The petrol Elantra gets absolutely no insulation under the bonnet. Pretty nifty if you have your hands full with luggage.The top-spec SX (O) AT variant that you see in the pictures gets all the niceties including ventilated seats, leather upholstery and dual-zone climate control. This one is more than happy ferrying around a well-dressed, salt and pepper haired gentleman to his big office and then to the golf course. The exteriors look appealing, the cabin is spacious and decked with features and there's a sizeable 458-litre boot too.I will go out on a limb and say that the Elantra is possibly the best riding Hyundai sedan till date.. The low-speed ride quality is nothing short of fantastic as the saloon goes about gobbling up potholes. For that price, it seems like a well rounded package to us, especially if you plan on being chauffer driven. On the face of it, the Elantra sure looks promising.22 lakh less compared to the Skoda. Cushioning is soft, side bolstering is ample and there's just the right support for the under thigh too.Before I sign this section off, there's one last feature that deserves a mention - the handsfree boot release. And, while it is genuinely capable of holding on to triple digit speeds all day long, you feel it will be happier cruising calmly instead. Not trashy, not strained - a clean and crisp engine note.

The 4-cylinder motor is the largest engine in its class, but not the most powerful by a long shot. It also gets six airbags, anti-lock brakes, traction control and even something that Hyundai calls 'Vehicle Stability Management'. There's no dearth of legroom or kneeroom for someone my size (I'm 6ft tall), even with the driver's seat set for my driving position. Until now, all seems in place.8 TSi, just an engine chugging along in a mature, orderly fashion. On every other front, the Elantra does not disappoint. But, the way the engine delivers the 152PS of power and the 192Nm of torque is commendable.Keep the motor on the boil, and you can have a bit of fun with it. Even at triple digit speeds, it doesn't bob about and though there's still a bit of rebound from the suspension when you go over expansion joints, it settles down really quickly. There's no surge or gush of torque that hits you in an instant.

There's no push in the seat torque here, but at the same time it doesn't feel too underpowered either. It looks good, has the required bells and whistles, and now boasts of a better motor as well. The rear half of the cabin can accommodate three people, but the one sitting in the centre will find his knees brushing against the seat. It keeps you guessing whether you should go harder on the brake pedal or not. The 6-speed automatic gearbox complements the engine really well. Shift the gearbox to manual and it will hold on to the revs for as long as you like.The Elantra is priced between Rs 12.

The steering, as expected is super light at low speeds that makes it easy to park and easy to manoeuvre in tight spots. Now, on to what's entirely new for our market - the 2. We do miss a set of paddle shifters, though. The manual variant has been tuned to return 22. Paired with a 6-speaker system by Arkamys, the audio is quite nice too. There's barely a tell-tale sign that the engine is indeed switched on, unless of course you glance at the tachometer. The driver's seat gets 10-way power adjust, but no memory unlike the Octavia. I like how the engine sounds at higher revs. Hyundai themselves credit the new platform for this and the fact that they have used adhesives up to forty times as much to seal off panels, reducing noise. Of course, it doubles up as the navigation and the screen for the reverse camera as well. But it isn't one of those cars that eggs you on to keep pushing it harder and harder. What's not so good, is that the features you really want, are more or less reserved for the top-spec variant. However, try and upshift too early or force a downshift at high revs and it will override your input. The Elantra gets a sunroof too, which is reserved for the automatic variants only. There's no sense of emergency or an explosive power rush that one gets with the Octavia 1. Consider the top-spec diesels, and the Hyundai is dearer by Rs 53,000 compared to the Toyota, but is priced a whopping Rs 3.The diesel motor is carried over as is from the older generation and it produces exactly the same amount of power and torque.

