How to Keep the Stomach Happy

By

Kasmin Fernandes

-

November 7, 2018

The stomach is an often-neglected organ, yet our temperament and our mental powers largely depend on it. A happy stomach produces a happy disposition. A sour stomach produces a sour disposition.

As with every part of the living machinery there are laws that govern the stomach. Adhering to these laws ensures that the stomach works well and this in turn affects the whole of this living organism.

The five areas we have control over with the stomach concerns the gateway of the stomach: the mouth.

1. Watch what goes in

Raw food is live food and thus it is full of enzymes. Because of this, it is digested easily and quickly in the stomach. Cooked food is also an important part of the diet as the cooking process breaks down the starches and phytic acid in many foods such as grains and legumes, making them more digestible. Sprouting and culturing also can do this.

Cooked food takes longer to digest than raw food and so it is advisable to always begin your meal with raw food. This stimulates the digestive enzymes well and prepares them for the cooked grub. It also allows the raw food to digest and pass through the stomach without being delayed by the cooked food, which has a slower passage.

The food requiring the least preparation is the food to eat largely and the food requiring the most preparation is the food to eat less of.

Keep fruit and vegetables separate. Have fruit at one meal and vegetables at the next. Fruits and vegetables require different enzymes to break them down. If eaten together they can create a ‘war’ in the stomach.

Water should be drunk between meals and not with meals. If liquid is taken with meals, the digestive enzymes are diluted and thus are unable to break down the food effectively. Digestion is a chemical process and water slows down all chemical processes.

Avoid putting articles into the stomach that would irritate or weaken it. Foods that weaken and irritate the stomach lining are: alcohol, sugar, MSG, caffeine, chilies, cloves, fried foods, tobacco and marijuana smoke.

Food that has been cooked and kept more than 24 hours, such as old, devitalized food is detrimental. Grains and legumes that have not been thoroughly cooked are also inhibitors to digestion.

2. Observe when it goes in

Be consistent. We are creatures that run according to cycles and the stomach is no exception. It loves to eat at the same time every day.

The stomach is better prepared for a large meal at breakfast than at any other time of the day. We should eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a queen, tea like a pauper.

When we lie down to sleep, the stomach should have its work all done, that it, as well as the other organs of the body, may enjoy rest.

At least five or six hours should intervene between meals and most people will find two meals are better than three. Some people, because of the demands of work or home situations, require a third meal. If this is the case, it should be taken early and be the lightest meal of the day. Digestion slows down after 7pm at night.

Digestion can be likened to an explosion on the human body as it takes an enormous amount of blood and energy to digest food. Food averages three to four hours to digest. If this process is interrupted, the stomach once again has problems breaking the food down properly.

A common but detrimental practice is to eat every two or three hours; when this happens, the stomach is required to cease from digesting and go to the new comer. Thus digestion is delayed and the food that is neglected begins to ferment.

All the digestive enzymes are depleted after digestion and so a period of rest is needed between meals for the stomach to replace supplies.

3. How long does food stay in the mouth?

You may have heard the wise old saying ‘We should chew our drink and drink our food.’ This means that we should keep our fluids in our mouths, or ‘chew’ them a few seconds before swallowing so that the fluid is warmed before entering the stomach.

If you are juicing, this allows the salivary enzymes to mix with the juice so that the very small amount of digestion that is required for juices happens thoroughly and quickly.

The meaning of this saying when applied to food is that we should chew our food until it is almost a liquid. This not only makes digestion easier for the stomach because the food is broken up into tinier pieces, causing a larger surface area for digestive enzymes to work on, but it allows for the starch enzyme, ptylin, to begin breaking down the starch in the mouth.

In short, chew, chew, chew.

4. How much food goes in?

Even organic, properly prepared food can turn to poison if too much is taken into the stomach at one time. As several small meals a day weakens the stomach by retarding proper digestion, so overeating twice a day also retards digestion by overloading the stomach. 1.5-2 litres is the maximum amount that the average human stomach can safely hold. Any more places a burden on the stomach.

