Latest news with #Banana
Scoop
19-07-2025
- Science
- Scoop
DAJA 2025 Results Announcement
Tokyo, Japan – Articles reporting on the impacts of climate change, digitalization, and environmental damage in Asia and the Pacific have won the Developing Asia Journalism Awards (DAJA) 2025. The DAJA selection committee awarded five articles that cover topics including rising sea levels in Fiji, the heat–maternal health nexus in South Asia, the realities of the use of artificial intelligence (AI) for business process outsourcing (BPO) workers in the Philippines, and Banana plantation soil degradation in Lao People's Democratic Republic. These stories were particularly successful in shedding lights on the situations faced by women and disadvantaged or marginalized groups. DAJA 2025 Winning Articles (in alphabetical order) Elnur Mirzazada Rising Seas, Resilient Communities: Climate Adaptation in Fiji Faisal Rehman In the Heat of Labour: How Pakistan's Expectant Mothers Battle Heatwaves Michael Beltran AI Is Making Philippine Call Center Work More Efficient, for Better and Worse Sanket Jain Scientists Are Just Starting to Understand the Links Between Climate Change and Maternal Mental Health. India's Community Health Workers Are Already Finding Ways to Tackle It Vo Kieu Bao Uyen Banana Boom, Soil Bust Authors of the selected articles will be invited to a virtual awards ceremony on 24 July and will each receive a $2,000 cash prize. Three of the awards will go to journalists under the age of 30. DAJA is an initiative that promotes quality journalism accurately reporting on regional efforts to advance sustainable development.
Reuters
17-07-2025
- Business
- Reuters
Chiquita lays off remaining day workers in Panama
PANAMA CITY, July 17 (Reuters) - Banana giant Chiquita will lay off a remaining 1,189 day workers in Panama, its unit in the Central American country said on Thursday, after it received authorization from the government and following mass layoffs over a strike at its banana farms. The layoffs are effective Friday, it said. Chiquita Panama had fired 5,000 workers in late May as Panamanians across the country protested against several issues including a social security reform they said would affect their future pensions. Its management left Panama by early June.
Metro
16-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Metro
Nintendo and Steam crack down on hentai and other 'eSlop' filling up game stores
Steam has rolled out new guidelines in an attempt to stop games with 'certain kinds of adult-only content', as Nintendo tackles a similar problem on Switch 2. For anyone who has looked through Steam or the Nintendo eShop over the past decade, you've probably noticed an abundance of very cheap and/or pervy-looking games, which occasionally creep their way onto the platforms' best-seller charts. These can range from low-effort idle clickers like the Banana game or sexually explicit slop designed for sordid individuals. Both types often use spam tactics to game their way up storefront listings, whether through cheap incentives or by overcrowding stores with bundles. Steam has now updated its 'rules and guidelines' in an effort to combat these types of games, especially those with 'certain kinds of adult-only content'. Earlier this week, the platform's guidelines for game distribution were updated with a 15th rule under the 'what you shouldn't publish on Steam' subheading. This reads: 'Content that may violate the rules of standards set forth by Steam's payment processors and related card networks and banks, or internet network providers. In particular, certain kinds of adult-only content.' While this may seem very vague, various payment providers have taken action against purchases on certain platforms over the years. In 2020, Mastercard and Visa blocked transactions on Pornhub over concerns of illegal content on the platform. Mastercard updated its requirements the following year, stating that 'banks that connect merchants to our network will need to certify that the seller of adult content has effective controls in place to monitor, block, and, where necessary, take down all illegal content.' Sign up to the GameCentral newsletter for a unique take on the week in gaming, alongside the latest reviews and more. Delivered to your inbox every Saturday morning. However, it's worth noting that this is only a guideline on Steam, so it likely won't solve the problem outright. You can see some of the games being removed over on SteamDB, though, with the majority over the past week having words like 'incest' in the title. There is a concern that these rules may inadvertently impact games that tackle any sexual themes, especially those involving LGBTQ+ subjects, but it remains to be seen if this will prove a problem. For the launch of the Switch 2, Nintendo has also made some changes to its guidelines for companies publishing on the Nintendo eShop. As reported by IGN, these guidelines, which went into effect on June 5 and relate specifically to storefronts in Asia, include restrictions on how many game bundles can be sold at once – with only five now allowed within the first year of a game's release. However, this increases by one each year to a maximum of eight. These guidelines also highlight new restrictions around 'sensitive content', which is described as anything that 'would be considered damaging to the Nintendo brand', including the sexualisation of children, overly sexual content, discrimination and hate, and instructing criminal activity. More Trending The other new guideline is designed to tackle inaccurate descriptions of games, with the new rule stating, 'It is prohibited to provide description of the content of a product as under development if it is not expected to be implemented in the product.' Ahead of the Switch 2 launch, Nintendo changed the criteria of what shows up on the eShop chart, in what seemed to be a bid to counter heavily-discounted games. Before April, the charts page ranked games based on the volume of downloads over the past two weeks, but now it's been altered to a revenue-based system over the past three days. While this helps restrict lower-quality games, often nicknamed 'eSlop', it may have a detrimental effect on indie games in general, although for now, we'll just have to see how things work out. Email gamecentral@ leave a comment below, follow us on Twitter. To submit Inbox letters and Reader's Features more easily, without the need to send an email, just use our Submit Stuff page here. For more stories like this, check our Gaming page. MORE: PS5 consoles get massive £90 price cut in PlayStation sale MORE: EA Sports FC 25 costs just £15 in huge PlayStation Store summer sale MORE: This is what Link looks like in The Legend Of Zelda live action movie