Space is more than adequate, even if you are generously proportioned. The Elantra has never been the enthusiasts choice ever, and it doesn't pose as one either. At high speeds, it weighs up enough to give you the confidence you need. There's an 8-inch touchscreen infotainment system too, that supports Android Auto as well as Apple CarPlay.Right, then. What you get instead, is a relaxed, linear delivery which gets stronger and stronger up to around 4000rpm, post which it tapers off rather sharply.I'm not too happy with the braking, since the pedal seems to feel a tad spongy. Despite that, there's practically no engine noise that filters into the cabin. The ratios are well-spaced out, and while shift shocks are non-existent, lag between the cog swap is minimal too.57kmpl, but, other than that everything is pretty much the same in terms of how it responds wholesale Shower Seats and drives. Headroom is at a pinch thanks to the sloping roof, and the short seat squab means that under thigh support takes a hit as well. Both engines get 'Eco' and 'Sport' mode, that alter throttle response and nothing else.0-litre petrol engine. Walk to the boot of the locked car with the key in your pocket and it opens itself in three seconds.99 lakh and Rs 19.59 lakh less compared to the Octavia. It isn't as rock hard as its European counterparts, but it comes very very close, which is high praise

The first sign is the interference with the judicial system. This is an even more dangerous form of the emergency because its effects will be long lasting. And free speech wasn’t the only right that was suppressed; so were all fundamental rights. Pant and Maulana Azad were his contemporaries.Finally, there is the well-planned and efficiently executed saffronisation of educational, cultural and research institutions by placing poorly qualified but ideologically committed individuals at their helm or by interfering in their operations (FTII, Central Board of Film Certification, IITs, NCERT, IIMs, school and college curricula, etc.That’s because the Emergency was not something that affected just the media.There is also a sustained effort to weaken the media, either by encouraging corporates with vested interests to take a controlling stake in them, or by direct action as against the Sun Network in Tamil Nadu. I hope I am wrong, but I see disturbing signs of that happening already.

The Bharatiya Janata Party seemed to be immune to this cult of personality, till Mr Modi came along. Which path will we take Eternal vigilance, Thomas Jefferson said, is the price of liberty. Add that to the reputation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi as a very strong leader who likes to concentrate power in his hands and you have a recipe for disaster. By that I mean an undeclared emergency where the government keeps up the pretence of parliamentary democracy, while quietly taking away our rights, one by one.We are now at a crucial point in our history. But if the balance of power in selection shifts to the executive, it’s a reason for disquiet. Karunanidhi), Samajwadi Party (Mulayam Singh Yadav), Trinamul Congress (Mamata Banerjee), Custom Badge Signs Suppliers Aam Aadmi Party (Arvind Kejriwal) and the Congress of course. At least that is everyone’s hope. Rajagopalachari, G.Can we have another Emergency This is the question uppermost in the minds of very many people. Nevertheless, this is at least one instance where the "old fogeys" are right, and the rest of the country must listen to them and pay heed to what they say.Then there is the very well-orchestrated campaign against non-governmental organisations. You could be put in jail without trial for whatever offence the authorities slapped you with. By attacking and weakening them, the government is indirectly stifling a voice of dissent, a voice which often speaks from the grassroots. The historian Ramachandra Guha points out that Jawaharlal Nehru, in spite of his towering personality, could not get his own way because strong people like Vallabhbhai Patel, C. If that is the case, our vigilance must surely begin now. These "very many" consist of politicians who lived through this darkest period in the life of Independent India 40 years ago, as well as media commentators. Luckily for us too, the Janata Party led by Morarji Desai, which won the general election after the Emergency, dismantled the constitutional amendments which made the imposition of Emergency so very easy for the Indira Gandhi government.

That’s of course, assuming that a possible future dictatorship will follow the constitutional path, whereas it is seen that most authoritarian rulers take over a country by suspending the Constitution. Of course, the media was affected. Now it will be far more difficult for any government to do to our country what was done in 1975. Most NGOs do commendable work amongst the poorest of the poor whom government outfits do not, or do not want to, reach. After 1969, this changed when Indira Gandhi had sycophantic colleagues. A few of them work in fields, which show the state in poor light, but they do so only to expose flaws in the established system.).

