Air India departs from 'lobby' of private airlines HEALTH & LIFESTYLE

Transcription

Air India departs from 'lobby' of private airlines HEALTH & LIFESTYLE
BUSINESS
IMPHAL WEDNESDAY 05 NOVEMBER 2014
'Maruti to invest about Rs 4000
crore in key areas'
HYDERABAD, Nov 4: Maruti Suzuki India is investing up to
Rs. 4,000 crore in the next 2-3 years in key areas like product development, R&D and marketing infrastructure, a senior MSIL
official said on Tuesday. MSIL would also focus more on bringing out models with auto gear shift technology, going forward,
executive director- engineering, CV Raman said.
"Currently Rs. 4,000 crore worth of investments are going
into research and development, product development and
marketing infrastructure over period of two to three years
(including the current year).
"We will be improving our R&D capability. We are setting
up test labs and other facilities. Marketing infrastructure such
as setting up stockyards will be created," Mr Raman said on
the sidelines of launch of the company's new version of Alto
K10 hatchback.
The company is expected to come out with a SUV- XA
Alpha- next year, he said.
Replying to a query, Mr Raman said as of now there are
no plans to make diesel engines while Suzuki is working on
various types of engines in diesel. On the reports of crash test
failure of Swift, Raman said the car meets all standards set by
the Indian government.
"All MSIL as well as other vehicles comply with Indian
regulations. As far as swift is concerned. The test is not
mandatory in India. There is no regulation to pass that test,"
he said.
According to the Global NCAP, an umbrella body of
consumer car safety testing bodies, crash tests of Nissan's
Datsun GO and Maruti-Suzuki's Swift demonstrated a high
risk of life-threatening injuries with both cars receiving zerostar safety rating for their adult occupant protection.
He asserted that the Global NCAP report will not have any
impact on Swift sales. The production of auto gear shift
models is being ramped up to meet the market demand, he
said.
"Currently, roughly about 4,000 vehicles (are being produced) per month with AGS technology and going forward
will ramp up this number. We feel that the two pedal technology is very relevant now. Obviously the auto gear models
would increase the volume," he said.
Raman said the sales of diesel vehicles could go up as the
price difference between petrol and diesel is narrowing.
Brand Khadi registered in Germany, Spain
NEW DELHI, Nov 4: Even as the Indian government tries its
level best to promote 'khadi, it seems the brand has already been
trademarked in countries like Germany, Spain and Hungary. The
government is mulling "future course of action", including "taking up the issue with the European authorities", the Economic
Times reported today.
"The government has objected to the German company's
attempt to use the khadi trademark for selling a range of
Indian-origin products, including shampoos, soaps and oils in
European markets," ET reported today, adding that the Khadi
& Village Industries Commission (KVIC), an arm of the
ministry of micro, small & medium enterprises, has sought
cancellation of the trademark given to the company by Belgium-headquartered Office for Harmonization in Internal
Markets.
Airtel to hike postpaid
rentals by about 12
percent
NEW DELHI, Nov 4: Country's biggest telecom operator
Airtel has announced an increase
in its post-paid monthly charges
by about 12 per cent in select
plans, effective December.
"Eff. (effective) 3-Dec
2014, bill plan rental for your
airtel mobile will be revised
from Rs 199 per month to Rs
224 per month," Airtel said in
a message to its customers.
Industry sources said Airtel
has increased rates across low
rental plans. Queries send to
Airtel did not elicit any immediate reply. Airtel has a mobile
subscriber base of over 20
crore customers, which include
both pre-paid and post-paid
users. Last week, Bharti Airtel
had reported nearly three-fold
jump in consolidated net profit
at Rs 1,383 crore for the September quarter on growth in
mobile data revenues.
This is the second hike in
rates of telecom services by the
company within a period of
three months. In September,
the company had increased
mobile internet rates by up to
33 per cent and reduced benefit
under plans for its pre-paid
customers.
