As with Devi, Virgin Comics is hoping to harness the creative talents of its 75 artists in Bangalore."Because of what has been going on in India in the past 10 to 15 years, our artists have been deluged with satellite TV, Western videos and music, all of which has been set on top of their ancient Indian cultural heritage and Bollywood," said Mr Chopra."We started out in India, backed by my father [the New Age guru], Deepak Chopra, and Shekhar Kapur, which was like having two Steven Spielbergs. "Eventually we may make feature-length filmed animations."Virgin Comics is launching a new comic each week this month to be sold in newsagents and Virgin Megastores. Eight further titles are expected before the end of the year, and 16 in 2007. Fellow director John Woo, of Mission Impossible 2, is expected to contribute to future titles.The creative force behind Virgin Comics is Gotham Chopra, a collaborator with Michael Jackson on the lyrics of "Dangerous" and "History", who worked with Woo adapting the cult comic Bulletproof Monk for the screen."The intention of Virgin Comics is to build character brands, then make short-form animations for mobile phones and the internet, and then games and online games," said Mr Chopra.

The film director Guy Ritchie is joining forces with Sir Richard Branson to create a comic book with a view to turning it into a feature film. Virgin Comics is Sir Richard's newest business venture and will launch its first title, Devi, in Britain and the US on Wednesday. The unnamed Ritchie project, for which the Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels director will write the story, is due to be published in the autumn. The central character in Devi is based on the Hindu goddess of that name. The comic has been inspired by film director Shekhar Kapur, who made Bandit Queen and Elizabeth. The accounts said the money was taken from the company's cash reserves.Mr Sullivan, who made his fortune in pornography, set up the Sunday Sport tabloid in 1986 with David Gold, who with his brother Ralph owns sex-accessory shop Ann Summers.The company did not return calls about why profits had risen despite the slide in sales.Fans of Birmingham City will hope that the three will put some of the cash towards spearheading this season's promotion drive back to the Premiership..

Sales of the Daily Sport, which aren't audited, are down 24 per cent at around 24,000. By taking £10.4m in dividends, the three men pushed Sport Newspapers £7.9m into the red. The Ralph brothers also have a 50 per cent interest and shared the other £5.2m in dividends.The company bucked the trend at most newspaper groups and posted profits of £2.4m last year, up from £139,000 in 2004, despite falling sales.ABC-audited sales of the Sunday Sport were 125,000 in May, down from 159,000 the year before. David Sullivan, the co-owner of Birmingham City Football Club, has netted £5.2m on the back of rising profits at his Daily Sport and Sunday Sport titles. Accounts just filed for Sport Newspapers show that the three directors - Mr Sullivan and fellow Birmingham City owners Ralph and David Gold - paid themselves £10.4m in dividends for the year ended last August. Mr Sullivan, whose wholly owned management company, Roldvale, also pocketed £3.9m in fees, has a 50 per cent stake in Sport Newspapers. Its central message is that, while soaring carbon emissions have put the world on the verge of dramatic climate change, individuals and businesses could take plenty of simple actions to head off environmental disaster..

Wal-Mart has saved money by kitting out its fleet of US delivery trucks with power units that reduce by 90 per cent the amount of fuel used when they are idling. And it is switching its distribution centres to energy-saving light bulbs, which come on only when there is activity in the area.More recently, it has trumpeted its efforts to limit the amount of packaging on many Wal-Mart products, and has been pressuring suppliers to do the same.Mr Gore's lecture has been turned into a feature film, An Inconvenient Truth, which has become a word-of-mouth hit since its release in May. Wal-Mart has promised in recent months to decrease the amount of energy it uses at the same time as it increases its range of products manufactured from sustainable sources.In many areas, a green policy is making strong business sense, particularly because of the rising cost of fuel and other energy bills. But it is making a concerted effort to improve its image in the area of environmental sustainability.The day-long conference at the company's headquarters on Wednesday is expected to be attended by more than 2,000 employees, or associates, as Wal-Mart calls them.