Potpourri

Pillion Ban

The Karnataka government has banned pillion riders on two-wheelers with less than 100cc engine capacity to curb accidents. The state will also not register vehicles below 100cc engine with a pillion seat. The move will hit several two-wheeler makers.

Bull Charge

Equity benchmark indices ended at fresh record closing highs on October 26. The 30-share BSE Sensex rose 104.63 points to 33,147.13 and the 50-share NSE Nifty was up 48.40 points at 10,343.80, a day after the government announced a plan to put capital into its struggling banks in a bid to encourage them to lend to push growth.

Rs 1.72 Lakh Crore Overrun

A total of 331 infrastructure projects, each worth `150 crore and more, have seen a cost overrun of `1.72 lakh crore, according to a report by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation.

Tesla Goes to China

Tesla Inc. is talking with the Shanghai municipal government to set up a factory, according to reports. The company expects to agree to a plan by the end of the year. This comes amid reports that India is also aggressively wooing the car maker to build a manufacturing base here.

Toyota goes slow on Camry Hybrid

Toyota Kirloskar Motor has reduced the production of Camry Hybrid as demand has been "impacted" due to increase in price after GST implementation. "Due to dip in demand, we have slowed Camry Hybrid production for the time being. We will monitor the situation and ramp up accordingly," said Sales & Marketing Director and Senior Vice President N. Raja.

Burden of Proof

The Trump administration has made renewal of non-immigrant visas such as H-1B and L1, popular among Indian IT professionals, more difficult, saying that the burden of proof lies on the applicant even when an extension is sought. Rescinding its more than 13-year-old policy, the US Citizenship and Immigration Services said the burden of proof in establishing eligibility is, at all times, on the petitioner.

Rs 7 Lakh Crore

The amount the government plans to spend to develop approximately 83,677 km of roads by 2022. The programme includes the Bharatmala scheme, under which 34,800 km of highways would be constructed at a cost of Rs 5.35 lakh crore steel

Many Suitors for Essar Steel

ArcelorMittal, Nippon Steel and Tata Steel have shown interest in buying Essar Steel, facing insolvency proceedings. These are among the many players that have shown interest in the company. Essar Steel is among the 12 companies identified for insolvency proceedings in the first phase.

Utterly Butterly on Twitter

Amul wants use Indian Railways refrigerated parcel vans to transport its butter across India. So, it reached out to the railways on its Twitter handle. "IR will be utterly butterly delighted to get the taste of India to every Indian," the ministry's handle, @RailMinIndia, tweeted.

"We have told Pakistan, if we dont get access to Wagah Attari, we will block access to Central Asia for Pakistan "

Ashraf Ghani, President of Afghanistan