Author: Asian Lite Newsdesk

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Business

Mahindra launches all new Thar

Thar SUV (Photo: @Mahindra_Thar /Twitter)

Automobile major Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) on Friday launched the all-new Thar SUV.

According to the company, the all-new Thar will be available in two trims, “AX” and “LX”, with prices starting at Rs 9.80 lakh for the AX series and Rs 12.49 lakh for the LX series.

It comes with two engine options, the “2.0L mStallion TGDi” petrol engine, and “the 2.2L mHawk” diesel engine.

“These engines are offered with a choice of 6-speed manual transmission or 6-speed torque converter automatic transmission, with an authentic 4×4 manual shift transfer case with a low ratio,” the company said in a statement.

As per the statement, test drives for the all-new Thar will begin in phases, starting with 18 cities from Friday.

“The company will add 100 more cities on October 10, and test drives for the rest of the county will be available from October 15,” the statement said.

It has been designed and engineered in India and manufactured out of Mahindra’s Nashik plant. The deliveries of the SUV will commence from November 1, 2020.

Also Read: Tesla to enter India next year

Also Read: DP world, Jafza, CII discuss auto sector revival

Categories
Asia News COVID-19

Lebanon announces ‘lockdown’ in more than 100 districts

Lebanon President Michel Aoun. (File Photo: IANS)

State institutions and places of worship would close, but health centers and delivery services would be exempted…Reports Asian Lite News

Lebanon is to announce lockdown in 111 villages and towns for a week after a series of record novel coronavirus daily infection rates, the interior ministry said Friday.Arab News Reports

The move came after widespread objections to a nationwide lockdown in August, as the country faces its worst economic crisis in decades.

From early Sunday and for eight days in the villages listed, residents were to “remain at home,” and “wear a mask covering their mouth and nose if forced to go out,” the ministry said in a statement.

State institutions and places of worship would close, but health centers and delivery services would be exempted, it added.


The head of a major Beirut public hospital battling Covid-19, Firass Abiad, welcomed the new district-by-district approach.
“This will help identify hotspots and (implement) a more focused approach to restrictive measures. This can be a good alternative to the unpopular total lockdown,” he said on Twitter.


Cases have spiked in the aftermath of a massive explosion at the Beirut port on August 4 that killed more than 190 people and overwhelmed the capital’s health services, with thousands of wounded.

The country has recorded 40,868 Covid-19 cases since February, including 374 deaths.Authorities fear that a major spike would overwhelm the country’s fragile health sector.

Also read:Lebanon, Israel to hold talks on border

Categories
-Top News

Dubai announces eased travel protocols

In order to reduce the hassles faced by travellers, the Ruler of Dubai and Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, has directed certain changes in the travel protocols. The changes will be applicable for passengers arriving or departing from Dubai.

As per these directives, Sheikh Mansour bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, announced the new set of travel protocols for Emiratis, residents, tourists and transit passengers travelling into and out of Dubai.

According to the revised protocols, Emiratis returning to Dubai from overseas are not required to do a PCR test prior to departure, regardless of the country they are coming from and the time spent there. They will only be required to conduct a PCR test on arrival in Dubai.

All residents and inbound tourists will have to undergo a PCR test prior to departure for Dubai.

Transit passengers from some countries are required to conduct a PCR test prior to departure for Dubai. The pre-travel test is also mandatory for transit passengers if their destination country requires them to do so.

Emiratis, residents and tourists travelling overseas from Dubai are only required to undergo a PCR test prior to departure if their destination country requires a pre-travel negative test certificate.

The amended protocols are based on the recommendations of frontline entities combating the pandemic including the COVID-19 Command and Control Centre and the Dubai Health Authority, DHA, and a comprehensive assessment of the global situation. The protocols also address the travel guidelines and requirements of different countries.

The Committee stressed the importance of implementing precautionary measures and protocols in all Dubai travel ports according to the recommendations of local and global authorities to ensure the safety of passengers, flight crew and airport employees.

