Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India (HMSI) registered overall sales of 306,779 units for the month of December 2015, down from 3,48,737 units in December 2014. Out of the current numbers, scooter sales stood at 198,332 units while motorcycle sales stood at 92,380 units. Export sales came to 16.067 units for the same period. The market share claimed by Honda for December 2015 in the domestic market is 25%, while the domestic as well as export market combined market share stood 22%.
Till December 2015 of the current fiscal year, HMSI sold a total of 3,354,831 units. Of these, scooter sales stood at 2,079,833 units while motorcycle sales accounted for 1,125,678 units. Export sales stood at 149,320 units in the current fiscal during April to December, 2015. The market share claimed by Honda in the domestic market is 26% while the Domestic and export market share accounted for 24% of the overall market share.
Honda 2 wheelers brought in a street naked sports bike in the form of the CB Hornet 160R – one of the first mainstream bikes in India to meet BS-IV emission norms. The motorcycle will be available for sale in 2 variants with the price starting from Rs 79,900 (Ex-Showroom, New Delhi).
The company also came out with an exclusive booking app available on the android as well as the iOS platform known as the CB Hornet 160R. Honda advanced the CB Hornet 160R’s availability from the planned 21 cities to 53 cities as the number of downloads crossed 40,000 mark.
Honda also went on to win 3 awards in December 2015 namely the manufacturer of the year 2 wheeler, motorcycle of the year up to 160 cc, and the motorcycle of the Year up to 110 cc all under the NDTV Car & Bike awards 2016.
The mobile subscriber base in India has crossed a billion mark for the first time, and reached 1003.49 million subscribers. India is second only to China to cross this major milestone in world of mobile phones. However, number of active wireless subscribers was marked to be 902.26 million at end of October 2015. In the month of October, a total of 6.83 million mobile subscribers were added by the telcos. Out of the 1003.19 million mobile subscribers, 578.11 million were urban subscribers, while 425.38 million were rural subscribers. Wireline subscriber base continued to decline, and dropped to 25.85 million. During the month of October, 2015, 5.11 million subscribers submitted their requests for Mobile Number Portability (MNP).
Operator-wise subscriber base (in millions)
Airtel – 237.97
Vodafone – 189.47
Idea – 167.28
Reliance Communications – 111.41
Aircel – 84.60
BSNL – 80.42
TATA – 60.84
Telenor – 48.71
MTS – 8.26
Videocon – 7.84
MTNL – 3.60
During the month of October 2015, Bharti Airtel added the maximum number of new subscribers (2.76 million) followed by Vodafone (adding 1.3 million), and Reliance Communication (adding 1 million). Both, BSNL and Idea, added 0.72 million, while Telenor added 0.93 million subscribers in the October of 2015. On the contrary, Tata lost over 1.17 million subscribers during the month.
The overall tele-density in India increased from 80.98 at the end of Sep-15 to 81.44 at the end of Oct-15. While urban tele-density marginally declined from 152.76 at the end of September 2015 to 152.58 by the end of October 2015. The rural tele-density increased from 48.66 at the end of September 2015 to 49.37 by the end of October 2015.
The broadband subscriber base increased from 120.88 million at the end of September 2015 to 125.22 million at the end of October 2015. Out of these 125.22 million broadband subscribers, 108.48 million were wireless broadband users. Bharti Airtel (29.03 million), Vodafone (24.48 million), Idea Cellular(20.28 million), BSNL (19.43 million) and Reliance communications Group (11.47 million) were the top five broadband service providers in the country.
The Indian auto industry’s most definitive awards, recognising the country’s best car and motorcycle of the year are back. The movers and shakers who took away the coveted awards this year are Hyundai Creta and Yamaha YZF-R3. In this article we will talk about the Indian Motorcycle of the Year 2016. The Indian Motorcycle of the Year (IMOTY) is the recognition of the finest and best performing motorcycle launched in the last one year.
