Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri, addressing the media on Monday, described the current situation of the national carrier as "very fragile". The government had earlier released the preliminary information memorandum (PIM) for seeking expression of interest for strategic disinvestment of Air India. Mr Puri added that Air India is under a debt trap due to accumulated debt of around Rs 60,000 crore.

After failing to sell majority stake in Air India in 2018, the government has worked on critical areas this time around to make the disinvestment bid more attractive to the prospective bidder, Mr Puri said.

The revised disinvestment guidelines include stake sale of 100 per cent in Air India and its subsidiary Air India Express, 50 per cent stake sale in ground operations holding company AISATS and freezing of debt, Mr Puri noted.

Some parameters in current PIM include transfer of management control and sale of 100 per cent shares of Air India, along Air India's 100 per cent stake in its subsidiary Air India Express and 50 per cent stake in joint venture AISATS. The debt in Air India has been frozen at Rs 23,286.5 crore, which is approximately equivalent to the written down value of the combined asset of Air India and Air India Express, Mr Puri said.

"Liabilities in Air India will be equal to certain current and non-current assets. Considering the combined figures as on March 2019, liabilities retained will be around Rs 8,771.5 crore. Remaining debt and liabilities of Air India and Air India Express will be allotted to a special purpose vehicle (SPV) Air India Assets Holdings Limited," Mr Puri added.

All land and building assets along with paintings and art work are not part of the transaction, Mr Puri said. However, certain land and buildings at Delhi and Mumbai Airports and corporate offices which are core assets for running the airline will be given to the new investor on right-to-use basis for a limited period, Mr Puri said.

"Any private investor can turn it around and make Air India a profitable venture by bringing operational and financial efficiencies. The government has limited financial resources whereas the private investor can bring the required capital and turn it around. We hope and wish Air India remains a vibrant airline and continues to fly forever," Mr Puri concluded.

The BJP has made big plans to wrest Delhi from Arvind Kejriwal's Aam Aadmi Party - drawing up a list of 40 star campaigners, led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi for next month's assembly elections. The party, which won only three seats in the 2015 assembly election, has lined up a chunk of union ministers, chief ministers and senior state leaders to campaign over the next 20 days.

The list includes star campaigners like Amit Shah, Smriti Irani, Nitin Gadkari, Rajnath Singh, Dr Harsh Vardhan, Vijay Goel and the new party chief JP Nadda.

The state leaders' contingent is led by Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister and the party's poster boy Yogi Adityanath. Among the rest are former chief ministers Shivraj Singh Chouhan and Arjun Munda.

Most of the campaigners are from outside Delhi -- a gap the ruling party is expected to exploit.

Earlier, Arvind Kejriwal had pointed out that the BJP is yet to name a Chief Ministerial candidate. While that is the BJP's usual procedure except in rare cases, the Chief Minister has poked fun at the party by tweeting.

The BJP fielded Sunil Yadav at the last minute, which, sources said, did not please the chief of the BJP youth wing.

Party sources said the young lawyer had objected, arguing that a defeat would end his political career. But his appeal for another seat was firmly turned down by the new party chief.

Later, Mr Yadav rubbished any talk about wanting a different seat. "BJP has chosen me because I am a local here and the people consider me their own. It is a fight against the local versus outsider," he told reporters.

The Madras High Court on Tuesday granted an interim stay till January 27, on the proceedings against Congress Lok Sabha MP Karti Chidambaram and his wife Srinidi in connection with a case of alleged income tax evasion, pending before a lower court.

Justice M Sundar, before whom the petition by Karti and his wife, seeking to stall the proceedings before the special court constituted to hear cases related to MPs and MLAs came up for hearing, granted an interim injunction till January 27.

The matter relates to the alleged non-disclosure of Rs 1.35 crore received by Karti, son of former union minister P Chidambaram, and his wife Srinidhi in cash for sale of land at Muttukadu near here.

The lower court, which is proposed to frame charges is restrained from doing so because of the interim stay. The petitioners have submitted that the transaction was completed and returns of income were filed in 2015 when Karti was not a member of Parliament.

The deputy director of income tax Investigation, Chennai, had filed a complaint on September 12, 2018, against the petitioners before the Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Court-II (Economic Offences) for offences under sections 276c(1) and 277 of the I-T Act. The case was later transferred to the special court.

An Iranian lawmaker announced a 3 million dollar award to "whoever kills Trump", Iranian semi-official News agency reported.

"On behalf of people of Kerman province, we will pay 3 million dollar award in cash to whoever kills Trump," Ahmad Hamzeh told parliamentarians, according to ISNA.

He did not elaborate whether it was a decision made by Iran's clerical rulers to threaten US President Donald Trump.

Kerman is the hometown of Qassem Soleimani, Iran's top commander of the Quds Force who was killed by a U.S. drone on Jan. 3 in Iraq.

Hyundai Kona Electric SUV has entered the Guinness World Records under the category of 'Highest Altitude Achieved in an Electric Car'. It became the first Made-in-India electric SUV to be driven to an altitude of 5,731 meters to Sawula Pass in Tibet, beating the previous record of 5,715.28 meters altitude achieved by the Nio ES80. The carmaker says that for the entire duration of the drive, the Hyundai Kona Electric was charged using the standard portable charger provided along with the vehicle. Hyundai claims that there were no performance issues while climbing the peaks, while the car's smart power regeneration system also came in handy while descending from the peaks.

Commenting on this Kona Electric's achievement, S S Kim, MD & CEO, Hyundai Motor India said, "Hyundai Kona Electric making to the prestigious Guinness World Records feat is a very proud moment for everyone and remarkable feat for HMIL. Kona Electric has brought Electric Revolution by demolishing various myths about electric vehicle and is a true expression of Hyundai's spirit of staying ahead of the curve. Under the Emission Impossible Mission, Kona Electric has proved its mettle in the world's toughest terrains without compromising its performance."

The company says that this expedition was also a test to prove that the Hyundai Kona Electric can even perform in extreme and harsh conditions like low temperatures, continuous snowfall, and icy tarmacs. The Hyundai Kona Electric is equipped with a 39.2 kWh battery that powers a 100-kW electric motor, offering an output equivalent of 131 bhp and 395 Nm of peak torque. The electric SUV offers a range of 452 km on a single charge. The battery can be fully charged in seven to eight hours using a regular charger, while a fast charger can charge the battery up to 80 per cent in under an hour.