NEW DELHI, Jan 12: The world is in a state of crisis and it is difficult to predict how long this state of instability will last, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Thursday referring to various global challenges arising out of conflict, war and terrorism among others.
In his opening remarks at the Voice of Global South virtual summit, Modi flagged concerns over rising prices of food, fuel and fertilisers, the economic impact of COVID-19 as well as natural disasters driven by climate change.
”It is clear that world is in a state of crisis,” he said in presence of several leaders of various developing countries.
He added that it is difficult to predict how long the ”state of instability” will last.
”We, the Global South, have largest stakes in the future…Most of global challenges have not been created by the Global South, but they affect us more,” he said.
Modi said India has always shared its developmental experience with our ”brothers of the Global South”.
As India begins its G20 Presidency this year, it is natural that our aim is to amplify the voice of the Global South, he said.
India is hosting the two-day summit to bring together countries of the Global South and provide them a common platform to share their common concerns relating to various global challenges, including food and energy security triggered by the Ukraine conflict The ‘Global South’ largely refers to countries in Asia, Africa and South America.
The theme of the inaugural leaders’ session is ”Voice of Global South – for Human-Centric Development” while the leaders’ concluding session will be on ”Unity of Voice-Unity of Purpose”.
The summit envisages ten sessions out of which four sessions would be held on Thursday while six sessions would take place on Friday. Each session is expected to witness the participation of leaders and ministers from 10-20 countries. (Agencies)

New Delhi, Jan 12: Already in the grip of a severe cold spell, there’s more bad news in the offing for North India as vast swathes of the region are likely to experience a drop in temperatures to a minimum of -4 degrees Celsius and a maximum of 2 degrees Celsius in the plains, according to a weather expert.
According to a tweet by the weather expert, the icy, severe chill would be experienced between January 14 and 19 and is likely to be at its peak from January 16 to 18.
Jammu and Kashmir, which has literally been snowed under in what has been an unforgiving winter, would have no respite from the cold spell with the mercury predicted to drop to a minimum of -6 degrees Celsius.
Punjab, Haryana, New Delhi, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Norther Madhya Pradesh will be in the grip of a severe cold wave over the week, with the minimum temperature hovering between 0 and 4 degrees Celsius.
“Don’t know how to put this up but upcoming spell of #Coldwave in #India look really extreme during 14-19th January 2023 with peak on 16-18th, Never seen temperature ensemble going this low in a prediction model so far in my career. Freezing -4°c to +2°c in plains, Wow!” the weather expert tweeted, tagging his post with a graphical representation of how the cold wave will play out in the northern plains over the week.
While there has been a significant improvement in the fog situation in North India over the last few days, owing to strong winds blowing in because of a Western Disturbance, the relief, according to the Met expert, won’t be for long as the chill and fog will be back soon.
The fog situation has improved slightly Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, Rajasthan and West UP over the last few days.
Visibility in Amritsar increased from 25 metres on January 11 to 450 metres on January 12. Similarly, in Bathinda, the visibility improved from 0 to 200 metres on January 12. In Chandigarh, visibility rose to 400 metres from a low of 25 metres.
In Hissar and Ambala, visibility rose to as much as 1000 metres while in Palam and Safdarjung, in the national capital, the visibility improved to as high as 800 metres. (Agencies)

On the first day of Auto Expo 2023 on Wednesday, the vehicle exhibitors, both global and domestic, in total launched and unveiled over 59 products at the India Expo Mart here.

The theme of this year’s show is ‘Explore the World of Mobility’.

Day 1 of the expo concluded with some top unveils by some of the leading brands with Maruti Suzuki unveiling its Concept EVX and Tata Motors showcasing its Tata Harrier EV, Tata Seirra EV and Tata Curvv petrol version.

MG Motor India announced the next generation Hector SUV, available in five, six, and seven-seater configurations, and revealed the prices. The upgraded Next-Gen Hector’s starting price is Rs 14.72 lakh.

Engineering company Greaves Cotton showcased its EV might with six new electric two and three-wheelers, and also unveiled AmperePrimus, a new high-speed e-scooter, which is currently available for booking across India.

The company also introduced a feature-rich, Made in India series of six electric two and three-wheelers inspired by Arctic Terns for last mile passenger and cargo transportation across consumer categories.

