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With the economic slowdown hitting the automobile industry hard, a number of manufacturers have put a stop on production to clear out their stocks. The executive sedan segment is one such area of the industry, which has suffered major losses for the same, despite being po[CENSORED]r among Indians lately. Sales number for the same segment is out for the month of August 2019, and despite a slump, they still look promising for Hyundai. Executive sedans comprise of cars such as the Maruti Suzuki Ciaz, Honda City, Hyundai Verna, Skoda Rapid, VW Vento, Toyota Yaris. For the month of August, Hyundai Verna has placed itself on the top of the sales chart followed by Maruti Suzuki Ciaz and Honda City, which is at third position.Reports reveal that the Hyundai has sold 1,591 units of Verna executive sedan in the month of August. On the other hand, Maruti Suzuki sold 1,596 units of Ciaz sedan and 1,593 units of Honda City during the same period of time. While the difference between the top 3 cars in the sale list is marginal, others who have made it to the list include the Skoda Rapid with 791 units, as well as the VW Vento, Toyota Yaris, Nissan Sunny and Fiat Linea at the last spot with 4 units. While the sale figures may not look dismal, comparison with last year records, Hyundai has shown a negative growth of 52 per cent and Maruti has a sales dip of 77 per cent. Honda City, which obtained third place, has a negative growth of 43 per cent. In totality, August 2018 saw 15,737 units of executive sedans being sold as compared to the mere 6,140 sold this year The Hyundai Verna on its part is attractively priced with an average ex-showroom price tag of Rs 8.08 lakhs. It is available in four engine options in India, 1.4 litre petrol with 99 Bhp-132 Nm outputs and a 6 speed manual gearbox, a 1.6 liter petrol engine with 121 Bhp-151 Nm outputs, and 6 speed manual and automatic gearbox options, a 1.4 liter turbocharged diesel with 89 Bhp-220 Nm and a 6 speed manual gearbox, and finally a 1.6 liter turbocharged diesel engine with 126 Bhp-260 Nm, and 6 speed manual and automatic gearboxes.

Michael Kors, a designer often cited as the beating heart of New York’s fashion scene, enticed guests out to Brooklyn on Wednesday morning for his spring/summer 2020 collection A choir of young New Yorkers chimed in with the opening bars of Don McLean’s American Pie as models including Adesuwa Aighewi, Mica Argañaraz, Kaia Gerber and the Hadids walked wearing an anthemic collection of navy knitwear and red sweetheart-necklined dresses embellished with golden stars, white double-breasted blazers with shiny gold buttons and boxy blue and white striped bags and shirts This latest collection started with Kors’s first trip to Ellis Island, he explained at a press preview the day before. His great-grandmother had though. She arrived there aged 14, with $10 and a spot in steerage, and started a new life, first on the Lower East Side, and then in Brooklyn – hence the show’s location. The clothes nodded to her journey via uncomplicated references to the nautical: sailors hats, anchors and deck shoes. In one particularly seaworthy ensemble, a jumper was emblazoned with the word Hate crossed out It was this discovery of his family heritage that catalysed thoughts of New York, its “newness, revival and optimism”, which manifested in the collection. Kors described it as probably the most patriotic he’s ever done. The show notes began with two words: American pie, an idea baked into the clothes via frocks decorated with crystals made to look like glistening cherries and lemons, served up alongside gingham bralets, blazers and wicker handbags that spoke of afternoon picnics in the Hamptons AdvertisementPatriotic is an interesting word in these charged times. Kors is known to be a Hillary Clinton supporter, and described dressing Michele Obama as one of the proudest moments of his life, but he is tight-lipped on the subject of Melania Trump wearing his clothes The show went hard on an undemanding, wholesome vision of America, with Kors unafraid to double down on a theme. The choir moved from McLean to Simon and Garfunkel’s America and Woody Guthrie’s This Land is Your Land.

