- the highest number recorded on a single day so far this year.

It's difficult to put a number on such businesses, as there has never been an in-depth study.Prof Gupta says such start-ups are crucial because they provide jobs in rural areas and start a cycle of economic change.

For example, Mr Prajapati now employs 150 people in his workshop and has branched out into cookware, clay water filters and is experimenting with homes made of clay.Another start-up that's hoping for similar success, is run by Bijayshanti Tongbram in the northeastern state of Manipur.She lives in Thanga village which is home to one of India's largest freshwater lakes, Loktak.

Here lotus flowers bloom in abundance."People in my village use the petals of lotus flowers for religious offerings. But their stems often go to waste and that's what I wanted to change and thought of doing something sustainable," she says.

A botanist by profession, Ms Tongbram developed a way to extract silk-like fibres from the lotus stems and now leads a team of 30 women in her village who spin the threads into a yarn and weaves them into unique scarves and garments.

"It takes two months, and 9,000 lotus stems to make one scarf," she says.US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has warned of China posing an "imminent" threat to Taiwan, while urging Asian countries to boost defence spending and work with the US to deter war.

While the US does not "seek to dominate or strangle China", it would not be pushed out of Asia nor allow its allies to be intimidated, Hegseth said while addressing a high-level Asian defence summit on SaturdayIn response, China has accused the US of being the "biggest troublemaker" for regional peace.

Many in Asia fear potential instability if China invades Taiwan, a self-governing island claimed by Beijing. China has not ruled out the use of force.Speaking at the Shangri-la Dialogue in Singapore, Hegseth characterised China as seeking to become a "hegemonic power" that "hopes to dominate and control too many parts" of Asia. China has clashed with several neighbours over competing territorial claims in the South China Sea.