The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is helping Pakistan craft, a comprehensive energy efficiency policy and investment programme to meet the growing energy demands of an expanding economy and population.

New models seen giving a boost to '08 vehicle sales Bloomberg Domestic vehicle sales may rise this year as carmakers introduce new models, the country's automobile dealers group said. Vehicle sales excluding minicars may be higher than the 3.43 million sold in 2007, Yoichi Amano, chairman of the Japan Automobile Dealers Association, said Monday in Tokyo. Vehicle sales fell to the lowest in 35 years in 2007 as declining wages and a shrinking population cut demand for automobiles. Toyota Motor Corp. introduced a new version of its Crown sedan earlier this month and Honda Motor Co. brought out a new version of its Fit compact, the country's best-selling car, in October. Nissan forecasts gain Nissan Motor Co. forecast its sales in China will rise 11 percent this year as it introduces new car models. The company expects to sell 500,000 vehicles in the country this year, including light commercial vehicles, compared with 450,000 last year, it said in a statement Monday. The carmaker will introduce three Nissan-brand vehicles in the world's fastest-growing major car market this year, starting with the Qashqai sport utility vehicle in March. Last month, the company brought out the Infiniti M35 sedan in an effort to win customers from Daimler AG and Bayerische Motoren Werke AG.

The United Nations Population Fund will provide $2.4 million for the population welfare activities in the country. In this regard, a signing ceremony for the implementation of the annual work plan 2008 between the ministry of population and UNFPA was held here on Thursday. Country representative UNFPA Dr France Donnay and Mohammad Sharif, secretary ministry of population, signed the work plan. The fund would be utilised for implementation of reproductive health and family planing activities in the focused districts of Mansehra, Kohat, Chakwal, Muzaffargarh, Qilla Saifullah, Chaghi, Jacobabad, Thatta, Kotli and Muzaffarbad. The major activities of the annual plan included training, integrated quality primary health care, reproductive health/family planning through mobile units in remote areas, advocacy and community awareness, procurement of contraceptives, improved management system for programme delivery, support to demographic and population studies and sensitisation of political as well as religious leaders besides support for public-private sector organisation on population and development issues.

From population control to reproductive health; Malthusian arithmetic

India's Best and Worst States

The world has reached an environmental crossroads, according to the third Global Environment Outlook (geo-3) report. And the choice between greed and humanity will decide the fate of millions of