The grand stand at the Madras Race Club is spruced in preparation for the Invitation Cup races to be held over the weekend. King Charles, who won the 2000 Guineas and the Derby at Malakpet will be hoping the pull in weights will tell in the long race.The leading contenders for this year’s top sprint prize seem to be Adam, Dancing Prances and Dancing Phoenix.The winner of a Bangalore Derby in his time, the 6-y-0 Agostini won the Queen Elizabeth Nylon Rollers Manufacturers Cup (2800m) in his last start to stress his staying prowess. The leading trio, plus Brahmachari, placed in the Dr SC Jain Sprinters Championship, which can be considered a good index of the capability and speed of the contenders. If in the mood, old classic winners like Tintinnabulation, Toro-loco and even Rodeo who won the only 3200m race still being run in the country (Suresh Mahindra Trophy) can brighten up the finish.K.— E. An upset is never ruled out in this race in which a bolt from the blue has been known to strike on quite a few occasions. Pesi Shroff sounded confident about his sparingly raced Adam. To decide the fastest horse in the country as well as the doughtiest stayer of the year on the same day is a bit like running the 100 metres and the marathon in one day at the Olympics. The odds are so generous in their spread across the fields in the 8-race Saturday card that the punters and the patrons alike can enjoy the prospect of highly competitive races in India’s oldest racecourse after 11 years. Dancing Phoenix, Satellite and Vijay Vidatha will all be in the fighting line for the `30 lakh prize. The Shroff-trained Myrtlewood is in the super mile race and appears a cinch while the Sprinters Cup has a number of fast horses who are finishers rather than frontrunners, which means a thrilling finish is in the offing.. Adam finished so strongly there in the Mumbai straight that he can be considered the favourite here to down Dancing Prances who just prevailed in that race. It would be interesting to see if the younger horse can upset the applecart of the seasoned campaigners like Agostini, who will probably start out as a 3 to 1 first favourite.Such a grand double is unlikely this weekend although at least two runners will run in both races.The Stayers Cup, wisely run in the later part of the evening, would still be a gruelling test in the prevailing conditions in early March. A versatile seven-furlonger is more likely to take such a Sprinters Cup where those kept off the early pace have the ability to finish faster than the frontrunners in the straight. There is no Indiscretion in the field which can go from gate to post while showing her back all the way to all rivals.The kind of ante-post prices being put up for the weekend races points to the return of big time racing to Guindy. Sanjay Adam, Dancing Prances in test of speed at Chennai courseThe romance of racing might just be returning to the historic Guindy race course over the Invitation Cup weekend (March 5 and 6). What such programming does in racing, however, is to give game horses the chance of going for the double of the Sprinters Cup on Saturday and the Golden Mile on Sunday, which the legendary trainer Rashid Byramji did with Bergamo to start a trend. There are some stout stayers in the field of 11 of whom only one is a 4-year-old — King Charles.The prize could well go to one of them on Saturday with Adam drawn better at gate 7 while Dancing Prances has to come out of gate 15 in a field of 18 runners

The event for Champions with Disability will begin at 7.. One train will leave Kalyan at 3 am to reach CST at 4.30 am to 5 am on the race day.35 am from CST and finish near Gate No. The race will be flagged off at 5. Both these races will finish at CST. Meanwhile, FREE fee shuttle service for half-marathon runners wearing valid bib numbers is available from Currey Road station on the Central Railway and Lower Parel on the Western Railway line. Approximately Rs 70 to 80 lakh per year’s payment is yet to be received from the organisers.The Mumbai Marathon organisers owe the Mumbai police more than Rs 2 crore for providing protection to the event over the last three years.Special trains for runKeeping in mind the increasing number of participants from the Central and Navi Mumbai region, Central Railways will operate two special trains called the ‘Marathon Special’ for the convenience of the runners on Sunday (January 17).40 am from Worli Dairy and then runners will go on to the Sealink and trace the same route back with the Marathon ending at CST.30 am, while the other train will leave Panvel at 1 am to reach CST at 4."This time, a total of 10,000 Mumbai police personnel are being deployed for the security of the Marathon. These buses will operate from 3. Some of them will do patrolling in plain clothes. The 13th edition of the Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon will see a significant change in the route for the Half Marathon. This year’s 21-kilometre run start point will have a more natural route and fewer sharp turns. This time too, the Mumbai police is deploying over 10,000 policemen for the event to be held on January 17. 