Dr. Raghupati Singhania, Chairman & Managing Director, JK Tyre & Industries Limited, Bob Rupani, Chairman ICOTY 2016 and Aspi Bhathena, Chairman, IMOTY 2016, presented the Indian Motorcycle of the Year trophy to the Yamaha Motor Company on behalf of the jury of IMOTY 2016.
This year, the final short list of contenders saw a dozen cars and motorcycles battling it out for two of the automobile industry’s highest honours. The chosen ones were then put through a further round of assessment by the jury members at Lonavla on 4th December 2015. After a strenuous session of evaluation followed by voting, the top three contenders for the Indian Motorcycle of the Year awardwere the Yamaha R3, Benelli TNT 300 and Honda CBR650F. The nominated motorcycles were judged on various parameters such as price, fuel economy, styling, comfort, safety, performance, practicality, and technical innovation, value for money and suitability for Indian riding conditions.
Aspi Bhatena, Chairman, IMOTY 2016 commented on the winning motorcycle, “IMOTY 2016 has been one of the toughest awards for the Jury in the last eight years as we had lot of very good motorcycles launched during 2015 but most of them were priced on the high side unlike 2014 where the Harley Davidson street 750 was priced at Rs 4.5 lakhs.”
People have been wading through water over several days, so the number of water-borne, vector-borne, person-to-person communicable diseases are those that the state government, NGOs and volunteers working in the field need to worry about.
People wading through waterlogged areas during the flood
Throughout history, disasters, both natural and man-made, have a strong relationship with disease outbreaks. This is often related to the displacement of people and has been known since the age of Pericles and the plague of Athens in Ancient Greece during the Peloponnesian wars. This has played out again and again since then, including in major wars, but this association is now seen commonly after natural disasters like floods, tsunami, volcanic eruptions, drought and earthquakes.
The disaster in Tamil Nadu due to the recent rains and floods is already seeing an outbreak of various diseases. The risk and magnitude of any outbreak can be assessed based on the diseases that are pre-existent in the community, the existing infrastructure, nutrition and health status, ability to restore safe water and drainage and availability of health care. Given that Chennai and other parts have seen tremendous waterlogging and people have been wading through water over several days, the number of water-borne, vector-borne, person-to-person communicable diseases and those related to the disaster, are those that the state government, NGOs and volunteers working in the field need to worry about.
Types of diseases likely to surface
Firstly, water-borne diseases that are likely to surface in Chennai now include viral gastro enteritis, cholera, typhoid, hepatitis A and E, leptospirosis among others. If people remember, there was a spike in cases of leptospirosis in Mumbai after the 2005 floods. Waterborne diseases can be mitigated here by ensuring that the water is drained out as quickly as possible in the city and safe drinking water is provided on a war footing.
Secondly, vector-borne diseases that are likely to emerge include dengue and malaria. Others like West Nile virus are also possible. These are primarily mosquito-borne, so stagnant water is a perfect breeding ground. Draining inundated areas in Chennai is key to control and moving people out of such areas is also helpful.
Lastly, person-to-person communicable diseases are usually related to overcrowding in close quarters. Diseases like influenza and upper respiratory infections tend to spread faster this way. This was, in fact, the leading cause of death in those displaced by the 2004 tsunami in Aceh and the 2005 earthquake in Pakistan. Measles outbreaks have also been documented in these conditions. In Chennai, there are reports of chicken pox outbreak in a relief camp. This also needs to be addressed quickly.
Other diseases are related to the disaster itself, and this includes tetanus, skin problems, including allergies and fungal infections. There have been rumours about dead bodies and the risk of transmission of diseases - these are overhyped, and there is yet to be any documented outbreak in the setting of the floods.
Prevention and tips on health safety
Prevention and mitigation of these diseases, in Chennai, Cuddalore and other areas, needs a multi-pronged strategy. Obviously, drainage of the water and establishment of safe water and food services is key. People should not remain marooned, but staying too long in relief camps puts them at risk for other problems. The earlier the situation improves and the earlier that people can return home, the safer it is from the infection point of view. People should avoid wading in water, if feasible.
