Maruti Suzuki seeks tax relief for hybrid, CNG cars

• Maruti Suzuki said there is a need to promote hybrid, CNG cars as it will take some time for mass acceptance of EVs considering the high cost of technology
• The GST Council last month reduced the tax rate on EVs to 5% from the existing 12%, but there was no tax relief for hybrid, CNG cars

Govt plans debt waiver for 'small distressed borrowers' under insolvency law

• The proposed waiver would be offered as part of 'Fresh Start' provisions under the insolvency code
• If you have once availed the fresh start, then you cannot avail it again for five years

Talks with Pakistan only on Pakistan occupied Kashmir: Rajnath Singh

• Addressing a public rally at Kalka in Haryana, Union defence Minister Rajnath Singh said if talks are held with Pakistan, it will now be on PoK
• Referring to Article 370 abrogation that accorded a special status to Jammu and Kashmir, he said it was done for the development of the state

Zomato's Deepinder Goyal urges restaurants to stop logout campaign

• Zomato's Deepinder Goyal requested restaurant owners to stop the logout campaign, urged restaurant partners to initiate dialogue with aggregators
• Last week, over a 1,000 restaurants pulled out of membership over concerns that reservation apps were hurting business with their discounting driven model

India's holding of US govt securities jumps to $162.7 billion

• Among the major foreign holders of the US Treasury securities, India was at the 13th position with holding to the tune of $162.7 billion
• Japan was the largest holder, with holdings of American govt securities worth $1.122 trillion, followed by Mainland China whose exposure stood at $1.112 trillion

Yamuna rising, near danger level in Delhi

• The Yamuna water level in Delhi has reached 203.37m and is expected to touch the 'warning mark' of 204.5m in the next 36 hours, authorities said
• Water is being released from the Hathni Kund Barrage in Haryana every hour and it normally takes 72 hours to reach the capital

Nine of top-10 Indian firms lose ₹84,354 crore in m-cap, TCS worst hit

• RIL was the only firm among the top 10 firms to post a gain. RIL m-cap zoomed to ₹8,09,755.16 crore after the announcement of a host of investor-friendly proposals at its AGM early last week
• TCS, HDFC Bank, HUL, HDFC, Infosys, ITC, Kotak Mahindra Bank, ICICI Bank, SBI closed the week with losses

FPIs pull out ₹8,319 crore in August amid persisting negative sentiment

• According to the depository data, FPIs sold equities worth ₹10,416.25 crore on a net basis during 1-16 August.
• FPIs, however, invested a net ₹2,096.38 crore in the debt securities during the period

Global factors to determine market trend this week, say experts

• Amid lack of domestic triggers, equity markets would focus on global cues such as FPI trend, US China trade talks and oil, rupee movement, say experts
• Concerns over economic slowdown, muted earnings, auto industry crisis and global trade issues have been weighing on investor sentiment, experts said

Why Jagan Mohan Reddy can't dump Amaravati as Andhra Pradesh capital?

• Jagan called the land acquisition for developing Amaravati a big scam and said his govt would order a thorough probe
• Amaravati has the strategic, geographic advantage of being located centrally in Andhra Pradesh. So, it might not be easy to shift the capital from the current location, says an expert

Governments look beyond Android and iOS to secure devices

• Russia with 'Aurora OS' want to build a safe digital society with the Aurora OS for devices used across corporates and state-owned companies
• The Indian government should also strive to own such secure OS for devices part of its key operations, Neil Shah of Counterpoint Research said

Gold may surge to ₹40,000 per 10 gram by Diwali

• Lower interest rate by central banks and the ongoing trade war between the the US and China, were supporting the gain in gold prices
• Currently the October contract of gold was priced at ₹37,995 per 10 gram on the Multi-Commodity Exchange

BJP to make Article 370 poll plank in state polls due this year

• The first glimpse of the plan was visible on Friday in Jind, Haryana, where BJP president Amit Shah had gone to launch the election campaign
• Assembly elections are likely to take place in Haryana, Maharashtra and Jharkhand later this year

Govt increases oil, gas bidding round to three times a year

• The government has increased expression of interest (EoI) submission cycle for oil and gas acreage to three times a year from two times earlier
• The overhauled oil and gas exploration licensing policy will be implemented from the 4th bid round

Bond traders are hostage to a global gloom

• Global forces are likely to remain in the driver’s seat for the $16 trillion Treasuries market in a week largely devoid of meaningful US data
• Rates on 30-year bonds ended the week 22 basis points lower at 2.03%, after hitting an all-time low of 1.91%

ZEE5 and ALTBalaji announce first set of originals

• Coldd Lassi aur Chicken Masala—story of 2 chefs—is produced by Doris De and Suhail Zaidi of Linga Bhairavi Devi Productions
• Mission Over Mars (M-O-M) is a fictional adaptation of real-life heroes at ISRO who worked on Mangalyaan

Afghan wedding suicide blast kills 63, amid hopes for talks

• The attack came as the Taliban, the US are trying to negotiate an agreement on the withdrawal of US forces in exchange for a Taliban commitment on security, peace talks with the Afghanistan govt
• Taliban denied responsibility for the blast at a west Kabul wedding hall