3 of Azad Maidan. Meanwhile, the Full Marathon will be flagged off at 7. The organising committee hasn’t paid us for three years. The Dream Run will begin at 9 am from CST and finish near Gate No.30 am."DCP Ravindra Shisve said, "It is the responsibility of the organisers to pay the Mumbai Police money for the security of the Marathon. The Senior Citizens Run, will start at CST at 8. 3 of Azad Maidan. A senior official said, "We have been following up with the organisers for many months but till today we have not received a single penny from them.According to sources from Mumbai police, for last three years Mumbai police have not been getting protection money from the organisers." However, when The Asian Age contacted the spokesperson of the Procam International, promoters of the Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon (SCMM) 2016, he said, "We are not responsible for Post Cap Suppliers paying money to the Mumbai Police

The characteristic approach of Europe has been world domination. What the world needs most of all is not some breathtaking scientific or economic breakthrough; it is a stable point of coherence. It has been basic to our spiritual vision that unity, peace and freedom are all spiritual values. The cardinal mistake perpetrated by secularists has been to respond to our civilisational identity and heritage with instinctive negativity. Stable world peace is possible, as Immanuel Kant argued in his essay on Perpetual Peace, only when the sovereignty of nation-states is tempered with a world state, which is the closest that Europe has come to the Indian vision of "vasudhaiva kutumbakam". God alone — experienced as the universal values of love, compassion, truth and justice — is the guarantee for the unity, peace and fulfilment of life.India, or what then was Bharat, evolved in an entirely different way." Sir Edwin Arnold deemed it appropriate to describe Lord Buddha as The Light of Asia. It is further aggravated by unenlightened eulogies of our civilisational assets, straining credulity and common sense to prove that modern science in its state-of-the-art technology was already in vogue in our dim, distant past. The alternative is to get bogged down by petty quarrels and jealousies with neighbours and, as a complement to that, strain our nerves and resources in gaining diplomatic brownie points that add up, in the end, to nothing. Given the excitement in the air, we could be tempted to stay focused entirely on the dynamics of nation-building and ignore our civilisational roots. This unity is the ground for freedom and peace.We are privileged to Sliding Gate Wheel live at a defining moment in the history of our evolution as a nascent nation that is also an ancient civilisation. When we embraced economic and cultural globalisation in the early 1990s, some of us did expect we would engage with the global community in terms also of what has been, from time immemorial, the essence of globality — the universal vision that we have been home to. This is a perilous path and its calamitous outcome can never be in doubt. India’s distinctive contributions to the world community will never be technological, militaristic or industrial. Here’s a third-party view on the matter. We are going the way European nations did in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. God, as the source of life in all its manifestations, is alone the sufficient ground for its unity. The nation-state is the crux of this deadly confusion. Swami Dayanand’s vision of Aryavarta, with its pristine Vaidic spiritual ethos, resonated in the dream entertained by Yogi Aurobindo, Swami Vivekananda, Rabindranath Tagore and Mahatma Gandhi. The same was true of the Roman Empire. This stemmed from a prejudicial understanding of the past, vitiated by a psychology negativity burdened by memories of our colonial past. This fanciful celebration of our civilisational past is, if anything, more harmful than the secular prejudice against it.

