Tesla shows interest in India’s plans to build battery plants

• The robust global interest comes amid the govt’s push to make India a hub for making EVs and their components
• India will need six gigawatt-scale facilities (of 10GWh each) by 2025 and 12 by 2030, according to a NITI estimate

Traders flock to gold as fears of recession in the US loom large

• The World Gold Council’s outlook report showed that central banks bought 224.4 tonnes of gold in Q2 of 2019
• In its latest survey of fund managers, BofAML points out that the proportion of fund managers expecting a global recession in the next 12 months was at its highest since 2011

NITI Aayog plans to review laws that hinder ease of living

• The federal policy think tank will comb through all the laws in the country and make recommendations to the government, said NITI Aayog vice chairman Rajiv Kumar
• As part of efforts to improve living standards, the Modi government had in its previous term sought to extend access to amenities

SBI extends repayment period for stressed auto dealers by up to 30 days

• Passenger vehicle industry recorded its worst performance in nearly 19 years in July as sales fell 31% to 200,790 units
• The bank has an exposure of ₹11,500 crore to auto dealers

The most stressed district courts in India

Bihar, UP and Odisha account for the bulk of highly-stressed district courts, shows an analysis based on parameters including pendency rate, infra deficit

No improvement in Arun Jaitley’s health

• Jaitley has been put on life support system and is under continuous monitoring by a team of doctors, said a source
• Several leaders including Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal, and Union ministers Smriti Irani and Ram Vilas Paswan visited him on Sunday

Talks with Pakistan now will only be about PoK, says 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
• The defence minister's comment came two days after he said India reserves the right to revoke its 'no first use' policy

PM to visit UAE, Bahrain from 23 Aug in bid to boost ties

• Prime Minister Modi would receive the Order of Zayed, the highest civil decoration of the UAE
• Modi's visit to Bahrain will be the first ever Prime Ministerial visit from India

Why business has its back to the wall

• Steps are needed to get businesses to invest, banks to lend, consumers to spend, and taxman to be circumspect
• While the problem of mounting unserviceable debt has dragged on for several years, a slew of steps announced by Modi govt, ostensibly to clean up the system, further added to the uncertainty

An AI startup keeps mega-machines at peak performance

• Bengaluru-based Flutura’s AI product helps global giants like Shell and Henkel move into the age of Industry 4.0
• Flutura is also building a separate product to enable engineers to apply AI without being experts in data science

Litmus test for govt as it moves to restore normalcy in Kashmir

• Security forces keep strict vigil on suspicious activities as govt begins to lift curbs in the region in phases
• Landline and 2G services across the valley are being restored in parts as a security measure

PM lists space, education as new areas of cooperation with Bhutan

• The Prime Minister invited more students to visit India for studies in traditional areas such as Buddhism
• One of the key outcomes of the visit was Modi and Bhutanese prime minister Lotay Tshering inaugurating the 720 megawatts Mangdechhu hydel power project on Saturday

Universities reach out to Kashmiri students to bridge trust deficit

• University professors are organizing group lunches, holding counselling sessions for Kashmiri students
• As the trust deficit widens between Kashmir and heartland India, several universities are making an extra effort to reach out to Kashmir students

Hooda supports govt’s Article 370 move, says Congress has lost its way

• Hooda’s statements come just months ahead of crucial assembly elections in Haryana
• A divided Congress, which has 16 MLAs in Haryana, faces a tough electoral battle against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) led by chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar

IS claims Afghanistan wedding suicide blast that killed 63 people

• 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

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

Incomplete projects continue to reel under liquidity crisis

• Assess the developer’s financial situation before booking an apartment in an under-construction project
• Lack of funding to developers will directly affect the completion of projects that are under construction

Standard term plan does not cover disability

• Porting will be allowed to the individual plan of the same insurer as the group policy
• Personal accident plans cover accidental deaths and disability

'World must 'seriously consider' safety of India's nuke arsenal under Modi govt'

• Rajnath Singh had said that the future 'circumstances' would determine what would happen to India's 'no first use' policy of nuclear weapons
• Imran Khan's statement comes close on the heels of Defence Rajnath Singh's statement on the possible change in India's 'no first use' policy of nuclear weapons

Flood alert for Delhi as Yamuna nears warning level

• Yamuna was flowing at 203.37 metres on Sunday evening and its water level is expected to rise further on Monday
• Delhi govt said preparations are being made to erect tents in nearby areas to accommodate the people living in the low-lying areas

Traders body calls for boycott of Chinese goods, seeks up to 500% import duty

• The CAIT has 'given the call to boycott Chinese products to make China understand the repercussions of supporting Pakistan'
• CAIT has urged the government to levy customs duty from 300 to 500 per cent on imports of Chinese goods

Hyundai announces 'No Production Days' to suit market conditions

• The production downtime as and when they occur has been in line with the operational plans
• Transmission-1 department was under no production day on August 10 in all its three shifts while transmission-2 on August 10 and 12

Power gencos' outstanding dues from discoms rise by 30% to ₹46k crore in June

• According to PRAAPTI portal, distribution companies owed a total of ₹46,412 crore to power generation companies
• In order to give relief to power generation companies, Centre has enforced a payment security mechanism from 1 August, 2019

J&K: Curbs reimposed on movement, phones in Srinagar

• In the past 24 hours, there has been a series of protests against New Delhi's August 5 revocation of Jammu and Kashmir’s special status
• At least two dozen people were admitted to hospitals with pellet injuries after violent clashes broke out in Srinagar on Saturday night

