Asian News International

Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India has said it will invest Rs. 1,100 crore to set up a two-wheeler plant at Vithalapur village in Ahmedabad district as it signed a ‘state support agreement’ with the Gujarat Government for the purpose on Tuesday.

The pact was signed by D J Pandian, Additional Chief Secretary in the State Industries Department, and Keita Muramutsu, president-cum-CEO of Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India (HMSI), in the presence of Chief Minister Anandi Patel in Gandhinagar.

Ex-Chief Minister Ashok Chavan’s wife Ameeta, who is making her electoral debut in Maharashtra Assembly polls, and late BJP leader Gopinath Munde’s daughter Pankaja Munde are among the key women legislators testing their luck this time, with the Congress firmly in the driver’s seat fielding the highest number of women candidates.

Congress has fielded the highest number of women (27) candidates followed by BJP 21, NCP 16 and Shiv Sena 10 women candidates for the state Assembly polls.

Three students, including a girl, belonging to the Northeast region, were allegedly beaten up by some residents of Lajpat Nagar area of Delhi today.

According to police, the three youths are residents of Assam and are pursuing a course in photography. The incident took place when they were roaming around in Prakash Colony and clicking pictures.

“They had clicked pictures of an under-construction building when the owner of the property objected to it and questioned them over the issue. Soon, an altercation broke out during which some locals beat them up,” said a police officer.

Ben Affleck’s three young children don’t care much about him playing the role of Batman.

The actor joked that he would have done well in their eyes if he was a part of Disney’s fairytale ‘Frozen’.

“If I was doing the sequel to ‘Frozen’ I would be a hero,” Affleck told Jimmy Fallon on ‘The Tonight Show’.

The actor’s role as the Caped Crusader is generating a lot of buzz online after the intial resistance by fans in the upcoming ‘Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice’.

But that has not touched his children as his two older daughters love ‘Frozen’.

The rupee depreciated by 19 paise to trade at almost seven-month low of 61.94 against the US currency in early trade today at the Interbank Foreign Exchange on capital outflows amidst the dollar’s gain against other currencies overseas.

Forex dealers said besides the dollar’s gains against other currencies overseas on the back of upbeat US data, increased demand for the American unit from importers and a weak opening in the domestic equity market, put pressure on the rupee.

Citing personal and family responsibilities, senior Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader and Maharashtra state convener Anjali Damani and secretary Preeti Sharma resigned from their posts here on Tuesday.

“I have not resigned from the party but from the state post only. I need to address my family and business problems now. I feel now it is time for new leadership to come. I want the new people to take charge,” Preeti Sharma told ANI.

Southern actor-producer Dhanush’s Tamil drama “Kaaka Muttai”, which recently had its first world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival, will next be screened at the Rome Film Festival starting Oct 16.

M. Manikandan-directed “Kaaka Muttai”, about two brothers living in a slum, will be screened in Alice Nella Citt – a parallel and independent section of the festival.

The film, which is co-produced by filmmaker Vetrimaaran, will also compete for the Taodue Camera D’ORO Prize for the best debut film.

The US-led anti-Islamic State (IS) coalition is “illegitimate”, said a top Iranian official visiting Syria on Tuesday.

The US-led international coalition is “amputated and doesn’t have international legitimacy”, Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council Ali Shamkhani said at a press conference Tuesday evening in the capital Damascus, Xinhua reported.

China on Tuesday said the stand-off with India at the Ladakh region has been resolved as both sides completed simultaneous withdrawal of troops, and underlined that the two nations have the ‘determination and capability’ to maintain peace and stability at the border areas.

“On September 30, the frontier defence troops of the two countries completed simultaneous withdrawal according to the steps formulated by the two sides and restored peace and tranquillity in the area,” the Chinese Foreign Ministry said in a press release.

All the 1,36,020 Indian pilgrims who will perform Haj this year have reached Saudi Arabia, officials said today.

“All the 1,36,020 Indian Haj pilgrims have reached Saudi Arabia with the last flight carrying 394 pilgrims from Mumbai arriving yesterday,” Indian Consul General B S Mubarak told PTI.

Yesterday was the last day of flight operations, he said. Two senior BJP leaders representing India at this year’s Haj also arrived yesterday.

At least 67 people have lost their lives and over 42 lakh people across Assam were affected in three waves of floods this year, the government said yesterday.

“Assam has suffered huge losses in terms of lives, property, cropped land, dwelling units and infrastructure in three waves of flood this season… Altogether 67 persons lost their lives in this year’s flood,” an official release said.

The last deluge wrecked havoc in Kamrup and Goalpara districts, claiming several lives and leaving behind a trail of destruction, it said.

Intricacies of South Asian style of hockey will be on full view here on Thursday when a resurgent India take on bitter foes Pakistan in the high-octane men’s Asian Games gold medal match, with a direct entry into the 2016 Rio Olympics up for grabs for the winners.

The match, similar to the one that was witnessed in the league phase which India lost 1-2 to Pakistan, promises severe intensity and no-hold-barred rivalry in front of vociferous flag-waving supporters of both the countries, for whom this is going to be the high point of the fortnight-long Games.

Twelve people were injured when a man went on a stabbing spree at a KFC outlet in northeast China’s Heilongjiang Province on Tuesday in yet another copycat attack by a disgruntled individual.

