Tag Archives: tsi
Permit must to display, sell Iftar snacks outside shops
Permit must to display, sell Iftar snacks outside shops Staff Reporter / 4 July 2013 The Dubai Municipality has issued strict instructions to the owners of food establishments who plan to sell snacks outside the shops during the holy month of Ramadan which is just a week away. The instructions issued by the Food Control Department have been directed to all restaurants, cafeterias, sweet shops, bakeries and catering companies in Dubai. Director of the Food Control Department Khalid Mohammed Sharief Al Awadhi said all food outlets that intend to display and or sell food outside their premises should take prior approval from the department. These permits can be obtained from the Dubai Municipality Centre at Al Twar for a fee of Dh210. “As we are preparing to observe the holy month from next week, we would like to boost up the mechanism already in place to ensure safety of the food items sold and served in the city,” Al Awadhi said. It’s a tradition to display and sell food items, especially snacks and sweets, outside the outlets during Ramadan. “Without prior and due approval from the Food Control Department, no food establishment would be allowed to display or sell snacks outside their premises. As people are very fond of snack items in their Iftar, there are chances (of them) forgetting from where the stuffs are bought and up to what levels of safety and hygiene they are kept,” the official said. Urging the public to be highly alert when purchasing food items from the displayed areas, Al Awadhi advised them not to buy food from people or businesses that are not authorised to sell them. He also urged the consumers not to store the food long after purchasing. It should be consumed as soon as possible. Health requirements for food sale The Food Control Department of the Dubai Municipality has published the health requirements specifically meant for the display and sale of food items outside the outlets during Ramadan. Published in Arabic, English, Urdu and Malayalam to ensure that message reaches several sections of the people, the main instructions include the following: Food establishments must adhere to the food safety requirements that are relevant to display and sale of foods All foods should be displayed in closed food cabinets that are suitable for food display and storage. Display cabinets must be located in a suitable place adequately protected from external contaminants Food establishments must refrain from preparing, cooking and reheating foods outside the food establishment Food items can be displayed and sold from two hours before Iftar time. No food should be displayed or sold outside the premises after Iftar time It is preferred that final cooking shall be done maximum two hours before the selling time Cold foods should be kept in cold display units and hot foods should be in hot display units. However, if temperature control is not used, the food should be consumed within two hours of preparation Food establishments should maintain temperature and time records for foods that are displayed. news@khaleejtimes.com Continue reading
Four Reasons Farmland May Be the Investment of the Decade
By Igor Zhitnitsky and Victor German NEW YORK ( TheStreet ) — Over the last several years, U.S. farmland prices have seen astounding gains, outperforming most other asset classes by a lot and leading some to speculate that farmland is the latest in a series of asset bubbles set to burst. But while the run-up in agricultural land is cooling off for the moment and the market may be ripe for a temporary pullback, the overall trend is fundamentally positive. Here are four reasons the long-term outlook for U.S. agricultural land is strong: Foreign demand for meat: The rapidly expanding middle class of the developing world has a growing appetite for meat. While China has been able to meet its own demand, its grain production capacity is inadequate to feed its livestock, which cannot be sustained on grazing alone. Per-acre grain productivity is much lower in China than in the West, and so the country has turned to the U.S. and other large producers for feed grains. This foreign appetite has led to a sharp increase in demand for corn and soybean-producing land in the U.S., and that pressure will only increase as the Chinese and other developing world consumers continue to increase their meat consumption. That points to the increasing importance of agricultural land. Historically low grain supplies: The 2012 drought showed that supplies of corn and other grains are unusually low. Average stocks-to-use ratios — an industry standard for measuring the amount of supply cushion available to the market — is historically low and has been trending down over the decade. That indicates that growth in demand is generally outpacing supply, and price shocks like last year’s will likely become more commonplace. Historically low debt levels: During the 1980s, when farmland did go boom and then bust, the market saw high levels of debt. Farmers racked up loans and rushed to buy out their neighbors’ properties before prices went any higher, leading to a crash in land values when grain prices faltered. In this decade, however, farmers’ debt levels are very low and stable. In addition, agricultural lending institutions and Farmer Mac ( AGM _ ) have heeded lessons learned from the 2008 credit crisis and kept lending practices on the conservative side. Technologically driven productivity gains: The per-acre production of U.S. farmland has grown consistently and rapidly for decades, outpacing both the productivity of agricultural sectors in other countries, as well as other industries in the U.S. In this decade, many high-tech productivity drivers are emerging, ranging from the use of GPS for precision farming to the bioengineering of more efficient grain strains. The trend hasn’t gone unnoticed by the elites of the investment community – Ray Dalio’s Bridgewater Associates holds a sizable position in Monsanto ( MON _ )and Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway ( BRKA ) made a long-term bet on Deere & Co. ( DE _ ) So how can a sophisticated investor benefit from this macro trend? Investing in established companies that dominate the industry is one route, the one taken by some high-profile names. A more ambitious investor willing to take on more risk might also do well by picking winners from among smaller more volatile agricultural ventures springing up in the sector. Companies based outside the U.S., like Adecoagro ( AGRO _ ) and Cresud ( CRESY _ ) are examples, but one should weigh carefully the potential instability and political risks that loom over the agricultural sectors of developing countries. The best way to benefit from rising land prices is the obvious one — to own a geographically diversified portfolio of land. There are unmatched advantages to directly owning farmland, including high reliable yields and tax advantages that other asset classes lack. Owning land, however, is very involved. It comes with complexity many smaller investors don’t think they can navigate on their own — CSR ratings, proximity to transportation and irrigation, working with land managers, protecting land from erosion, commodity hedging, complying with a multitude of state laws affecting absentee landlords and liquidity issues. But for those motivated to finding opportunities in the Corn Belt, a gold rush for fertile land may be the investment frontier of the decade. At the time of publication the author held no positions in any of the stocks mentioned. This article was written by an independent contributor, separate from TheStreet’s regular news coverage. Continue reading
China Has A Lot to Do to Realize Carbon Trading Nationwide
2013-07-01 14:29:48 CRIENGLISH.com Web Editor: Xu Fei A high-level meeting on the 6th World Economic and Environmental Conference was held in Beijing on Sunday, June 30, 2013. The roundtable meeting discloses that the 6th World Economic and Environmental Conference will be held in the latter half of this year under the theme “on the way to green and low carbon to deepen industrial reform and seek harmonious development.” [Photo: CRIENGLISH.com] The city of Shenzhen, in south China’s Guangdong Province, has launched a carbon trading scheme, to become China’s first market for compulsory carbon trading. Energy consumption and environmental experts are praising the move as a positive sign that the government is changing its ways and reducing carbon dioxide emissions. However, they also point out that the government still has a lot to do to realize carbon trading nationwide. The Shenzhen pilot scheme involves 635 local companies which account for 26 percent of the city’s gross domestic product and 38 percent of its CO2 emissions, or about 30 million tonnes — a tiny amount compared to the 8 billion tonnes China emitted in 2012. Liu Yanhua, Counselor of the State Council and Former Chinese Vice Minister of Science and Technology, says production enterprises, a major contributor to such emissions, are expected to play an active role should China develop its low-carbon technology, by applying this carbon trading pilot scheme across the nation. “70 percent of China’s energy consumption derives from production enterprises, which is an important factor in world energy-related CO2 emissions. And the remaining 30 percent of energy use and emissions takes place in homes. Developing countries usually find the reverse situation. If China wants low-carbon development, the nation needs to transform its model of development. Enterprises would undoubtedly play a big role in the transformation as a result of 70 percent of emissions being caused by the production.” Carbon markets allow companies to buy permits to emit carbon dioxide from those that burn less fossil fuels. They thus help set a price on emissions, a mechanism that aims to encourage companies to reduce such pollution and invest in cleaner technologies. Shenzhen is one of the seven cities that were designated as a pilot area for carbon emission trading together with Tianjin, Shanghai, Chongqing and Beijing municipalities and the provinces of Guangdong and Hubei. Rights for 100 million tons of carbon emission have been allocated to 635 enterprises over the past three years, based on their previous emission and added industrial values. Zhou Jian, an expert with Tsinghua University’s Institute of Energy, Environment and Economy, believes that this pioneering pursuit of carbon trading development in Shenzhen indicates government progress in reducing emissions. “Shenzhen is the country’s first market for the compulsory carbon trading of seven pilot cities and provinces. This fact also demonstrates a change in the Chinese government’s attitude in energy conservation and emissions’ reduction, from the heavy reliance on compulsory and administrative means to adopt market mechanisms.” China’s carbon-trading plans are modeled on similar programs now underway in Europe, Australia, California, New England and other large economies. Zhou Jian believes that the advanced European and US markets would first make a law that stipulate the cap for carbon emissions and then allocate a quota of emissions to individual enterprises, however the Chinese government has failed to put such a law in place yet. Zhou also added another problem has to be addressed in realizing carbon trading nationwide. “One of the difficulties lies in the establishment of a control system to calculate, monitor and examine carbon emissions in China. If the quota of carbon emissions is allocated to each individual enterprise, the basic and micro-statistics regarding their respective consumption of carbon and related emissions are strictly necessary. But there is no such content in China’s current accounting system.” There are also concerns in China about what will happen to the price of credits when companies start to trade them. Some say that the price of these credits will rise as China looks to cut pollution levels, which may spark speculative trading. Continue reading
