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HSBC
gives 7.5 cr to save plant species
Hong Kong: Country's national gardens are all set
for a boost with a financial support of rupees 7.5 crore
from Hong Kong Shanghai Banking Corporation to conserve
plant species and educate people about wealth of vast
biodiversity. "Money which is to be issued for a
period of five years to support various botanical gardens
in the country aims at preventing erosion of biodiversity
and knowledge," Director General CSIR, Dr R A Mashelkar,
said here on Friday. The support for India is part of
the $50 million which HSBC has committed over a period
of five years for conservation projects around the world.
It includes cleaning up of three major rivers, preserving
20,000 rare plant species, training 200 scientists and
sending 2,000 staff to work on vital conservation research
projects worldwide, Peter Wyse Jackson of Botanic Gardens
Conservation International (BGCI), said. Despite efforts
to preserve and conserve biodiversity, the country lags
behind other nations in this area. Thus, the focus would
be on educating workers in botanical gardens and local
people to prevent erosion of biodiversity, Mashelkar said.
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Vodafone
backs out of India
London: Cellphone giant Vodafone Group Plc said
on Friday it had sold a minority stake in a regional Indian
company because the asset did not offer the British-based
group a strong enough position in India.Vodafone said
it had sold its 20.76 percent stake in RPG Cellular to
Indian mobile phone group Aircel -- the largest mobile
phone company in Tamil Nadu -- for an undisclosed price.India,
one of the fastest-growing mobile phone markets in the
world, is expected to see the number of mobile phone users
surge to 120 million from 13.5 million by 2008. But it
is a fragmented market, which is split into 22 regions.
Each region, or so-called "circle", has up to
four mobile phone operators. "It is a logical move
to sell a minority stake in a single circle operator,"
a spokesman said.
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Volkswagen
to bury legendary Beetle
Wolfsburg: German automobile company Volkswagen
will bury its legendary Beetle model this summer, after
selling more than 21.5 million units since its launch
70 years ago, a spokesman for Europe’s biggest car
maker said Friday. “Production is coming to an end.
An exact date has not yet been set, but it’ll be
in the summer months,” a Volkswagen spokesman told
AFP. The spokesman was responding to reports on RTL-online
and The Stuttgarter Nachrichten daily which said that
the production of the cult car, based in Puebla, Mexico,
would finally be shut down at the end of July. Volkswagen
stopped building the Beetle in Europe in 1978. Global
demand has been dwindling since the car maker launched
its revamped new Beetle in 1998.Output of the classic
beetle in Puebla currently stand at 53 units per day.
According to RTL, its sales were down 50 per cent so far
this year.Even plans to build a small beetle museum in
Puebla had been binned for cost reasons, the online report
added.
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