Safe water can be achieved by boiling water for a full minute. If there is visible contamination, bleach (1/4 to 1/8 teaspoon to a gallon or 16 cups of water) can be useful. Reverse osmosis systems are also an option. Food safety is key, and the role of food handlers in the propagation of diseases is often forgotten. Aid workers should stay away if sick, and should wear gloves when handling food. Vaccination against tetanus, typhoid and influenza seems prudent. Mosquito prevention measures are useful, but these need to be used through the day.
Don’t medicate unnecessarily
At this point, abuse of medications, especially antibiotics, is a problem. Most patients do not need any. Establishment of appropriate primary care system with doctors trained in disaster-related disease management will go a long way in containing the situation. Studies have suggested that a single dose of doxycycline may be an option in reducing the risk of leptospirosis in those wading through water. It is only required for those with infections like typhoid. In general, the alarm symptoms that require immediate medical attention include:
1. Diarrhoea/vomiting and not passing urine
2. Fever with shaking chills
3. Jaundice
4. Fever lasting more than 3 days
5. Breathing difficulty and shortness of breath
6. Illness in people whose immune system is not normal- like kidney failure, transplant
Dr Subramanian Swaminathan is MD AB Infectious Diseases, Consultant, Global Hospital
Yet, within hours, Modi became the object of mockery on social media after his press office released a doctored photo of him inspecting flood damage. For both him and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa Jayaram, the image of strong leadership created by their publicity machines was undermined.
One of India's most powerful politicians, a former movie star called "Amma" or "Mother" by her followers, is being heckled and abused for going missing in action after floods swept the capital of the southern state of Tamil Nadu, which she rules.
It's a salutary lesson for Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who at first drew nods of approval when he rushed to Chennai last week, promising to stand by its people in their hour of need.
Yet, within hours, Modi became the object of mockery on social media after his press office released a doctored photo of him inspecting flood damage. For both him and Tamil NaduChief Minister Jayalalithaa Jayaram, the image of strong leadership created by their publicity machines was undermined.
Until the floods that ravaged the city of 6 million, the lofty remoteness of Jayalalithaaadded to the aura around a leader with an almost hysterical following. Devotees of the 1960s screen idol have immolated themselves in her defence in the past.
Now, she faces a backlash from residents fed up with the sight of her image on billboards, aid packets and her own Jaya Plus TV channel. She has been since in public only twice during the crisis - once with Modi.
Angry youths heckled a state minister and officials in Jayalalithaa's north Chennai constituency, where people were sitting on the roadside amid sludge and mountains of garbage, their shanties swept away by the worst rains in a century.
"Forget about Amma coming here, there was no sign of the party cadres," said one of them, called Dorairaj.
About 280 people have died across Tamil Nadu since torrential rains on Dec. 1 submerged tracts of Chennai under up to eight feet (2.5 metres) of water, trapping people on rooftops with no communication.
There was further revulsion after a party legislator put up a poster of Jayalalithaa lifting a baby above the floodwaters, in a scene from a blockbuster movie. "Adding salt to the wounds," said one Twitter post.
Avadi Kumar, a spokesman of her ruling AIADMK party, said there was anger among the people but the administration was doing all it could to bring relief: "It is impossible to reach all areas immediately or be present everywhere at all times."
GOOD DAYS
Modi's own promise to voters of good days to come for India is also starting to face disenchantment, 18 months into his five-year term, with key reforms stalled by bureaucratic inertia and political gridlock.
Ambitious initiatives, such as a "Clean India" campaign, have made little headway - even as Modi has built up huge followings on social media and addressed enthusiastic diaspora Indians at packed stadiums on his many trips overseas.
"If today he appears to have lost control over his own narrative, it is his own fault," commentator Tavleen Singh wrote in Sunday's Indian Express, urging Modi to hire a professional media team. Modi does not have an official spokesperson.
Jayalalithaa, 67, in the past considered as a possible prime ministerial candidate backed by regional groups, faces an election in Tamil Nadu next year.
Modi's nationalist party has little presence in Tamil Nadu, a state of 70 million. It would rather the iron-fisted Jayalalithaa stays in power, believing she is more inclined to back his reform agenda in parliament than her rivals.