The power is channelled to the rear wheel via a 6-speed transmission with slipper clutch. When it comes to heft, the Street Triple S weighs 166kg dry, which is 9kg lighter than the Monsters dry weight. Ducati and Triumph have recently introduced their new naked motorcycles, the Monster 797 and the Street Triple S at Rs Rs 7.5 lakh (both ex-showroom Delhi), respectively. The Monster 797 tips the scales at 193kg, with the fluids topped up. The brake pads are sintered for optimum efficiency. The slipper clutch prevents rear wheel hop while aggressive downshifting. The 17-inch wheels are shod with Pirelli Diablo Rosso Corsa tyres with a 120-section front and a 180-section rear and are grippier than the Diable Rosso II tyres. Although both of the motorcycles vary from each other in many ways, the primary purpose of both of them remain the same. The bike also comes with standard ABS to enhance braking performance. The switchable traction control in this bike is linked to two riding modes- ‘Road’ and ‘Rain’, which would be useful to modulate the power accordingly. When it comes to electronics, the Monster is equipped with a Bosch 9. But for that premium, you get one more cylinder, more power and better electronics and grippier tyres.Source: ZigWheels. You do the math.The Street Triple S is more expensive than the Monster 797 by Rs 73,000. The Street Triple Ss seat height is 5mm more than Monster 797s, at 810mm.The Triumph China Post Cap Manufacturers Street Triple S equipped with an analogue-digital combo cluster, and a ride-by-wire throttle.The Street Triple S uses 41mm Showa USD front forks which feature Separate Function Forks or SFF technology while the rear features a Showa monoshock unit with piggyback reservoir that offers adjustable preload. The 10-spoke alloy wheels are wrapped with Pirelli Diablo Rosso II dual-compound tyres measuring 120-section at the front and 180-section at the rear.Features:The Monster 797 comes with an LCD instrument cluster which is ready for the optional Ducati Multimedia System (DMS) as well.The popularity of middleweight naked motorcycles is growing in India as they are quite versatile.1 MP ABS with an internal pressure sensor. Riding modes and traction control have been given a miss to keep the costs low. The bike comes with top-notch brakes in the form of dual 320mm discs up front with Brembo 4-piston Monobloc calipers and a single 245mm rear disc with Brembo caliper. The rear wheel travel stands at 150mm. This has resulted in an output of 113PS of power at 11250rpm and 73Nm of torque at 10421rpm. Additionally, the blokes at Triumph have blessed this engine with new crank, pistons, connecting rods and balance shifter.Cycle Parts:The Ducati Monster 797’s trellis frame is suspended using a 43mm Kayaba front fork with 130mm of travel and a Sachs rear monoshock with adjustable spring preload and rebound damping. So lets compare the two and figure out which ones more value for money.Engine and Performance:The Monster 797 has a Scrambler-sourced 803cc air-cooled L-twin engine cradled in the trellis frame. When it comes to the seat height, the Monster has an accessible seat which is 805mm above the ground.77 lakh and Rs 8. However, the Monster 797 with its relatively mellow power output, is targetted at beginner riders of big bikes. Transmission duty is taken care by a 6-speed gearbox. The bike is anchored by twin 310mm front discs with Nissin calipers and a single 220mm rear disc with Brembo caliper. The Triumph Street Triple S employs a 765cc inline 3-cylinder liquid-cooled engine which is a rebored version of the one found in the Triumph Daytona 675R. The powerplant puts out 76PS of power at 8250rpm and 69Nm of torque at 5750rpm. The Street Triple S makes more power despite having a smaller engine, thanks to an extra cylinder and more advanced cooling which increases the engines thermal efficiency. This ensures safe braking, especially under emergency conditions

You sit tall, and the seats aren’t adjustable. This means it is smaller than the Kwid in length and width, but is over 60mm taller, and the wheelbase is 8mm larger too. You get a single-DIN entertainment system, but unlike the top models on the Kwid, it does not feature a touchscreen. The matte silver skid plates (added extra) along with various other customization options like a spoiler, door visors, roof rails, wheel trims are all offered with the redi-GO.In terms of safety you do get a driver-side airbag on the top-of-the-line-variant.5 lakh and Rs 3. Gear shifts are light and so is the clutch, making it ideal for the first-time buyer who is moving up from a motorcycle or a scooter.The hatchback has the ideal dimensions for a city car which will make it easy to manoeuvre in choked urban conditions and easy to park as well.Can it be Dasun’s saving grace in India Well, that’s for you to decide.The steering wheel has a nice and sporty shape and the contours offer natural grip. Elsewhere, the glove box is very small and would be best used for the vehicle’s documents. Surprisingly though, alloy wheels elude the car. Both cars are based on Renault-Nissan’s CMF-A platform and, like the Kwid, 98 per cent of the redi-GO’s parts have been locally sourced.Ground clearance stands at 185mm and the ride quality is pretty good on varying terrains.Should I buy one For the first-time buyer, who is thinking of upgrading to a car from a scooter or motorbike, the Datsun redi-GO offers a lot of value.