5. Change the environment

Meal times should be happy times. The stomach is closely related to the brain. Discuss no controversial issues at the dinner table.

If little children are removed from the table every time they make a fuss, they quickly learn to behave at meal times.

It is a good idea to only eat lightly or have a juice instead of a meal if you are anxious. Digestion is retarded when the human machinery is stressed.

Do not feel hurried, but eat slowly with cheerfulness.

Gentle exercise like walking, or light domestic duties after meal aids digestion. Strenuous physical exercise retards digestion by pulling away blood from the stomach to the muscles that are being used. Depletion of blood supply retards digestion.

Posture. The back should be straight and the shoulders back which enables the stomach to perform its work digestion without being cramped.

This article has been issued in public interest as part of a series on natural healing.

Subscribe

Godrej & Boyce, WorldGBC join hands to accelerate the dialogue on net zero carbon buildings in the Asia Pacific Region

By

The CSR Journal

-

November 6, 2018

Godrej & Boyce has partnered with WorldGBC’s Asia Pacific Regional Network as a Corporate Activity Partner to advance the dialogue on accelerating the uptake of net zero carbon buildings in the Asia Pacific region.

The signing ceremony was attended by WorldGBC Chair, Lisa Bate and Godrej & Boyce’s’s Electricals & Electronics business’s COO, George Menezes during the India Green Building Council’s Green Building Congress in Hyderabad.

Godrej & Boyce is the first company to be recognised as a WorldGBC Corporate Activity Partner in the Asia Pacific region and will be participating in The Asia Pacific Dialogue on Advancing Net Zero.

Lisa Bate, Chair, WorldGBC, said: “We are delighted to welcome Godrej & Boyce as a Corporate Activity Partner for the Asia Pacific Network. Their participation will enable WorldGBC to deliver a robust regional strategy around Advancing Net Zero, which can meet the needs of emerging Asia, with its diverse culture and needs.”

S Raghupathy, Regional Chair, WorldGBC Asia Pacific Network, Deputy Director General, Confederation of Indian Industry, said: “We look forward to even more Indian companies joining the ranks in supporting our decarbonisation goals through green building.”

George Menezes, COO, Godrej Electrical and Electronics, said: “This is a significant opportunity to shape and influence the future of buildings in Asia Pacific, and kickstart the transition towards net zero carbon building practices to achieve critical environmental, economic and social goals for the future of our region.”

Launched in June 2016, Advancing Net Zero is WorldGBC’s global project aims to promote and support the acceleration of net zero carbon buildings to 100% by 2050. Currently, there are 17 GBCs participating in the project, that includes both certification development but also driving industry commitment to, and delivery on, net zero carbon building through the WorldGBC Net Zero Carbon Buildings Commitment.

Lights Up – It’s Diwali!

By

Hency Thacker

-

November 6, 2018

Diwali, known as the festival of lights, is a major festival in India. This festival symbolises the victory of good over evil. Hence, it is celebrated with people spreading as much joy as they can around them. This is why in this festive season, the activities and initiatives pertaining to Citizen Social Responsibility and Corporate Social Responsibility are popular.

For Diwali 2018, corporate India has taken to impacting as many lives as they can through CSR.

Surachand village in Rajasthan is known as the village of diya makers. This is the village which makes and supplies clay lamps for Diwali celebration throughout the country. Ironically, the village that contributes majorly in lighting up the country during the festival of lights, did not have constant power supply. Cadbury Celebrations took up the task to provide electricity to this village by installing solar panels there.

PwC India Foundation recognised the need of electricity in the villages in Pali district of Rajasthan. The foundation provided public lighting in the form of solar street lights in the Khariya Sodha village of Rajasthan. This was done to enhance the lives of the local community and make solar lighting a more acceptable way to eradicate light poverty.

Spicejet airlines has committed to provide public lighting to a village in Assam as part of its CSR initiative this Diwali. The airline aims to provide sustainable energy access through solar micro-grid to the people for a period of 75 days.