Also Read: Flydubai to resume Maldives flights

Categories
Business USA

Tesla to enter India next year

Tesla CEO Elon Musk. (File photo: IANS)

Tesla CEO Elon Musk said on Friday that the electric car maker is finally ready to enter the India market in 2021.

Musk revealed his plans to bring Tesla cars to India in his response to a Twitter post that asked about the progress on Tesla’s planned entry into India.

“Next year for sure,” Musk said in response to the tweet that posted pictures of T-shirts with “India wants Tesla” and “India loves Tesla” printed on them.

“Thanks for waiting,” he added.

On several occasions earlier, Musk had revealed that he would like to bring Tesla to India, but in a 2018 Twitter post he cited “some challenging government regulations” as a hurdle.

He also criticised the foreign direct investment norms for the delay in the electric car maker’s entry into the Indian market.

“Would love to be in India. Some challenging government regulations, unfortunately,” Musk had tweeted in response to a Twitter user who wrote “No Tesla in India” on his Twitter handle.

In July this year, he hinted at allowing Tesla’s Indian fans to drive an electric Model 3 “hopefully soon”.

In response to a query by a follower who booked the car four years ago, Musk replied that the “launch should hopefully happen soon”.

However, Friday’s tweet gives a more definitive timeline of Tesla’s possible India entry.

This comes at a time when India is ramping up charging infrastructure for electric vehicles with the aim of significantly increasing the proportion of electric vehicles plying on the roads.

In 2015, Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Tesla headquarters at Palo Alto, California and met Musk who gave Modi a tour of the company’s electric car plant.

Tesla has not launched any of its electric cars in India or any other country in South Asia yet. The only Asian market where Tesla has a presence is China.

Also Read: Musk thanks team as Tesla’s M cap hits $420 bn

Categories
Australia World News

Australia to reinitiate ‘trans-Tasman’ travel bubble plans

Australian deputy prime minister Michael McCormack.

McCormack said that decision on when Australians may be able to visit New Zealand would be up to Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern…Reports Asian Lite News

Australian deputy prime minister Michael McCormack.

New Zealanders will be allowed to enter Australia in the first opening of international borders by the two countries since travel restrictions were imposed due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack announced on Friday.

“The establishment of a travel zone between Australia and New Zealand has been finalised,” the BBC reported citing the Australian Deputy Prime Minister as saying to the media.

“This is the first stage in what we hope to see as a trans-Tasman bubble between the two countries, stopping not just at that state and that territory,” he added.

According to the Deputy Prime Minister, at first travel will be limited to New Zealanders.

McCormack further said that a decision on when Australians may be able to visit New Zealand would be up to Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern.

  • Wellington, Aug. 17, 2020 (Xinhua) — New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern attends a press conference held in the parliament building Beehive in Wellington, New Zealand, on Aug. 17, 2020. Jacinda Ardern confirmed on Monday that the general election will be held on Oct. 17, four weeks after Sept. 19 when the poll was originally scheduled for. (Xinhua/Guo Lei/IANS)

Friday’s announcement came after Ardern had said on September 28 that an air bubble between her country and some Australian states was possible by the end of this year.

She had confirmed that work was underway for weeks on the prospect of forming a bubble, and the ability to move between parts of both countries that were not affected by the coronavirus pandemic, The New Zealand Herald newspaper reported.

Plans for a travel bubble between the two countries have been in discussion for months, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) said in a news report.

However, the talks were disrupted after a resurgence new cases in Melbourne and also a second wave of the virus in Auckland.

New Zealand has recorded 1,848 cases and 25 deaths, while Australia has registered 27,096 infections and 888 fatalities.

Also read:Australia Enters First Recession In 30 Years

Categories
India News

Seema Kushwaha To Fight For Hathras Victim

Minor Rape. (File Photo: IANS)
Seema Kushwaha.

Seema Kushwaha, lawyer of the 2012 Delhi rape victim, known as Nirbhaya, will now fight the case of the Hathras victim.

Seema tried to meet the victim’s family on Thursday, but was prevented from meeting them by the police.

“I will not leave Hathras without meeting the family. They have requested me to stand as their legal counsel but the administration is not allowing me to meet them,” she told reporters.

