The country's market leader in the Two-wheeler segment, Hero Honda has recently said that it has launched a new variant of its best-selling Splendor in the Indian market in a bid to ensure that it gains additional volumes on the product amidst the rising competition in the domestic circuit.

The company has priced the recently launched product at Rs 45,950 (ex-showroom, Delhi).

There is no denying the fact that the Splendor has been a very successful product from the Hero Honda stable in the Indian market.

The company has recently said that it has launched the product in the Indian market as the 125cc segment has been stagnant or even declining in the past one year. However, Hero Honda Motors Senior Vice-President (Marketing and Sales) Anil Dua said that the company believes in the fact that it can grow the market and it has launched the product with the same motive.

Moreover, Dua also mentioned here that the expectation from the company is to grow its sales by about 15-20 per cent in the 125cc segment. It may be noted here that the 125 cc accounts for the close to 20% of the total Indian motorcycle market wherein the total units are expected to be somewhere around 75 lakh units per annum.

The company has already been on a high as it has been able to file four lakh plus unit sales for the past four consecutive months. In fact, with the planned launches for the festive season, it is believed that the company will reach new skies in the times to come.

A few minutes ago, the Ubuntu development team unleashed the Beta version of the up-coming Ubuntu 10.10 (Maverick Meerkat) operating system, due for release in October 10th, 2010. As usual, we've downloaded a copy of it in order to keep you up-to-date with the latest changes in the Ubuntu 10.10 development.

What's new in Ubuntu 10.10 Alpha 3? Well, this is the most important development release of the up-coming Ubuntu 10.10 operating system, and everyone should get it and test it!

Ubuntu 10.10 Beta contains new wallpapers and an improved theme, a new installer, and the powerful Shotwell photo organizer and editor.

GNOME 2.32 Beta 1 is now the default desktop environment, and most of its components were updated. Mozilla Firefox was updated to version 3.6.9 and the Transmission BitTorrent client to version 2.04.

The kernel packages were updated to version 2.6.35-19.28, based on the final release of Linux kernel 2.6.35.3.

Last but not least, users will be able to purchase applications, via Ubuntu Software Center, which has been revamped (again)! See the screenshot below for details...

What's new in Kubuntu 10.10 Beta? Well, the Beta version of Kubuntu 10.10 is built on top of KDE Software Compilation 4.5.0, which brings many attractive features.

PulseAudio is now the default sound server, BlueDevil is the default bluetooth stack, Global Menu has been set by default for Plasma Netbook, Rekonq is the default web browser, and the Ubiquity installer has been revamped.

What's new in Xubuntu 10.10 Beta? The Beta version of Xubuntu 10.10 is built on top of the Xfce 4.6.2 desktop environment. A new wallpaper has been added (see the screenshot below)!

On October 10th, 2010, Ubuntu 10.10 (Maverick Meerkat) will become the thirteenth release of the Ubuntu operating system. See you again at the end of the month (September 30th), for the Release Candidate version of the upcoming Ubuntu 10.10 (Maverick Meerkat) operating system.

Inaugurating the award ceremony, Union Finance Minister Mr. Pranab Mukherjee said, "Indian economy has now come of age, it has a towering presence and is back on the growth path. Our GDP growth figures are truly reassuring. I expect agriculture growth to going to rise in the coming months and I believe India will be back on the growth path of 9% in coming days. I am glad to see our entrepreneurs have risen to the occasion."

On receiving the award for NDTV Business Leader of the Year, Chairman and Managing Director of Reliance Industries, Mr. Mukesh D Ambani said, "I am a big believer in speaking through actions rather than words. The world and particularly the west are going through a difficult time. We are moving from a financial crisis to a sovereign crisis. India has a great opportunity. Our balance sheet is the strongest in the world. Both the Direct Tax Code and Goods & Services Tax are historical milestones. The view of the external world is that we are laying foundation for an equitable growth. Personally I am very optimistic and I see India taking the position of fastest growing economy in the world. It is a very special feeling to receive this award from NDTV".

Speaking on the occasion, Alan Greenspan, renowned American Economist said, "Federal Reserve and Fiscal Policy are highly relevant. I do not think we can spend our way out of this problem. We have enough stimulus at the moment. The demand in the US is a major factor for the success of East Asia. India is doing better than anyone else at this stage. India has managed to contain this problem but it can't do so continuously. The notion that we can solve our problems by decoupling is an illusion. We underestimate impact of stock markets on economic activity and employment."

On being awarded the Global Business Leader of the Year, Vikram Pandit, CEO, CitiGroup said, "Leading Citi through one of the worst economic climates in history has certainly been challenging but it also has been incredibly gratifying. To learn from the past act on the lessons of the crisis and address the challenges of the aftermath we are instilling a culture of responsible finance in every part of this company. India has a special place in my heart we will continue to support micro-finance & support India's priorities, particularly in the area of financial inclusion & financial education. India will continue to grow for a longtime to come & we will grow with India".

Chief Mentor Infosys, N R Narayan Murthy on being asked if he will take a more public role and stand for President, he said, "I will see how it goes and would avail the opportunities that will come my way to make some difference."

Aamir Khan, who received NDTV's special award for Creative Entrepreneur of the Year expressed his views saying, "I find myself out of place in business functions because I don't wear suits! I don't see myself as a business person. I just want to continue to be part of stories."

When asked the Indian born investment banker, Anshu Jain on him being the next CEO of Deutsche Bank he credited the support and encouragement from the management board of the Deutsche Bank and his team for him to get this award.

Extensive research was carried to determine the nominees and the winners under the discerning and experienced guidance of the jury that comprised of eminent personalities like Dr. Amit Mitra, Secretary General, FICCI; Mr Dorab R Sopariwala, Editorial Advisor, NDTV; Ms Kalpana Morparia, Chief Executive Officer, JP Morgan, India; Ms Naina Lal Kidwai, Country Head, HSBC India; Ms. Shanti Ekambaram, Group Head Wholesale Banking, Kotak Mahindra Bank; Mr. T N Ninan, Editor and Publisher, Business Standard; and Dr. Prannoy Roy, Chairman, NDTV.

NDTV partnered with Kanakia as their presenting sponsors; MCX, Trident, Chivas, PWC and Kingfisher as Associate Sponsors and Deloitte as the Knowledge Partners for the awards this year.

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