Thank you for reading the story until the very end. We appreciate the time you have given us. In addition, your thoughts and inputs will genuinely make a difference to us. Please do drop in a line and help us do better.

Regards,
The CSR Journal Team

Subscribe

CSR: Philanthropy In Asia Has Rich Potential

By

Kasmin Fernandes

-

November 6, 2018

Rising wealth in Asia is one of the biggest economic stories of the 21st century. We are witnessing enormous societal change as hundreds of millions leave behind a life of poverty.

As prominent Asian philanthropists Ratan Tata and Ronnie Chan have written, these changes raise some fundamental questions: What does it mean to be part of a community? What are the responsibilities of those who have toward those who have not? And how do ancient ways of interacting with one another meld with modernity, technology and a cosmopolitan world view?

All of these questions are embedded in an evolving notion of philanthropy and other kinds of private giving.

A culture of giving is already deeply rooted in Asia, which has a distinguished history of organized philanthropy for community welfare. What is relatively new and exciting is a growing interest in the professionalization of the sector and the emergence of SDOs (standards developing organisation) that deliver services and products to meet a societal need. All signals point to an increased number of registered SDOs across Asia, with a clear focus on improving lives.

The types of SDOs are also evolving to range from traditional non-profits, to non-profits with income streams, to social enterprises that seek to be successful businesses which also provide a social good.

The potential of philanthropy to contribute to meaningful change has never been higher according to the report titled ‘Doing Good Index 2018’ by the Centre for Asian Philanthropy and Society. However, there is much that governments and SDOs can do to encourage more philanthropic giving among the 637 or so Asia-based billionaires, the thousands of 100-millionaires and other holders of private wealth.

This means that there is an unprecedented opportunity for philanthropic giving in Asia to leap ahead. Asia can even meet, and surpass, the charitable giving level in the United States. Philanthropic giving could also contribute toward the US $1.4 trillion annual global price tag for achieving the United Nation’s SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals) by 2030, to deliver the improvements in quality of life that they promise.

There is great socioeconomic diversity across the 15 prominent economies: China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Myanmar, Pakistan, Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam. They range from high-income to low-income, indicating varied success in directing resources and providing infrastructure support to drive economic development. They also sit at either ends of the Human Development Index, which the UNDP (United Nations Development Programme) uses to measure life expectancy, education, literacy, and standards of living.

Subscribe

CSR: Sportswear Made From Recycled PET

By

Hency Thacker

-

November 5, 2018

According to National Chemicals Laboratory, India produced about 1500 kilo-tonnes of PET in 2015-16. Recycling these bottles can generate over INR 3000 crores annually. Taking up on this opportunity, Paragon Apparels, the company producing sportswear for international brands such as Adidas and Reebok since 2001, has started to use these PET to recycle them and convert them into T-shirts.

Generally, sports garments are made of polyester, which ensures elasticity. Polyester is a manmade fibre which consumes huge quantities of water, chemicals and fossil fuels. It also leaves by-products which are toxic making it hazardous to the environment.

Replacing polyester with recycled PET is not only a productive solution of tacking the plastic waste in the country, but is also beneficial to the environment. The use of recycled PET reduces the carbon emissions by 54%, energy consumption by 50% and also reduces the water consumption.

Paragon Apparels use 8 PET bottles to convert into one sports wear t-shirt. Today, up to 50% of Paragon’s entire apparel line is made of recycled plastic PET bottles. The company produces over 4,000 pieces of such garments every day and sells more than 50,000 units every month.

However, while washing the clothes made of recycled plastic releases large amounts of plastic microfibres into water, according to the environmentalists. This remains undetected by filters as well as the sewage treating plants. It is estimated that half a million tonnes of plastic micro fibres, equivalent to more than 50 billion plastic bottles, shed during washing ends up in the ocean and ultimately enters the food chain. Thus, technically the clothes made by recycled plastic might do more harm to the health and the environment than good.

Thank you for reading the story until the very end. We appreciate the time you have given us. In addition, your thoughts and inputs will genuinely make a difference to us. Please do drop in a line and help us do better.

