“Go Sampada” is the brainchild of AXLE PLANTS & PLANTS PVT LTD, an initiative that blends tradition with innovation to empower farmers, revitalize rural economies, and promote organic agriculture. By integrating sustainable practices, this program is creating a greener, self-sustaining tomorrow.
We had the privilege of speaking with Naren, the visionary behind “Go Sampada,” to understand the transformative potential of this initiative.
The Vision Behind “Go Sampada”
Naren explains, “‘Go Sampada’ was conceived as a forward-thinking initiative that bridges the gap between traditional cow farming practices and modern sustainability goals. At its heart, it celebrates India’s rich cultural heritage while integrating advanced agricultural technologies to promote ecological balance and economic upliftment. This initiative is a holistic approach to revitalizing rural economies and redefining sustainable agriculture by focusing on organic and eco-friendly methods.”
Contributing to Sustainable Agriculture
“Go Sampada” is designed to create positive environmental and social impacts in several ways:
Organic Fertilizers for Soil Health
By utilizing natural byproducts from cow farming, the program produces organic fertilizers that rejuvenate depleted soil, reduce dependency on chemical fertilizers, and enhance agricultural yields. This ensures long-term soil health and sustainability.
Sustainable Dairy Production
The initiative encourages small-scale farmers to adopt sustainable dairy practices by improving milk quality through natural feeding methods. This promotes organic dairy farming with minimal environmental impact.
Rural Economic Empowerment
Beyond agriculture, “Go Sampada” revitalizes rural economies by creating eco-friendly investment opportunities and encouraging rural entrepreneurship, helping communities thrive alongside the environment they nurture.
Tradition Meets Innovation
According to Naren, “India has a deep-rooted connection to cow farming, integral to its agrarian society for centuries. ‘Go Sampada’ honors this heritage by blending it with cutting-edge technology. Modern techniques like nutrient recovery systems, advanced composting, and precision farming are integrated to optimize outputs while retaining traditional values.”
The Impact So Far
“Go Sampada” has already demonstrated transformative results:
• Farmers: Thousands have embraced organic farming techniques, reporting improved soil fertility and higher crop yields.
• Environment: Reduced chemical usage has led to cleaner ecosystems and healthier biodiversity.
• Rural Communities: Villages involved in the program have experienced economic revival, improved livelihoods, and new employment opportunities.
The Future Vision
Naren shares, “We aim to scale ‘Go Sampada’ nationwide, making sustainable cow farming practices the norm. Our future plans include setting up model farms, training centers, and organic markets for farmers to directly sell their produce. We also plan to integrate renewable energy solutions, like biogas systems, to make farms entirely self-sustaining.”
A Message for Readers
“‘Go Sampada’ is more than an initiative—it’s a movement towards harmony between humanity and nature. Supporting programs like this helps build a future where agriculture is productive and sustainable, rural communities thrive, and the environment flourishes.”
As Naren concludes, “‘Go Sampada’ isn’t just about farming; it’s about nurturing a way of life that respects the planet and empowers its people. Together, we can reimagine agriculture for a sustainable tomorrow.”
For more details contact us:
AXLE PLANTS & PLANTS PVT LTD
HYDERABAD.
Toll Free: 1800 309 0306
Stay tuned for the complete interview with Naren on 29th December 2024 at
C. Janith is a Jadetimes news reporter covering science and geopolitics.
The Chinese government has been taking action to bolster domestic demand as it faces potential economic threats from the re-election of US President Donald Trump, who has threatened 60 per cent tariffs on Chinese products. A 'Global South Green Development Plan' or Green Marshall Plan could leverage China's industry leadership in green energy sectors to provide both technology and funding in order to facilitate the energy transition in the Global South, while simultaneously stabilising China's own economy.
Image Source: (energyworld/Getty)
China’s economic growth has been under downward pressure for both cyclical and structural reasons. In late September 2024, the Chinese government began to take decisive action to boost aggregate demand, and has also been promoting what it calls ‘quality productive forces’ in order to nurture new drivers of economic growth.
But the re-election of Donald Trump has cast another shadow over the Chinese economy. Trump’s campaign featured threats of placing 60 percent tariffs on Chinese products and imposing other measures to decouple from China.
There are at least three policy options that China can contemplate in responding to Trump 2.0.
The first, which is almost a consensus view, is that the government should significantly step up policy stimulus to build domestic demand ahead of the expected external shocks. The second, which is more controversial, argues that the best policy strategy for China is to maintain a free trade policy instead of retaliation in the face of renewed protectionism. And the third, which I have proposed, is that China should devise the ‘Global South Green Development Plan’ (GSGDP) to support the energy transition in the Global South and to help stabilise the Chinese economy.
Combating climate change is a global cause. While developed nations have contributed the majority of aggregate carbon emissions over time, emissions by developing nations have increased rapidly in recent years. Successful global green development depends critically on progress made in the Global South, which unfortunately lacks the necessary funding and technology. According to a United Nations study, developing countries have an annual shortfall of US$1.75 trillion in investment for the energy transition.
