Movement of trains between Hyderabad and Kamareddy in Telangana was disrupted on Wednesday as the flood water was overflowing the tracks at a couple of places following heavy rains.

The South Central Railway (SCR) cancelled, partially cancelled or diverted a few trains.

The flood water submerged the tracks on the Bhiknur–Talmadla section and Akanpet–Medak section of the Hyderabad Division.

The Nizamabad-Tirupati Rayalaseema Express (Train Number 12794), scheduled to depart on Wednesday, and Tirupati-Nizamabad Rayalaseema Express (12793), scheduled to leave on Thursday, have been cancelled.

As part of the stepped up drive to push exports amid the US tariff turmoil, India will launch outreach initiatives in 40 countries, with priority markets in Europe such as the UK, Spain, France, Germany, and Italy. These efforts will include trade fairs, buyer-seller meets, and sector-specific promotional campaigns, according to a senior official.

Other nations include the Netherlands, Poland, Canada, Mexico, Russia, Belgium, Turkiye, the United Arab Emirates and Australia.

India's merchandise exports are facing pressure amid geopolitical tensions and the 50 per cent punitive hike in US tariffs that kicked in on Wednesday.

The Commerce Ministry is set to hold a series of consultations with exporters this week as part of this renewed push to diversify India's export basket and strengthen its presence in global markets, a senior official confirmed.

India continues to show resilience, securing the second position on the national 'Consumer Sentiment Index', despite a 3.3 percentage point decline in consumer sentiment in August, a report said on Wednesday.

The dip is attributed to the impact of Trump-era tariffs and broader macroeconomic factors, according to the latest LSEG-Ipsos Consumer Sentiment Index.

Other markets that experienced significant declines in consumer sentiment include Indonesia (-3.7 pp), Poland (-2.8 pp), Germany (-2.5 pp), Colombia (-2.5 pp), and France (-2.2 pp), Ipsos said in its report.

According to the report, meanwhile, Malaysia leads the 30 markets tracked on the National Index, with a strong 6.7 percentage point surge in consumer sentiment.

Rajasthan Police has cracked down hard on drug smuggling by busting two major networks in Jhalawar district.

In a series of swift actions, police arrested seven accused, including an Indian Army jawan, and seized large quantities of ganja and synthetic drug MDMA worth lakhs of rupees.

Acting on the directions of Superintendent of Police Amit Kumar, the Dag police intercepted a truck laden with iron rods. On thorough checking, the team discovered 103.600 kg of ganja concealed under the rods.

The truck driver, Zaheer Khan (35), and his aide Vinod Sharma (28), both residents of Jhalawar, were arrested.

Meanwhile, police also intercepted a luxury car that was escorting the consignment. Pirulal Malviya (34), a native of Rajgarh (Madhya Pradesh) currently living in Jhalawar, and Anwar alias Annu (29), a resident of Jhalawar, were caught.

The Goods and Services Tax Council, scheduled to meet on September 3, will likely discuss ending the compensation cess by October 31, ahead of schedule.

The GST compensation cess was set to end on March 31, 2026. Discussions, however, have started to conclude the cess collection earlier, as the loans taken during the Covid-19 pandemic to compensate states for revenue shortfalls are approaching full repayment, according to multiple media reports.

The repayment is expected to be completed around October 18, but the government may extend the levy until the end of October for smooth operations.

Reports citing government sources indicated that the cess collection may result in a surplus of about Rs 2,000–3,000 crore to be shared equally between the Centre and the states.

Six persons were trapped in flood waters in Telangana’s Kamareddy district on Wednesday following heavy rains in the region since Tuesday night.

Six workers had climbed onto a water tanker and were waiting to be rescued while the water level was rising in the stream.

The incident occurred in the Kalyani stream in Timmareddy, where they were engaged in bridge construction work.

In Medak district, a car was washed away in floodwaters in the Nakkavagu stream in Haveli Ghanpur mandal. State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) has launched the search operation. It was immediately not clear how many people were travelling in the car.

Public sector companies have once again proved to be attractive for investors seeking steady income, as many of them announced hefty dividend payouts over the past 12 months.

For long-term investors, these stocks not only offer capital appreciation but also provide regular income through dividends.

Dividends are the portion of a company’s profit distributed to its shareholders, typically paid quarterly, semi-annually, or annually.

Among state-owned firms, Coal India stood out with the highest dividend payout of Rs 32 per share, delivering a dividend yield of 8.6 per cent.

Dividend yield refers to the annual dividend income expressed as a percentage of the stock’s current market price -- an important metric for income-focused investors.

Power Finance Corporation (PFC) rewarded shareholders with Rs 19.5 per share -- reflecting a yield of 5 per cent, while REC Limited paid Rs 19.1 per share, also translating into a 5 per cent yield.

India has been making significant progress in the transition to green energy and electrification as the nation has a total of 56.75 lakh registered electric vehicles (EVs) till February this year, according to government data.

In FY25, electric two-wheeler (e-2W) sales hit 11.49 lakh units, up 21 per cent from the previous year’s 9.48 lakh, the data showed.

These figures signal a rapidly accelerating shift towards cleaner, more sustainable mobility on Indian roads as the government has set a vision of 30 per cent EV penetration by 2030 in alignment with the global EV30@30 initiative.

Flagship initiatives like Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Hybrid and Electric Vehicles II (FAME II), PM E-Drive, Production Linked Incentive (PLI) schemes, and PM e-Bus Sewa are steering investment, localisation, and large-scale EV adoption in the country.