But there are concerns around her health and that she may have to curtail her campaign.
Earlier this year a higher court acquitted her in a graft case for which was briefly jailed which had caused an outpouring of anger from her supporters. Some lay down on roads and tried to persuade bus drivers to go over them.
"She is supposed to be a fantastic administrator. But this time there was no presence of government at all. Ordinary people did all the work that government and police were supposed to do," said S. Raja, one flood-hit resident of Chennai.
When Jayalalithaa was voted into power as the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, the expectations from here were high. People felt that she could undo all the wrongs done by the previous government focus on the people of the state. And she did. The Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu did everything from setting up Amma Canteens, Amma Water, Amma Cement to launching a state health scheme that provided plenty of free benefits for women and children.
But what happened during the rains and ensuing floods that hit Chennai and many parts of Tamil Nadu – especially over the week - is a completely different story. The state machinery that should have kicked into action immediately on December 2 in rescuing and providing relief to people seems to have gone missing in action.
TASMAC open despite the rains While it was pouring incessantly with houses and buildings being submerged in three to five feet of water, the Tamil Nadu State Marketing Corporation liquor shops were fully functional. In fact, they even functioned under candlelight when power was out. Many of the inebriated men were found to be harassing women. Citizens were heard complaining about how this seemed to be the one state department that seemed to functioning extremely efficiently during this horrific time in the city. Many people have requested that the TASMAC shops be shut for a few weeks till the city returns to normalcy.
Amma stickers on relief items While thousands of people were trying to get one meal a day and struggling to rebuild their lives, many men who were allegedly AIADMK volunteers were busy sticking Amma posters on relief supplies that were being distributed - not by the state - but by ordinary citizens. People on Twitter alleged that trucks carrying relief supplies were being allowed to pass through to areas only if the items had Amma posters on them. The efforts of good samaritans were seen to be hijacked by partymen who had nothing to do with the massive relief efforts undertaken by the public. There was outrage on social media and even on the ground by people over this act.
Citizens perform relief and rescue operations Citizens of Chennai came together and mobilised relief and rescue efforts. Today, Facebook, Twitter and WhatsApp are filled with groups who are diligently working 24X7 mobilising relief supplies and teams to distribute them. Volunteers have come out in thousands to help Chennai and Cuddalore. People in other states are collecting relief materials and sending them by the truckloads. The big question being asked where are the partymen to help people and where is the state machinery on the ground? A state minister and partymen who visited parts of North Chennai were heckled when they finally did turn up to see the ravaged area.
In lieu of all this, Brand Amma could take a severe beating and have an impact on the impending elections in 2016.
Last week, a couple of reports hinted that the Samsung’s forthcoming flagship smartphone, the Galaxy S7 may not bring major changes in terms of design. Interestingly, in the latest development, a case maker known as ITSkins, has revealed the case images of the upcoming flagship.
If these renders are to be believed, the Galaxy S7 looks a lot more like its predecessor, the Galaxy S6. It measures 143.37 x 70.8 x 6.94 mm, which is almost the same size as the Galaxy S6 that measures 143.4 x 70.5 x 6.8 mm. Also, the rear camera bump that we have seen on the Galaxy S6 is also present on the Galaxy S7. Assuming that these renders are a real deal, then the Galaxy S7 might sport a 5.1-inch display.
Moreover, the latest rumors also suggest that Samsung is working on a bigger display variant of the Galaxy S7, dubbed as Galaxy S7 Plus. It will be more like the Galaxy S6 Edge+, except that it will be larger than it. The expected measurement for the Galaxy S7 Plus is 163.32 x 82.01 x 7.82 mm, which also means that it might sport a 6-inch display. That reminds us of Samsung Galaxy Mega 2, which was a tough to handle device due to its large display.
Having said that, we need to take these leaks with a pinch of salt. There is no valid proof that these leaks actually hold a solid base. Samsung is most likely to unleash the Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 Plus in February, at the MWC 2016.
