Top News Podcast: States brace for power cuts, FM Nirmala Sitharaman on crypto risks, hiring boom in tech sector and more

Experts have sent alarm bells ringing to warn of acute power shortages in several states of the country due to a low inventory of coal.

But that may not be the only reason for the power crunch. The power industry is also grappling with demand, as it has risen by 9 percent on the back of the opening up of the economy and the ongoing heatwave.

PK Das, Additional Chief Secretary - Power, Haryana on Tuesday said he believes coal cannot be singularly blamed for the current power crunch. The supply situation is about 14.50 crore units per day and we are only making a cut of about 3 to 4 percent.

In this edition of Top News Podcast, CNBCTV18.com’s Kanishka Sarkar shares the latest on the power crisis, COVID-19 pandemic, hiring boom in the IT sector, Finance Minister’s warning on cryptocurrency, BPCL privatization plan, and more.

On the stock market front, Sensex and Nifty tanked in the last hour of trade amid weakness across global markets, amid a broad-based sell-off. Investors lost almost Rs 5 lakh crore in wealth, as the market capitalsation of BSE-listed companies came down to Rs 264.5 lakh crore from Rs 269.4 lakh crore at the end of yesterday’s close.

As per the Health Ministry’s 8 am bulletin, India reported 1,247 coronavirus cases in a day. Statewise -- Delhi has reported 501 new COVID-19 cases, followed by Haryana at 234 and Uttar Pradesh at 115. Sixteen states, and union territories have reported a rise in the active cases. A fresh fatality was also reported from Uttar Pradesh. Following the uptick, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh districts have made masks compulsory in several districts near Delhi.

Also, amid growing concerns over safety issues around electric vehicles (EVs) owing to multiple fire incidents recently, sources say all testing norms for batteries, cells and battery management are being revised.

CNBC-TV18 has learnt that the government is holding a dialogue with companies whose vehicles were involved in the recent fire incidents. This is after at least six incidents of fire in EVs were reported in less than three weeks in different parts of the country.

Tune in to Top News Podcast for more

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