4
Air India departs from
'lobby' of private airlines
NEW DELHI, Nov 4: The
country's flagship carrier Air
India (AI) has pulled out of the
Federation of Indian Airlines
(FIA), which comprises
domestic carriers, after eight
years as the new government
finds it unethical for the
Maharaja to be part of a private
airline lobby.
A senior civil aviation
ministry official said, "FIA
has largely benefited private
carriers as the organisation
got credibility by including
Air India. However, forcing
Air India to join FIA has enabled private airlines to take
advantage in getting prime
time slots and lucrative routes
at the cost of the state carrier."
Civil aviation minister
Ashok
Gajapathi
Raju
wanted AI to pull out FIA,
the official added. AI chairman and managing director
Rohit Nandan tried to
downplay the matter.
"The government does not
guide the airline in this matter. It is purely a decision of
the airline. I feel I can always
directly talk to the government. FIA is not optimally
useful," he told MAIL TODAY.
Nandan recently wrote to
FIA associate director Ujjwal
Dey informing him of AI's
decision to withdraw from the
body with immediate effect.
While Nandan refused to
comment why AI did not pull
out from FIA during the
United Progressive Alliance
(UPA) regime, top government officials said that some
civil aviation ministers during
the UPA rule were seen to be
very close to private carriers.
According to an AI official, the carrier had huge
differences with FIA on some
issue or the other. "Many
decisions taken by FIA were
not actually in the interest of
Air India, but we had to support them only because some
vested interests were supporting the private carriers,"
the official said.
According to sources, private carriers are unhappy at
AI leaving the group. FIA
was constituted in 2006 to
push for reforms as many
private carriers like IndiGo,
SpiceJet and GoAir were
granted licenses.
Besides these airlines, Jet
Airways is also a member of
FIA.
Flipkart partners Euronet India
BENGALURU, Nov 4:
Homegrown e-tailer Flipkart
today announced a strategic
partnership with Euronet
India, secure electronic
transaction processing and
payment solutions provider, to
distribute e-commerce major's
'digital gift codes' across the
country.
These digital gift codes act
as payment instruments for
making e-commerce purchases and an effective
alternative to other conventional means of payment,
Flipkart said in a statement.
The customer will not just
be able to gift these codes,
but also use them for selfconsumption on Flipkart.com,
the company added.
Indian consumers across
major banks will soon be able
to use their online-banking
portals and mobile applications to purchase digital
codes which can be delivered
instantly via their email accounts or through a text
message in a secure fashion,
using Euronet's electronic
transaction processing services, Flipkart said.
"Indian customers will
now be able to avail this extremely
user
friendly
instrument to purchase products and services offered on
flipkart.com using a variety
of unique bank channels that
Euronet powers today.
"This initiative will not just
help in bringing new customers on-board but can also
potentially bring greater efficiency and scale in existing
operations," Sr. Director Marketing, Flipkart," Mausam Bhatt said.
Agencies
Android 5.0 Lollipop will begin public rollout today
NEW DELHI, Nov 4: For
those of you who had been
eagerly awaiting Android’s
latest OS release, the Android
Official Blog has put out a post
saying that Android 5.0
Lollipop has started rolling out
today. Google has confirmed
that Android 5.0 Lollipop would
be coming to all the Nexus
devices – Nexus 4, Nexus 5 and
tablets Nexus 7 (2012 and 2013
editi0ns) and Nexus 10. The
Nexus 9 which has launched
internationally comes baked in
with Lollipop and so will the
Google Nexus 6 when it comes
out.
Speaking on the importance of Material Design, the
blog goes on to say, “A
number of apps that you know
and love have been working
hard to build material design
into their framework. It is
important that every app be
able to take on its own unique
personality and experience
while fitting in the larger system.”
