NEWS SNIPPETS
• Conservationists have slammed media mogul Disney for its plans to serve shark's fin soup, sea cucumber and abalone in restaurants at its new theme park in Hong Kong in September. "Promoting these marine species is not responsible because they are not sustainably harvested. Disney should promote responsible consumption,' said Clarus Chu of the World Wildlife Fund, Hong Kong.
• Greenpeace has nominated Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and five others for its first "Golden Chainsaw' prize. The prize is to be awarded to the Brazilian deemed to have contributed most to the Amazon's destruction, while environmental activists and journalists will make a "critics' choice'. The winner will be awarded a statue made from illegally logged wood. • The Union ministry for health and family welfare marked World Anti-Tobacco day by proposing a ban on smoking in films and television programmes from August 1, 2005. Predictably, Bollywood spewed venom on the proposal. "It's preposterous to expect that the ban would curb smoking,' said director Mahesh Bhatt. The national media also went into a tizzy, highlighting the move as arbitrary.