Latest news with #EastAsian
Eater
21 hours ago
- Business
- Eater
A New Dessert Shop Is Bringing Thai-Style Soy Milk to Portland
Thai food is ubiquitous throughout Portland, but few area Thai restaurants dare to offer desserts beyond mango and sticky rice. Pat and Art Tantipattanawong are filling a sweet void in the city's Thai scene with Nam Tao Huu, which just became the first Thai dessert shop in Portland. Intriguingly, the business centers on just one of many facets of Thailand's sweets culture: soy milk. 'Nam Tao Huu' translates to soy milk, a beverage that merges breakfast with dessert in Thai culture. Street stalls in Thailand sell creamy versions of it in the mornings; soy milk can be customized with sweeteners like palm sugar and simple syrup and toppings like ginkgo seeds and grass jelly. It's typically served alongside patongo (Chinese donuts). This aspect of Thai desserts is influenced by Chinese immigrants, explains Pat. They can be credited for introducing soy-influenced treats like tofu puddings and slushies to Thailand. Pat loved drinking soy milk as a child in Thailand, and these memories stayed with her through her time in Portland's restaurant world. She worked at Red Onion before opening Tara Thai just down the street from Nam Tao Huu, which is in the former Blue Star Donuts building. 'I grew up with Chinese culture, and we drank it as a protein milk in the morning,' she recalls. 'When you go to morning markets in Thailand, you see them everywhere. Everyone has it. My family served me that almost every day before school.' Pat and Art have a commercial soy milk machine, which they will use to make soy milk for creamy treats like slushies and tofu pudding sweetened with fresh berries and ginger syrup. You can also order plain soy milk, accompanied, if you like, by sweet and salty airy Chinese donuts — dunkable in condensed milk or pandan custard. Another popular Thai dessert on their menu is pillowy toasted milk bread served with the same condiment options. Silken tofu puddings and slushies can come with toppings like ginkgo seeds, grass jelly, and Job's tears, which lend a light chew. The emphasis is on the texture of these toppings rather than their sweetness. There's also an extensive drink menu of familiar items like Thai tea, Milos, and matchas infused with the soy milk. Patrons new to East Asian drink culture may also want to try the longan and jujube iced teas, options that introduce more textural elements to these refreshing beverages. The Tantipattanawongs chose soy milk because they wanted to offer something not too dissimilar from boba drinks — which everyone knows — but which is generally healthier since it has less sugar. 'Nowadays, there are healthy trends in Portland, and lots of vegan, gluten-free, and lactose-free people,' says Pat. '[With Nam Tao Huu], those customers can have these kinds of drinks too.' Nam Tao Huu is now open at 921 NW 23rd Avenue. See More: Portland Restaurant News Portland Restaurant Openings
Time of India
a day ago
- Automotive
- Time of India
India's EV growth is significantly lower than top 10 countries
India's electric vehicle (EV) growth is significantly slower than the top 10 global standouts, according to a recent report by Intelsense. As per the FY24 figure, the EV growth in India was 27 per cent (YoY), significantly slower than the top 10 global standouts. India's EV Market Share was about 2-3 per cent of new car sales in 2024, well below the 5 per cent average of the top 10 nations. However, the report adds, India although not in top 10 in terms of growth globally but it falls just outside the top 10, and is the fastest-growing major large market. At current pace, India ranks 11-12th globally, trailing emerging leaders like Thailand, Vietnam, and Mexico. Penetration of EV remains significantly lower compared to top 10 nations, a factor that could hinder the country's aspiration of achieving a 30 per cent EV market share by 2030. However, the reports also mention about the India is making strides towards its 2030 goal, with a steady increase in EV registrations and charging infrastructure. EV sales in India rose 27 per cent to reach 1.94 million units in 2024, mainly driven by two-wheelers and three-wheelers, which account for the bigger share of the market. In the four-wheeler segment and passenger vehicle , Tata Motors , Hyundai, Mahindra and MG are the top players in the Indian market. However, they have not met the expectations in terms of increased market share of new 4-wheelers along with EV infrastructure like battery and charging stations. Hero, Ola and TVS dominate the two-wheeler and three-wheeler segment in the EV sector. The report suggests that, India's growth in the EV sector remains strong in absolute numbers, but there is a need to accelerate more to reach tipping points. One of the major problems faced by India is that there is about 95-100 per cent reliance on China and other East Asian countries like South Korea and Japan for critical EV battery materials. In order to deal with this, India is working towards the search of lithium Reserves. As of now, 5.9 million tonnes of lithium inferred in Reasi, J&K, which is one of the top 10 global reserves by quantity. There are Additional geological finds in Karnataka, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Jharkhand, and Rajasthan as well. Additionally, there are various home grown Refining Projects such Lohum commissioned India's first battery-grade lithium refinery (1,000 tpa) in March 2025. Along with, Vardhaan Lithium partnering with Maharashtra govt to build a 60,000 tpa refinery near Nagpur (Butibori).