After remaining at loggerheads with the government over ban on Maggi noodles, Nestle India was on Sunday listed among the top suppliers of food and beverage products for people affected by heavy rains in Chennai.
Among other products, Nestle has also supplied the 'two-minute' Maggi noodles to the Tamil Nadu government towards the relief operations.
In a statement, Minister for Food Processing Industries, Harsimrat Kaur Badal said that the industry should ensure that there is no shortage of milk, packaged food articles and bottled water for the people of Chennai.
"It is time to stand up and make exemplary contribution for the flood affected people of Chennai who have been patronizing food brands and products manufactured by the industry," she said.
The Ministry of Food Processing Industries said it is coordinating with all food processing companies for supply of packaged milk, packaged food and bottled water and also listed out names of eight companies who have made available supplies of food and beverage products to the Tamil Nadu Government at Nehru Indoor Stadium in Chennai.
The list of seven such companies included Nestle India on the top with supplies of 10 MT of noodles, 5000 litres of tetra packed milk and 50000 pouches of coffee.
"Further additional quantity approximately 25-30 MT of noodles, about 8 MT Munch and Sunrise Biscuits 800 Kgs is also being supplied," the Ministry statement said.
Nestle's Maggi noodles were banned by the central food regulator FSSAI and various state food departments over alleged presence of lead and taste enhancer MSG beyond permissible limits, but the ban was later lifted after orders from the courts. The product was recently relaunched.
Besides, ITC has supplied 6 truckloads consisting of 3163 boxes of biscuits. MTR has supplied about 14128 ready-to-eat food packets and another quantity of 35000 ready-to-eat food packets will be delivered by Monday.
Britannia has supplied 3 truckload of 345 boxes of biscuits today and remaining 2 truckloads of food items. They have also been requested to supply additional quantity of milk produce and some bread.
Coca Cola India has supplied ready with 50000 one liter water bottles, while Pepisco has supplied 12000 one liter water bottles and arranging transport to supply today.
Parle is arranging to send 3 truckload of Parle biscuits, it added.
All mobile service providers will now be following a new verification process of new mobile connections. The telecom department’s access service cell, which is a competent authority, has ordered all the mobile service providers to follow the alternative process to existing process issued for verification for new mobile connections.
The alternative process covers service providers having service authorisation licenses, including CMTS, UAS, and UL (AS). Under the new process, the entry of various fields in customer applications form (CAFF) should now be made electronically instead of manual writing. In addition, the photograph of the customer should now be taken at Point of Sale (PoS) itself and the same should be populated in the CAF instead of pasting the photo in the existing process.
Further, the scanned imaged of the Proof of identity (PoI) and Proof of Address (PoA) documents furnished by the customers should be embedded in the CAF. TelecomTalk has reviewed the order letter, titled “Customer application form embedded with photograph and scanned images of Proof of identity (PoI) and Proof of Address (PoA)”. The letter also says that the copies of PoI and PoA documents submitted by customer should also be attached and maintained along with CAF as in the existing process.
“It shall be ensured that the scanned images of PoA and PoI/ photographs captured at PoS should not be stored at PoS terminal to avoid any misuse of the same,” the letter read.
Google’s monthly self-driving car reports are fun to read through, and gives transparent accounts of what the team is up to, how the cars are performing, and any lessons learned along the way. Last month focused on pedestrians with Halloween being a helper.
This month? The company says its currently averaging 10,000-15,000 autonomous miles per week on public streets with 23 Lexus RX450h SUVs and 30 prototypes on the road. We also learned more about that car that was going too slow and got pulled over, as well as one of the cars being rear-ended at a red light.
On the former, Google explains why their cars were going so damn slow:
From the very beginning we designed our prototypes for learning; we wanted to see what it would really take to design, build, and operate a fully self-driving vehicle — something that had never existed in the world before. This informed our early thinking in a couple of ways. First, slower speeds were easier for our development process. A simpler vehicle enabled us to focus on the things we really wanted to study, like the placement of our sensors and the performance of our self-driving software. Secondly, we cared a lot about the approachability of the vehicle; slow speeds are generally safer (the kinetic energy of a vehicle moving at 35mph is twice that of one moving at 25mph) and help the vehicles feel at home on neighborhood streets.