The sun was shining on Indira Gandhi and all was right with the world. The "very many" does not include too many ordinary citizens and most definitely does not include any of today’s generation (Emergency What’s that They ask).But that doesn’t mean that an emergency by stealth cannot happen. Short of losing their lives, very many men, some of them young bachelors, lost something else when they were forcibly sterilised in the cause of family planning. The cult of personality that began with her has embraced each and every party: All-India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (Jayalalithaa), Bahujan Samaj Party (Mayawati), Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (M.B. In a fearful judgment, the Supreme Court supinely decreed that even life could be taken away if the government so decreed. This only confirms what has been widely suspected: this government will apply two different yardsticks to punish people according to their religion.These are ominous portents. There was no electronic media then, so that meant the press: imagine waking up and looking at your morning paper full of government propaganda. No one denies that the collegium is deeply flawed — a cosy club whose members are most reluctant to be objective about their fellow members. But it wasn’t just the newspapers that were affected — freedom of speech was abrogated for everyone, and I still remember the fearful glances of people if criticism of the government escaped their lips in a public place. The venality of the Marans is so well-known that there’s no sympathy for them, but that is no excuse for the government’s high-handed action against their network of refusing security clearance.Then there is the recent episode in Maharashtra involving the well-respected public prosecutor Rohini Salian.The writer is a senior journalist. Her interview with a national newspaper did not mince words: she had been asked, she said, by a functionary of the National Investigation Agency to go "soft" on the Malegaon blast accused as per instructions of the government. Subversion of justice is a prime example of a functioning emergency.Luckily for us, Indira Gandhi was only a half-hearted dictator, and the Emergency lasted only 21 months, thus saving the country from the random cruelty and massive corruption that most dictatorships descend to. But that needs the armed services to back a coup, and our country is probably too large, and too diverse for such a thing to happen. The proposed dismantling of the collegium for selection of judges can be interpreted as one such sign

Perhaps some elements should have been left incomplete after all what wouldn’t we do to uncoil the coiled and then coil it up again. Born in London, Nair lives in New York City where she grew up. The characters grow old in the shadow of what happened that year in Malanad and wait for the ultimate filmy union to come about.Nair creates a world remarkable for its milieu. The Varma household is unlike anything Rakhee has seen. As Rakhee thinks of ways to save Geetanjali, she realises her mother and Prem also have a plan of their own that includes her but excludes her Abba. The first signs of mystery in the Varma house emerge with the appearance of Dev Uncle. Deep in the forest she finds a high wall and a locked door.

She cannot leave the place as she had been told she was the daughter of the Tulsi plant and was "different" from the others. It becomes clear that Sadhna Aunty, in her father’s shoes, is ready to sacrifice her daughter for the family. She goes back into the forest. In the din of a house teeming with relatives and servants, Rakhee misses her father acutely. Her attempt yields rich results. It had started since letters from India began arriving for Amma in Minnesota. As Dev greets Rakhee in his stutter, "H-h-h-how are you , molay," she shrinks back.Secrets have a chequered life. It is a women-centric story that comes across as natural. Next day after a harrowing visit to the hospital opened by her grandfather, Rakhee rushes to find Amma.The happy family picture at the end seems unreal and neutralises the thick aroma of secrets. As she peers in through the keyhole a beautiful garden greets her. The bright Kerala provides the plasma for the story to run. She knows something is amiss between her parents. It does come but not without damaging the fabric of the novel. By now Rakhee’s bag is full of threads that don’t lead anywhere: Amma’s said betrothal to Dev Uncle, her relationship with Prem, Sadhna Aunty’s rebellious marriage, a deranged servant woman Hema and the girl locked in the garden. Her narrative is quick and her story knows its way through dense family histories. The story is in the form of a letter written by a 3D signs Manufacturers girl to her fiancé. The girl named Tulsi has stayed inside those walls since she was born. Something had started to change since then. Nair treads the precarious line between so-called chick-lit and serious fiction. Rakhee’s coming of age, young girls’ discovering their sprouting bodies and a strikingly beautiful Amma, find place in the story without becoming its sole obsession.

