects of prolonged sitting on health.      

The weakening of Indian Rupee

After the advent of the era of globalization and new economic policies, the Indian Rupee is continuously losing its value. The exchange rate in 1990 was Rupees 17.5 per dollar. The Rupee never regained its strength in a decisive form and continuously went on declining.

Indian Rupee
Wikimedia Commons by  YVSREDDY

In the last three months, the value of Rupee declined from Rupees 64 to the present Rupees 67.3 per dollar.

Earlier the exchange rate of Indian Rupee vis-à-vis other currencies was decided by the Reserve Bank of India.

Bur after globalization, the free inflow of goods and services increased and the restrictions of Foreign Investment ended; the fixation of exchange rate came out of the control of RBI and went to the hands of the market.

The fixation of the exchange rate of Indian Rupee in terms of different currencies is now dependent on the powers of demand and supply of the market.

It is obvious that the restrictions on Imports and Exports have been waived off after globalization. Now there are no restraints like import duties and apparent bans; known as Quantitative Controls. The Foreign Investment can also come and go openly, and there are no effective restrictions on taking the foreign currency out of the country in the form of profits, royalties, interests, and dividends etc.

Therefore more foreign currency leaves India in the form of imports and incomes of FDI than that arrives in the country in the form of exports. So the imbalance in the demand and supply of Dollar is natural as our Imports are more than the Exports. If the deficiency in the supply of Dollar is not replenished from other sources, the value of rupee declines further.

It is a pleasant thing that a lot of Indians either work or live in foreign countries. They earn and send the foreign currencies to India, thereby increasing the supply of dollar/other currencies. Besides, the supply of foreign currencies also increases by clear foreign investment and portfolio investment; and the export of software, BPO, and other services.  In this way, a balance between the demand and supply of Dollar is achieved.

The value of Rupee further declines, whenever the Foreign Investors take their money back or the cost of imports increase.

The cost of crude oil is increasing for the last so many days, which in turn is increasing the demand for Dollar. Secondly, the Portfolio investors have started sending their money back which could be termed the Exit of Portfolio investment. This process has also increased the demand for Dollar and the value of Rupee is declining.

The chief cause of the Exit o Portfolio Investors could be the increase in the interest rates in America, together with an effort of the US Govt. to attract the investors with tax relaxations.

Clearly, there does not seem to be any weakness in the fundamental condition of the Indian economy.

For instance, the GDP is increasing though not as expected, the manufacturing sector is good and inflation is almost under control.

There the weakness of Indian Rupee seems to be due to Global reasons. This thing becomes apparent due to the fact that the value of several currencies of the World is also becoming weak and the plight of Indian Rupee is not an exception.

During the last three months, there appeared a great decline in the values of the currencies of BRICKS nations, with an exception of China where the devaluation was just 0.5%. In South Africa, it was 2.3%, India 4.4%, Brazil 7.0%, and Russia 5.3%. So India is lying in the middle.

Meaning of Devaluation of Rupee

The weakening of Indian Rupee is not a good sign for India. But the exporters become happy when the Rupee becomes weak as they get more Rupees for their exports. It is true that the weak Rupee gives a chance to India to bridge the business losses of the balance of trade. But the weak Rupee increases several other problems. The Imports become costlier and the inflation increases. The interest responsibility on the International loans taken by the business houses also increases in terms of Rupees. It is noteworthy that several Indian Companies have taken International loans due to the lesser rate of interest. They face deficits when the value of Rupee goes down.

The Indian public facing a jolt of increased petrol prices will face a double blow in the form of the decreasing value of Rupee.

How to Restore Rupee

It is true that it is not possible to stop the devaluation of Indian Rupee from the forces of the market. Because the control on the prices of crude oil, the policies of the US Govt. to attract investors and the Exit of Portfolio Investment is not within the powers of India.

India could manage the fixation of the Exchange rates of Rupee.

The value of Rupee starts becoming strong, whenever the supply of Dollar increases due to the fresh arrival of FDI to India. But then the RBI purchases the Dollar to stop the increasing value of Rupee. But when the same investors take their money back from India, then the RBI does not interfere as before. As a result, the value of Rupee goes on decreasing. The ups and downs in the value of Rupee only benefit the stock marketers to a great extent.

Now it has become an established fact the FDI’s often bring and take back the money. So these activities should not be allowed to make or mar the value of Rupee.

A buffer stock is created to check the instability in the value of agricultural products like corn and pulses. Here an effort is made to check the devaluation of such products when their supply increases. So the Govt. purchases the produce, stores it, and then sells it when the demand increases. Thereby the prices are controlled.

The similar method could be adopted in the case of foreign currencies. The Govt. should purchase the Dollars brought by the FDI’s and keep them in a buffer stock, and issue the same when the FDI leaves the country. In this way, the ups and downs in the value of Rupee could be checked.

Another measure is to put a check on FDI’s. The Govt. could impose taxes to stop them from transferring their profits out of India. It is called Tobin tax in economics.

A minimum time limit in the form of lock-in period should be imposed on the FDI’s and the Exit of Portfolio investors, so that they may not take their money out of India every now and then.