Regards,
The CSR Journal Team

Subscribe

Immunity Booster: Protect Yourself from Cold and Flu

By

Kasmin Fernandes

-

November 5, 2018

Are people around you catching a cold? Winter colds and flus are an effort of nature to free the system from conditions that arise as a result of a violation of the laws of health. They are a house-clean, say health and wellness experts. Colds are needed to expel built-up waste. This house-clean will rarely need to happen if you follow these natural healing principles.

Principles for protecting yourself from cold and flu

1. Sun

Whenever possible, spend time in the sunshine, with as much contact with the skin as possible. This improves the circulation, oxygenates the body and enhances the digestion. Enjoy the health-dealing, life-giving power of the sun.

2. Ingest with care

Don’t take anything into the body that will harm it. This rules out all stimulants, saturated fats (which include margarine), all refined foods and animal products. These weaken the system and break down the fortifications that nature has set up to guard against disease and premature decay.

3. Early bedtime

Make sure you are in bed by 9:30 pm every night, earlier if possible. (This will ensure that your batteries are ‘recharged’ every night). Better to have an extra blanket on the bed and the window open a little, than a warm room with no fresh air while you sleep.

4. Movement every day

This is probably one of the most effective preventative measures. Only half an hour of brisk walking per day is all it takes. The key to the effectiveness of this is that the walk be brisk, causing the respiration to increase and the heart rate to rise. It also must become a daily habit, rain hail or snow. The best way to warm the human body is to warm it the way it was designed to be warmed: by activity.

5. Fuel

One portion of every meal should have raw food. Begin your meal with the raw food as it is alive with enzymes and digests quickly. If you find the raw food too cold, it can be warmed up with fresh garlic and cayenne pepper, which do not irritate, but only stimulate the circulation. Cooked, hot food is nice in the winter, but make sure it always has a raw accompaniment. A large breakfast, a big lunch, and a light or no evening meal is the eating program the human machinery thrives on.

6. Water

Drink two to three litres of water a day. This is not negotiable as this is what a human being of average height and weight loses a day. It must be replaced by water only. Dehydration is a big contributing factor in winter colds and flus. Early morning and between meals is best as it doesn’t interfere with digestion. Stop half an hour before a meal and resume 1.5-2 hours after a meal.

7. After shower

Use the cold to prevent colds. It is vital to finish every hot bath and shower with a 10-15 second cold rinse. Many have proven this an indispensable aid in preventing colds and flus.

Quick application of cold water is a marvelous tonic, giving tone to the muscles and nervous system, preventing a chilling and equalizing the circulation.

What to Do if You Catch a Cold

Here are several options to increase the body’s ability to ‘clean house’ quickly.

a) Drink a glass of water every ten minutes for an hour at the first sign of a cold. This will allow a quick house-clean and often prevent it going further.

b) Have a hot foot bath for 20 minutes. Put a teaspoon of mustard and half a teaspoon of cayenne pepper into the foot bath. Wrap a blanket around yourself, and drink two glasses of water while sitting there. Finish by pouring a jug of cold water over the feet.

c) Breathe deeply the freshest of air. Well-oxygenated air cleanses and purifies the bloodstream, and gives food to the lungs.

d) Allow the sun to bathe the face and chest. Use safe sun: short bursts in the middle of the day, longer session when your shadow is as ‘long’ as you are. Sunshine touching the skin increases the circulation to those areas, which increases healing.

e) On the first day, eat no food. Drink three litres of water through the day, as well as herb teas, such as peppermint. Have fresh fruit and vegetable juices every couple of hours if desired. On the second day, eat RAW food only. Sprinkle the salad with a dressing of olive oil, lemon juice crushed garlic and cayenne pepper. Avoid grains, as they are mucus-forming when you have a cold. Slowly reintroduce grains and legumes as the cold subsides.

f) Spend a small portion of the day resting; early nights are vital. The body is designed to restore and health while it sleeps.

g) A brisk walk warms the body and increases its healing powers by increasing the circulation and the burning off and expelling of waste.