NZ Herald
2 days ago
- Science
- NZ Herald
In the spirit of Thor Heyerdahl and Kon-Tiki, Japanese researchers built a canoe to follow another ancient route
Two new studies published yesterday in the academic journal Science presented the results of those experiments. In one report, advanced ocean models recreated hundreds of virtual voyages to pinpoint the most plausible routes for the crossing. 'We tested various seasons, starting points and paddling methods under both modern and prehistoric conditions,' Kaifu said. The other paper charts the 45-hour journey that Kaifu's crew made from eastern Taiwan to Yonaguni Island in the southern Ryukyus. The mariners, four men and one woman, paddled the 7.6m canoe, a hollowed-out cedar log christened Sugime, for 122 nautical miles on the open sea, relying solely on the stars, sun, and wind for their bearings. Often, they could not see their target island. 'Yosuke Kaifu's team has found the most likely answer to the migration question,' said Peter Bellwood, an archaeologist at the Australian National University who was not involved in the undertaking. Dawn, on the second morning of the voyage in 2019. Photo / Yosuke Kaifu via the New York Times Such a crossing between islands, he said, would have been one of the oldest, and among the longest, in the history of Homo sapiens up to that period, exceeded only by the migration to Australia from eastern Indonesia some 50,000 years ago. Early humans most likely used land bridges and watercraft to travel from mainland Asia to the Japanese archipelago. Three main paths had been proposed: Korea to Kyushu, Russia to Hokkaido, and Taiwan to Okinawa. Relics from six islands within the 1210km Ryukyu chain indicate that people migrated there between 35,000 and 30,000 years ago, arriving from both the north, via Kyushu, and the south, via Taiwan. 'The islands were always located at least 50 miles [80km] from the East Asian coastline, even during the last ice age with its low sea levels, and up to 110 miles [177km] apart from each other,' Bellwood said. Geologic records suggest that the Kuroshio, also known as the Black Stream, has remained stable for 100,000 years or more. Kaifu got the idea for the migration project in 2013, but lacked the funds to make it happen. Three years later, he persuaded Japan's National Museum of Science and Nature, where he worked as a researcher, to act as a sponsor. Financed largely by crowdfunding and counselled by sea kayakers, his team attempted the 40-nautical-mile route from the Yonaguni to the Iriomote islands in boats made from cattail reeds. The attempt was unsuccessful. The vessels proved stable but were too slow to handle the strong currents. In 2017, with the support of Taiwan's National Museum of Prehistory, the scientists toyed with rafts made of bamboo and rattan. A prototype was durable but, as was the case with the reed crafts, not fast enough to negotiate the Kuroshio. A second, lighter version was prone to cracking and did not last long in the high seas. After calculating that crossing the Kuroshio would require a speed of at least 2 nautical miles per hour, Kaifu searched for heavier materials. A canoe, christened Sugime, was cut and hollowed from a cedar tree using an edge-ground stone axe with a wooden handle. Photo / National Museum of Nature and Science, Tokyo, via the New York Times A large Japanese cedar was felled and carved using stone axes modelled after tools from about 28,000 BC. 'The idea was to replicate the canoe-building methods that prehistoric seafarers may have used,' Kaifu said. Six summers ago, the Sugime set off from Taiwan. This time, the voyage was a success. Kaifu does not believe a return journey would have been possible. 'If you have a map and know the flow pattern of the Kuroshio, you can plan your return,' he said. 'But such things probably did not take place until much later in history.' Did the ancient mariners reach the Ryukus by accident or through deliberate navigation? Kaifu noted that the islands could be spied from the top of one of Taiwan's coastal mountains, indicating intentional travel. To test this, his team set 138 satellite-tracked buoys adrift and found that only four came within 20km of any of the islands, and those had been driven by storms. 'What that tells us is that the Kuroshio directs drifters away from, rather than toward, the Ryukyu Islands,' Kaifu said. 'It also tells us that those male and female pioneers must have been experienced paddlers with effective strategies and a strong will to brave the unknown.' In his view, the Japanese islanders of antiquity were not mere passengers of chance, but die-hard explorers. This article originally appeared in The New York Times. Written by: Franz Lidz Photographs by: National Museum of Nature and Science, Tokyo, and Yousuke Kaifu ©2025 THE NEW YORK TIMES