As several skeletons tumble out of the Varma cabinet, Rakhee chooses to return to Minnesota with her father while her mother stays behind, living next door to her childhood lover. But Rakhee is determined to bring her parents together. She allows relationships betwe-en women characters to grow away from the world of clichés. The children watch Dev order the women around. Kamala Nair’s The Girl in The Garden is a gripping story about coming of age. Nair is a skilled writer. Nothing, not even the fear of a child-devouring yakshi (demon), can keep a 10-year-old Rakhee away from woods. She has gone to "lay her demons at rest". While most of the story is through the eyes opf a child, the writer of the letter emerges in the end making peace wi-th her mother. Annoyed, she runs out into the woods where her Amma had begged her not to go. The two girls bond like sisters. She stumbles into a family secret: a stunning garden, a peacock named Puck and a girl named Tulasi.

Meanwhile, a visit to Savitri Ammomma, grandfather’s sister, introduces a new piece in the puzzle: Sadhna Aunty.Things come to a break point when the elders announce the betrothal of Sadhna Aunty’s eldest daughter Geetanjali to Dev Uncle. The story should have ended here but it lingers on. From Amma’s room she hears a man’s soft voice and Amma’s reply, "I missed you so much. Rakhee and her cousin Krishna wonder: Why does everyone treat him like he is the king That night she catches Amma sneaking into the forbidden woods with her elder sister, Sadhana Chechi. The story runs in first person and much of it is the voice of a 10-year-old Rakhee Singh who is brought from her Minnesota home to a village called Malanad in Kerala. Rakhee takes to visiting her regularly, stealing books and eatables from the house for her. But she falters in the end as she doesn’t know when it comes. This time determined to find more. Rakhee is suddenly awake to the whispers in Varma house: Amma stealing secret kisses with Prem, Vijay Uncle and Sadhna Aunty talking about saving the family name and keeping Dev away. From learning to eat the Indian way to sleeping on a hard bed, everything is new for her. The first attempt to keep a secret is often the beginning of its end. Rakhee and her cousins plan to enact the Ramayana. A vibrant hum runs along the narrative, never letting it flag. But minutes later a deformed face peeps back and she runs home in fright. It occurs to Rakhee that maybe the creature locked in the forest was not a yakshi but someone like Sita, imprisoned by a Ravana. Someone she calls "teacher" brings her food and teaches her." She barges in shouting "Aba! Aba!" only to find the man is not her father but Amma’s old friend Prem

" Another Tamil leader, MDMK’s Vaiko, cautioned the Centre against "repeating the mistakes of the past. The data gives us a clear picture of how the so-called protectors of Kannada are misleading the common man. India cannot be reduced to one-size in any aspect, not language, not religion, not politics.5 lakh; Tamil - 12,265; Hindi - 10,000; Telugu: 7,088.Work to translate literary works in local Language into other languages. A vociferous, often violent, minority, egged on by vested interests, becomes the dominant response. It must be heeded. What a beautiful thought!Now, the most important question: Is the survival of Kannada, or any other language, threatened by Hindi? Here is a report showing number of students in Karnataka and their choice of language for the medium of education in 2012-13: Kannada medium - 73. He converses with them in Kannada and teaches them a few simple words and lines. Cariappa had urged people to "resolutely protest against any form of forcing Hindi as a national language. The basis of this organisation was that each region had its own language, and each of these languages is as dear to the people who speak them as Hindi, which was sought to be given the status of ‘National Language’, was for Hindi-speakers. Attempts to do so on any count will only further the divide an already diverse land.Require corporates to start local language clubs for the benefit of migrant workers.

