235: Top News Podcast: LIC IPO likely next week, EV battery fire kills one, British PM Boris Johnson on India visit, and more

LIC's initial public offering could be launched as early as next week, sources told CNBC-TV18 on Thursday, adding that the IPO size has been trimmed down from earlier Rs 55,000-60,000 crore to close to Rs 30,000 crore.

LIC was yet to respond to CNBC-TV18’s query on the news.

In this episode of Top News Podcast, CNBCTV18.com’s Kanishka Sarkar shares the latest on markets, electric vehicle fires, the pandemic, what happened at the Supreme Court hearing on demolition in Delhi’s Jahangirpuri and more from around the world.

Sensex and Nifty recovered for a second straight session today amid buying across sectors. The rally was boosted by strength in heavyweights Reliance, Infosys, and the HDFC twins. Investors' wealth increased by Rs 3.5 lakh crore as the market capitalisation of BSE-listed companies increased to Rs 271.8 lakh crore, according to provisional exchange data. They made Rs 5.7 lakh crore in two days.

In an update from the auto sector, NITI Aayog has issued a draft battery swapping policy in which it has proposed measures including incentives for EVs with swappable batteries, a new battery-as-a-service business model, standards for interoperable batteries, and subsidies to the swappable battery manufacturers.

Meanwhile, there was an explosion in an electric vehicle (EV) battery in Hyderabad that killed one person and others were injured. The incident took place two days ago and it follows at least six cases of fires in EVs that were reported in less than a month. The owners of the scooter had put the detachable battery on charge but it exploded after a few hours of charging.

The police have registered an FIR against the e-scooter manufacturer Pure EV. This is the third incident of fire involving Pure EV.

The company said that it did not have any record of the sale of the vehicle or service by the user in the database and that it was exploring if the scooter was purchased through a second-hand sale.

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