The suspect, Li, was caught at the scene, Xinhua news agency reported.

Li slashed diners at the restaurant in Daqing on Tuesday evening. Of the 12 people injured, two were in critical condition. A preliminary investigation showed Li, a native of Daqing, was too ill to keep his job at a factory. He told police he had attacked out of despair, Xinhua report said.

–PTI

Maruti Suzuki India Tuesday announced recall of 69,555 units of Dzire, Swift and Ritz models manufactured between March 2010 and August 2013 to repair wiring harness fitment.

The recall is only for the diesel variants of the three models. Out of the total, 55,938 units are of old Dzire, 12,486 units of old Swift and 1,131 units of Ritz, which were manufactured between March 8, 2010 and August 11, 2013, the company said in a statement.

This exercise is limited to vehicles within the above specified range and does not pertain to any other vehicle of the company or its exports, it added.

Realtors’ apex body CREDAI on Tuesday expressed disappointment over RBI’s policy to keep key policy rates unchanged and sought a cut in interest rates to boost housing demand.

“The Confederation of Real Estate Developer’s Associations of India is disappointed with the status quo on the RBI policy rates and demands a reduction in interest rates to facilitate lowering of entry barrier and spur demand for the real estate sector,” the organisation said in a statement.

Price of non-subsidised cooking gas (LPG) was Tuesday cut by Rs 21 per cylinder and that of jet fuel (ATF) by a steep 3 percent on the back of falling international oil rates.

This is the third straight reduction in rates of non- subsidised LPG since July.

A non-subsidised 14.2-kg cooking gas cylinder will now cost Rs 880, down from Rs 901, in Delhi, according to Indian Oil Corp (IOC).

A subsidised LPG cylinder in Delhi costs Rs 414.

For the fourth time in a row, RBI kept key interest rates unchanged on Tuesday maintaining that it will not cut them unless inflation moderates to anticipated levels, disappointing borrowers and the industry in this festive season.

Reserve Bank Governor Raghuram Rajan hoped that inflation will moderate to acceptable level of 6 percent by January 2016 and maintained that the GDP growth in the current fiscal will be 5.5 percent, same as projected earlier.

A new survey has revealed that working in an open-plan office affects employees’ health and productivity.

Extensive international research from Ipsos and the Workspace Futures Team of Steelcase has shown that 85 percent of people are dissatisfied with their working environment and can’t concentrate, while of those surveyed 95 percent said working privately was important to them, but only 41 percent said they could do so, and 31 percent had to leave the office to get work completed.

A new report has revealed that global wildlife population has been halved in 40 years.

The London Zoological Society (ZSL) said that in its new Living Planet Index that populations of m ammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians and fish have declined by an average of 52 percent, while populations of freshwater species have suffered an even worse fall of 76 percent, the BBC reported.

Scientists have found that ventilation while cooking with a gas stove is essential, as the lack of it was linked to childhood asthma.

According to the researchers from Oregon State University, though they can’t say that gas stove use without ventilation causes respiratory issues, but the new study clearly showed an association between having asthma and use of ventilation.

Finding time to work out during hectic professional life is difficult but what if ten minutes of your time can help in gaining a positive effect on your fitness and health. Following some easy to do cardio exercises can do wonders in your life, says an expert.

Simple Sculptathon, created by fitness expert Anna Reich, comprises a mix of cardio and toning dance moves such as ballet and Pilates thereby helping in acquiring that perfect body and mind, reports femelafirst.co.uk.

Led by healthy growth in coal, cement and electricity sectors, the eight core industries grew by 5.8 percent in August this year against 4.7 percent in the same month last year.

The sectors of coal, cement and electricity grew by 13.4 percent, 10.3 percent and 12.6 percent, respectively, in the month under review, according to the data released by the Commerce and Industry Ministry.

Steel production expanded by 9.1 percent in August this year as against 8.1 percent in August 2013.

However, production of crude oil and natural gas declined by 4.9 percent and 8.3 percent respectively.

Researchers have used a clever recycling strategy to develop a new eco-friendly battery using materials from alfalfa (lucerne seed) and pine resin.

“We think our discovery can open several doors to more environment-friendly, energy-efficient solutions for the batteries of the future,” said Daniel Brandell, Senior Lecturer at the Department of Chemistry, Uppsala University, and one of the researchers behind the idea.

India’s Aarti Khakal was ousted in round of 32 of the women’s 57kg taekwondo competition of the 17th Asian Games here Wednesday.

Aarti, 22, lost 8-15 to Kazakhstan’s Ganiya Alzak at the Ganghwa Dolmens Gymnasium.

Aarti got off to a good start taking a 2-0 lead in the first round with her first kick but the 17-year-old Kazakh girl turned the tables in the next round, surging ahead 4-3 lead.

In the third round, Ganiya found another gear as her third kick earned three points.

Two explosions in quick succession went off in Afghanistan’s capital city of Kabul Wednesday.

“The first explosion took place at 6.20 a.m. and it was followed by another blast at 6.32 a.m.,” an official said.

“The first blast targeted a government bus carrying security personnel in Kart-e-Char locality in western Kabul,” Xinhua quoted the official as saying.

Details about the second blast are not known yet.