This wellness article is part of a series on natural healing.

Subscribe

Over 5 lakh candidates placed under Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY)

By

The CSR Journal

-

November 5, 2018

Owing to the successful implementation of Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY 2016-20), the Ministry of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship (MSDE) continues to strive towards fulfilling the vision of a “Skilled India”.

The scheme has witnessed an exponential increase in generating employment opportunities with 5.25 lakh placements. During the last financial year 2017-18, there has been a significant increase in placements due to infrastructure development, expanding training partner network and stringent monitoring processes; making the scheme more effective and constructive with an over-riding focus on quality.

The placements under PMKVY (2016-2020) are categorized into wage and self-employment. Nearly 78% of the candidates have been placed in wage employment while 22% in self-employment/entrepreneurship. The top 10 performing sectors with respect to placements are Apparel, Electronics and Hardware, Retail, Beauty and Wellness, Telecom, Logistics, Agriculture, IT-ITeS, Tourism and Hospitality and Construction encapsulating 85% of the total placements.

Addressing gender inequality in the workforce, the scheme has shown significant gains, with women constituting 55% of the total placements. Meeting the industry demands, the placements have been skewed towards service sector with major placements in apparel, tailoring, computing and peripherals, retail sales, customer care and beauty and wellness job roles.

Rajesh Agrawal, Joint Secretary & CVO, Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE) said, “PMKVY (2016-2020) aims to provide quality training to build skilled and job-ready workforce catering to the evolving demands of the industry. The placement progress brings to fruition the Government’s vision of providing meaningful employment and livelihood opportunities for all. The placement trend also shows high demand in service sector. In a vast country like India, where unorganised sector is predominant, entrepreneurship can be a key enabler for employment generation.”

Manish Kumar, MD & CEO, National Skill Development Corporation commented, “We are encouraging quality training in industry-relevant job roles for better placement outcomes. We are also enhancing self-employment capabilities of skilled youths by integrating digital literacy, soft skills and entrepreneurship modules with PMKVY.”

Placement drives are conducted providing employers and candidates with a common platform to interact and fulfill the placement directive of PMKVY 2016-2020. The scheme has associated with more than 7,000 employers across India through approximately 800 Rozgar Melas in the last 18 months.

The scheme has facilitated connect with leading employers, such as Myntra, Pizza Hut, PVR Cinemas, Bata India, G4S Secure Solutions, Lemon Tree Hotels and Honda Motorcycle & Scooter Pvt. Ltd. to name a few.

YES BANK Launches ‘YES Digi Villages’, India’s Largest Bank-led Village Adoption Programme

By

The CSR Journal

-

November 5, 2018

The 1^st YES DIGI Village was launched in Abhimayupur (erstwhile Amin) in Haryana, empowering over 100 farmers through digital and financial literacy sessions and introduction of Sim Se Pay, India’s first mobile banking solution for feature phone users and villagers with no internet connectivity.

‘YES Digi Village’ programme is envisioned to empower village communities and 30,000 farmers with knowledge about Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) accelerated by creating a robust digital and financial literacy programme, making it the largest bank-led village adoption programme in India. Villages across India will be identified for the YES DIGI Village programme on the basis of available cultivable land, irrigation facilities, cropping pattern, credit culture among other key productivity criteria.

Sumit Gupta, Group President and Group Head: Rural Banking and Small Medium Enterprises Banking, YES BANK said, “YES BANK is committed to furthering the Government of India’s vision to ‘Double Farmers’ Income by 2022’ through ’YES Digi Village’ programme. In continuation with YES BANK’s efforts towards developing a digital ecosystem and furthering financial inclusion, in rural as well as urban areas, we plan to leverage our extensive branch network and harness the potential of our agritech partnerships through YES SCALE Agritech accelerator, thereby also maximize the number of lives impacted.”

‘YES DIGI Village’ is targeted towards enabling farmers with knowledge and skills to improve existing processes and explore newer revenue generation opportunities with the help of Agritech and Fintech solutions. To this effect, YES BANK also plans to integrate its existing capacity building programme for farmers in over 350 villages across states including Uttarakhand, Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra.