Mint
2 days ago
- Business
- Mint
Manufacturing versus services: Why privilege one over the other?
This column looks at the relative importance of the manufacturing industry and services in India's growth story and discusses our required policy priorities in that context. The origin of modern development theory can be traced to the regularities that Simon Kuznets and others observed in the 1950s and 1960s on how the structure of an economy evolves with growth. A key feature he observed is that as per capita GDP (a concept he invented) rises, the dominant sector of the economy shifts from agriculture to industry and then services. This regularity, combined with Arthur Lewis's foundational theory about how the transfer of labour and surplus from a traditional agricultural sector to a modern industrial sector constitutes the fundamental process of development, became the core of development economics. Also Read: Rahul Jacob: Manufacturing is crying out for a reality check These pillars were supplemented with seminal contributions by many others, but the main focus of enquiry was on the transfer of labour and savings from a traditional agricultural sector to a modern industrial sector, especially manufacturing, which was seen as representative of the entire capitalist non-agricultural sector. The key policy debate at this sectoral boundary between agriculture and the rest of the economy was about the desirability and appropriate scale of the surplus transfer out of agriculture. Theodore Shultz wrote about the importance of transforming traditional agriculture. Mellor and his school of economists at IFPRI developed models of agriculture-led growth. Ishikawa argued that growth in developing economies required a reverse transfer of resources into agriculture. My own doctoral thesis investigated the interaction between inter-sectoral resource transfers and patterns of long-term growth in India. Also Read: Manoj Pant: Let's prepare well for negotiations on trade in services Since then, the sectoral boundary of interest in India and policy debate have shifted. The boundary in focus now is between industry, especially manufacturing industry, and services. There is a broadly held view among economists that manufacturing has to lead development. However, on close questioning of why they think so, the response is usually a cursory reference to historical experience. Manufacturing industry indeed led the high growth phase of many countries in Europe after the Industrial Revolution. This is also true of East Asian countries in their high-growth phase. But how much of that growth in Europe is attributable to surplus transfers from colonies—and in East Asia to their strategic and economic alliance with America—remains an open question. Of the 30 most advanced countries in the world today (in per capita GDP terms, excluding some small island economies), manufacturing accounts for 10% or less of GDP in a third of these and 15% or less in another third. Ireland is the only outlier where manufacturing accounts for over 29% of GDP. Also Read: Services led exports are a mixed blessing for the Indian economy So, what is the evidence pointing to the special importance of manufacturing? The only evidence-based answers I have seen are those by Professors Veeramani and Nagesh Kumar. Both of them argue that strong backward and forward linkages unique to manufacturing industry make it an ideal sector to lead developing economies. Surprisingly, few remember the robust theory of manufacturing-led growth developed by Nicholas Kaldor 50 years ago. Building on the even earlier work of Allyn Young, Kaldor argued that manufacturing typically has the characteristic of increasing returns to scale, driving down costs but correspondingly increasing demand as multiple industries reinforce one another in an expanding process of cumulative causation. Keynesian demand management can greatly strengthen this process. Thus, there are compelling reasons for expecting manufacturing to play a leading role in an economy like India's. If so, why has the long-term record of industrial growth been relatively unimpressive? Industry