File Photo: IANS)

She said that she was in touch with the victim’s brother.

Kushwaha was the family lawyer of the 23-year-old paramedical student who was gang-raped on a moving bus on the night of December 16, 2012, by six people, including a juvenile in Delhi.

The woman died at a Singapore hospital later.

All four convicts in the 2012 Nirbhaya gang-rape and murder case — Akshay Singh Thakur, Pawan Gupta, Vinay Sharma, and Mukesh Singh — were hanged to death in March, this year.

The 19-year-old Hathras girl had succumbed to assault injuries in Delhi’s Safdarjung Hospital on Tuesday, where she was brought on Monday from the Aligarh Muslim University Medical College.

The government has formed a three-member SIT to probe the case and said the matter will be heard in the fast track court. All four accused in the case have been arrested.

Additional Director General (law and order) Prashant Kumar has said that the post-mortem, which was conducted by a team of doctors in Delhi, has established that the death was caused by the trauma of her neck injury and there was no confirmation of rape.

Also Read-Trump, Melania Test Covid-19 Positive

Categories
-Top News India News

India Remembers Mahatma

As India remembered the father of the nation on his 151st birth anniversary commemorative functions were held throughout the nation.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday paid homage to Mahatma Gandhi on his birth anniversary and wished that the ideals of the Father of the Nation remain a guiding force helping in building a compassionate India.

The Prime Minister took to Twitter and wrote, “We bow to beloved Bapu on Gandhi Jayanti. There is much to learn from his life and noble thoughts. May Bapu’s ideals keep guiding us in creating a prosperous and compassionate India.”

Modi also shared a two-minute video hailing the principles of Gandhi. In the clip, he can be heard saying “Gandhiji never tried to create his influence through his life, however, his life became an inspiration in itself.” Modi also paid tribute to Mahatma Gandhi at the Raj Ghat.

Meanwhile, President Ram Nath Kovind also took to the microblogging website to pay his homage to Mahatma Gandhi and said that people should take lessons from his life, particularly when we are facing a pandemic.

“Gandhiji himself never claimed to be a great soul, indeed, he went out of his way to tell the world about his vulnerabilities. Yet, he is the best example of realising the maximum human potential,” the President said.

The states also joined the centre in paying tribute to the great soul. Maharashtra politicians on Friday paid rich tributes to Mahatma Gandhi and former Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri on his 116th birth anniversary, as commemoration functions were held all over the state.

Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari offered tributes to the Father of the Nation, Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, and Shastri and recalled their contributions to the country.

Koshyari garlanded a bust of Mahatma Gandhi and offered flowers at the portrait of Shastri at a function in Raj Bhavan here, attended by several officials and staff, among others.

Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray also paid tributes before the portraits of the two leaders at his private residence ‘Matoshri’.

One of the country’s premier educational institutions, Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) paid tributes to the Father of the Nation with a virtual event organised by the Maulana Azad (MA) library.

 “Gandhiji protested against oppression and tyranny on all sections of society and communities and promoted the idea of bringing self-reliance in rural areas,” said Tariq Mansoor, the Vice-Chancellor of the university said during the event.

“Mahatma Gandhi always believed that nations can only progress if there is equality and tolerance among populations,” he added.

Mansoor later administered an online pledge to work with dedication for preserving and strengthening the freedom and integrity of the nation.

Categories
-Top News USA

‘I condemn all white supremacists’: Trump backtracks

US President Donald Trump formallt accepts Republican nomination.

“I don’t know much about the Proud Boys, almost nothing, but I condemn that.”said Trump…Reports Asian Lite News

In a TV interview, US President Donald Trump has said that he “condemns all white supremacists”, following controversy over statements he made during the first presidential debate on September 29.

“I’ve said it many times, let me be clear again, I condemn the KKK (Ku Klux Klan). I condemn all white supremacists. I condemn the Proud Boys,” the BBC quoted the President as saying on Fox News on Thursday evening

“I don’t know much about the Proud Boys, almost nothing, but I condemn that.”

