Chernobyl

As I sit here in a press conference awaiting the latest update on the worsening situation at the crippled Fukushima nuclear power plants, these are the most painful words I have ever had to write. Firstly, let's get the facts out there in the open.  At 2:46pm on March 11, Japan suffered its worst earthquake ever. The quake magnitude was measured at the record level of 9.0, leading to unprecedented tsunami waves sweeping across the Tohoku area 200 miles north of Tokyo. Complete towns disappeared in an instant as tsunamis towering up to 30 feet high sped across the coastal plains at speeds of up to 100 mph. News programmes are predicting the death toll will rise to 10,000 by the end of the month. It could go much higher. What has totally monopolised the nation's major TV networks since March 12 however, is the developing crisis and possibility of massive radioactive fallout at the Fukushima nuclear power plants. International media reports have already likened this potential … [Read more...] about Japan’s living nightmare

I went to the Zastava factory in Kragujevac, Serbia, earlier this year, and to say it was a depressing place would be a major understatement. It was still winter at the time, and on the factory floor workers spent their breaks crammed into small huts, trying to keep warm among Arctic drafts and a leaking roof. The one-time computing centre sat in ruins, destroyed by a NATO bomb in 1999. And, around the back of the plant, lines of mothballed railway wagons showed how far Zastava’s fortunes had fallen – the factory no longer made enough cars to justify sending them out by train. I’ve only been to one other place that gave off such gloomy post-industrial vibes: the abandoned zone around the Chernobyl nuclear reactor. But I left Kragujevac convinced that Zastava deserved to thrive and develop. Pretty much every other country in Eastern Europe is now the home to gleaming new car factories, yet Zastava was making cars in Serbia before any of them. And, despite the … [Read more...] about Why your next car might be Serbian

Now here’s an offbeat news coming from Land Rover. Not content with just packing their things and flying them over to Beijing, the Brits decided to saddle up the Land Rover Discovery and drive there. And arrived just in time. This stunt, however, is done for a good cause. The Discovery in these pictures is actually the one millionth Discovery to roll of the plant at Solihull, February 29, 2012. It had its ceremonial send-off at the Geneva Motor Show that happened in March. The journey took the team across 13 countries and cut through some of the beautiful yet harshest places on earth, like the Alps and Taklimakan Desert. Right, back to the good deed. The ‘Journey of Discovery’, which four vehicles travel more than 10,000 miles (or 16,093.44 km) from Birmingham to Beijing. It aims to raise £1 million for the company’s Global Humanitarian Partner, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC). Land Rover says that the journey is … [Read more...] about Land Rover Discovery drives from UK to China for charity

Petrol and diesel internal combustion car engines are outdated yesterday technology . No matter how the manufacturers or engineers improve the engines , it is still an obsolete technology dating back to it first invention in 1876 in Germany. The world is fed up with pollutions like traffic generated heat due to prolonged traffic jam , unbearable noise and smoggy air pollution( India), routine maintenance to change costly car engine oil , pollution in our sewerage pipe and drains , rivers and lakes and etc due to accidental oil discharged always!!– unbelieveable In term of economy, highly depending on oil exporting countries like brunei, saudi, russia, nigeria , iran , iraq seeking to be rich and forming a control cartel without its population having to work very hard with oil high prices will go thru forever with big budget deficit AND devaluation of their currencies. Same goes for malaysia too. Why? low oil prices , extraction production cost more than market selling price. … [Read more...] about Tesla Model S outsells 7 Series and S-Class in the US

Located just a half-hour’s drive down Interstate 44 from downtown St. Louis, Missouri is the scenic Route 66 State Park. It’s a vestige of a bygone era in American society, when the transcontinental “Route 66” came to represent the glory days of road-tripping in the United States. You can come to the park to enjoy lush scenery and natural beauty, and you can even drive down a preserved section of the old, iconic Route 66. You’d never know that this beautiful park is located above the ruins of a suburb that was destroyed by one of America’s worst environmental disasters of all time. Once upon a time, the land that the Route 66 State Park occupies was once a colourful suburb of St. Louis. The town was founded in 1925, and a famous promotion from the St. Louis Star-Times newspaper included a 6-month subscription with the purchase of a new lot in town. Add the fact that the town was located on the banks of the Meramec River, and it’s easy to see … [Read more...] about That Time A Town Had To Be Demolished After Roadworks Went Horribly Wrong