Bracing for a future with less-polluting fuels, state-run refiner Hindustan Petroleum is planning a pilot programme for swapping batteries of electric two- and three-wheelers at its outlets by December, according to people familiar with the matter.

The initiative is aimed at helping the company maintain its grip on a segment of the mobility market that’s rapidly shifting to cleaner power sources, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the plans aren’t public. The ultimate capacity of the programme hasn’t been decided.

Hinduja group flagship firm Ashok Leyland Limited (ALL) is in for another challenging time.

Amidst slowdown blues and suspended production at its plants due to weak demand, workers’ union at the company’s Ennore plant (the mother plant set up in 1960s) went on a day’s sit-in-dharna on Friday, protesting against the management’s refusal to meet the union’s demand on bonus issue. However, the plant’s production has not been hit, said sources in the know.

The Supreme Court on Friday quashed the Securities and Appellate Tribunal (SAT) order that imposed a cost of Rs 50,000 on Sebi for passing an ex-parte interim order in a case wherein the market regulator barred a trader from markets for indulging in fraudulent and manipulative trading.

Hyundai Motor Company will provide a glimpse into the future of mobility at the 2019 Frankfurt International Motor Show (the IAA, or Internationale Automobil-Ausstellung)—the world’s largest motor show that takes place from September 10-22. The company will showcase its full electric design concept envisioning its future EV design direction. The brand will also give a public world premiere to the all-new i10 and Hyundai Motorsport will unveil its first ever electric racing car.

Over 3,000 temporary employees have lost jobs with the country’s largest carmaker Maruti Suzuki India (MSI) due to the ongoing slump in the automobile industry, a top company executive has said.

MSI Chairman R C Bhargava said contracts of the temporary workers were not renewed due to the slowdown while asserting that permanent workers have not been impacted.

In order to fast track electronics manufacturing in India, the government is meeting top bosses of smartphone makers like Apple, Samsung, Xiaomi as well as contract manufacturers like Foxconn, Dixon and Wistron on August 19. The roundtable meeting, to be chaired by electronics and IT minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, will be attended by chiefs of over 46 companies.

Apollo Hospitals (APHS) reported Q1FY20 results on August 13. For the quarter, revenues came in at Rs 22.3 bn, up 17% y-y and 2% above our forecast of Rs 21.8 bn. EBITDA pre IND AS 116 acc-ounting change was at Rs 2.7 bn, up 21% y-y and 3% ahead of our estimate. Repo-rted PAT came in at Rs 793 mn, 1% below our estimate. EBITDA margin pre IND AS 116 was at 12.3%, higher by 43bp y-y and 11bp against our estimate. This was due to positive surprise in EBITDA marg-in of new hospitals ex-Proton that was at 8.3% vs our estimate of 5.8%.

Asian and Commonwealth Games gold-medallist wrestler Bajrang Punia was on Friday nominated for the country's highest sporting honour -- the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award.

His name was finalised by a 12-member selection committee on the opening day of a two-day meeting. The panel comprises the likes of Bhaichung Bhutia and M C Mary Kom among others.

Olympic silver medallist P V Sindhu said on Friday that she has been working on improving her fitness and defence in search of an elusive gold in the showpiece World Championships next week.

Sindhu has been the most consistent performer in the World Championships in the last few years with two silver and as many bronze medals but a gold has still eluded her.

State-owned CIL’s 54 coal mining projects are facing delay due to various reasons such as contractual issues and delay in green clearances among others, the world’s largest coal miner said.

“A total of 120 coal projects costing Rs 20 crore and above are in different stages of implementation. Out of which 66 projects are on schedule and 54 projects are delayed,” Coal India Ltd (CIL) said in its annual report.

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