Monthly Archives: April 2024

Ola Electric slashes prices for S1 X line of e-scooters

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Ola Electric has unveiled new pricing structures for its S1 X line of e-scooters, alongside details regarding delivery. The S1 X series, available in three battery variants – 2 kWh, 3 kWh, and 4 kWh, will now be priced at Rs 69,999 (introductory offer), Rs 84,999, and Rs 99,999, respectively. Deliveries are slated to commence next week.

A spokesperson from Ola stated, “Our revised pricing for the S1 X series addresses the significant upfront costs associated with electric vehicle (EV) ownership, a key hurdle in wider EV adoption. With competitive pricing across our S1 X range, catering to various consumer segments, we anticipate a substantial increase in EV adoption nationwide.”

Additionally, Ola revealed updated prices for the S1 Pro, S1 Air, and S1 X+, now available at Rs 1,29,999, Rs 1,04,999, and Rs 84,999, respectively. The S1 X e-scooters boast an IDC-certified range of 190 km, 143 km, and 95 km for the 4 kWh, 3 kWh, and 2 kWh models, respectively.

Driven by a 6kW motor, the scooter accelerates from 0 to 40 km/h in 3.3 seconds, reaching a maximum speed of 90 km/h in the 4 kWh and 3 kWh models, and 85 km/h in 4.1 seconds for the 2 kWh variant, according to company specifications.

Featuring three riding modes – Eco, Normal, and Sports, riders can seamlessly transition between them based on their preferences and requirements.

Sensex down by 300 points, Israel’s return attack fears grip markets

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BSE Sensex is down by more than 300 points on Tuesday after a plunge of 845 points on Monday, continuing the declining trend amid concerns about general elections, geopolitical factors, and uncertainty in the markets.

Sensex is trading at 73,040 points, down by 358 points. Sensex is on the verge of falling below the 73K mark if the weakness persists. IT and financials are trading weak with Infosys, Bajaj Finserv, Indusind Bank, Ultratech Cement, L&T down more than 1 per cent.

Analysts expect economic and geopolitical issues to continue to weigh on markets in the near term. The economic factor is the rising US bond yields which reduces the prospects of rate cuts by the Fed this year. High bond yields are negative for risky assets like equity and will accelerate FII selling in emerging markets like India, they said.

Essentially the market is more concerned about the geopolitical issue.

Israel military chief vowed that “there will be a response to Iran’s attack on Israel” and it has increased the probability of escalation of tensions in the Middle East, evolving into a bigger scale.

As investors seek to wait and watch the developments. high quality large-caps are on corrections to make them fair. Large-caps in banking, IT, autos, capital goods, oil & gas and cement are advised as ideal for long-term investment, V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Financial Services said.

EVM Issue: Supreme Court bench to hear petitions seeking full implementation of VVPATs

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A panel comprising Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta is set to address all concerns regarding Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) during a hearing scheduled for April 16, 2024.

Tomorrow, the Supreme Court will review a series of petitions advocating for the implementation of Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) to cross-verify votes. VVPAT offers an independent mechanism for voters to ensure the accuracy of their votes by generating a paper slip that confirms their selections. These slips, securely sealed, can be accessed in case of disputes.

In anticipation of the upcoming seven-phase Lok Sabha elections beginning on April 19, the Supreme Court is poised to examine crucial matters regarding EVMs and VVPAT.

Earlier, the Supreme Court had deferred hearing the plea filed by the NGO Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) and other related matters. Advocate Prashant Bhushan had urged an expedited hearing on April 3.

Now, ADR has petitioned the Supreme Court to direct the Election Commission and the Central Government to ensure voters can verify that their votes have been accurately recorded through VVPATs. The plea aims to align the EVM count with verifiably cast votes and guarantee that voters can confirm their selections via VVPAT slips.

Additionally, the petition underscores the importance of voters verifying that their choices have been accurately registered, which is partially addressed by the brief display of VVPAT slips after pressing the EVM button.

Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta’s panel, unable to address previous EVM-related pleas, will now consider all petitions during Tuesday’s session. Both petitions will be on the docket for today’s hearing.

On April 1, the Supreme Court sought responses from both the Election Commission of India and the central government regarding activist Arun Kumar Agrawal’s plea for a comprehensive count of VVPAT slips in elections, challenging the current practice of sampling only five randomly selected EVMs per assembly segment.