MONEYMAKERS
BENIGN REGULATIONS: Go green and mint money: this is the message that Allied Colloids, a Bradford- based chemical company has been conveying to other industrial houses in the UK. In a joint study with the Inspectorate of Pollution, it endeavours to prove that regula@ons imposed on industry, to cut pollution hav4provided an unexpected bonus.,51re adopting of pollution-control measures has actually led to spvings of millions of pounds because the greener processes are cheaper, claims the report. Colloids, for example, has been able to save f,300,000 a year for a one-off investment of f 100,000.
LIGHTING THE WAY: Microbics Corporation of California, US, has not forgotten the lessons of the Gulf war. It has developed a new kit for testing water, using a bio-luminescent bacterium which was widely used during the war in 1991. it involve 's adding freeze-dried bacteria to a water sample. If the amount of light produced after a few minutes is lower than normal, it may be an indicator of toxicity.
REVOLUTIONISING THERAPY: The Hyderabad-based Dr Reddy's Laboratories Limited has achieved a significant breakthrough in its anti-cancer and anti-diabetic programmes. The research to modify the camptothecin molecule in the case of cancer and troglitazone in the case of diabetes has finally paid off. After its modification, camptothecirl has been found to be more effective in treating renal and breast cancers. Troglitazone has also been modified and been found capable of reducing over 70 per cent of the triglycide contents which are responsible for diabetes.
PIONEERS IN PHARAOH-LAND: Its quest for profits has taken the Bodinayakanur (Madurai)-based Anubhav Plantations Limited all the way to Egypt, making it the first Indian company to involve itself in the scientific cultivation of teak. About 810 ha of land near the Aswan dam has en earmarked for teak plantations ahd logging. Anubhav Plantations has created a new subsidiary, Anubhav Agro-Cairo Ltd to oversee the US $17 million project. According to C Natesan, Anubhav's chairperson, the firm has also been approached by the Standard Bank of England to cultivate teak in 20,000 ha at Guyana in Africa.
PORTABLE LEAPS:Japan's Nippon Telegraph & Telephone and Sony Corp have made up their minds to link their lot with AT&T to develop a special brand of portable computers for the Japanese market. The product will be launched by a new joint venture, NTT FAN Inc. The system will provide the user with the option of using a conventional telephone hookup, but will also give him the freedom of being able to use the machine where no telephone lines are available.
A BETTER USE: An exhausted iron-ore mine in Sanquelim, Goa, is coming in handy for planting medicinal and endangered plant species. Taken up by the Sesa Goa mining company, the used mine will ultimately be converted into a botanical garden. The comparry has grown trees like acacia (which protects the soil from erosion), cashew, jackfruit, coconut banana and mango, which are being irrigated from a mining pit also used for pisciculture. Sesa Goa's nursery, set up in 1982, accounts for 80 per cent of the species planted at mine sites today. It also has plans to plant 2.2 lakh saplings at other mining areas during the current monsoon season.