At the recent COP29 summit, developed nations failed to commit a satisfactory amount of public funding to support developing countries. To make matters worse, the new Trump administration will likely pull out from the Paris Agreement once again.
At the ‘The Bretton Woods System @80’ conference held in late May 2024 in Hangzhou, China, I proposed that China devise the GSGDP - or what’s been called a Green Marshall Plan - to step up its contribution.
During the past few decade, China has emerged as an industry leader in green energy sectors, especially electric vehicles, lithium batteries, wind turbines and solar panels. It is also recognised internationally for its commitment to green development. Its vast supplies and low cost of green energy products are valuable resources for the world’s energy transition. Just like the United States’ Marshall Plan after the Second World War, China can help green development in the Global South by providing both technological assistance and financial support.
The proposed GSGDP could achieve two immediate goals. One is to facilitate the Global South’s energy transition. While developed nations currently lack both the willingness and capability to lead global green development, China has advanced technology and vast production capacity that can help. The other is to stabilise China’s domestic economy. The United States and European Union are raising barriers against Chinese green energy products entering their markets. This could exacerbate China’s domestic overcapacity problem and weaken economic growth if China cannot find new markets for its green energy products.
In late August 2024, former director of US President Joe Biden’s National Economic Council Brian Deese published ‘The Case for a Clean Energy Marshall Plan’. While the initiative he suggests should be welcomed worldwide, the United States does not have obvious advantages in technology and products to shift the dial on the energy transition compared with China. With Trump becoming the next US president, Deese’s proposal is likely to be shelved for at least four years.
The Chinese government is somewhat reluctant to step forward and play a global leadership role in green development. China has a strong preference to remain part of the community of developing countries. This reluctance probably also reflects the government’s concern that it might be pushed to over-commit on both emission reduction and financing. But China already leads on both fronts. And additional commitments should be both manageable and beneficial.
It is clear that China alone cannot accomplish the mission of global green development. But China can play a vital role in mobilising global resources for this cause by working with other countries, particularly European countries, and international organisations such as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund in mobilising climate finance.
Funding will need to be a hybrid package consisting of commercial investment, policy lending and government aid. Overall, the global green development program should be commercially viable - the cheap green energy products produced by China make this goal achievable. In addition to aid provided by governments, especially those of developed nations, national policy banks and multinational institutions should also provide low-interest long-term lending to countries in the Global South. Where possible, governments should facilitate market-based investment to support the energy transition.
If properly designed and executed, with international backing, the Green Marshall Plan could play a significant role well beyond supporting global green development and Chinese economic growth. It could serve as a vital pillar of the multilateral free trade and investment regime. China could also take this opportunity to reform its domestic industrial policy by pushing ahead with market-oriented reforms.
China and other countries with a strong interest in free trade and green development should work together to ensure an open international economic system for green energy products and beyond.
C. Janith is a Jadetimes news reporter covering science and geopolitics.
The U.S. and its allies could be quite literally blind to a potential incoming Chinese attack.
Image Source: (Weibo/Getty)
Imagine a warplane shrouded by a “cloak” that can zip through the skies, reliably protected from enemies’ eyes. Earlier this year, scientists at Zhejiang University in China announced that they had created just that: an “aeroamphibious invisibility cloak” for aircraft - similar to what you might see on Star Trek. Now, the Chinese military wants to apply the new stealth technology to its growing drone fleet.
Aircraft are spotted when they reflect incoming waves from radar systems. But invisibility cloaks are crafted to trick radar systems with specially engineered materials that bend these waves around the aircraft as if they were passing through a plane. The goal is to manipulate waves across the electromagnetic spectrum, including the portions visible and invisible to the human eye.
Militaries around the world have worked for decades to make weapons platforms like warplanes undetectable to radar systems. But such stealth tech is far from perfect, and these weapons can still be spotted with the right radar. Now, the Zhejiang University team says they can close the invisibility gap and render aircraft entirely imperceptible. But is it all too good to be true?
Before invisibility cloaks, stealth planes were the most cutting-edge option available. The exterior of these aircraft are built with special composite materials, which contain substances like graphene and carbon fiber, that can absorb certain types of radar waves rather than pinging them back. Stealth planes like America’s F-35 (pictured above), F-22 Raptor, and B-2 Spirit are also designed with flat surfaces to reflect as few radar waves as possible, and instead appear to be a bat or a bird traversing the sky. Similar designs on submarines make these steel beasts undetectable to sonar operators.
The U.S. military took the initial lead on stealth planes. In the 1970s, the U.S. Department of Defense began developing this technology, which wasn’t publicly announced until a Pentagon press conference in 1980. Then, the country’s first stealth plane was introduced into combat in 1989. From that moment on, U.S. rivals (and even some allies) began developing countermeasures to detect and shoot down the Pentagon’s sly new aircraft.