JBM Auto launched the JBM Galaxy luxury coach. Aside from that, JBM also displayed its new line of e-buses, which included the city bus, staff bus, and school bus.

Ashok Leyland displayed seven advanced mobility solutions — battery electric vehicle, fuel cell electric vehicle, hydrogen internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicle, liquefied natural gas vehicle, intercity CNG bus, and a mini passenger bus were among the products on exhibit.

SWITCH Mobility, the next-generation carbon-neutral electric bus and light commercial vehicle manufacturer, showcased the all-new IeV series at the Auto Expo 2023 as part of the integrated display with Ashok Leyland.

VE Commercial Vehicles, a Volvo Group and Eicher Motor joint venture, displayed a range of future-ready mobility solutions at the show. Volvo and Eicher Motors’ joint venture unveiled India’s longest 13.5m electric bus at the show. The joint venture has also revealed its Eicher Pro 2049 electric 4.9T GVW truck.

Volvo has also showcased a LNG truck. The company will be launching the same once the ecosystem for LNG develops in India. To promote green tourism across India, Volvo also showcased the 9,600 premium electric coach in India.

Hyundai Motor India launched another electric model, the ‘Ioniq 5’, which when fully charged will run up to 631 km. The EV is underpinned by the E-GMP platform that also underpins the Kia EV6, which is already on sale in India, while the Ioniq 5 also got Level 2 ADAS features.

The introductory price of Ioniq 5 is Rs 44.95 lakh (ex-showroom), and it will be available in three colour options — white, black and an exclusive matte silver.

At the 16th edition of the expo, KIA also introduced its all-electric SUV Concept, the Kia Concept EV9, emphasising its ambition of becoming a provider of sustainable mobility solutions.

The company also exhibited the Kia KA4, a luxury RV. The company then announced a Rs 2,000 crore investment in India for EV-related R&D, production, and infrastructure development.

BYD, the world’s leading new energy vehicle manufacturer, unveiled its luxury electric sedan, BYD Sealahead, to be launched in India in Q4 of 2023.

Cummins Group India made its debut with the commercial vehicle industry’s first fuel-agnostic platform and its diverse range of hydrogen technology power solutions.

Lexus India unveiled the all-new 5th generation RX during its first ever participation in the show. Available in two models, the RX 350h Luxury and RX 500h F Sport Performance, the SUV is only available with hybrid engines with deliveries to commence in March. The bookings have been opened.

Meanwhile, Meta and FADA launched the ‘Move with Meta’ initiative to help auto dealerships reach out to customers digitally and increase online leads. The initiative is a skilling and enablement programme in collaboration with FADA to train over 3,000 auto dealers around the country on how to develop a social presence and digitise utilising Meta platforms.

Keeway India launched the Retrotastic SR 250 which will be sold exclusively through Benelli.

Adishwar Auto Ride India Pvt Ltd (AARI) announced the arrival of the bicycle brand Benelli Bike, also known as BBike. TheBBike range is designed for multiple ride formats inclusive of mountain, gravel and road.

Tata Motors unveiled 14 exclusive vehicles and concepts, including the Harrier EV, Sierra EV, Altrzo CNG as well as the Curvv Coupe in its private vehicle segment.

In its commercial vehicle segment, Tata Motors unveiled Magic EV, Prime e28, ultra e.9 as well as the Hydrogen Fuel Cell truck at the event.

Hexall Motors launched the Mammoth Series of Electric Cargo L5 and Electric Passenger L5 vehicles with highest payload and passenger capacity in its segment. Also, it has launched a fully-electric city bus bubble with D+41 seating capacity.

New Delhi, Jan 12: India saw a single-day rise of 197 new coronavirus infections with active cases declining to 2,309, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Thursday.
The total tally of Covid cases was recorded at 4.46 crore (4,46,80,583).
The overall death toll stands at 5,30,723 with one death reconciled by Kerala, the data updated at 8 am stated.
The daily positivity was recorded at 0.10 per cent while the Weekly positivity rate was pegged at 0.11 per cent.
Active cases comprise 0.01 per cent of the total infections, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate has increased to 98.80 per cent, according to the health ministry website.
A decrease of 33 cases has been recorded in the active COVID-19 caseload in a span of 24 hours.
The number of people who have recuperated from the infection surged to 4,41,47,551, while the case fatality rate was recorded at 1.19 per cent.
According to the ministry’s website, 220.15 crore doses of Covid vaccine have been administered in the country so far under the nationwide COVID-19 vaccination drive.
India’s COVID-19 tally had crossed the 20-lakh mark on August 7, 2020, 30 lakh on August 23, 40 lakh on September 5 and 50 lakh on September 16, 2020.
It crossed the grim milestone of two crore on May 4, 2021, and four crore on January 25, 2022. (Agencies)

NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will flag off the world’s longest river cruise, MV Ganga Vilas, and inaugurate a ‘Tent City’ on the banks of the Ganga river in Varanasi on January 13 via video conferencing.

His office said in a statement that he will also inaugurate and lay the foundation stones for several other inland waterways projects worth more than Rs 1,000 crore during the event.

MV Ganga Vilas will begin its journey from Varanasi and sail around 3,200 km in 51 days to reach Dibrugarh in Assam via Bangladesh, traversing across 27 river systems in the two countries, it said.

Modi said the 51-day river cruise is a unique opportunity to connect with the country’s cultural roots and discover beautiful aspects of its diversity.  The cruiser has three decks, 18 suites on board with a capacity of carrying 36 tourists and having all luxury amenities. The maiden voyage has 32 tourists from Switzerland signing up for the entire length of the journey, it noted.

The PMO said the cruise has been curated to bring out the best of the country to be showcased to the world. The cruise is planned with visits to 50 tourist spots, including world heritage sites, national parks, river ‘ghats’ and major cities like Patna in Bihar, Sahibganj in Jharkhand, Kolkata in West Bengal, Dhaka in Bangladesh and Guwahati in Assam.

The journey will give the tourists an opportunity to embark upon an experiential voyage and indulge in the art, culture, history, and spirituality of India and Bangladesh.

In line with the prime minister’s endeavour to boost river cruise tourism, the service will help unlock the huge untapped potential of the sector and herald a new age of tourism for India, it said.

The ‘Tent City’ at Varanasi has been conceptualised on the banks of the River Ganga to tap the potential of tourism in the region, the PMO said.

The project has been developed opposite city ghats which will provide accommodation facilities and cater to the increased tourists influx in Varanasi, especially since the inauguration of the Kashi Vishwanath Dham.

It has been developed by the Varanasi Development Authority in PPP mode. The tourists will reach the ‘Tent City’ by boats from different ghats situated in the vicinity. The ‘Tent City’ will be operational from October to June every year and will be dismantled for three months due to rise in river water level in the rainy season.

Among other projects, Modi will inaugurate Haldia Multi Modal Terminal in West Bengal. Developed under Jal Marg Vikas Project, it has a cargo handling capacity of around over three Million Metric Tonne Per Annum (MMTPA) and the berths are designed to handle vessels up to around 3000 Deadweight tonnage (DWT).

Modi will also inaugurate four floating community jetties at Saidpur, Chochakpur, Zamania in Ghazipur district and at Kanspur in Ballia district in Uttar Pradesh. Besides, foundation stone will be laid for the five community jetties at Digha, Nakta Diyara, Barh, Panapur in Patna district and Hasanpur in Samastipur district in Bihar by Modi.

More than 60 community jetties are being constructed along Ganga across the states of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal to boost economic activities and improve the livelihood of local communities in the region, the PMO said.

The community jetties would play a key role in improving the livelihoods of people by providing simple logistics solutions for small farmers, fishery units, unorganised farm producing units, horticulturists, florists and artisans focussing on economic activities in and around the hinterland of Ganga.

Modi will also inaugurate Maritime Skill Development Centre for North East at Guwahati. It will help in honing the rich talent pool in the North Eastern region and will provide for better employment opportunities in the burgeoning logistics industry.

In addition to these, the PMO said, Modi will also lay the foundation stone for a ship repair facility and an elevated road at Pandu Terminal in Guwahati. The ship repair facility at the Pandu Terminal will save a lot of valuable time as it takes more than a month for a ship to be transported to the Kolkata repair facility and back.

Moreover, it will also result in huge savings in terms of money as the transportation cost of the ship will also be saved. The dedicated road connecting the Pandu Terminal to NH 27 will enable 24-hour connectivity, the PMO said. (AGENCIES)