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 …
ELECTRIC cars have long been viewed as environment- friendly substitutes to the conventional petrol and diesel driven cars, But one of the main problems confronting the electric car manufacturers is the long time - sometimes as much as 12 hours - that it takes to recharge the vehicles' batteries. Now, …
RESEARCHERS from the University of Warwick have developed a technique to paint plastics as they are moulded. The team from Warwick Manufacturing Group's Advanced Technology Centre was led by Gordon Smith, who explains that if plastic components are coloured throughout - as in washing-up bowls, they fade at different rates …
A hacksaw, a wrench, a couple of metres of 3 cm wide galvanised iron pipe and, Mohanlal Madan's ingenuity did the trick. He became the intellectual property rights holder of the only autorickshaw inspired by the Mitshubishis and Canters. Of the 60,000 three-wheeler autorickshaws in Delhi, vehicle number DL-IR-A 5176 …
IN DISHEVELLED Second World War buildings in the countryside west of Birmingham, UK, Bernard Hooper is working through the problems of developing a new diesel engine for small cars for the 21st century. He is trying to develop a 2-stroke engine with a stepped piston design which would achieve low …
JAPANESE researchers claim to have developed a high-strength, fatigueresistant spring designed for motor vehicles, which could be used in clutch torsional dampers of pickup trucks. To make the spring, scientists from Nippon Steel, Japan, used a high-strength steel which is formed by adding special elements to a material based on …
ENVIRONMENTAL problems, like other real-world concerns, never make for soft solutions. Even on the eve of its implementation, the laudable scheme whereby all new cars registered in Delhi, Bombay, Calcutta and Madras will be mandatorily equipped with catalytic converters was dogged by controversy. Telltale ironies about April 1, Fool's Day, …
SICK of vehicles belching noxious fumes into the atmosphere? Take heart, a cleaner option may soon be available in India in the form of electric cars and scooters. The US-based Ovonic Battery Company (OBC), a subsidiary of Energy Conversion Devices (ECD), is hoping to introduce into India nickel-metal hydride rechargeable …
The triumvirate of the American automobile industry, General Motors, Chrysler Corp and Ford Moors, have joined hands with the Clinton administration to develop a "safe, high-performance supercar" which will triple the modern car's efficiency. But some sceptical auto-watchers claims that the project is merely a ploy to hedge and stall …
The car revolution has finally swept over China. The leaders of China's Communist Party have unveiled a plan to expand the automobile industry and boost private purchase of cars, once considered an aberration in the land of bicycles and handcarts. The production goal for vehicles by the end of this …
"WE HAVE been the providers of knowledge, but we have never been able to convert it into something profitable, useful and productive," admits the eminent Indian material scientist, C N R Rao, in a recent interview to The Asian Age. Rao attributed this to the poor investment in scientific research, …
Apart from massively polluting the air, 4-wheelers present another environmental problem -- the annual disposal of billions of litres of engine oil that need to be replaced every 4,800 km for cars and every 32,000 km for trucks. Engineers at the Florida-based TF Purifiner Inc, recently devised an oil-cleaning system …
MINI radars are being used in warning systems for cars when they are being reversed and for cruise-control systems to maintain constant distances from other vehicles. Now, Thomas McEwan, an engineer at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in the US, has designed miniature radars that, at just $10, are less …
Even as the manufacturers of the Contessa Classic automobile claim that it is the symbol of upwardly mobile Indians, a traffic pollution study conducted by the Centre for Science and Technology (CST) reveals that it is the most polluting car on that city's roads. CST, a Bangalore-based non-governmental organisation, carried …
How does it feel to be told that if only your car had seat belts fitted, your 26-year-old son and 22-year-old daughter-in-law would be alive today? What would you do if you were told this? Would you bow down in acceptance before the Hindu priest when he said that it …
• Nicolas Hayek, chairperson of SMH AG, is looking for a partner to introduce the automotive equivalent of the Swatch watch he made famous in the 1980s. Hayek's inexpensive, stylish and "environmentally correct" car is to have low pollution levels, thanks to a hybrid system of battery- and gasoline-powered motors. …
THE UNION transport ministry maintains it is committed to restricting vehicular pollution. However, a notification on automobile emission levels issued by the government in the first week of November, dilutes standards both in overall terms and in almost every vehicle category. For instance, the limit for carbon monoxide emissions by …
DINOSAURS went extinct because the lumbering, gormandising behemoths were unable to adapt to a changing world. The contemporary car -- a fuming, fuel guzzling, latter-day dinosaur -- probably awaits the same fate. With oil getting scarcer and air fouler, it won't be long before today's cars are veered out of …
BRAVO! No more burning bottoms. The next time you park your car in the sun, you needn't gingerly test the hot seat before getting in. Thanks to a new aerosol spray, which contains no ozone-destroying CFCs or alcohol, you can instantly cool off sun-baked vehicles, small spaces and even your …
US jet engine and automobile-part manufacturer, United Technologies Corp, has been fined $5.3 million for its carelessness in handling and discharging hazardous wastes in recent years. The wastes contained solvents, paint thinners and sludge, among other toxic chemicals. Seven plants of the firm's Pratt & Whitney jet engine unit and …
THE JOINT sector automobile manufacturer, Maruti Udyog Limited (MUL), launched its latest model with much fanfare in May. However, Alto, the version earmarked for European markets has pollution control features that are deemed futuristic for India. Alto has engines that will run on unleaded petrol. It also incorporates catalytic converters, …