The moment everyone - or at least someone, somewhere - has been waiting for has finally arrived. The Democrats will hold a single debate on Thursday with the top 10 candidates (by the Democratic Party's standards) all on the stage together.At last, we can see how the front-runner, or runners, or almost-frontrunners match up in locational and temporal proximity.Here are five things to keep in mind when watching.(Oh, and if you're pining for all those double-header debates, fear not. At least 11 candidates have qualified for October's debate, so it'll probably be back to two nights one more time.)ElizabethWarren in the limelightDuring the first two double-header debates,Elizabeth Warren was always slotted in thefirstnight,mostlysurrounded by lower-polling candidates. While herperformances garnered favourable reviews, they were always with the asterisk that her biggest potential foil - former Vice-President Joe Biden - was absent.This time, they get to go head-to-head - and from early indications, both sides are girding for battle.Biden's camp is indicating it could target Warren's past consulting for corporate clients as evidence that she's not as ethically pure as she makes herself out to be. He could also try to paint her "I've got a plan for that" progressive policy prescriptions as unattainable and off-putting to swing-state voters Warren won't have to reach as far back to unearth Biden's corporate ties. He's raised campaign funds from finance and energy companies and executives - a big no-no for some Democratic voters. Another strategy may be to try to dent Biden's veneer of electability, which has buoyed the former vice-president in the polls.What's more, the two top candidates have a history of scuffling. A Youtube clip of then-Senator Biden and then-Professor Warren debating proposed financial reform back in 2005 has recently got viral attention.At the time, Biden - with the backing of Delaware-based banking interests - was pushing for legislation that would make filing for personal bankruptcy more difficult. Warren, who made bankruptcy law her academic specialty, pushed back, calling existing bankruptcy laws "the last shred of protection" for financially pressed families.She also wrote a New York Times opinion piece in 2002 suggesting Biden was in the pocket of the financial industry - a charge she made directly in April, when she said Biden was "on the side of the credit card companies".Thursday's debate moderators will almost certainly try to rekindle some of that conflict. It shouldn't be too difficult, given that Biden is positioning himself as the steady, electable choice, while Warren is running on what she describes as big, structural change."You gave me hell," then Vice-President Biden told Warren when he swore her in as senator in 2013, possibly referencing the bankruptcy bill fight.There may be more hell to come.

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Korean automaker KIA Motors would begin exports of a mid-size sports utility vehicle (SUV) 'Seltos' later this month, a top official said. The company will look to ship at around 500 units tomid-South America to start with and later to the Middle East and South Asian markets, KIA Motors Chief Operating Officer Jong Soo Kim said. As part of shipping, it's vehicles, Glovis IndiaAnantpur Pvt Ltd Managing Director Jim Young Kim exchanged documents with Chennai Port Trust Traffic Manager M S Balani in the presence of top officials of KIA Motors and Chennai Port. Glovis India Anantpur Pvt Ltd is the logistics service provider of KIA Motors hennai Port Trust Chairman P Raveendran said the first shipment of KIA Motors was expected to begin by September 20. He said the Port under the memorandum of understanding signed, would offer tailormade facilities and concessional benefits for the export of vehicles to KIA Motors. The agreement signed would be valid till 2029 and KIA Motors would exclusively use Chennai Port for exports of vehicles, he said. KIA Motors India COO Jong Soo Kim said the company would look at gradually increase the shipment from the Chennai Port Trust. "It is around 500 units for September and we will gradually increase (the shipment)", he said in response to a question.To a query, he said the company was looking at 30 per cent of the production from its Anantpur facility would constitute exports segment. KIA Motors in June announced the global debut of SUVSeltos and had planned to launch four new models in the next two years. The company which is the sister entity of Hyundai Motor has invested USD 2 billion in India including USD 1.1 billion at the plant which has a capacity of three lakh units annually. Responding to a query on sales target for 2019, Kim said the company in August sold 6,000 units. "We will look at selling around 32,000 cars in the domestic market in 2019".Chennai Port Trust Chairman P Raveendran said Hyundai Motor India has been shipping its cars from the port since 2005 and they have renewed the agreement till 2028. The port was offering reduced commercial charges based on the export volume committed by KIA Motors, he said. To a question on the handling of cars at the port, he said till August the Port shipped 79,530 cars as against 52,948 cars shipped last financial year. "The export of KIA Motors from Chennai Port Trust is expected to boost this further," he added.Noting that the port has taken up various measures to ease the congestion inside the port area, he said a Coastal berth measuring 260 metres in length has been constructed with sufficient back-up. "Bunkering berth is under construction and should be ready by March 2020," he said.