The Mountain View police now knows why Google’s cars are driving around at that speed…and so do we.
On the rear-end accident, one of Google’s Lexus model autonomous vehicles or “Google AV” was hit from behind by a car going 4 MPH while the Google AV waited to take a right at a red light. The car that hit it rolled after its stop, thus hitting the car. Nobody was hurt. The team went on to explain how it trains its software to handle situations such as knowing when it’s OK to turn right on red:
Our vehicles can identify situations where making a right turn on red is permissible and the position of our sensors gives us good visibility of left-hand traffic. After coming to a complete stop, we nudge forward if we need to get a better view (for example, if there’s a truck or bus blocking our line of sight). Our software and sensors are good at tracking multiple objects and calculating the speed of oncoming vehicles, enabling us to judge when there’s a big enough gap to safely make the turn. And because our sensors are designed to see 360 degrees around the car, we’re on the lookout for pedestrians stepping off curbs or cyclists approaching from behind.
It’s all fascinating stuff. It’s like teaching a kid how to drive for the first time, except this kid is a big damn car driving itself around. Google feeds its software with all types of data, collecting more and more information as the cars drive the streets.
Can online meetings result in happily ever afters? Are people really serious of meeting their life partners? Can you trust? We get into the skin of the growing trend of finding online matches.
Priti is an executive with a MNC, in Gurgaon. She has six days a week office and a seven-figure salary that she would not want to give up for anything in the world. “I have worked hard to reach where I have, why should I give up?” she says. Trouble is that she is reaching 30 and everyone around her wan’ts her to get married. “I haven’t found anyone yet.” She laments. “Some friend has suggested online matrimonial portals but I am not sure if I will find a decent match there. I think it’s just time pass.”
Rajat,29, working in an advertising company in Mumbai says, “I have been looking for a bride on a portal for almost two years. But nothing happened. A lot of girls show interest but there is no response to even a hello.”
Online dating and matrimony has caught up like a wildfire in India. With a growing middle class and rising individuality, more people are finding that the matches are not only made in heaven but also on websites. It’s fast, easy, personal and secure. You can find, browse profiles, see pictures, even match horoscopes and send interests. Then wait for the other person to respond. There is a decline option as well to politely decline someone’s ‘phantasy’ over you, without actually meeting in person. “It’s virtual. It’s so much less embarrassing. And you forget about it next day because everyone comes online with the same mindset,”says Asha.
With such dating sites being easily available, many people tend to take advantage of them as well. With a mindset of finding a quick fix for date and or just ‘pataofying’ the girl, some people can be dubious, so everyone should be careful. Radhika was duped by a guy who posed all the handsome pictures and sweet talked into meeting her. She found out he was just someone totally different.
Websites have come up for people with disabilities, specific communities, divorced and widowed people, who can also find love the second time. Dating websites and applications have started for sexual minorities as well. And their rising popularity only shows that whether you find love or not, you want to try them once, fefore you get hitched for lifetime.
Online portals are also coming up in a big way as the sponsors of prime time youth and television shows. This shows their growing potential. With a leading website claiming to have made two million matches online, this is then just the beginning.
Taxi operator Ola has deployed boats along with professional rowers to rescue people in the waterlogged areas to safer places. "Ola deployed boats in waterlogged and partially submerged areas on the basis of information from the Fire and Rescue department", Ola said in a statement.
The boats were manned by professional rowers and also fishermen to rescue people and to provide food and drinking water free-of-cost. The boats are equipped with two rowers, sufficient umbrellas and can ferry between five to nine people in a trip. "While we are addressing the increased demand for transportation in city, we are working closely with local stakeholders to help ferry those stranded in water-logged areas", Ola, Business Head (Tamil Nadu), Ravi Teja said. The boat service would be available for next three days and will be extended if water-logging continues, it added.
People wading through waterlogged areas during the flood
