After witnessing subdued activity through the trading day, the Indian share markets finished the day marginally higher on selective buying amid expiry of December futures and options (F&O) contracts even as Asian cues remained mixed. At the closing bell, the BSE Sensex closed higher by 155 points, whereas the NSE Nifty finished higher by 70 points. The S&P BSE Midcap ended up by 1.3% while the S&P BSE Small Cap finished up by 1.1%. Barring capital goods stocks, all sectoral indices ended the day on a positive note. Metal, consumer durables, oil & gas stocks witnessed the maximum buying interest.

Asian markets finished mixed as of the most recent closing prices. The Hang Seng gained 0.17%, while the Nikkei 225 led the Shanghai Composite lower. They fell 1.32% and 0.20% respectively. European markets are lower today with shares in Germany off the most. The DAX is down 0.25% while France's CAC 40 is off 0.19% and London's FTSE 100 is lower by 0.06%.

The rupee was trading at Rs 68.12 against the US$ in the afternoon session. Oil prices were trading at US$ 53.78 at the time of writing.

According to an article in Livemint, TVS Motor Co has been granted an Indian patent for automatic hybrid transmission (AHT) system for two-wheelers. The invention is related to a system involving a combination of a fixed speed transmission mechanism (FSTM) and a continuously variable transmission mechanism (CVTM).

Giving a major fillip to its innovation-packed product line-up, the invention has been provided exclusively by Chennai patent office. Transmission systems are required to transmit power from one rotating member to another rotating member of a vehicle through various transmission mechanisms. These two types of transmission mechanisms have certain operating conditions under which the mechanisms work most efficiently to provide optimum output.

Due to design constraints, the transmission system of current two-wheelers provides only with the CVTM which cannot be transformed into a hybrid transmission system. A hybrid system would ensure high transmission efficiency at all operating speeds.

With large auto makers already investing in these emerging technologies, it is clear that TVS Motors needs to make the move quickly to avoid losing out the race particularly when also technologically assisted driving can soon become a reality.

TVS Motors' share price finished up by 3.7%.

Moving on to the news from stocks in engineering sector. As per an article in a leading financial daily, Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) has successfully commissioned another 600 MW coal-based thermal power plant in Telangana. The unit has been commissioned at the 2x600 MW Singareni Thermal Power Project (TPP) located in Adilabad district in Telangana. The project has been developed by Singareni Collieries Company (SCCL), which is India's second largest coal mining company.

One must note that, this is the second 600 MW unit commissioned by BHEL at Singareni TPP. The first unit of the project was earlier commissioned in March, 2016. So far, the company has contracted 21 sets of 600 MW each, of which 17 have already been commissioned.

With over 85% of the coal - based power stations, amounting to 5,740 MW, have been commissioned by BHEL in Telangana. Reposing confidence in BHEL's capability of setting up power plants, the Telangana state utility has placed orders on BHEL for executing around 6,000 MW of thermal power projects in the state, on Engineering Procurement Construction (EPC) basis, the reports noted.

Meanwhile, the Central Electricity Authority's report for September 2 showed that 191 thermal power units were shut down on that day, which led to a loss of 51,006 MW of power.

Why Are Thermal Power Plants Not Running?

Coal shortages accounted for less than one-fifth of the closed capacity. More than twice that capacity was lost because of technical snags. Other reasons like maintenance, reserve shut down, uneconomical operations were responsible for the rest of the power generation losses. Apart from poor management, the other reason why coal has come under pressure this year is the addition in thermal power generating capacity.

However, to ensure steady power generation, the sector needs to fix technical snags more than simply kicking up a dust over coal, the reports noted.