The best places to holiday include California and Alsace, where welcoming producers and well-developed wine routes offer something for everyone hen I was a child, my family went on holiday in wine regions all the time. Not that my dad, a keen amateur wine lover, ever put it that way. As far as we knew, we were just going camping in various parts of France, Italy or Germany. It was only years later, as I caught the wine bug myself, that I realised how many of the campsites my parents picked – from Burgundy to the Rheingau – just happened to be in some of Europe’s most famous wine places.Luckily for my incurious teenage self, wine tourism in Europe in the 1980s didn’t amount to much. For many producers, especially in France, members of the public were about as welcome as a tax inspector. I remember a trip to somewhere in, I think, the Loire where we saw a wobbly VHS film of vines in sunlight with a grandiose voiceover going on incomprehensibly about “nature’s handmaidens and Bacchus and patrimony”. But that was pretty much it. My dad was mostly just happy to be near some famous vineyards, drinking the absurdly cheap wines in almost-always-beautiful situ That would still be my favoured style of wine holiday: one of afternoons spent lazing around in a pool among the vines in, say, Portugal’s Douro valley, still for me the most beautiful wine country in the world. And of evenings getting to understand, in detail, how the local wines combine with the local food (autumnal Piedmont or Tuscany would win on this score).Wine tourism is no longer the ramshackle affair it was. All over the world, wine companies have realised there’s money to be made and, equally importantly, valuable PR to be communicated to attract visitors in increasingly slick and varied ways.Just how far along the path from farm to tourist attraction some wineries have come can be seen in the inaugural list, announced earlier this month, of the world’s 50 best vineyards. A spin-off of the 50 best restaurants jamboree, it attempts to identify the best wine-tourism destinations. It’s a list that leans towards the spectacular larger producer: a combination of starchitect-designed cellar and fine-dining restaurant is the formula taken by most of the winners, including the number one, Zuccardi, at the foot of the Andes in the Uco valley in Argentina.These places can be fun to visit, in a Grand Designs/adult theme park kind of way. But they’re not enough to sustain a wine holiday itinerary on their own. To really get under the skin of a wine region you need a cluster of small, welcoming producers offering free tastings, a range of accommodation, restaurants, bars and other (non-vinous) cultural attractions, and good, easily available local information and maps.The best places for this that I’ve come across are California (preferably in a Saab convertible, Sideways-style); Alsace (France’s best-developed wine route is perfect for cyclists); or the Alpine-vine gorgeousness of Switzerland’s Valais (the one for walkers). In their different ways, they are all easy pleasures to tour, no matter how serious your interest in wine, even if you have truculent kids in tow.

Canada's environment minister says she has been assigned a security detail because of abuse she has received both online and in person. Catherine McKenna said in one recent incident a man in a car pulled up alongside her and her children, swore and called her a "climate Barbie".In Canada, government ministers rarely need high levels of protection.The move comes as environmental campaigners, particularly women, report increasing levels of abuse.Climate change has become a major issue in Canada's federal election in October, with the two main parties taking opposing views on the subject.Ms McKenna said she would now have extra protection at certain times, but did not give details.Canada MP blasted over 'Barbie' commentWhy do young climate activists face so much hate The billion-dollar oil pipeline Canadians can't build"There are places, yes, that I have to have security now and I don't think that's a great situation," she said, quoted by Canadian Press news agency."I'm someone who is trying to do my job, live my life, and talk and engage with people, and it makes it harder. I'm not going to let this stop me but I wish it would stop." Online abuse has been going on since she was elected, she added, but in recent months public confrontations have become worse. She said she had received messages that included sexualised insults and threats against her family. In person she has been called an enemy, a traitor and a "communist piece of garbage"."The vocal sexism and hateful comments that are directed to people who work on climate change is unacceptable," she told AFP news agency. Two years ago Canadian Conservative MP Gerry Ritz apologised to Ms McKenna after calling her "climate Barbie".As the climate change debate rages, many activists have found themselves the targets of threats and abuse.Greta Thunberg, the Swedish teenager who inspired a global movement, recently completed a voyage across the Atlantic on board an environmentally friendly yacht - but faced a barrage of attacks along the way Canadian environmental activist Tzeporah Berman recently revealed that she had received anti-Semitic abuse, death threats, and threats of sexual violence over her stance on Canada's controversial oil sands industry The government of Liberal Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has imposed carbon taxes on four of Canada's 10 provinces for failing to introduce their own plans for tackling climate change.In October's election, in which Mr Trudeau will seek a second term,hisConservative rival Andrew Scheer has vowed to roll back the tax as his first act in office if elected.