has typically grown at around 5-6% annually during the past 70 years and its GDP share has risen from around 15% to 29% over this period (see data chart). Actually, much of our high industrial growth in recent decades is attributable to mining, utilities and especially construction. The share of manufacturing industry is only around 17%. In contrast, the share of services in GDP has grown from 20.6% at the outset to 53% today, its average decadal growth during the last 40 years being in the range of 7-8% annually. The more dynamic performance of services is also reflected in its rising share of employment and, significantly, in our growing trade surplus in services. This is in sharp contrast with our trade deficit in goods. It is sometimes argued that manufacturing has been hamstrung by dysfunctional regulations and undue interference by an overbearing state. But it is the same regulatory ecosystem in which the services sector has performed so much better. Also Read: Services offer a fast and reliable path to economic development Thus, from a policy perspective, we must ask: Why is the slogan of 'Make in India' and related policy incentives limited only to manufacturing industry, when, say, transport and trade services, financial services, hospitality, education, health and other services are just as important as tangible goods like textiles, steel, cars or pharmaceuticals? We should carefully study the only two decades when industry grew significantly faster than services, 1950-51 to 1960-61 and 2000-01 to 2010-11. What made the difference? Meanwhile, the government would do well to pursue at least an even-handed policy between industry and services, especially if it wishes to maximize employment growth and minimize or eliminate India's trade deficit. These are the author's personal views The author is chairman, Centre for Development Studies.
India Gazette
2 days ago
- Automotive
- India Gazette
India's EV growth is significantly lower than top 10 countries: Report
New Delhi [India] June 26 (ANI): India's electric vehicle (EV) growth is significantly slower than the top 10 global standouts, according to a recent report by Intelsense. As per the FY24 figure, the EV growth in India was 27 per cent (YoY), significantly slower than the top 10 global standouts. India's EV Market Share was about 2-3 per cent of new car sales in 2024, well below the 5 per cent average of the top 10 nations. However, the report adds, India although not in top 10 in terms of growth globally but it falls just outside the top 10, and is the fastest-growing major large market. At current pace, India ranks 11-12th globally, trailing emerging leaders like Thailand, Vietnam, and of EV remains significantly lower compared to top 10 nations, a factor that could hinder the country's aspiration of achieving a 30 per cent EV market share by 2030. However, the reports also mention about the India is making strides towards its 2030 goal, with a steady increase in EV registrations and charging sales in India rose 27 per cent to reach 1.94 million units in 2024, mainly driven by two-wheelers and three-wheelers, which account for the bigger share of the the four-wheeler segment and passenger vehicle, Tata Motors, Hyundai, Mahindra and MG are the top players in the Indian market. However, they have not met the expectations in terms of increased market share of new 4-wheelers along with EV infrastructure like battery and charging stations. Hero, Ola and TVS dominate the two-wheeler and three-wheeler segment in the EV report suggests that, India's growth in the EV sector remains strong in absolute numbers, but there is a need to accelerate more to reach tipping points. One of the major problems faced by India is that there is about 95-100 per cent reliance on China and other East Asian countries like South Korea and Japan for critical EV battery order to deal with this, India is working towards the search of lithium Reserves. As of now, 5.9 million tonnes of lithium inferred in Reasi, J&K, which is one of the top 10 global reserves by quantity. There are Additional geological finds in Karnataka, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Jharkhand, and Rajasthan as well. Additionally, there are various home grown Refining Projects such Lohum commissioned India's first battery-grade lithium refinery (1,000 tpa) in March 2025. Along with, Vardhaan Lithium partnering with Maharashtra govt to build a 60,000 tpa refinery near Nagpur (Butibori). (ANI)