Medanta-Manipal deal likely to have fallen through

• According to sources, Manipal could not secure the finances to close the deal
• Manipal owns 10 multi-speciality hospitals, five teaching hospitals and several fertility clinics

India, Bhutan are 'natural partners': PM Modi tells Bhutan's new generation

• Modi during his trip in Thimphu said it is natural that the people of Bhutan and India experience great attachment to each other
• Anyone visiting Bhutan is struck as much by its natural beauty as by the warmth, compassion and simplicity of its people: PM Modi

Thousands of Hong Kongers brave rain to join anti-government rally

• Demonstrators are seeking complete withdrawal of the extradition bill, a waiver of charges against those arrested, resumption of political reform
• The turnout could show whether the movement still has broad-based support after the ugly scenes witnessed during the past week

Flipkart's video service is open-to-all without ads, at least for now

• The bouquet of content is mainly in Hindi, although there are some videos in Tamil and Kannada
• The company has added a dedicated section to its application and it provides content from players, like Arre, Dice Media, TVF and Voot

Medical journal 'The Lancet' raises concern about Kashmir issue, draws flak

• The Lancet described India’s move on the Kashmir as controversial and raised concerns about health, security and freedom of people in the region
• People lashed out at The Lancet on social media, specially twitter with many claiming that the journal should stick to medical issues only

Yogi Adityanath likely to reshuffle UP cabinet tomorrow

• MLAs from western Uttar Pradesh are likely to get a place in the ministry
• The Ministry has 17 vacancies

Parsvnath receives ₹1,200 cr from RLDA; plans to use the money to reduce debt

• ₹1,200 crore from Rail Land Development Authority (RLDA) as per a court order in a dispute related to a project
• In 2010, Parsvnath through an auction had bought about 37 acre land located at Sarai Rohilla-Kishanganj area in the national capital from the RLDA for about ₹1,650 crore

UK faces food, fuel and drugs shortages in no-deal Brexit: Leaked documents

• Energy minister says there is 'scaremongering' over Brexit
• The leaked documents say 85% of lorries may not be ready for French customs

Honor 5 Band Review: Few extras make it more fun than other entry-level rivals

• The band has a slim and light form factor and the rubber strap feels comfortable against the skin
• The new Honor 5 Band, priced at ₹2,999, belongs to this new breed of fitness bands that offer colour screens that users can customise

Kohli most followed cricketer on social media, but who is second

• Sachin Tendulkar comes next with 30.1 million followers on Twitter. On Facebook and Instagram, he has 28 million and 16.5 million followers
• Virat Kohli has amassed over 20,000 international runs in this decade and is the only cricketer to achieve the feat

India thwarts lobbying by China, Pakistan at UN Security Council

• Ahead of the UNSC meeting, the thinking was that India would have the support of key members
• What critically strengthened the view in favour of India within the UNSC were the steps announced earlier in the day to restore normalcy in Kashmir

IPOs likely to dry up as uncertainty rules Indian equity market

• Only 11 companies have gone public so far this year
• The number of IPOs more than halved in the first six months of 2019

India's biggest underground hydroelectric project suspended due to rise in silt

• The amount of silt in Sutlej has crossed 8000 parts per million (ppm) in the Nathpa Jhakri dam in Kinnaur district
• Operations in the 412 MW Rampur project in Shimla district were also shut down after silt level increased in the river owing to heavy rainfall

Govt forms committee to rationalise additional taxes on Aviation Turbine Fuel

• Currently, airlines have to pay charges such as 'throughput charges', 'into plane charges' and 'fuel infrastructure charges' when they take ATF at any airport for their planes
• In India, ATF accounts for almost 40% of any airline's total expenditure

Govt to clarify on applicability of FDI policy on digital media: Report

• The present FDI policy is silent on the fast-growing digital media segment
• FDI in India dipped 1% to $44.36 billion in 2018-19

Ontario Teachers joins Canadian pension funds

• This marks the pension fund joining the marquee names such as CPPIB and CDPQ
• This comes in the backdrop of Canadian pension funds being uniquely positioned to invest directly into the infrastructure space

PNB, Bank of India top posts: Bank Board Bureau invites application

• As per the Bank Board Bureau's recruitment notice, candidates can apply for the vacancies at PNB and BOI till 16 September
• The post of MD and CEO in PNB will fall vacant after incumbent Sunil Mehta superannuates on 30 September

AIIMS fire: Virology unit gutted, samples destroyed

• The fire started at around 5 pm from the Microbiology department of the AIIMS
• Some patients, who were temporarily transferred from the AB Wing, will be shifted back by Sunday, said health minister Harsh Vardhan

Kashmir inches towards normalcy, phone lines made operational

• The Centre on Friday announced that landline services would be resumed in the region by Sunday, while schools are expected to reopen on Monday
• Jammu and Kashmir Principal Secretary (Planning Commission) Rohit Kansal said, 'There has been no untoward incident reported so far'