The Hindu
27-06-2025
- Business
- The Hindu
225% increase in Gross Value Added (GVA) in agriculture in 12 years: Centre
The Gross Value Added (GVA) of agriculture and allied sectors at current prices registered a growth of about 225%, increasing from ₹1,502 thousand crore in 2011-12 to ₹4,878 thousand crore in 2023-24, according to the 'Statistical Report on Value of Output from Agriculture and Allied Sectors (2011-12 to 2023-24)', released by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation here on Friday. The report, consisting of detailed tables on values of output of crop, livestock, forestry & logging and fishing & aquaculture sectors of agriculture and allied activities from 2011-12 to 2023-24 at both current and constant (2011-12) prices, also added that the Gross Value of Output (GVO) from the agriculture and allied sector at constant prices has shown steady growth from ₹1,908 thousand crore in 2011–12 to ₹2,949 thousand crore in 2023–24, an overall increase of about 54.6%. The share of crop sector with GVO at ₹ 1,595 thousand crore remained the largest contributor to total GVO (at constant prices) of agriculture and allied sectors with share of 54.1% in 2023-24. 'Cereals and fruits and vegetables together accounted for 52.5% of total crop GVO in 2023-24,' the Ministry said in a release. Among the cereals, only paddy and wheat constitute approximately 85% of GVO (at constant prices) of all cereals in 2023-24. Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, Telangana and Haryana contributed nearly 53% of GVO (at constant prices) of cereals in 2023-24. With reduced share (18.6% in 2011-12 to 17.2% in 2023-24) Uttar Pradesh maintained the top most position. Among he fruits, the constant prices GVO of Banana (₹ 47 thousand crore) has surpassed that of Mango (₹ 46.1 thousand crore). 'Mango was the top-most contributor in GVO (at constant prices) in fruit group consistently from 2011-12 to 2021-22,' the release added. Among the vegetables, potato remained as the top-most contributor in GVO (at constant prices) during 2011-12 to 2023-24. 'GVO of potato has increased to ₹ 37.2 thousand crore in 2023-24 from ₹ 21.3 thousand crore in 2011-12,' the Ministry said. Floriculture experienced significant growth in GVO. It nearly doubled from ₹17.4 thousand crore in 2011–12 to ₹28.1 thousand crore in 2023–24. 'Share of Madhya Pradesh (19.2%) in GVO of 'condiments & spices' in 2023-24 made a dramatic leap becoming the top contributor in this group, while Karnataka and Gujarat followed with 16.6% and 15.5%, respectively,' the release added. The GVO of livestock products has increased from ₹488 thousand crore in 2011-12 to ₹919 thousand crore in 2023-24, making it one of the fastest-growing components of agriculture & allied activities. 'Milk remained dominant in this sector in 2023-24, however share has decreased from 67.2% to 65.9% during 2011-12 to 2023-24. Share of meat group in total GVO of livestock sector increased from 19.7% to 24.1% during 2011-12 to 2023-24 (at constant prices),' the release said. Share of value of industrial wood surged from 49.9% in 2011-12 to 70.2% in 2023-24. The contribution of 'Fishing and aquaculture' sub-sector to agricultural GVA rose from 4.2% in 2011-12 to 7.0% in 2023-24. 'Share of inland fish has decreased from 57.7% to 50.2% during 2011-12 to 2023-24 whereas, share of marine fish has increased from 42.3% to 49.8% during 2011-12 to 2023-24,' the government said.
Sunday World
20-06-2025
- Sunday World
Drug dealer dubbed Albus Dumbledore jailed over cannabis haul
The judge commended him for writing a 'candid' letter to the court A drug dealer who nicknamed himself 'Albus Dumbledore' has been jailed after he was caught on camera picking up a shopping bag full of cannabis. Jacob Flavin (29) used the name of the famous Harry Potter character on the encrypted communication app, Signal. He was described in court as a 'significant figure' in a five-man gang of drug dealers who sold wholesale amounts of cannabis on Signal, Manchester Evening News reports. Jacob Flavin News in 90 Seconds - June 20th Manchester Crown Court heard how Flavin advertised 500 grams of 'super skunk' for £1,000 on November 3, 2023. He also included a photograph of the product being held in a latex-gloved hand. When his potential buyer said 'leave it with me', the 29-year-old replied, 'Can do nothing but make money. Soon as these main ones land, I will send a list.' Flavin also advertised other kinds of cannabis, including 'Tropical', 'Gelato' and 'Banana' with prices ranging from £2,800 to £3,100 per kilo. He was ultimately caught when undercover police photographed him collecting an Aldi shopping bag that he believed was full of cannabis. Cops were monitoring the gang as part of 'Operation Global'. During his arrest at his deluxe apartment in Salford, Manchester, police seized a Rolex worth between £6,000 and £8,000 as well as small bags of cannabis. Detectives also found menus, price lists and two mobile phones. They also found a ledger with details of debtors and how much they owed. Examination of his mobile phone found he was also involved in the sale of cocaine, heroin and ketamine with other 'unknown conspirators'. It's estimated that the gang were involved in the supply of approximately 180kg of cannabis in a period of seven weeks. Neil Fryman, for the prosecution, told the court that Flavin could be linked to the sale of 3.5kg of cocaine, 2.5kg of heroin and 5kg of ketamine. The court heard that he had six previous convictions for 10 offences, including possession of cannabis with intent to supply, for which he spent nine months behind bars. At sentencing, Judge Sarah Johnson said the damage done to communities by drugs was 'far reaching', adding: "So much of the suffering we see in these courts has its roots in this trade and those who seek to profit from it." She told the court that Flavin had written a 'commendably candid' letter detailing his "first-hand experience of the dreadful consequences of this evil trade". "It appears to be to your eternal shame that you sought to profit from other's misery,' she said. Flavin was handed down nine years in prison after pleading guilty to four counts of conspiracy to supply cannabis, cocaine, heroin and ketamine.
