Al Ghandi acquires SsangYong rights
2001 - Al Ghandi automotive group division National Auto has acquired the agency rights to represent South Korea’s SsangYong for Dubai and the northern emirates. This follows the release of the rights held by Belhasa Motors, which hitherto represented SsangYong here. The process was completed earlier this year, officials confirmed. National Auto has also been approached by SsangYong’s Abu Dhabi dealership, Central Motor Co (CMC), to take up the agency rights for that emirate. But no decision has been taken so far on this proposal, and National Auto’s immediate focus will be to concentrate on Dubai and the northern emirates, an official said. National Auto has launched ‘Chairman’, SsangYong’s offering in the premium car category.
September 16
1810 - Mexicans begin their revolt against Spanish rule.
1915 - The first Women’s Institute in Britain is established, in Anglesey, North Wales.
1941 - Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi, the Shah of Iran, replaces his father on the throne.
1955 - Argentine President Juan Peron is ousted.
1963 - Malaya, North Borneo, Sarawak and Singapore form the Federation of Malaysia.
1966 - The Metropolitan Opera House is officially opened at the Lincoln Centre for the Performing Arts, New York City.
1970 - Weeklong “Black September” civil war starts in Jordan.
1975 - Papua New Guinea becomes an independent nation.
1978 - More than 11,000 people are feared dead after an earthquake measuring 7.7 on the Richter scale hits the southeast region of Iran.
1978 - Zia-ul-Haq, former chief of staff of the Pakistani army and administrator of martial law, is proclaimed president.
1979 - Afghanistan’s President Noor Mohammad Taraki is overthrown in a coup.
1982 - Kuwaiti diplomat Najeeb Sayed Hashem Al Refai is shot and killed in Madrid.
1986 - A fire at a gold mine in Kinross, South Africa, kills 177 people.
1990 - Iraq opens Kuwait’s borders and thousands of Kuwaitis attempt to flee their country.
2000 - Sri Lankan Ports Minister M.H.M. Ashraff is killed in a helicopter crash together with all 14 others on board.
2002 - Iraq agrees to unconditional return of UN arms inspections.
2007 - The budget One-Two-Go Airlines domestic flight OG269, carrying 123 passenger crashes in Phuket, Thailand.
2009 - Sa’ad Hariri is reappointed Lebanon’s Prime Minister to form a new government.
2011 - A P-51 Mustang airplane crashes into the edge of a grandstand killing nine people including the pilot at the Reno Air show in Nevada, US.
2013 - Thirteen people are killed in a shooting spree at the US Navy Yard in Washington DC.
2015 - Dubai government launches the Arab Reading Challenge competition.