Market borrowings touch 57% of Budget estimates in June

• The government's market borrowings have touched ₹2.54 trillion, as of June 2019
• The budgeted market borrowing is ₹4.48 trillion for the fiscal

Why gold prices may remain overvalued in relation to oil for long

• The two key commodities -- oil and gold -- demand are taken generally taken into account to understand vivid economic scenarios
• Both gold and silver exchange traded funds (ETFs) have entered a sustained period of accumulation

M&M sets up first car assembly plant in Sri Lanka with Ideal Motors

• The Indian carmaker has set up a joint venture with Ideal Motors, its dealer partner in Sri Lanka for 10 years
• The 65:35 JV between Ideal Motors and M&M is christened Mahindra Ideal Lanka Private Limited, which will operate the assembly plant at Welipenna, about 60 km from Colombo

Trai starts consultation for bigger play by infrastructure providers

• Infrastructure creation by standalone companies, who do not directly compete with telecom operators, needs to be promoted, Trai has suggested
• At present, passive infrastructure can be created and shared by infrastructure providers category-I (IP-I) as well as telecom operators

Ladakh: Engraved tales of ancient hunts

• Ladakh’s petroglyphs record the art of Stone Age hunter gatherers
• The petroglyphs are ancient expressions of visual stories of hunts and the local wildlife

Amit Shah approves Cabinet expansion in Karnataka

• Karnataka chief minister BS Yediyurappa met BJP national president Amit Shah in Delhi on Saturday
• The expansion will take place in Bengaluru on Tuesday

India, Bhutan deepen trade ties

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the 720-MW Mangdechhu hydropower project during his two-day visit to Bhutan
• It underlined the NDA's 'neighbourhood first' policy, as well as India’s 'special relationship' with the strategically located country

Govt raises limit for raising funds without diluting voting rights

• Promotors can retain control even as they raise capital from global investors
• The changes are expected to benefit India Inc., particularly startups, which will be able to attract more capital, but without ceding control

Two RCom promoters pledge additional 11.5% stake

• Reliance Communications Enterprises and Reliance Telecom Infrainvest have pledged about 11.51% of their holding in RCom
• Around 31.82 crore shares were pledged in favour of Axis Trustee Services acting as security/debenture trustee

Sebi imposes restrictions on mutual fund investments in short-term bank deposits

• Sebi has issued a clarification regarding 'parking of funds in short-term deposits of scheduled commercial banks by mutual funds -- pending deployment'
• As per regulations, a mutual fund may invest funds in short-term deposits of schedule commercial banks, subject to certain conditions

India’s export basket skews towards services, pulls down trade deficit

• The performance of the services sector is getting reflected in other economic barometers too
• Latest official trade data released on Wednesday showed how export of services is growing at a robust pace

Car makers line up festive season launches to draw buyers

• Maruti Suzuki will launch its new multi-utility vehicle XL 6, to be sold from the Nexa chain of dealerships
• Hyundai will launch its hatchback Grand I 10 Nios next week and this will be the third launch of the company in the current calendar year

PIL in Delhi HC on different minimum marrying age for men, women

• The petitioner claims that more than 125 countries in the world have a uniform age of marriage for men and women
• The petitioner calls the distinction 'unscientific' and a patriarchal stereotype

Standard Chartered faces fine for sanctions breaches

• Britain's Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation is looking to impose a penalty of over $12 million on the bank
• The bank agreed in April to pay $1.1 billion to US and British authorities for conducting illegal financial transactions that violated sanctions against Iran and others

Signs of recession worry Donald Trump ahead of 2020

• The financial markets signalled the possibility of a US recession this week, sending a jolt of anxiety to investors, firms and consumers
• Us President Donald Trump has taken to blaming others for the recession fears, mostly the Federal Reserve, which he is pushing for further interest rate cuts

Gold ETFs: Investors bet big on the safe haven asset

• According to data from the World Gold Council (WGC), globally investors poured about $2.6 billion into gold-backed ETFs in July
• The Gold Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) are simple investment products that combine the flexibility of stock investment and the simplicity of gold investments

Airtel chairman Sunil Mittal can retain excess salary after shareholders nod

• Over 88% of shareholders at the annual general meeting (AGM) held on August 14 voted in favour of the special resolution
• In July, the company had informed that Mittal's remuneration in 2018-19 was ₹21.19 crore more than prescribed limits under the Companies Act

NCLAT orders liquidation of Amtek Auto

• Amtek Auto was among the first list of the 12 companies that were referred by the RBI in 2017 to respective banks for the initiation of insolvency process for default
• The NCLAT also said there was no extraordinary situation in the resolution process of Amtek Auto to exclude the 90-day period

Ravi Shastri reappointed head coach of Indian team

• India have won 13 out of 21 Tests, 43 out of 60 ODIs and 25 T20 Internationals out of 36 on his watch
• Since he came back in July, 2017 replacing Anil Kumble, whose differences with Kohli came out in the open, Shastri's coaching record has been phenomenal

Flat buyers get status of financial creditor. How it impacts you

• The Supreme Court has upheld the ability of homebuyers to take real estate developers into bankruptcy proceedings
• Homebuyers now share equal rights of recovery in the developer’s assets