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Austin South Asian | February 2022
Modi Tops List Of Popular World Leaders By PAYAL MEHTA NEW DELHI (ANI) - Prime Minister Narendra Modi has topped the global rating amongst world leaders with an approval rating of 71 per cent. On the list of the 13 world leaders, US president Joe Biden is ranked at number six with a 43 per cent rating. Biden is followed by Canadian President Justin Trudeau also at 43 per cent and Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison at 41 per cent. Morning Consult Political Intelligence is currently tracking the approval ratings of government leaders and country trajectories in
Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Mexico, South Korea, Spain, the United Kingdom and the United States. “The latest approval ratings are based on data collected from Jan. 13-19, 2022. Approval ratings are based on a seven-day moving average of adult residents in each country, with sample sizes varying by country,” Morning Consult said. In May 2020, the same website gave the highest rating to Prime Minister Modi with approval of 84 per cent. In May 2021, it dipped to 63 per cent. (Courtesy: IndiaWest. com)
After Telangana, Maharashtra State Minister Invites Elon Musk To Set Up Manufacturing Plant For Tesla NEW DELHI – Maharashtra Water Resources Minister Jayant Patil Jan. 16 offered Tesla CEO Elon Musk to set up manufacturing in the state for electric cars. This comes after Telangana Industry and Commerce Minister K.T. Rama Rao invited Musk to set up shop in his state.
serve to be in every corner of the world!” In response to Musk, Rama Rao said Telangana is a champion in sustainability initiatives and his government would be happy to
“Our state is a champion in sustainability initiatives and a top notch business destination in India,” he added.
with import duties, it would become unaffordable in the Indian market with an expected price tag of around Rs 60 lakh.
Tesla wants to begin selling imported cars in India this year, but
Currently, India levies 100 per cent tax on imported cars priced more than $40,000 (Rs 30 lakh) inclusive of insurance and shipping expenses, and cars less than $40,000 are subject to 60 per cent import tax.
In his tweet to Musk, Patil said: “Maharashtra is one of the most progressive states in India. We will provide you all the necessary help from Maharashtra for you to get established in India.
Meanwhile, Rao was praised by the Twitterati for his reply to Musk by eminent personalities including actors, journalists and industry leaders. They also supported the idea of EV in India.
“We invite you to establish your manufacturing plant in Maharashtra.”
“Love this car so much Elon Musk. Feels like hope is around the corner,” wrote actor Genelia Deshmukh.
On Jan. 13, Musk had said that the EV maker is facing a “lot of challenges” for its car launch in India. “Still working through a lot of challenges with the government,” Musk tweeted. Musk was replying to a Twitter user, who asked: “Yo @elonmusk any further update as to when Tesla’s will launch in India? They’re pretty awesome and de-
partner with Tesla in working through the challenges.
taxes in the country are among the highest in the world.
“Hey Elon, I am the Industry and Commerce Minister of Telangana state in India. Will be happy to partner Tesla in working through the challenges to set shop in India/ Telangana,” he said in a tweet.
With a $39,990 global price tag, Tesla Model 3 may remain as an affordable model in the U.S. but
“Elon Musk, Come to Hyderabad - India! It will be epic to have you. The Government here in Telangana is terrific too,” tweeted actor Vijay Devarakonda. (Courtesy: IndiaWest.com)
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COVID-19 Case Numbers Peak, Central Texas Health Leaders Eye New Variant Overseas (Continued From Page 01) Walkes said there’s no evidence that the new variant is in our community yet, but said it’s a reason to keep pushing for vaccines and continuing to use best practices like hand washing, masking and social distancing. It comes as case numbers from the omicron variant in Central Texas have finally appeared to hit their ceiling. Projections from the University of Texas COVID-19 modeling consortium show case numbers declining as rapidly as they shot up. That’s consistent with what other areas that were hit early by the virus saw. “South Africa saw a rapid increase in cases with a rapid decline as well, and we’re seeing that,” Walkes said. “The important thing for us to remember is that we’ve been in this spot before where we’ve been on the decline and anticipating a quiet hiatus afterwards. What has happened when we start seeing these declines is that people start to relax their mitigations efforts.” Note: While APH says there appears to be a dip in the number of cases there is still a backlog of cases that APH says will show up on its dashboard. Walkes estimated there are 45,000 cases that are still pending entry. Health leaders say while we have large portion of the population still unvaccinated, new variants are something our community needs to consider before relaxing mitigation efforts. Of the eligible population in Travis County, 71% are fully vaccinated. That does no include children under the age of five that are not eligible. “We have the risk, and run the risk of being in a situation where we are faced with hospital capacity challenges and economic challenges,” Walkes said. “It’s really important for us to continue to get our community vaccinated and to continue mitigation efforts.” Courtesy: KXAN