Literacy Initiatives:

YES BANK will further financial inclusion by providing financial literacy as well as promoting utilization of digital banking tools, which will be imparted through workshops, specially designed for village communities.
Training focus areas will include technologies like Mobile Banking, Internet Banking/M Wallet, Sim se Pay, ATM, online Savings, loans, account opening etc. as a part of digital and financial literacy. Additionally, GAP training imparted to farming communities would include sessions about crop rotation, drip/sprinkler irrigation, integrated nutrient management etc.

Technology Support:

The Bank is partnering with technology companies to assess customers’ alternate agronomic data related to crop risk management using satellite images and advanced machine learning. The solution will also aid in credit decisioning by providing alternate data points related to historic cropping pattern.
The Bank has also identified startups to explore development of a Land Record Management solution to assist in credit decision by providing detailed report on land revenue documents and assisting in prevention of frauds. This would eliminate need for physical field visit during credit appraisal.

Easing Banking Services:

- Additionally, solutions are already being customized for village communities and implemented to enhance the overall digital banking experience with assisted digital services like loan application, handheld devices for E-kyc/ E-doc/ E-sign making it a completely paperless experience for rural customers, leveraging India Stack and mobility platforms for instant, paperless, error free customer on-boarding.

Changing Corporate Outlook on CSR

By

Namita Vikas, Group President & Global Head, Climate Strategy & Responsible Banking, YES Bank

-

November 3, 2018

In 2014, India became the first country in the world to mandate companies to spend a fraction of their revenue on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). However, long before the Companies Act 2013, cultural beliefs in daan and good karma, have always been a deep-rooted part of India’s corporate culture.

Business houses such as the Tata’s and the Godrej’s have been bastions of social stewardship, undertaking a number of social welfare initiatives through years. While corporates have always played their part and have extended timely support, responsibility of social transformation has largely been borne by the Government and few non-profit organizations.

The CSR mandate by the Government of India is aimed at forming a collaboration between the corporate world, NGOs and Governments to work together for creating a large scale positive impact and mainstreaming social responsibility in the DNA of Indian organizations. The enactment of CSR rules has witnessed a tremendous impact on the evolving outlook and definition of CSR in India.

It is worth revisiting the corporate journey of organizations’ past to analyze how CSR has evolved over the decades.

Past

Pet Projects:

Earlier, CSR projects were driven by senior executives of companies based on their inclination towards causes that intrigued them. Selection of such projects, typically known as pet projects, were highly subjective in nature without scientific backing or empirical assessment. These projects were also unsustainable, considering they could easily disintegrate when executives left their organizations or changed their areas of interest.

Philanthropy:

Philanthropic contributions marked the next step in the evolution of CSR. With an aim to bring about social change in a more sustained manner, corporates donated large sums of money to charitable foundations. While this method helped channelize CSR funds towards proven long term programs, it failed to harness corporate efficiencies in effecting large scale impact.

Present

Currently, CSR spend is driven primarily by the CSR law. The philosophy of comply-or-explain mandates companies falling under certain criteria to spend a percentage of profits, on CSR activities, failing which they are required to provide an explanation for the unspent amount. On the other hand, the mandatory spend has driven corporates to treat CSR more strategically.

Partnerships:

In the current scheme of things, corporates are partnering with NGOs and Government entities for implementation of their CSR activities. They are moving towards a more collaborative model where businesses are focusing on scalability through partnerships. Corporates are also allocating more funds to CSR than the prescribed law, showcasing their conscious approach to the prevalent social issues.

However, these expenditures, in some cases, are made in the form of financial contributions without focusing on impact, underscoring the need for a more comprehensive approach for the future of CSR.

Source: KPMG CSR Survey Report
N100: List of companies identified by KPMG for study

Future

Shared Value Approach:

As businesses continue to grow in size and number, with revenues of some companies larger than the nations, their potential environmental and societal impact increases accordingly. In order to ensure that businesses have a net positive socio-economic impact, a fundamental change needs to be brought about in the way corporates look at their responsibility towards society.

