Top headlines: Sensex rallies 1k pts ahead of Fed meet; Mann new Punjab CM

Business Standard brings you the top headlines on Wednesday

Future Retail says will act to reverse store takeovers by Reliance

Future Retail said on Wednesday it was committed to taking back its stores which were seized by rival Reliance, saying it had been surprised by the move.

Reliance, India's biggest retailer, stunned Future on Feb 25 with its staff suddenly showing up at many of Future's biggest stores to assume control, in what was seen as a de facto takeover. Read more

Bhagwant Mann: Now CM, former comedian gets down to serious business

From a comedian to Punjab chief minister, Bhagwant Mann has seen a phenomenal rise in a political career of just over a decade.

Mann on Wednesday was sworn in as chief minister at Khatkar Kalan, the ancestral village of freedom fighter Bhagat Singh in Punjab's Shaheed Bhagat Singh (SBS) Nagar district. Read more

Airlines may go for another round of fare hikes as crude prices bite

Airlines may go for another round of fare hikes to offset the cost of rising fuel prices, a senior executive of a private airline said on Wednesday.

This was in response to state oil marketing companies decision to increase the price of aviation turbine fuel by 18 per cent to record Rs 1.10 lakh for a kiloliter. Fuel accounts for over 40 percent of airline’s expenses and the latest jet fuel price hike will increase overall expenses of airlines by 7-8 per cent. Read more

AgustaWestland scam: CBI files chargesheet against ex-Defence Secretary

The CBI has filed a supplementary chargesheet in the Rs 3,600-crore AgustaWestland scam against former Defence Secretary Shashi Kant Sharma and four Indian Air Force personnel, officials said Wednesday.

The CBI filed the chargesheet in a special court in Delhi after getting the nod from the government to prosecute Sharma, who was the Defence Secretary between 2011 and 2013 before being appointed the Comptroller and Auditor General. Read more

Indian shares rise on gains in bank, auto stocks; Fed meeting eyed

Gains in bank and auto stocks helped Indian shares close higher on Wednesday, with investors keeping a watch on Ukraine-Russia peace talks and the U.S. Federal Reserve's policy meeting.

At the closing bell, the blue-chip NSE Nifty 50 index was up 1.87% at 16,975.35, while the benchmark S&P BSE Sensex ended 1.86% higher at 56,816.65 points.

Both indexes opened higher after losing more than 1% in the previous session and kept the momentum through the day to close at their highest levels in three weeks. Read more.