Based in the US with a presence in Canada, Proud Boys are a far-right, neo-fascist, male-only organization with ties to white supremacists that promotes and engages in political violence.

  • Trump, Biden trade early jabs in first presidential debate.

During the debate when Trump was asked whether he would condemn white supremacists and ask them to stand down during protests, the President said: “Proud Boys – stand back and stand by. But I’ll tell you what… somebody’s got to do something about antifa (anti-fascist activists) and the left because this is not a right-wing problem.”

The following day, the President tried to explain his stance at a White House briefing, saying he did not know who the Proud boys were.

Senior Republican members have also expressed unease over the President’s remarks at the debate, te BBC reported

During his time in office, President Trump has been accused of emboldening far-right groups with his rhetoric while being more willing to openly condemn those on the far-left.

Also read:Trump, Melania Test Covid-19 Positive

Categories
Sport

India betters ICC T20 rankings

India have overtaken New Zealand to grab the third spot in the ICC women’s team rankings for T20Is after the annual rankings update carried out on Friday.

The rankings table sees Australia and England retain the top two positions, their points tally remaining 291 and 280, respectively. India, who made the final of this year’s Women’s T20 World Cup in March, have overtaken the White Ferns, in what is the only change in the top 15 of the 56-team list.

In ODIs, six-time World Cup champions and winners of both editions of the ICC Women’s Championship, Australia’s stellar display during the rating period saw them win 20 of 21 ODIs, increasing their tally by eight points to 160 and because of that they have maintained their top position.

Their massive lead of 39 points over second-placed India is the largest by any team (men or women) in any form of the game. It comes on the back of 3-0 series wins over India, Pakistan, New Zealand, England, West Indies, Sri Lanka and an earlier 2-1 win over England at the start of the ICC Women’s Championship, only a few months after England had won the World Cup in 2017.

India (121) and England (119) have lost four points each while clinging on to their second and third positions, respectively, while South Africa (107) enjoy a 13-point lead over New Zealand (94), with the West Indies (85), Pakistan (77), Bangladesh (61) and Sri Lanka (47) following in that order.

The latest update expunges results from the 2016-17 season, weights the 2017-18 and 2018-19 seasons at 50 per cent and the 2019-20 matches at 100 per cent.

Also Read: Shafali, Smriti and Jemimah retains T20 top rankings

Categories
Health UAE News

UAE expats hand over ‘Knitted Knockers’ to Indian survivors

Breast Cancer.

The knockers are distributed free of cost to survivors who have undergone mastectomies or other cancer treatment procedures in India…Reports Asian Lite News

A group of expats in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have created a total of 517 pairs of knitted and crocheted prostheses for breast cancer survivors in India, a media report said.

According to a Gulf News report published on Thursday, the items are distributed free of cost to survivors who have undergone mastectomies or other cancer treatment procedures in India.

The latest despatch of prostheses was headed to India with Geetha Krishnan, a support group member of the group, Saaisha India.

“At Saaisha, we craft these knockers and give them to survivors. We purchase the yarn, we knit the knockers and hope it will give hope and strength,” Krishnan, 49, a special educator, told Gulf News.

Each knocker, made of locally available cotton yarn, takes about four hours to craft. Worn under regular undergarments, they are comfortable, and provide the look and feel of regular breasts.

The patterns are specified by Knitted Knockers of USA, which first developed the concept of the cotton breast prostheses.

This was then taken up by Saaisha India, a registered charitable trust since April 2018.

“Many of the ladies who lend their time and effort to us learnt crocheting from scratch. We are enthused and encouraged by the response of our beneficiaries, and are in the process of scaling up in terms of operations, identifying beneficiaries and adding to our volunteer base,” the Gulf News report quoted Akhila Devi, a freelance trainer who works with the group, as saying.

The knockers crafted by Saaisha’s UAE-based volunteers have so far been given to 1,000 beneficiaries, either through hospitals in Chennai, Mumbai, Coimbatore and other cities, or via individual contact.

Also read:Sikh Temple helps Stranded Expat Workers