Indian wins Dh100,000 car from Dubai Traffic Police

Dubai announces more incentives for drivers accumulating white points

Jayaseelan receiving the prize from Dubai Traffic Police (SUPPLIED)

An Indian national was awarded a Dh100,000 car by Dubai’s traffic police for accumulating sufficient white points that made him an ideal driver in the emirate.

The man, Jayaseelan, was picked from among 700 drivers shortlisted by Dubai’s traffic police after they gathered the maximum limit of white points in one year, during which they did not commit any traffic offence or were involved in an accident. Jayaseelan has been awarded Chevrolet Cruz.

Dubai introduced the unique white point system, the first in the region, couple of years ago in a bid to encourage drivers to respect traffic rules as part of a long term strategy to curb accidents and attain its zero death target on roads.

“We honour 700 drivers who collect the maximum limit of white points every year but we intend to increase that number to 1,000,” Dubai traffic police chief Major General Mohammed Al Zafin said, adding that at least one car would also be awarded.

The Indian driver, a private sector employee, said he could hardly believe it when he was called by the police and told about his reward.

He said his children are “very happy” for him and that he is planning to hold a party after receiving the car from the traffic police.

Petrofac in $3.7bn Abu Dhabi deal

Petrofac Emirates is partnering with Daewoo Shipbuilding

British oil and gas group Petrofac said on Thursday that its Petrofac Emirates joint venture firm has won a $3.7-billion (2.8-billion-euro) contract to develop a key field in Abu Dhabi.

“Petrofac is pleased to announce that Petrofac Emirates, its joint venture with Mubadala Petroleum, has been awarded a contract by Zakum Development Company for the Upper Zakum, UZ750 field development in Abu Dhabi,” said a statement from the London-listed firm.

“The contract is worth approximately $3.7 billion and has been secured by Petrofac Emirates in consortium with Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co Ltd.”

The group added that Petrofac Emirates’ share of the contract was valued at $2.9 billion.

#Dubai Police patrols now go for #Ferrari after a #Lamborghini

It appears Dubai Police isn’t satisfied with just a Lamborghini Aventador in its fleet of patrol cars.

What else could match up you ask? How about a Ferrari?

Dubai Police authorities have mentioned on its official Twitter account that the zippy car will be added to its fleet, with the confirmation coming from the Lt General Dhahi Khalfan Al Tamim, Commander-in-Chief of the Dubai Police, himself.

The tweet simply reads: “Lt General Dhahi Khalfan: Soon Ferrari will join Dubai Police fleet.”

However, the model has not been confirmed, neither has a prototype image been released as yet.

Chances are that a 458 Italia could very well fit the bill, going from 0 to 100km in a mere 3.4 seconds.

Here’s one patrol car you just may find difficult to outrun.

Last week, Dubai Police unveiled its latest addition to the fleet of patrol cars, with images of the Lamborghini Aventador going viral online.

This was added to the Chevrolet Camaro, which was confirmed last month by the authority, with images of its two-door prototype also being released online.

In a statement, Dubai Police has confirmed it will soon introduce sports cars into its fleet to enhance its patrolling abilities.

Lieutenant-General Dhahi Khalfan, in the presence of Major-General Abdul Rahman Mohammad Rafi, Director-General, Department of Community Service, and Brigadier Pilot Anas Al Matrooshi, Deputy Director of the General Department of Operations for Transport and Rescue, are reviewing the new cars.

The sports cars have been designed according to Dubai Police specifications and ‘will help to facilitate policing on highways’, according to the authorities.

News of the Ferrari had many on Twitter cheering the new addition to the Dubai Police family, with tweets such as this one from Stranger Buddy saying: “Wow, I assume it will be a world record to have Ferrari for police patrolling. Keep it up. Dubai deserves the best.”

Don Joe Martin wrote: “Dubai Police is going to increase the standard of policing the world over. I love Dubai.”

Kaveen Amarasinghe posed the question that’s currently on everyone’s mind, asking: “Dubai Police, just curious to know if these cars will be used for patrolling purpose or anything else?”

Only time will tell. But needless to say, the emirate’s patrolling fleet looks poised to set a world record for being number one in style stakes.

All aboard India’s first passenger train with the Google Doodle!

If you’re a fan of spotting Google Doodles, this is a great week for you.

A day after Google honoured Swiss mathematician Leonhard Euler with a doodle, the search giant has come up with one more to commemorate the 160th anniversary of the first passenger train in India.

The doodle is a simple affair, with a steam locomotive pulling a train. The engine forms the first “O” in “Google”. The whole doodle wears a very old-worldly look and resembles a painting more than a drawing. The train is surrounded by open fields and palm trees, trying to bring back the charm of the 19th century.

