Skoda roll out 'Yeti'

Wait is over. The much talked SUV from Skoda is all set to hit the Indian roads on Monday.

Skoda Yeti will be rolled out for India’s Sports Utility Vehicle (SUV) lover. Skoda Yeti was displayed in January Delhi Auto Expo this year.



SUV Skoda Yeti is priced at Rs 17 lakh onwards. The crossover from Skoda sported 2.0 TDI common rail diesel engine. The 2.0 TDI common rail diesel engine will allow Skoda Yeti to produce 140 bhp of max power and 32.4 kgm of peak torque at 1750 rpm.



Skoda Yeti also offers a six-speed manual transmission option. According to the company, Yeti is capable to mover 0 to 100 kph within 11 seconds.



Speed lovers in India will have a good Choice in form of Yeti. The mileage of the Yeti is also quite good. It is expected to produce 11.2 kpl.

Building collapses in Delhi

At least 36 people were killed scores of others injured when a five-storey residential building collapsed in east Delhi on Monday, police and hospital authorities said.

Some 60 people were rescued from the building in Lalita Park area of Laxmi Nagar, but several others are still feared to be trapped, a senior police official said.

Doctors and officials at Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Hospital and Lal Bahadur Shastri Hospital said 13 dead people were brought to the two centres.

R A Gautam, Medical Superintendent of LBS, said 20 injured were brought to the hospital, of which 13 are in a critical condition.

Fire brigade, police and MCD officials were engaged in the rescue operation and removal of debris with the help of local residents.

Finance minister A K Walia, who rushed to the spot, said the foundation of the old building could have weakened due to the heavy rains in the Monsoon season when water of the Yamuna river flooded the area.

Locals said some water was still there in the basement of the building. Some eyewitnesses also claimed that construction of an extra floor was going on when the incident took place. Many of the injured were labourers.

"Such a large building just went down in minutes," an eyewitness said.

People gathered in large numbers in the area. Locals complained that initially there were no power and no cranes to help in the rescue efforts. Ambulances and PCR jeeps were seen rushing the injured persons to hospitals.


Delhi Health Minister Kiran Walia said that rescue work has been launched on war footage. She said that free treatment has been ordered and hospitals are put on high alert.

BlackBerry enters Nepal

Even as neighbour India laid down an Aug 31 deadline for Black Berry to provide law agencies access to its encrypted data or face the closure of its secure email service, the smartphone wiz has entered Nepal via a tie-up with the first private mobile telephone service provider.



Spice Nepal Private Ltd, Nepal's first private mobile phone operator offering its services under the brand Ncell, has now added BlackBerry services to its menu following a no-objection certificate from the regulating authority, the Nepal Telecom Authority (NTA).

Keeping in mind the security concerns in India, the NTA said it has issued the no-objection certificate conditionally.

"If the government of Nepal wants to monitor or intercept calls or other services, Ncell has to make the provisions," NTA official Kabindra Shrestha told IANS.

Also, Spice Nepal will not enjoy exclusivity, Shrestha said.

If the other mobile phone operator in the country, the state-run Nepal Telephone, wants to offer BlackBerry services in future, it too will have the right to do so.

Also, Spice Nepal will have to provide BlackBerry services even to people who have bought the phone sets from other places.

A BlackBerry handset will cost about NRS 50,000 and the monthly charge is NRS 1,000.

A customer who has bought his BlackBerry phone set from elsewhere will also be entitled to Ncell's BlackBerry services.

Spice Nepal entered Nepal controversially with the launch of its services in 2005 when Nepal's then king Gyanendra staged a bloodless coup and shut down telephone services.

In 2008, Spice Nepal acquired a boost with Nordic telecom giant TeliaSonera, obtaining controlling interests and the old brand, Mero Mobile, was repositioned as Ncell.

Anil enters in TV Broadcast venture

The Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (ADAG) forayed into television broadcasting Wednesday, setting up a joint venture with US media company CBS to launch general entertainment channels in South Asia.

ADAG firm Reliance Broadcast Network (RBN), known so far as Reliance Media World, formed a 50:50 joint venture, BIG CBS Networks Pvt. Ltd, with CBS Studios, a division of CBS, to beam channels to India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan, Sri Lanka and the Maldives.

Both parties, however, refused to divulge the financials involved.

"The venture is more about the assets that both companies are bringing to the table," RBN Chief Executive Tarun Katial told reporters, announcing the formation of Big CBS.

