Moneycontrol Selects: Top stories this afternoon

Here are the most interesting articles of the day (Representative image)

Here are the top stories this afternoon:

Coal India issues maiden tender to import coal

Coal India, the world's largest coal miner, issued a tender to import 2.42 million tonnes of coal by end-September to boost fuel availability amid fears of a shortage, the company said in a statement. The state-run miner, which has little experience in importing coal, was asked to place orders for shipments from overseas by the power ministry last month.

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Volkswagen Virtus launched at a starting price of Rs 11.21 Lakh

Volkswagon (VW) India launched its all-new mid-size sedan, Virtus, in the country today, i.e. on June 9, 2022. The Virtus shares its powertrain and platform with the Skoda Slavia and the Taigun and is based on Skoda Volkswagen India Pvt Ltd’s heavily localised MQB A0 IN platform.

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Russia has no extra oil to sign deals with two Indian buyers: Sources

Russia's Rosneft is holding back on signing new crude oil deals with two Indian state refiners, three sources with knowledge of the matter said, as it has committed sales to other customers.

Indian refiners have been snapping up cheap Russian oil, shunned by western companies and countries since sanctions were imposed against Moscow for its invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, which Russia calls a "special military operation".

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Election Commission to announce date of presidential poll today

The Election Commission will announce the schedule of the election to the office of the President of India on Thursday. The poll panel has convened a press conference at 3 pm to announce the schedule.

The term of President Ram Nath Kovind ends on July 24 and an election for the next president has to be held before that day.

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Rupee hits fresh low against dollar as FIIs continue selling

Indian rupee on Friday hit a fresh record low against the dollar as foreign institutional investors (FIIs) continued selling in local equity markets.

The currency opened at 77.75 and touched a fresh record low of 77.8075 a dollar. At 12.32pm, the domestic currency was trading at 77.80 a dollar, down 0.08% from its previous close.

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Government considers slashing tax on lithium-ion batteries to boost electric mobility

The government may cut the goods and services tax (GST) on lithium-ion batteries and bring them on a par with taxes on electric vehicles (EV) which are at the minimum rate of five per cent, according to a Mint report.

Lithium-ion batteries are taxed at 18 per cent. Discussions on tax rationalisation have gained momentum with the push for battery swapping policy. EV sales in April was 72,519 units, a sharp rise from the 14,179 units sold a year ago but lower than March sales of 77,243 units.

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