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s way out. While there have been conflicting reports about whether or not a successor will be made, we have some info that says it will be revived. However, the i8 as we now know it will soon be gone. And that’s a bit sad, despite the fact that it’s just not a competitive car anymore.When the BMW i8 first debuted back in 2014, it was a mind-blowing machine. Its blend of spaceship looks, cutting-edge powertrain tech and surprising performance made it an instant hit among car enthusiasts and journalists alike. Sure, it lacked even a decent pure EV range and it wasn’t quite as fast as other cars in its segment but it was a car that looked and felt special, so it was pretty universally liked It’s hard not to like it, to be honest. Last year I had an i8 Roadster press car for a week in the Summer and I loved it. By that time, it was already a dated machine, with performance and powertrain tech that were both behind the times. Still, it was such a special feeling thing, such an interesting and exciting automobile, that it was hard to not fall in love with.That being said, the BMW i8 needs to go. It’s past its expiration date by some time now and BMW needs to replace it with something much more high-tech and up-to-date. I know it’s a bit odd to say that that i8 isn’t high-tech or up-to-date because it looks like the sort of car you’d find on an advanced alien planet. But under the futuristic body lies a powertrain that is so vanilla it also powers the Countryman S E. When your six-figure hybrid supercar also has the same powertrain as a family-sized people mover, it’s time for an update. BMW has the tech and the means to replace it with something special. Its advanced new EV powertrains are very impressive and have been proven to pack a ton of power, efficiency and technology. BMW is also one of the best in the business at making high-tech chassis, be it of carbon fiber, aluminum or a mixture of the two. So it can come up with something entirely new and completely up to date to replace the BMW i8, of that I have no doubt.According to what we’ve learned, there will be another BMW i8 with a much more powerful powertrain, better technology and even sportier handling. And that’s great, we can’t wait to see what it is. But the first-gen i8 will always be a car with a special place in our hearts.I will always be fond of the BMW i8. It’s way past its time and seriously needs to be replaced but it’s a car that I’ll always have a fondness for, even long after it’s gone. Maybe used ones will be cheap in a couple of years. That could be fun. Au revoir, i8.