The first passenger train in India ran between Bori Bunder in Bombay and Thane on April 16, 1853, signaling a new era in travel and communication in the country. The train was pulled by three locomotives – Sultan, Sindh and Sahib and had about 400 passengers on board its 14 carriages. The journey of the first passenger train in India lasted for a good 57 minutes between Bori Bunder and Thane and had just one halt.

Celebrating the 160th anniversary of the first passenger train

 

Interestingly, this was only the first time a passenger train was run in India. The first rail line had come up near Chintadripet Bridge in the then Madras Presidency in 1836 as an experimental line.

After the first passenger train was run between Bombay and Thane, the first passenger railway line in north India was opened between Allahabad and Kanpur in 1859.

The train doodle is a slightly less interactive one this time round and slightly inaccurate too, given the fact that the train was actually pulled by three locomotives.

To celebrate Euler’s birthday yesterday, the doodle was a partly animated one. The doodle included geometrical figures and mathematical formulae, scribbled on a partially yellow piece of paper. Some of the mathematical elements on the doodle, included the mathematical constant, his polyhedral formula, now written as v-e+f=2.
 
An important name in the field of mathematics, Euler’s genius can be affirmed from the fact that he is the only mathematician to have two numbers named after him – the Euler’s number in calculus (e, i.e. approximately equal to 2.71828), and the Euler’s Mascheroni Constant (gamma), also called as “Euler’s constant” (approximately equal to 0.57721).

Earlier in December, Google had honoured another mathematician, Srinivasa Ramanujan on his 125th birthday. The doodle in the memory of this genius was endearing, to say the least and best described what Ramanujan lived for – his love for mathematics. The doodle showed a young lad, believed to be young Ramanujan, on his fours, writing the mathematical constant Pi, which is approximately equal to 3.14159. The word ‘Google’ was thoughtfully etched out of the different formulaes and other mathematical depictions.

US shuts 149 airport control towers

The US has announced that 149 airport control towers will be closed across the country beginning April 7 due to a budget saving implementation plan.

“We heard from communities across the country about the importance of their towers and these were very tough decisions,” US Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said in a statement.

“Unfortunately we are faced with a series of difficult choices that we have to make to reach the required cuts under sequestration,” Xinhua quoted LaHood as saying.

Roughly $85 billion of spending cuts started to hit various US governmental departments this year starting March 1. The spending cuts were included in the August 2011 debt reduction package.

Authorities will begin a four-week phased closure of the 149 air traffic control towers beginning April 7, part of its efforts to save $637 million spending this year, according to the statement.

Petrol price cut by Rs 2 per litre, excluding VAT

The cut in petrol price follows two rounds of hike in rates since February

Petrol price was on Friday cut by Rs 2 per litre with effect from midnight tonight, the steepest reduction in rates in nine months. While petrol price has been cut by Rs 2 per litre, excluding local sales tax or VAT, there will be no change in diesel rates.

After including VAT, the reduction in price of petrol in Delhi comes to Rs 2.40 per litre and the fuel will from midnight tonight cost Rs 68.34 per litre as against Rs 70.74 currently. It was expected that oil firms will also effect the monthly hike of 40-50 paise per litre in diesel rates but they deferred the decision apparently to save the government from trouble in Parliament.

When oil firms had last hiked petrol price on 2 March, opposition parties had disrupted one full day’s proceedings. The cut in petrol price follows two rounds of hike in rates since February. Petrol price was hiked by Rs 1.50 a litre on 16 Feb and then by Rs 1.40 per litre from 2 March. Both were excluding VAT.

The reduction in rates was possible as international oil prices have eased. While the slide in international prices of crude oil from $112.73 per barrel to $107.41 enabled reduction in petrol prices, it also helped lower losses on diesel sales. Losses on diesel have come down to Rs 8.64 per litre from Rs 11.26 at the beginning of the month, according to Indian Oil Corp (IOC) which announced the price revision. Oil firms calculate the desired retail price on 1st and 16th of every month based on average imported oil price on the previous fortnight. Petrol price had last been cut by over Rs 2 per litre in June 2012 when prices were reduced from Rs 70.24 to Rs 67.78 per litre. IOC said rupee had depreciated marginally. ‘Following this trend, it has been decided to pass on the benefit to customers,’ the company said.

Related articles

• Petrol price hiked by Rs 1.40 per litre from midnight (ibnlive.in.com)
• Petrol price may come down by Re 1, diesel may cost more (profit.ndtv.com)
• Petrol prices may be cut by Re. 1; diesel to be costlier (thehindu.com)

Indian oil refineries carry on negotiations with the OPEC countries for increase in supply of crude oil

The Indian oil refineries are carrying on negotiations with the OPEC countries for increase in supply of crude oil starting from April 1, 2013 in connection with decrease of imports of oil from Iran.

Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Iraq already expressed readiness to increase export of oil to India for compensation of its losses in case of termination of deliveries of crude from Iran. Such guarantees of the countries of OPEC increase chances of accession of India to the international sanctions against Iran.

Till date New Delhi, despite the international economic sanctions imposed on Tehran reduced purchases of the Iranian crude oil only in insignificant volumes. According to the Indian representatives, the republic recognizes only UN Security Council endorsed sanctions, rather than those by the USA and the European Union.

Related articles

• Iran Drops Four Places Among Indian Oil Suppliers Amid Sanctions (bloomberg.com)

Maruti Suzuki to unveil the most fuel efficient car

Maruti Suzuki to unveil the most fuel efficient car – Refreshed version of ‘A Star’ to promise 33 kmpl mileage

Maruti Suzuki is soon going to make a bang in the global small car market as it is reported to be working hard to launch the most fuel efficient car.

Alto has been a prominent model for Maruti Suzuki since its launch and all the updated versions of the vehicle have been received well in the Indian market. Though the company had appreciable sale volume of the model, it has unveiled ‘A Star’ into the market which also resulted in a big success for the manufacturer.

As per the information from indianautoblog.com, it has been known that an updated version of the A Star is going to hit stores soon which are expected to have a bang in the global market and Indian market as well. The vehicle will promise mileage of 33 kilometers per liter which is the highest mileage ever so far. The new version has been named as ‘A Star ECO’ which will be completely eco friendly variant.

Maruti is going to make a number of changes in order to make the fuel efficiency possible and the changes will be made both internally as well as externally. The body of the vehicle will be lighter by 20 kg and it will have some modifications to increase the aerodynamics of the vehicle to lower pressure on engine in pulling the vehicle.

Height of the vehicle may be increased a little bit and it will be classified under A+ segment. It will be equipped with a new compact diesel engine which will be more fuel efficient. But the manufacturer should not compromise with the interior of the vehicle as most of the rival models of same price range such as Hyundai i10 and Chevrolet Beat are offering elegant interior.

Some recent surveys showed that Maruti is having a little drop in sales from past few quarters and thus it is keen on regaining the momentum in India by introducing more efficient models. The brand new A Star might get unveiled by this spring.

Valentine’s Day Surprise by BMW for Indian Car Lovers – X1 Facelift leaked to be launched on 14th February

BMW X1 has already been introduced into globalmarket earlier which resulted in a huge success. The company has decided to regain the momentum again with the launch of face lifted version of X1 and has launched the same in Indonesia. The company was able to sell more than 3 lakh entities of X1 within 2 and half years from the launch of the vehicle into the global market. X1 is the most sold variant in the X series of BMW so far and thus the company has kept the model untouched for more than 3 years till now.

The vehicle has been modified a bit on the outer side in order to make it much aerodynamic. The engine has been left untouched as there is no other better alternative for the 2.0 liter engine in X1. BMW will continue offering the diesel variant as well as the petrol variant of X1 with the same 2.0 liter engine. Diesel variant is capable of producing 150 bhp of power whereas petrol engine is capable of producing 177 bhp of power.

As per the information, BMW might include Start – Stop system in the face lift version of X1 for the first time. The basic design of the head lamps has been modified in this version and the front grill too has been altered. Design of the dash board of the car and interior has also been modified. However, X1 face lift might have a tough fight with the other appealing rival models such as V40 from Volvo that is going to be launched in few months, Mercedes B Class and Q3 from Audi.

GoaOnWheels.com reported recently that BMW is importing the spares of X1 and the vehicle has been getting assembled at the Chennai plant of the company. The assembled X1 face lift vehicles are getting exported to Indonesia through Chennai ports and thus BMW is planning to launch the variant in the Indian market on 14^th February. We have to wait until the official announcement from the company gets out.

Indian Diplomatic Mail Delivered after 46 years

An Indian diplomatic bag was found 46 year later at the site of Air India aircraft’s crash site in the Alps near its highest Mont Blanc peak. The ill-fated passenger jet was on Mumbai-New York flight and everyone onboard was killed.

The mountaineers climbing on the Mont Blanc found the bag on one of the glaciers, the debris of the crashed aircraft, shoes and many other belongings of the passengers were strewn nearby.

The diplomatic bag was almost intact and was handed over to police in Chamonix town in the foothills. It is really difficult to find such things in the mountains. The diplomatic mail was finally delivered to its addressee – Indian mission in Switzerland, after 46 years.