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

Income Tax Department to adopt 'taxpayer friendly' approach

• Earlier, Sitharaman asked the tax dept to bridge the communcation gap between tax officials, assessees and sought a change in mindset amid allegations of 'tax terrorism'
• CBDT introduces a computer-generated document identification Number, which will be be quoted in any notice issued by its officials

Credit demand subdued, economy needs stimulus: SBI Chairman Rajnish Kumar

• Though lack of credit demand exists in the economy, there is no supply-side constraint as the public sector banks are more or less well-capitalised, Rajnish Kumar said
• Rajnish Kumar hoped that monsoon will have a positive impact

While braving rain, Hong Kong protesters flood city streets in ‘peaceful’ march

• Tens of thousands of protesters carrying umbrellas poured across the heart of Hong Kong island despite torrential rain, closing key roads
• Sunday's rally was convened as a ‘non-violent’ demonstration, according to organisers the Civil Human Rights Front

Govt mulling options to enforce ban on e-cigarettes, nicotine flavoured hookahs

• Banning such alternative smoking devices like e-cigarettes among others is one of the priorities of the Health Ministry as part of the first 100 days agenda of the second term of the Modi government
• The ministry is also learnt to have sought a legal opinion over the issue

Auto industry bets big on scrappage policy

• Automobile industry's representatives have sought an 'End of Life' policy from the Central government as a measure to arrest falling sales
• The policy, if implemented, is expected to encourage customers to go in for new purchases which will be backed-up by incentives in lieu of their old vehicles

Prestige Group looks to list commercial office portfolio

• Prestige Group currently has 11 million sq. ft of ready and rent yielding assets
• It also plans to launch projects in Mumbai and NCR as part of its strategy to enter new market

GIP eyes up to $1 billion corpus for India-focused infra fund

• The fund will aim to acquire operating assets in roads, renewables and transmission
• The PE firm hired Hardik Shah from Brookfield Asset Management in October to lead its infrastructure investments business in India

Mahindra & Mahindra defers new investments to cope with slowdown in demand

• About 15-20% of capex from original plan could be deferred, says managing director Pawan Goenka
• Mahindra and Mahindra cut about 1,500 jobs of temporary workers since 1 April 2019

Deals in roads sector gather pace as foreign investors buy up assets

• About ₹1.4 trillion is estimated to be invested by the private sector between 2018-22 to build new road assets
• In July, IndInfravit Trust said it is acquiring nine operational road assets from Sadbhav Infrastructure Project Ltd for ₹6,610 crore

Fundraising by secondaries funds subdued so far this year

• As funds currently in the market hold final closes, we would expect fundraising for the full-year to rebound significantly
• The average size of secondaries funds closed in 2018 was at $876 million

Feroz Shah Kotla to have Virat Kohli stand soon: DDCA

• Virender Sehwag and Anjum Chopra are the other Delhi players who have gates named after them
• Virat Kohli will be the youngest active cricketer to be bestowed with the honour of a stand being named after him

Politics of appeasement was reason for continuance of triple talaq: Amit Shah

• Shah defended the law criminalising triple talaq, asserting that it establishes gender equality
• It was a "nightmare" for crores of Muslim women who were denied of their rights, Shah said

Ratul Puri booked in case of alleged bank fraud involving Moser Baer: CBI

Besides Puri, four other directors have been booked by the central agency in connection with the case

Manipal’s dream of a pan-India footprint comes to a halt as Medanta talks fail

• The Manipal Group was looking to acquire Medanta, which runs hospitals in Gurugram, Patna and Indore
• Manipal owns 10 multi-speciality hospitals, five teaching hospitals and several fertility clinics

What to expect from the OnePlus TV

• While OnePlus hasn't given out many details about the TV yet, submission to Bluetooth SIG shows that the company will be selling the TV in 43, 55, 65 and 75 inch variants
• It is likely that OnePlus' television will run on a version of Android, but what remains to be seen is whether it will have a ‘fork’ of the Android mobile OS or it will run on the AndroidTV platform

China entered Demchok as Cong didn't give due importance to Ladakh: BJP MP

• Namgyal said people need to understand that there were several sectors in Ladakh that had not been explored yet
• The first-time parliamentarian also claimed that the Congress governments ruined Kashmir by following the policy of 'appeasement'

Huawei building its own mapping tech, but can it beat Google Maps?

• Cracking mapping services is no easy task, and Google is perhaps the only company who has got it down, with Maps
• Ironically, Huawei has partnered with an American travel aggregator website Booking Holdings for the service

Cabinet expansion first of many challenges for BJP in Karnataka

• 'I think about 13-14 people will be inducted,' Yediurappa said on Sunday in Bengaluru
• The limited expansion would help the party fulfill its ‘assurances’ made to the 17 disqualified legislators with whose help the BJP was able to topple the H.D.Kumaraswamy-led coalition

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

Gujarat to get world-class zoo near Statue of Unity: Official

• The zoo will be developed across 1,300 acres over seven levels
• The Statue of Unity is situated over 100 kilometres away from Vadodara

Confident of coming out of RBI's PCA framework by March next year: UCO Bank CMD

• Atul Kumar Goel said the bank had set an NPA recovery target of ₹2,000 crore per quarter, or ₹8,000 crore per year
• The Reserve Bank of India's PCA framework kicks in when banks breach any of the four key regulatory trigger points

Last narrow gauge line in Central India to chug into history

• Presently, there are 15 major stations en route including Itwari, Bhandwadi, Umred, Bhiwapur, Kanatempa, Bamhani, Mangli, and Kuhi
• Bollywood contributed a lot to popularise the romance of the narrow gauge trains, featuring them in several memorable film songs