Motorola has confirmed
the update to a majority of its
phones available in the market, including the Moto X (1st
Gen. & 2nd Gen.), Moto G
(1st Gen. & 2nd Gen.), Moto
G with 4G LTE, Moto E,
Droid Ultra, Droid Maxx, and
Droid Mini. The latest update
is that the Moto E, Moto G
and Moto X devices would be
getting the Lollipop updates
within a month’s time.
Apart from that, Sony’s Zseries smartphones and tablets
will be receiving the update as
well. Similarly, HTC confirmed that it will be rolling
out the Android L update
within 90 days of receiving
the final software from
Google. However, it has only
announced the update for its
HTC One M8 and HTC One
M7 devices as of now. Other
select HTC devices will receive the update later on.
Android 5.0 Lollipop
comes with some interesting
features.
1. Pick up where you left
off: Similar to Continuity in
iOS 8, Lollipop lets you pick
up where you left off, so the
songs, photos, apps, and even
recent searches from one of
your Android devices can be
immediately accessed across
devices.
2. Multiple device compatibility: Lollipop will support
devices with different screen
sizes including wearables such
as smart watches, TVs and
cars. According to Google, it
is designed to be flexible, so
that it can work on all your
devices and customised for
your needs.
3. Updated camera: Lollipop makes it easier to support
features like burst mode and
fine settings tuning. You’ll be
able to capture full resolution
frames around 30fps, and
shoot in raw formats like
YUV and Bayer RAW.
There’s also support for UHD
4K video playback, tunneled
video for high quality video
playback on Android TV and
improved streaming.
4. Battery settings: There’s
a new battery-saver feature
that extends the life of your
device by up to 90 minutes—
helpful if you’re far from a
power outlet. It’s also easier
to manage your power usage.
The OS adds a feature which
gives the estimated time left
before you need to charge and,
when it’s charging, it tells you
approximately how much time
it will need to charge before
it’s ready to go.
6. Updated notifications
screen: You can now view
and respond to messages directly from your lock screen,
or hide notifications for sensitive content. Turning on
Priority mode through your
device’s volume button will
allow only certain people and
notifications get through.You
can also choose to avoid calls
from interrupting the game
you are playing or the movie
you are watching.
HEALTH & LIFESTYLE
New tested dengue vaccine proven effective
RIO DE JANEIRO, Nov 4: A
new vaccine recently tested in
Brazil to curb Dengue disease
has proven to be effective in
alleviating the disease, an
official
announced
on
Monday.
The new vaccine, "which
has passed all study and test
trials, was shown to be 95.5
percent effective in reducing
severe cases of the disease,
including the hemorrhagic
type, during the testing phase
in Brazil and Latin America,"
the official said.
“The vaccine, developed
by French pharmaceutical
firm Sanofi Pasteur, is the
first fully developed dengue
vaccine in the world," the
official added.
The official said the tested
vaccine is safe and will help
in bringing down the number
of dengue patients needed to
be treated in hospitals.
The vaccine needs to be
applied three times at an interval of six-months.
Dengue fever is a recurrent problem in Brazil,
especially during the rainy
summers, when outbreaks
occur in different parts of the
country.
According to reports, a
total of 377 people had died
from dengue fever in Brazil
till first week of October, and
5,47,600 dengue cases had
been reported nationwide.
The situation, however,
has improved since last year,
when more than a million
cases were reported.
The mosquito-borne disease not only affects several
countries in Central and
South America with tropical
climates, but also many countries in Africa and Asia.
The vaccine maker is expected to file for approval by
Brazil's National Health
Monitoring Agency in early
next year, and have the drug
commercially available by
2015 end.
Agencies
Know your fitness equipment: Punching bag
NEW YORK, Nov 4:
Punching bags or sandbags are
cylindrical equipment used for
training by boxers, kickboxers and martial artists.
However, they can also be used
by amateurs for exercise to
increase muscle tone and mass.
They come in a variety of sizes
and materials. A heavier
punching bag will provide
more resistance where as a
lighter one will provide less
resistance.
