Chennai: German luxury car maker BMW has started rolling out new 5-Series sedans from its Chennai facility at a price between Rs 38.9 lakh and Rs 58 lakh (ex-showroom).The company had unveiled the new 5-Series sedans with petrol and diesel options in April."The BMW 5 Series is the core product in our model range and has significantly contributed to the image and success of BMW in India. We are confident that the new BMW 5 Series produced in Chennai will further increase our momentum in the Indian luxury car segment," BMW Plant Managing Director Juergen Eder said in a statement.The company will start the deliveries of the cars by end of this month, the statement added.While the 523i, 530d and 525d will be produced as completely-knocked-down units at the Chennai facility, the 535i will be imported as a completely-built-unit.The company has sold over 3,700 units of the 5-Series sedans in India since 2007. The luxury model accounts for over 50 per cent BMW's total sales globally.
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
'More poor' in India than Africa
Eight Indian states account for more poor people than in the 26 poorest African countries combined, a new measure of global poverty has found.The Indian states, including Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal, have 421 million "poor" people, the study found.This is more than the 410 million poor in the poorest African countries, it said.The Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) measures a range of "deprivations" at household levels.Developed by Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative (OPHI) with UN support, it will feature in the upcoming UNDP Human Development Report.The measure assess a number of "deprivations" in households - from education to health to assets and services."The MPI is like a high resolution lens which reveals a vivid spectrum of challenges facing the poorest households," said OPHI director Dr Sabina Alkire.
BJP preparing vision document on highways in northeast
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will prepare a vision document for the appropriate management and use of national highways for better connectivity in the mountainous northeastern region, a party leader said on Monday. "Mismanagement and inapt linking between the national highways and state highways caused rise in prices of all commodities and misery among the ple of the northeastern region," BJP's northeast regional organising secretary P. Chandrasekhar Rao told reporters.Explaining the improper connectivity among the eight northeastern states, Rao said: "A loaded truck with essentials requires 23 days to reach Manipur capital Imphal from Guwahati in Assam. As a result, people not only get goods at a much higher rate but the quality of the essentials also goes down."The northeast region has 19 national highways connecting the eight states."The proposed vision document on national highways in the northeast suggesting massive modification would be submitted to the ministry of road transport and highways as well as parliament for taking appropriate steps at the earliest," Rao said.A BJP parliamentary team led by Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj visited Manipur last week to study the ground situation in the state."The team would highlight the misery and plight of the people of the northeast during the coming parliament session beginning July 26," Rao said.Apart from the connectivity problems, Rao said that the central government's subsidy policy was only helping the traders, investors and industrialists and the common people of the region were not getting any benefit."The subsidy procedure should drastically change so that the common people get the benefit of the financial support being provided for the industrial and power projects besides a numerous developmental schemes," the BJP leader said.Rao added that the over two crore illegal Bangladeshi immigrants were creating socio-economic and criminal problems in the region.The BJP has urged the union home ministry and state governments to seal the northeast region's border with Bangladesh to check infiltration.
