HERBAL REMEDY:A sore throat reliever, the first of a new range of herbal
oral care products, has been
launched by the Mumbai-based
Kopran Pharmaceuticals. The company will also introduce a mouth
ulcer gel, a mouth deodoriser a
destaining toothpaste and a cracked
voice healer under the Smyle range of
products. Kopran has tied up with
Diarin Co Ltd of Japan for technical
know-how for manufacturing the
mouth deodoriser. The company will
initially focus on oral healthcare, but
gradually explore other healthcare
segments.
HANDY PURIFIER: The latest entrant in
the water purifier market in India
is a pocket-sized electronic purifier
called Aqua-Pen. It has been
launched by Aquatech International
Ltd in northern India. Developed
by Aqua Pure Technologies Inc
of the US, the
purifier generates
silver ions which
destroy all germs
present in the
water in 39-50
seconds. Priced at
Rs 594, Aqua-Pen
can purify up to 5,000 glasses of
water with one cell. The product
adheres to World Health Organization standards for dean water.
DIAL-IN DIVIDENDS: The Internet is
all set to revolutionise the international telephony market. An Iowa
(US)-based company, Global Link
Inc, has introduced the first global
phone-to-phone Internet service
called Global Internetwork which
will allow users to make calls via
the Internet to any part of the
world. The users at both ends will
not need a computer and neither
will they have to pay subscription
rates. The quality of the call will
be better than regular calls made
through satellite. The company
claims that it will be able to offer
80 to 90 per cent discounts over
traditional international telephony
rates.
EXPANDING LINKS:DDI Corp and
Nippo Ido Tsushin
Corp, both of
Japan, have tied up
to form a nationwide cellular-phone
network based on
next-generation digital technology
to be adopted in 1998. DDI, a
long-distance telecommunications
firm, and Nippon Ido, a cellular phone company, will join forces
to build a digital network using
"advanced code division multiple
access". The sound quality of this
system is as good as that of a
standard telephone. The two firms
will invest around US $2.43 billion in
the new venture.
FUTURISTIC AUTOS: The race to develop
economical and eco-friendly cars
is hotting up with Ford Motors planning to unveil the first of a series of
diesel-powered cars later this
year. The P2000, as the vehicle is
known, will feature a 1.2 litre,
four-cylinder, direct injection diesel
engine made entirely from aluminium. The engine can run on diesel
or methanol. The P2000 will be the
forerunner of future vehicles which
will weigh only 60 per cent of what
they do today and will be potentially
able to travel three times as far on
every litre of fuel.
GREEN WEAPON: Farmers in India
will now have access to 'Caldan,'
an eco-friendly pesticide which
has been launched by the Haryana-based company Dhanuka Pesticides. Caldan has
been developed by
Takeda Chemicals
of Japan and it can
control more than
30 different species
of pests. The pesticide is practically
effective against insects at both
larvae and adult stage. It is non-toxic
to mammals. Pests like the adult rice
stem-borer disappear in an hour
after direct spray of Caldan.
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