When corporates treat CSR simply as an expenditure to be made for compliance, it becomes more of a liability than a step towards social transformation. There is a need to create a business case for CSR in order for it to be embedded into a corporate’s business strategy.

In order to build such a business case and get all stakeholders to focus on long term impact, there is a need to go beyond compliance and look at a business model of shared value. This would ensure that businesses don’t merely mobilize CSR budgets, but also grow as a result of the same.

A shared value approach treats CSR not only as a means to benefit the society, but also as a strategic tool to tackle long-term socio-environmental challenges faced by corporates. CSR is no longer viewed as an expenditure, but rather as an investment towards sustainable societies and businesses.

Corporates bring with them decades of expertise in executing large scale projects and driving efficiencies. These skills are critical in achieving nationwide positive impact. Augmented by on-ground expertise of the development sector, and the enabling environment created by the Government, corporates can leverage their expertise and resources to help create a sustainable future by following a shared value approach to CSR.

Namita Vikas is Group President & Global Head, Climate Strategy & Responsible Banking at YES BANK. She was recently voted amongst Asia’s 26 Top Sustainability Superwomen. As the Chief Sustainability Officer of the Bank, she spearheads Sustainable Development and CSR, thus driving sustainability principles within its core operations and its value chain towards creating stakeholder value. Namita has an Advanced Management Degree in CSR and Leadership from the Swenska Institute, Sweden.

Views of the author are personal and do not necessarily represent the website’s views.

Thank you for reading the column until the very end. We appreciate the time you have given us. In addition, your thoughts and inputs will genuinely make a difference to us. Please do drop in a line and help us do better.

Regards,
The CSR Journal Team

Subscribe

CSR in the Era of Big Data

By

Kasmin Fernandes

-

November 2, 2018

We live in an era of big data. The proliferation of apps, social media, and e-commerce platforms, as well as sensor-rich consumer devices like mobile phones, wearable devices, commercial cameras, and even cars generate terabytes of data about the environment and about us.

With impressive efficiency gains made in data collection, mining and analysis, technology companies across all realms – from infotainment to finance to logistics – have access to a veritable gold mine of information on their consumers.

With the advantage of such valuable data, companies clearly have the upper hand, fully cognizant of what consumers want, even before consumers realize they want it. Which begs the question of corporate social responsibility.

Data responsibility suggests steps that organizations can take to break down these private barriers and foster so-called data collaboratives, or ways to share their proprietary data for the public good. For the private sector, big data responsibility represents a new type of corporate social responsibility for the 21st century.

Instead of merely leveraging this advantage to maximize profits, companies must consider the long term implications of their actions, the genuine needs of their stakeholders, and the broader concerns of society. Companies would do well to bear in mind issues of sustainability and ethicality, and look beyond their bottom lines to focus on the long road.

3 essentials of big data in CSR

1. Share

Data holders have a duty to share private data when a clear case exists that it serves the public good. There now exists manifold evidence that data—with appropriate oversight—can help improve lives.

2. Protect

The consequences of failing to protect data are well documented. The most obvious problems occur when data is not properly anonymized or when de-anonymized data leaks into the public domain. But there are also more subtle cases, when ostensibly anonymized data is itself susceptible to de-anonymization, and information released for the public good ends up causing or potentially causing harm.

Act

For the data to really serve the public good, officials and others must create policies and interventions based on the insights they gain from it. Without action, the potential remains just that—mere potential, never translated into concrete results.

This is particularly evident in the struggle against corruption. Around the world, data sets released by governments and others have played a powerful role in increasing transparency. Brazil’s Transparency Portal, for instance, was created in 2004 to increase fiscal transparency of the federal government by sharing budget data. The portal is now one of the country’s primary tools to identify and document corruption, registering an average of 900,000 unique visitors every month.