Working out with a
punching bag regularly delivers many amazing benefits.
It will increase your endurance, timing and power and
will also give you a good
cardiovascular
workout.
Throwing heavy punches on
a sandbag will help you develop your upper body
strength. It will shape your
body through weight loss
and muscle development.
Hitting a punching bag can
also help you relieve stress.
How to exercise with a
punching bag
Power punching drill
Your whole body needs
to be used in order to throw
effective power punches. Hit
the bag hard with both your
hands for three minutes at a
stretch. Now rest for a
minute and repeat the set.
Your legs, core muscles, upper body, shoulder and fists
are engaged while you throw
the punches.
Kicking drill
Kicking drill can be an
excellent way to develop your
roundhouse, front and crescent kicks. In roundhouse
kick, you swing your legs in
a semicircular motion while
you strike with your front
leg. When you perform a
crescent kick, you need to lift
your knee up and kick with
your foot in a clockwise
motion. The front kick simply involves extending your
legs and kicking the target.
Start off with three right
roundhouse kicks, followed
by three front kicks and three
crescent kicks. Repeat the
same with your left leg. Now
rest for a minute and repeat
the three steps to develop
more consistency. Make sure
you deliver your kicks with
power and intensity.
Tips to keep in mind
Make it a point to use hand
wraps
while
throwing
punches to avoid damage to
the wrists and hands.
Always warm up with
stretches or joint mobility
exercises before you start
punching or kicking the bag.
Agencies
Natural sources of ‘good fats’ you need in your diet
NEW DELHI, Nov 4: There
is this common perception
that eating fat is bad for your
health and waistline, but very
few know that healthy fats are
essential for good health.
Leading health and nutrition
experts have come together to
dispel the common myths
around fat in our diet,
revealing that a ‘fear of fat’
and modern eating habits are
resulting in too little ‘good’
fat, such as Omega-3, being
consumed.
Whether we’re trying to
lose weight or just avoid
gaining it, many of us
think steering clear of
dietary fat is the first step.
Contrary to common belief
that fat is not good for
body, one’s body requires
certain kind of fat for
growth, development and
glowing skin.
Saturated fat can lead to
heart problems, but eating
the right amount of
unsaturated fats can protect
the heart.
The average adult should
get about 20 to 35 per cent
of their daily calories from
fat and less than 10 per
cent of their daily calories
from saturated fats,
according to the Dietary
Guidelines for Americans.
A gram of fat contains
nine calories, so a daily diet
comprising 2,000 calories
would even out to about 44
to 78 grams of total fat a
day, reports
huffingtonpost.com.
So where can you find
these unsaturated fats? Look
no further than the six
healthy picks below:
Avocado: Half of an
avocado contains nearly 15
grams of fat total, and
almost 10 of those are
monounsaturated (two
grams are polyunsaturated).
Try it in place of mayo on
your next sandwich.
Almonds (and other
nuts): Just about any nut
can make for a healthy fatfilled snack, but almonds
happen to be the lowest in
calories. One ounce, about
23 whole almonds, contains
just over 14 grams of fat,
including nearly 9 grams
monounsaturated and about
3.5 polyunsaturated.
Salmon (and other
fatty fish): Salmon may be
one of the most wellknown fatty fish, but tuna,
mackerel and sardines also
offer a heart-healthy dose
of fats.
Olives (and olive oil):
Mixing 10 large olives into
your next salad will add
about 5 grams of fat, 3.5
of which are
monounsaturated and .4 of
which are polyunsaturated.
Flax (and other seeds):
One tablespoon of whole
flaxseed — which you can
toss into salads, soups,
smoothies, yogurt and more
contains just over 4 grams
of fat, including nearly 1
gram monounsaturated and
almost 3 grams polyunsaturated.
Eggs: One large, whole
egg has almost 5 grams of
fat, including roughly 2
grams monounsaturated and
about 1 polyunsaturated.
Agencies