They call it the “Ghosn effect,” when referring to the boss who they worry may be stretched so thin that he cannot manage either Nissan or Renault, as well as he was able to manage one company.

Renault is a French vehicle manufacturing company that produces cars, buses, vans, trucks and tractors. The company is well known for several revolutionary designs as well as motor racing.

The Renault-Nissan alliance was the first of its kind that involves a French and a Japanese company, each of them having their own brand identity. Renault has a stake of 44.4 percent in Nissan, the Japanese company; and Nissan has 15 percent stake in Renault. Carlos Ghosn, who was the CEO of Nissan, also became the CEO of Renault in 2005.

Today, the petulant shareholders confront the CEO of Nissan-Renault as they are perturbed with the share prices going down more than 30% this year. The wonderful impact the CEO had on Nissan when he turned around the floundering Japanese company almost a decade ago when he took over, is no longer seen.

Analysts say that the sales at Renault have flattened out, with profits sliding down 7.6% last year and they do not seem to be doing any better in 2008 either. Nissan is facing a similar situation, with the stock going down by 32% from the twelve-month high on flat profits in 2007 and with poor prospects for 2008.

The shareholders and analysts attribute it to one boss trying to do too many things at the same time; the CEO has a schedule that ordinary mortals cannot survive.

Carlos Ghosn, CEO of both Renault and Nissan Motors, responds to these allegations saying, “if you look at car-company tie-ups, such as Daimler-Benz buying Chrysler or Ford Motor buying Jaguar and Land Rover, there is only one global alliance that has added value, and that is Nissan and Renault.” He also points out that the two are earning billions even in a year of recession and slow-down. (more…)

Even if all those size-zero clothes had no effect on us, we are forced to start thinking slim now, just in case we end up on a parallel scale along with the baggage. It certainly would not be a pleasant sight, if we weigh more than our baggage.

As the price of fuel reaches sky-high, charges on airline tickets may include both the weight of the passengers and their baggage.

All this may sound far-fetched but it may just come true. Airline CEOs are said to be letting their imagination go wild. They seem to have even begun to think in terms of charging passengers based on their weight.

They cannot be blamed, the fuel costs that almost tripled since 2000, now account for as much as 40% of the operating costs for some airline carriers. To be able to survive, Airlines are forced to come up with innovative ideas to reduce costs and increase revenues.

Singapore Airlines’ shares have gone tumbling down by 8.9% this year and they are doing all they can to cut down costs. According to their chief executive officer Chew Choon Seng, “we are trying to lessen the weight of the aircraft by removing the unnecessary quantities of water.” (more…)

Imagine buses running as fast on a road filled with traffic as they would if roads were empty. Buses do not stop at red lights and they are not breaking the signal. Sounds like a riddle, but this is what is happening in the United States and Canada these days.

A unique method of road travel, which is the dream of every commuter, is now made possible. Bus routes have been equipped with wireless technology, which turns a red light to green – “on command.”

As the buses reach an intersection, signal lights either turn green from red or stay green a few minutes longer. This way the buses do not have to stop and continue to travel fast. This method is said to be environment friendly as there is less pollution and more fuel savings, all because of lack of idling.

This unique technology that is called the “signal preemption,” can only be used by vehicles that are equipped with a GPS link and radio transmitter. The vehicle relays its location and speed to a computer that controls the traffic light. The light switches to green as the vehicle approaches the signal. Emergency vehicles can set up more green lights as they go.

This technology is already being used in ninety-eight metropolitan areas in the United States, in more than 30000 intersections. At least 90% of all intersections are using this technology in some places, such as Bellingham, Washington; Syracuse, New York; Boise City, Idaho; and Eugene, Oregon. (more…)

The struggle for food is not new to man. Man has battled hunger throughout the centuries, from the early hunters who tracked mammoths to the first farmers who scratched the soil to coax the grains to grow. Bible chronicles one famine after another and the Romans prayed to Olympus for food. However, World War II saw man finally win the battle over hunger, with bumper harvests in the U.S. creating food surpluses.

U.S. is no longer the bottomless cornucopia that it once was and with food supplies dwindling, the public have to face the alarming fact of increasing food prices. Even in other countries, food prices have risen higher then they have in the past few years and this is leading to violent protests in several places. Analysts feel that bringing down food prices may take at least a decade.

Amidst all this chaos, comes the comment by the US Secretary of State, Condoleeza Rice, saying that improving diets in India and China is the main reason for the price of food grains going up throughout the world.

This theory raised many eyebrows in these countries, as they felt it questioned the right of people in developing countries to eat a better diet, when they are able to afford it. They feel that eating good and healthy food becomes the right of all human beings, irrespective of where they lived in this world. Just because they could not afford it earlier, does not mean that they starve even when they are able to buy food.

The world food crisis, being called the “silent tsunami” is being attributed to distribution issues, rising oil prices, and the unintended consequence of the alternate fuels effort. (more…)