The boot space is 222 litres, which is less than the Kwid Nylon Rollers for sale (300 litres), but the trade-off is better rear seat space.The claimed fuel economy figure is 25.com. ABS, as expected, is absent.By now, you know that the redi-GO shares a lot of its DNA with the Renault Kwid. The top-end variant also gets optional daytime running lights on the front bumper, though they look quite dull. The steering needs more weight and feel at higher speeds and while the engine is at home at low to medium speeds, highway overtakes will need planning. The dashboard does have open, carved out cubbyholes, though anything kept here will be tossed around on the move. The side profile sports a deeply chiselled line running across, with flared wheel arches adding some muscle. It makes 54PS of power at 5678rpm and 72Nm of torque at 4386rpm.The dashboard is really interesting and slightly offset.The taillights are positioned further from the ground to be visible from other vehicles.The Kwid is now one of India’s highest selling cars, and that gets us questioning whether the redi-GO can match up to the standards set by the former, or even surpass them Let’s find out!LooksThe redi-GO stands tall like a hatchback and doesn’t squat like the Renault Kwid’s SUV stanceThe Datsun also looks very similar to the concept car that was presented at the 2014 Delhi Auto ExpoIt is a quirky design and looks different when compared to the other budget hatchbacks available in the market. The front seats come with support on the sides, but the fixed headrests are a cost saving measure.The redi-GO shares a lot of its DNA with the Renault Kwid.Source: CarDekho.Performance, Ride and HandlingThe redi-GO gets the same 799cc, three-cylinder petrol engine as the Kwid, along with the same 5-speed manual gearbox. Highlights include swept-back headlamps and a narrow front with Datsun’s signature grille and a muscular bonnet.5 lakh, the car offers unique exteriors and an efficient engine at the expense of a better entertainment system. As expected, this engine has been designed to offer good fuel-efficiency and adequate city usability, rather than outright performance. The glass area is generous and you get great overall visibility too.The redi-GO measures 3429mm in length, 1560mm in width, 1541mm in height and has a 2430mm wheelbase.Even if you're looking for a second car in your garage, the redi-GO makes for a sweet city-runabout. Expected to be priced between Rs 2.After suffering a rather unwelcoming response from the Indian diaspora with its previous two offerings – GO hatchback and GO+ compact MPV, Datsun is aspiring to be third-time lucky with the redi-GO small car.Interior Space, Features and QualityAlong with being taller than the Kwid, the redi-GO is more spacious than the Maruti Suzuki Alto as well.17 kmpl and, while the redi-GO may not be fast or exciting, it is an easy car to drive. We hope to see more safety tech being offered with the redi-GO at least as an optional extra.The major impact of cost cutting can be witnessed in the form of the basic plastic quality, high amounts of exposed sheet metal, and the absence of a central locking system. It is THE car to take the scratches, bruises and abuse of our choked urban roads, and will save your primary vehicle for the special occasions and weekend getaways. You do get a USB port while there’s no Bluetooth connectivity