Tata Nano, the Indian wonder car

Marouane chose this text. Here is an excerpt from the article taken from the Guardian.

"Like a modern-day version of Henry Ford, Tata's idea is of an affordable car that is light and simple, yet made from high-quality materials. The result is a jelly bean-shaped vehicle into which five adults can squeeze. The basic model makes no concession to luxury: its price has been kept low by using more plastic than steel, and swapping hi-tech glue for traditional welding. Rival manufacturers had questioned whether the car would meet safety standards, especially if the company plans to export such models to Europe, which requires cars to meet stringent crash tests.(...)

But environmentalists say the possibility of mass sales of the Nano has worrying implications for the environment. Major cities in India are now wreathed in smog and rush hours have spread long into the night. In Delhi traffic now crawls, on average, at less than nine miles an hour - half that a decade ago.

As congestion builds up and cars slow, greenhouse gases emissions increase more rapidly. India's vehicles spewed 219m tonnes of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere in 2005. Experts say that figure will jump almost seven-fold to 1,470 tonnes by 2035 if car travel remains unchecked."


What can be done to avoid a disaster?

Floods threaten millions of lives unless defences are improved

Thomas's choice

We ought to be preparing the defence of our coastal areas from the rise of waters estimated at about half a meter by 2070. Developing countries are particularly at risk and as the value of their assets keeps increasing, it will cause a major economic crisis.

Are we wasting time and jeopardising our planet?

How a single clumsy ship disrupted Internet access

According to reports, the internet blackout, which has left 75 million people with only limited access, was caused by a ship that tried to moor off the coast of Egypt in bad weather on Wednesday. Since then phone and internet traffic has been severely reduced across a huge swath of the region, slashed by as much as 70% in countries including India, Egypt and Dubai.


Here is the complete article

Our reliance on such fragile links ought to be taken into consideration, shouldn't it? Why do we let ourselves be so vulnerable? Your opinion?