The move from data shielding to data sharing will require that we make a cultural transformation in the way companies, governments, and other organizations treat and act on data. Innovation must not come at the expense of fairness, transparency and inclusion and regulators must set the tone for responsible and ethical use of big data.

Subscribe

NewsWeekPRO

THECSRJOURNAL .cls-1{fill:#be0000;}.cls-1,.cls-2{fill-rule:evenodd;}.cls-2,.cls-3{fill:#fff;}

The stomach is an often-neglected organ, yet our temperament and our mental powers largely depend on it. A happy stomach produces a happy disposition. A sour stomach produces a sour disposition.

As with every part of the living machinery there are laws that govern the stomach. Adhering to these laws ensures that the stomach works well and this in turn affects the whole of this living organism.

The five areas we have control over with the stomach concerns the gateway of the stomach: the mouth.

1. Watch what goes in

The food requiring the least preparation is the food to eat largely and the food requiring the most preparation is the food to eat less of.

Keep fruit and vegetables separate. Have fruit at one meal and vegetables at the next. Fruits and vegetables require different enzymes to break them down. If eaten together they can create a ‘war’ in the stomach.

Water should be drunk between meals and not with meals. If liquid is taken with meals, the digestive enzymes are diluted and thus are unable to break down the food effectively. Digestion is a chemical process and water slows down all chemical processes.

Avoid putting articles into the stomach that would irritate or weaken it. Foods that weaken and irritate the stomach lining are: alcohol, sugar, MSG, caffeine, chilies, cloves, fried foods, tobacco and marijuana smoke.

Food that has been cooked and kept more than 24 hours, such as old, devitalized food is detrimental. Grains and legumes that have not been thoroughly cooked are also inhibitors to digestion.

2. Observe when it goes in

Be consistent. We are creatures that run according to cycles and the stomach is no exception. It loves to eat at the same time every day.

The stomach is better prepared for a large meal at breakfast than at any other time of the day. We should eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a queen, tea like a pauper.

When we lie down to sleep, the stomach should have its work all done, that it, as well as the other organs of the body, may enjoy rest.

Digestion can be likened to an explosion on the human body as it takes an enormous amount of blood and energy to digest food. Food averages three to four hours to digest. If this process is interrupted, the stomach once again has problems breaking the food down properly.

A common but detrimental practice is to eat every two or three hours; when this happens, the stomach is required to cease from digesting and go to the new comer. Thus digestion is delayed and the food that is neglected begins to ferment.

All the digestive enzymes are depleted after digestion and so a period of rest is needed between meals for the stomach to replace supplies.

3. How long does food stay in the mouth?

You may have heard the wise old saying ‘We should chew our drink and drink our food.’ This means that we should keep our fluids in our mouths, or ‘chew’ them a few seconds before swallowing so that the fluid is warmed before entering the stomach.

If you are juicing, this allows the salivary enzymes to mix with the juice so that the very small amount of digestion that is required for juices happens thoroughly and quickly.

In short, chew, chew, chew.

4. How much food goes in?

5. Change the environment

Meal times should be happy times. The stomach is closely related to the brain. Discuss no controversial issues at the dinner table.

If little children are removed from the table every time they make a fuss, they quickly learn to behave at meal times.

It is a good idea to only eat lightly or have a juice instead of a meal if you are anxious. Digestion is retarded when the human machinery is stressed.

Do not feel hurried, but eat slowly with cheerfulness.

Gentle exercise like walking, or light domestic duties after meal aids digestion. Strenuous physical exercise retards digestion by pulling away blood from the stomach to the muscles that are being used. Depletion of blood supply retards digestion.

Posture. The back should be straight and the shoulders back which enables the stomach to perform its work digestion without being cramped.

Rising wealth in Asia is one of the biggest economic stories of the 21st century. We are witnessing enormous societal change as hundreds of millions leave behind a life of poverty.

All of these questions are embedded in an evolving notion of philanthropy and other kinds of private giving.

The types of SDOs are also evolving to range from traditional non-profits, to non-profits with income streams, to social enterprises that seek to be successful businesses which also provide a social good.

THECSRJOURNAL