These nations have developed countermeasures for detecting stealth planes, such as more sophisticated types of radar that can catch a broader spectrum of frequencies.
A general view of Nebo-M radar mobile complex is seen on March 29, 2016, in Nizhny Novgorod, Russia. Image Source: (Mikhail Svetlov/Getty)
Today, Russia employs systems that operate on relatively low frequency bands, including the Nebo-M radar. This system sends out long wavelengths, which makes it more difficult for the stealth planes to avoid radar pulses. U.S. stealth planes, for example, can be spotted by Nebo-M radar because they’re designed to escape shorter radar wavelengths.
China, meanwhile, claims to have developed a new radar system that uses the country’s BeiDou satellite constellations to detect slight refractions from passing stealth planes. “Using a simple receiving antenna, the radar is cost-effective, can be deployed almost anywhere on Earth and does not emit signals that might reveal its location,” according to the South China Morning Post.
Combined with advancing radar systems, the new invisibility cloaking technology from Zhejiang University could offer China an unparalleled advantage over its rivals.
China has sought out true invisibility with the help of advanced metamaterials for over a decade. Liu Ruopeng, an entrepreneur dubbed “China’s Elon Musk”, has researched these engineered synthetic materials for nearly two decades.
By 2011, scientists at Guangqi Advanced Institute of Technology in China were already mass-producing specialized metamaterials for potential use in China’s ongoing fifth-generation warplane program (the J-35 and the J-20 “Mighty Dragon” are its two fifth-gen warplanes).
Two years later, scientists at the University of Texas, Austin, announced they too had created an invisibility cloak. But this was only designed to shield aircraft from microwave light. Then in 2016, scientists in the United Kingdom announced a “surface wave cloak” that could make curved surfaces appear flat when coming into contact with electromagnetic waves from multiple frequencies, preventing them from scattering and alerting radars.
A few years later, scientists from the U.S. and Canada achieved a major breakthrough in metamaterial production: an innovative new type of metalens, which is a flat surface that uses nanostructures to manipulate light. Unlike past stealth designs, this metalens renders an object invisible by expertly bending waves from across the entire visible light spectrum. The surface is filled with titanium nano-fins that can deftly guide incoming lightwaves, regardless of wavelength, through metamaterials that bend the waves with surgical precision. And because the metalens is relatively thin, it’s easier to use and produce than past designs.
In the meantime, the Chinese military has worked to take invisibility cloaks out of the lab and into the clouds. As of 2018, the Guangqi Advanced Institute of Technology was allegedly producing more than 100,000 square feet of electromagnetic materials every year. These were created for China’s fifth-generation warplane, the Chengdu J-20 “Mighty Dragon,” according to defense analysts Jeffrey Lin and P.W. Singer.
The Zhejiang University research team designed their invisibility cloak for a fast-moving drone, so they had to ensure that it could conceal a large, moving object in any weather and any environment, be it air, water, or land.
The scientists had to overcome the significant obstacles faced by past invisibility cloak experiments. For one, the metamaterials used in previous designs struggled to bend electromagnetic waves consistently into a single spot to maintain invisibility. So, the researchers developed a new three-dimensional metamaterial to manipulate incoming waves and ensure that the cloak remains invisible in any context.
With the help of artificial intelligence, the cloak adjusts to changing conditions like a chameleon: on-board sensors gauge factors like the frequency and angular velocity of incoming radar waves, then AI processes this information and directs the drone to manipulate tiny structures on the metamaterial’s surface to guide the waves. Unlike other cloak concepts, the researchers say the intelligent system could theoretically work in real time without human intervention.
In indoor tests simulating land, sea, and air environments, the cloaked drone’s electric field strength was, on average, about 90 percent similar to that of its background. This indicated that it tended to blend in significantly better than a drone without an invisibility cloak, which was only up to 45 percent similar in electric field strength relative to the background environment.
Zhejiang University’s new cloak technology has not been not applied to Chinese warplanes because it’s intended for use (at least initially) on China’s massive, growing fleet of drones. Cloaking a drone, or a swarm of drones, with real invisibility would be a decisive advantage for China in any possible conflict with the United States or its allies in the Indo-Pacific region.
That goal may still be far off - invisibility cloaks still run into several challenges. For instance, invisibility cloaks struggle to precisely guide incoming radar waves from a wide range of frequencies.
But researchers around the world are continuing to perfect these devices, with the goal of reliable invisibility cloaks that can shroud vehicles, equipment, and even people in combat settings. Even a decade ago, the Chinese government was funding more than 40 different research projects on invisibility cloaks.
These shrouded drones could completely rewrite the rules of modern warfare. If, and when, Beijing makes a move against neighboring Taiwan, most experts assume that swarms of drones will play a key role in China’s strategy against the island. Now, pair those drone swarms with the power of an invisibility cloak, and China’s forces could conceivably obliterate much of Taiwan’s defenses before ever setting foot on the island.
Should China fully achieve invisibility, the U.S. and its allies will be quite literally blind to a potential incoming Chinese attack.
