News digest: No-confidence motion, road monetisation, Rs 100 note, and more

From no-confidence motion to Rs 100 note, BS brings you top stories to keep up with the latest news

Modi govt defeats no-confidence motion in Lok Sabha amid a hug and drama
 
The Narendra Modi government comfortably defeated the no-confidence motion in the Lok Sabha on Friday. But if the debate was a trailer of the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections between the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and a united Opposition, it ended in a stalemate.
 
Congress President Rahul Gandhi won the battle of optics in the afternoon when he surprised the Prime Minister with a hug, which Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan termed “drama”. The evening belonged to Modi as he delivered a 100-minute speech, that had just about enough to keep his party’s core supporters enthused. Read more here

 

Road monetisation offer set to change due to low traffic fears
 
Facing the prospect of low traffic volumes on some of its upcoming highways owing to parallel projects, the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has tweaked the second bundle of contracts to be offered under the toll-operate-transfer (TOT) model.  
 
The stretches that were found saturated in terms of traffic volumes will now be replaced with those earmarked for the third tranche of bidding. Read more here
 
15th Finance Commission may need to work like it’s the first: Subramanian
 
Chief Economic Advisor Arvind Subramanian on Friday stressed the importance of the 15th Finance Commission in dealing with Centre-state issues even as India comes to terms with the common market formed through the goods and services tax (GST), as a result of which taxation powers have shifted more in favour of the Centre.

 
He suggested there was much to learn from the lessons of economic integration in Europe while dealing with India’s unique concerns. Read more here
 
Rs 1 billion needed to recalibrate ATMs for new Rs 100 notes 
 
New Rs 100 notes will require a recalibration of 240,000 automated teller machines (ATMs) across the country, and the process will cost the industry about Rs 1 billion and take more than a year, said ATM operators.
 
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) announced on Thursday it would soon release lavender-coloured Rs 100 notes bearing the signature of Governor Urjit Patel. The dimensions of the new banknote, according to the RBI’s notification, would be 66 mm x 142 mm, significantly smaller than the existing one, which measures 73 mm x 157 mm. Read more here

 
Ola making profit on every ride, IPO in 4 years: CEO Bhavish Aggarwal
 
After years of intense competition and burning millions of dollars, India’s ride-hailing giant Ola claims it has come out on top of its main competitor Uber and is now making a profit on every ride it offers in India.
 
Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer Bhavish Aggarwal said the company was operationally profitable and would soon become cash flow positive. “Ola in India makes money on every ride. Our focus over the past couple of years has been to keep growing the market and our share in the market and build up on sustainable business,” Aggarwal said at a fireside chat in Bengaluru on Friday. Read more here