The forcing of one language on the people as a national language will certainly hamper the growth of other languages, some of which are older than Hindi brass signs Suppliers and have superior literature. We just have to create opportunities for non-locals to learn and speak the language of their own volition.M.In Tamil Nadu, when highway signs were altered in March, Dravidian parties, which have dominated the state since the 1960s’ anti-Hindi protests, warned the Centre against "attempts to establish Hindi hegemony through the backdoor. Ananthamurthy. How do you expect people like me to learn it?" Ever since, Shamsuddin keeps placards in his auto that teach simple Kannada in easy steps.Encourage Radio jockeys and TV presenters to raise the bar on speaking the local language well. The Gujarat High Court once even ruled that Hindi is not the ‘national language’; even Field Marshal K.

"Tamils, or southerners, are, however, not the only people who have agitated against the perceived imposition of Hindi by the Centre. karnataka, for instance, can open "Kuvempu Model" schools as proposed by renowned Kannada writer Late U. Stalin, leader of the DMK, conveyed Tamils’ feelings in no uncertain terms: "The BJP has been devoting great attention to thrusting Sanskrit and Hindi on Tamil people," he said, "I warn the Centre that it will have to face a new anti-Hindi agitation.Shamsuddin understands a profound truth: a language can be taught and promoted through love and friendship, not by forcing it on someone.R. Now, he gently persuades his non-Kannada speaking customers to learn during the ride just enough of the language to get by daily using his placards.K." M.75 lakh; English - 20 lakh; Urdu - 5 lakh; Marathi - 1. in karnataka, for instance, it companies should be asked to start ‘kannada clubs’ that organise meaningful programmes through the yearDid You KnowThe States Reorganisation Act, 1956, organised India into states and territories.Open "model schools"designed to promote learning and literature in the local language as well as other indian languages.Being multi-lingual is said toDelay the onset of dementia.

Make us better at a variety of cognitive tasksKeep our minds working longer and better into old ageImprove communication skillsHelp to keep mental fitnessLead to faster recovery from stroke(The writer is a well-known Kannada writer and teacher). As they get down, he requests them to, in turn, teach the language to their friends. What every state can do to promote its own languagePass law that requires any person being employed in that state to have a certain minimum knowledge of its language. In the 1940s, the Bengalis had the Manbhum movement; more recently, people from the north eastern states formed the North East Forum for International Solidarity protesting against Hindi Imposition after Delhi University made rules that seemed designed to force Hindi on them; in a case similar to the recent attempt in Tamil Nadu, when the National Highway Authority of India published notifications only in Hindi and English in Gujarat, the state’s farmers protested." This time, the warning bell against the imposition of Hindi and Hindi-dom, admittedly an over-reaction, has been sounded in a liberal, ‘soft’ and cosmopolitan state.Yet, there is a lesson for those who think Hindi can be imposed from above on the whole nation - and that is that when such an attempt is made, or perceived to be made, sensible people like Shamsuddin fade away. He says one doesn’t need to oppose or oppress other languages in order to save our own

In January, gunmen killed dozens of people in a cafe frequented by foreigners in neighbouring Burkina Faso's capital, Ouagadougou, and also attacked a hotel.Gunmen from al Qaeda's North African branch drank beer at a beachside bar before launching a shooting rampage at an Ivory Coast resort town that left at least 18 people dead, the group's third major attack in West Africa in four months.Among the dead was Henrike Grohs, 51, head of the Abidjan branch of Germany's Goethe Institute cultural body."People were yelling 'Come over here!' But he didn't know what was happening and just went down to the water. Bar staff tried to warn a deaf boy who was playing nearby.Easy TargetThe attack is a heavy blow for Ivory Coast, which has recovered from more than a decade of political turmoil and a 2011 civil war to become one of the world's fastest growing economies. Bassam is where all the expatriates and middle class from Abidjan gather on the weekends," said one longtime resident, who said he had seen no sign of recent security improvements. More gunshots were then heard. "Yes, Ivory Coast is on its feet. They shot him in the water," Eddy said.The attack raised questions about Ivory Coast's preparedness for such an attack, with some asking why such a sensitive target was left so vulnerable.President Ouattara won a landslide election victory in October, promising to attract foreign investment to the largest economy in French-speaking West Africa which is also the world's top cocoa producer.. The French government had earlier said just one of its citizens had died.