Earlier in the day, in a regulatory filing Reliance Media World said: "Reliance Broadcast Network Limited has successfully completed its final negotiations with CBS Studios Inc, a division of CBS Corporation, and executed the joint venture agreement in connection with owning and operating, a portfolio of television channels."

To start with, Big CBS will launch three channels-- BIG CBS Spark, BIG CBS Love and BIG CBS Prime. The channels are expected to be beamed in the October-December quarter.

BIG CBS Spark will be targeted at the youth, while BIG CBS Love will be aimed at women. BIG CBS Prime will be a general entertainment channel, both companies said in a statement.

"The channels will be English entertainment channels, customized for the Indian market offering audiences immediate access to new and current CBS programmes, including some of the most popular television programmes in the world," the statement added.

According to a recent KPMG and FICCI report, the media and entertainment industry is likely to grow at a rate of 12.5 percent annually, over the next five years and touch $20.09 billion by 2013.

Television was the largest segment of India's entertainment industry, with revenues of 257 billion rupees ($5.6 billion) in 2009.

"It (India) is the third largest television market in the world, the largest Indian speaking population in the world, the economic power of the middle class, the youth demographic and many, many more statistics that all substantiate the tremendous opportunity in India," said Armando Nuñez, president of CBS Studios International.

Katial said the venture will also get some CBS show formats and localise their content for the Indian audience.

BIG CBS will also look at setting up Hindi and regional language general entertainment channels in the next phase of expansion.

At the Bombay Stock Exchange, the Reliance Media World scrip closed near the day's high of Rs.81.45, up 4.96 percent from its previous close at Rs.77.60.

Apple to launch mini iPad soon

Technology giant Apple Inc. is reportedly planning to release a mini iPad this December, a media report said Wednesday.

Details of a smaller version of the iPad were leaked in a Chinese newspaper that had also correctly predicted the specifications of the iPad months before its release.

Apple intends to launch the smaller iPad this December in time for the Christmas shopping season, Sky News reported citing sources.

The rumoured version is predicted to be 200 grams lighter than the standard iPad, which was released in April this year.

A report in the Economic Daily News said Taiwanese companies have won contracts to make components smaller than those used on the current iPads.

Mercedes launches E-class Cabriolet

Mercedes-Benz Tuesday launched Cabriolet, another version of its E-class sedan, priced Rs.65 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi) and said it would launch more models this year to reinforce its leadership in the Indian luxury car market.

The Cabriolet comes with a new technological innovation called AIRCAP which provides the four seater convertible the option to deflect the air out of the car when the hood is down.

"The Cabriolet will herald in a new era of open top motoring with its new and innovative features. We are confident that it will reinforce the present brand of E-class in the country," said Managing Director Wilfried Aulbur.

The car is Mercedes's seventh offering in the E-class range.

The German car maker is very bullish about its growth prospects in India and is preparing to launch few more models soon.

"Till date we have launched 17 models in the country and we expect to launch a few more by the end of the year," Aulbur said.

The company's sales grew by a whooping 80 percent in July this year at 2,524 cars as against 1,629 in the like period of previous year.

"This signifies the fact that mindset of people regarding luxury is changing like in places like Aurangabad where people have money and now they are coming out to buy, plus infrastructure is also improving," Aulbur added.

About AIRCAP, Aulbur said the technology works best at 40 km per hour speed. "You can enjoy the open air experience and won't worry about messing your hair with this feature."

Some 12,700 E-Class cars, which include Saloon and Coupe, have been sold since the first car rolled out of the Indian manufacturing plant in Chakan, Maharastra, in 1995.

coca cola to produce dairy products

Coca-Cola India Tuesday entered the dairy business launching Maaza Milky Delite, a blend of mango pulp and milk.

It plans to test market the product for two months in the city before launching it nationally.

"We at Coca-Coca India are constantly evaluating and exploring opportunities to expand and further diversify our beverage portfolio," Ricardo Fort, vice president, marketing, Coca-Coca India said at a press meet.

The product would be manufactured at the Taratala bottling facility, Diamond Beverages Pvt Ltd, in the city and would be made available across 3,000 outlets in the city.

Maaza Milky Delite is being made available in a 200 ml slim tetra pack, and has been priced at Rs 15.

The product is targeted at teenagers and young adults who are on the lookout for a refreshing milky mango juice drink.