The Corona Virus outbreak in China has led to restrictions on movement of people and business activities in many provinces of China, in order to control the spread of virus. The closure of factories in China may affect Indian industries, which import components, intermediaries and raw materials from China like …
Car dependency may now have become a serious problem, but in 1882, when the German car maker Karl Benz took out his rudimentary internal combustion engine for a test drive in the streets of Stuttgart, he was arrested. The French count Albert de Dion fared no better. When he tried …
at the beginning of the 20th century, the Swiss Canton of Graubunden banned all cars from its streets. The canton of Uri clamped a similar ban, a year after. The bans might seem ante-diluvian in this age of auto-intoxication. But the action of the Swiss cantons remains salutary for a …
Ashis Nandy, eminent political psychologist and sociologist, on India's urban crisis On the automobile culture Societies that developed cars have also found ways to manage and regulate them. That's because in Europe and North America, several sociologists have studied automobile culture. There are none in India; we just adopted the …
cars are designed to perform at their optimum when accelerated at one particular level. A slight deviation from that and the vehicles constantly lose energy. Whether on gear one, two, three or four, you unwittingly lose out on fuel efficiency if you don't stick to the optimum level fixed in …
The Andaman and Nicobar Islands are still seen as tourist havens, even after being ravaged by the tsunami in December 2004. The tourism policy of Andaman and Nicobar Island 2003 listed its objectives as large-scale, resource-intensive tourism, opening more islands for tourism, attracting private investment for high-end eco-tourist resorts and …
In our December 31, 2006 issue we raised some questions in the editorial, 'Economics of congestion'. Readers responded. Here is a cross section of views Theory-practice hiatus Shreekant Gupta, director National Institute of Urban Affairs New Delhi The article raises a pertinent point: the costs that automobiles impose on society. …
in 1933, Adolf Hitler met with the car baron Ferdinand Porsche to discuss the idea of a car that could carry 5 people, cruise up to 40 km an hour, return around 12 km a litre, and cost only 1,000 Reich Marks. Thus was the origin of the Volkswagen car. …
the Indian middle class has come of age. Quite literally so. The motor car, that epitome of middle class aspirations, is no longer a dream. Of course, that automobile is also not the lumbering Ambassador of yore. Dainty Marutis had long replaced it. Emerging from a collaboration with the industrious …
the European Commission (ec) will adopt Euro 6 stage of emission norms, along with the existing Euro 5 norms. It, however, trails behind leading nations in reducing nitrogen oxide (nox) emissions from diesel cars. The Euro 6, according to ec , would significantly lower nox emissions. ec has considered a …
THE Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (siam) says India produced over 10 million vehicles in 2006. The number of cars was more than one million. As the manufacture and sale of vehicles are important parameters of the national economy, this millionth-vehicle yardstick says the economy's fundamentals are buoyant. I have …
The cyclist, who has ruled Chinese streets for decades, is fast becoming an endangered species in the country, thanks to sweeping globalisation. Shenzhen China Bicycle Company, one of the biggest bicycle manufacturers and the biggest bicycle exporter of China, is facing bankruptcy. Due to increased competition for export sales and …
us scientists have found an ingenious use for empty plastic bottles. Instead of disposing them in landfills, the non-biodegradable waste can be used to make engine oil for cars, say researchers at the University of Kentucky and the Chevron Energy Technology Company. They converted the plastic bottles into high-grade oil, …
California in the US has adopted the world's first plan to reduce the emission of green house gases (GHG) from motor vehicles. The new rules necessitate cutting exhaust from cars and light trucks by 25 per cent and from larger trucks and sport utility vehicles by 18 per cent in …
Frenzied developments on the energy front in India are indicative of the domestic automobile industry chasing us President George W Bush's hydrogen economy dream, which is thought to be more of a chimera. The industry, in collaboration with India's Union ministry of non-conventional energy sources (mnes), is planning to put …
Japanese automobile manufacturer Toyota will now help Ford Motor Company of the us to build environment-friendly cars. Toyota, which recently overtook Ford to become the world's second largest automaker, is keen to promote its technology and expand its hybrid line-up. The pact between the two carmakers allows Toyota's patents on …
The National Auto Fuel Policy, unveiled by Union minister for petroleum and natural gas Ram Naik on October 6, is a softer version of a soft report. Based on the recommendations of the expert committee on auto fuel policy, it lays down a weak roadmap for vehicular emission control for …
When I think of the government's newly cleared Auto Fuel Policy, the image of Nero fiddling while Rome burnt comes to mind. The document apparently sets the roadmap to meet clean air targets in Indian cities - in other words, show how to secure mobility and public health. Instead, all …