"They didn't speak French.France's President Francois Hollande said four French nationals were killed in the attack. But there were few signs that was the case in Grand Bassam ahead of Sunday's attack. Yes, on its feet to combat the cowards and protect its people.France has 3,500 troops in the region, from Senegal in the far west to Chad.

The guys who were still outside started shooting Hotel House door room number metal signage Artistic Modeling and the two seated at the table yelled 'Allahu Akbar' and flipped over the table," he told Reuters.He said the first victim was a boy who was made to kneel before he was shot..The victims included foreign citizens from Burkina Faso, Cameroon, France, Germany and Mali."AQIM has spread across the Sahara from Algeria and now operates in much of western and northern Africa.French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault and Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve will travel to Ivory Coast on Tuesday to offer logistical support and intelligence, French diplomatic sources said. It poses serious security questions for former regional colonial power France, which has thousands of citizens and troops in the region. It would be easy," he said, asking not to be named. Counter-terrorism officials have also been sent to help the investigation.

The attack raised questions about Ivory Coast's preparedness, with some asking why such a sensitive target was left so vulnerable.Interior Minister Hamed Bakayoko said another 26 wounded were still receiving medical attention on Monday, as President Alassane Ouattara declared three days of mourning for the country, which has never before been hit by al Qaeda. Militants attacked another hotel in the Malian capital Bamako late last year, killing 20."We don't understand why this wasn't considered a priority for protection.Staff crouched and then fled along with customers, among them parents carrying babies or leading young children by the hand. A French military base in Abidjan, manned by around 800 soldiers, serves as a logistical hub for regional operations against Islamist militancy in the Sahel. We communicated with them in English .A man, apparently disguised as a waiter in a red waistcoat over a white dress shirt, entered with a rifle, fired at the empty bar and disappeared behind it, where the Lebanese man had been hiding.. While two remained outside, the two others entered and drank beers for around a half hour.Sunday's raid, details of which are beginning to emerge in witness and official accounts, was the furthest yet from al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb's (AQIM) traditional desert base, a worrying indication of the militants' growing reach. They spoke Arabic.The gunmen then moved up the beach, continuing their killing spree and entering several seaside hotels.The attack in Grand Bassam, thousands of kilometres from al Qaeda's traditional operational zones, raises fears over where they might strike next.

The first police officers arrived on the scene around 15 minutes after the shooting began, witnesses said.Fifteen civilians and three members of the special forces were killed and 33 people were wounded in the attack in Grand Bassam, a weekend retreat popular with Ivorians and westerners about 40 km (25 miles) east of the commercial capital Abidjan."Ivory Coast will not let itself be intimidated by terrorists," Ouattara said in a televised address late on Monday.Witness Christian Eddy said four men arrived in a Ford saloon car at the beachside bar where he works around noon on Sunday.Three militants also died in the attack on the resort town, a UNESCO heritage site of crumbling colonial-era buildings."Attacking Bassam was the easiest thing for them to do.Surveillance footage from Hotel Etoile du Sud - one of the attackers' first targets where two people including a German woman and a Lebanese man were gunned down - showed the initial panic in the hotel bar as the first shots rang out. It would be another half hour before special units from the security forces arrived from Abidjan.The recent attacks in the region are generally viewed as targeting France and its allies after Paris intervened militarily in Mali in 2013 to drive out al Qaeda-linked militants who had seized the desert north a year earlier.They then launched the attack.While some 18,000 French citizens live in Ivory Coast, over 20,000 reside in Senegal..Since those attacks, Ivorian authorities have increased security around hotels and shopping malls in Abidjan, a city of around five million inhabitants