A cave complex recently reopened on the north Kent coast joins an array of interesting, awe-inspiring and historic grottos from Iceland to New Zealand ocoons of glistening ice in Vatnajökull glacier, Iceland; geometric Fingal’s Cave in Scotland; echoey mouths of darkness in Mexico’s cenotes. All over the world, caves have inspired awe, as well as providing shelter This week, a slightly lesser-known site, Margate Caves, has reopened after being closed to visitors for 15 years. Campaigners have been working to save it from redevelopment since 2008, raising funds to preserve, restore and reopen it The caves were formed from a chalk mine dug in the 1700s. The stone was extracted by hand using iron picks, whose marks can still be seen on the cave walls. Around 2,000 tonnes of chalk was hauled out and used to make bricks and cement for local building work. Once this was completed, the caves were sealed again and left undisturbed until the 1800s when, so one story goes, they were rediscovered by accident by a gardener working for the landowner, one Francis Forster A later newspaper article told a different tale – of Mr Forster discovering the caves after he noticed that his pet rabbits kept disappearing by the roots of a pear tree. After its discovery, Forster added a stairway, and used the caves as an ice store and wine cellar. He and subsequent owners decorated the caves with murals, including a tiger, a bear and a green hippopotamus.After Forster’s death the caves were sealed again, and in subsequent years were opened and closed as a tourist attraction by several owners and used as air raid shelters in the two world wars. They were also rumoured to have been used bysmugglers bringing in contraband from the Thanet coast.AdvertisementThe recent conservation project has involved installing specialist lighting around the caves (which are 94 metres long and 12 metres high), restoring the artworks and building a visitor centre. The work has also led to the discovery of a new borehole, which suggests there could be a further tunnel below . If you prefer cave art that’s a little older, Cueva de las Manos (Cave of Hands) in the Pinturas valley in a remote part of Argentinian Patagonia, has stencilled handprints dating back 10,000 years. They are some of the earliest examples of cave art, made using mineral pigments and spraying pipes. Also in Patagonia, on the Chilean side, the Capillas de Mármol (Marble Chapels) have been carved by 6,000-plus years of waves washing away softer stone to reveal the swirling blues of a peninsula of solid marble Caves that appear to glow in the dark can be found in many spots around the Mediterranean. Capri’s Blue Grotto is one of the best-known, but a good alternative is the Blue Cave, on the island of Bisevo near Split, Croatia. The glow is the result of the sun’s rays hitting the water and reflecting off the limestone floor Sometimes it’s what’s inside the cave that draws visitors. Phraya Nakhon cave, in Khao Sam Roi Yot national park in central Thailand, has a temple positioned directly under a shaft of light coming from a hole in the ceiling and surrounded by trees reaching for the light It’s the wildlife that people come to see at the Cave of Swallows in Aquismón, eastern Mexico. It’s home to thousands of birds that fly in concentric circles to exit and enter from the surrounding jungle. It’s the world’s largest known cave shaft, around 200 metres wide and dropping 1,900 metres to the floor from its highest side.

A leading secular politician in Turkey has been sentenced to nearly 10 years in jail for "terror propaganda and insults" against the Turkish stateCanan Kaftancioglu, 47, was convicted mainly over tweets which date back several years.She has said the charges were politically motivated and remains free pending an appeal.She heads the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) in Istanbul, the country's largest city.Kaftancioglu played a key in the CHP's triumph in Istanbul's mayoral election in June, defeating the governing AKP party.Erdogan's party suffers blow after Istanbul defeatErdogan's party defeated in election re-runAmbitious mayor takes on Turkish presidentCHP's Ekrem Imamoglu beat the AKP candidate in the re-run poll, delivering a stinging blow to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.What was Canan Kaftanciouglu convicted of?On Friday, she was sentenced to nine years, eight months and 20 days in prison.She was accused of "insulting" President Erdogan and the Turkish state in the posts, as well as "spreading terror propaganda".The charges related to 2013 anti-government protests and the outlawed Kurdistan Worker's Party (PKK).The hashtag #TurkiyeSeninleCananBaskan (Turkey Stands With You, Chief Canan) trended online during Kaftanciouglu's trial in Istanbul.Speaking shortly after the court's verdict, Mr Imamoglu said: "There is no justice in this country. In Turkey, instead of listening to their conscience, judges look towards the palace (the President's office)."He said Ms Kaftancioglu was sentenced "because of her success in İstanbul elections".What about the Istanbul mayoral re-run in June CHP candidate Ekrem Imamoglu beat his AKP rival Binali Yildirim, a former prime minister, by a bigger margin than he achieved in the earlier election.That victory in March had been annulled after the AKP alleged irregularities Mr Yildirim conceded to Mr Imamoglu, while President Erdogan congratulated the CHP candidate on victory.Mr Erdogan had previously said that "whoever wins Istanbul, wins Turkey".Erdogan: Turkey's pugnacious presidentHe has ruled the country since 2003 both as prime minister and now president, becoming the most powerful leader since Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the founder of the modern Turkish republic.

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