The Centre&rsquo;s mammoth food security programme will not worsen the fiscal scenario in 2012-13 as much as some critics fear.

Food Bill to widen fiscal deficit only marginally 

Business Standard

At least one person was killed and four others got minor injuries during a fire accident in Vedanta Alumina&rsquo;s refinery at Lanjigarh, in Kalahandi district on the wee hours of Saturday.

Fire at Vedanta refinery staff campus kills one

The move by Gujarat Mineral Development Corporation (GMDC) to ship coal from Odisha to meet the requirement of end user power plants in its home state has come a cropper.

Odisha opposes GMDC plan to transport coal

Educational Promotion Society for India (EPSI), a not-for-profit autonomous society of educationists from the private sector, has asked the government to consider issues related to the education bills pending with the central government.

EPSI asks govt to consider pending edu bills issue

Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa has asked the banks in the state to work with the government for implementing the electronic systems of various government organisations and the banks to meet the goals set by the government in near future and long-term.

Jaya urges banks to join hands with govt for financial domain

To clear space for storing new grains, the government is considering a variety of options, including pumping more foodgrain into the Public Distribution System (PDS) and selling additional wheat through a re-worked open market sale scheme. Officials in the food ministry said the government plans to pump in an additional 14 million tonnes of grains in the PDS this year, over and above last year&rsquo;s allocation of 56 million tonnes. A high-powered meeting on storage and procurement issues, to be chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Monday, is expected to discuss all options options to vacate storage space.

Govt to sell more grains through open market, PDS

The government today decided to stick to its earlier decision of allowing Reliance Power (R-Power), an Anil Dhirubhai Ambani (ADA) Group company, to divert surplus coal from the mines allotted for its Sasan Ultra Mega Power project (UMPP) to Chitrangi power plant, another nearby project being developed by the company.

Govt not to review decision allowing R-Power to divert surplus coal

In a major setback to the anti-corruption campaign of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) against the ruling United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government, a CBI court has sentenced former party president, Bangaru Laxman, to four years of imprisonment on charges of receiving a bribe of Rs 1 lakh in 2001 from undercover journalists posing as arms dealers of a fictitious UK-based company.

Bangaru Laxman gets 4 yrs in jail BJP worried

The government&rsquo;s dilemma over fuel prices again came to the fore, with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today indicating the need to &ldquo;rationalise&rsquo; prices while shielding the poor.

Need to rationalise petroleum prices: PM

Piaggio, the largest European scooter-maker, on Saturday said it will invest euro 20 million in its India unit and is looking at launching light commercial vehicles (4-wheeler) of a capacity of half tonne, less than one tonne and 1.5 tonne, apart from a three-wheeler passenger vehicle by July 2012 that would have a 200-cc best in class fuel efficiency engine.

Piaggio to launch LCVs, 3-wheelers

Trades between FIIs generated a volume of Rs 36 crore on the BSE Friday-an increase of 25.71% from Rs 29 crore clocked on Thursday. As many as five stocks witnessed trades of 5.59 lakh shares on Friday.

FII-TO-FII TRADES: PNB traded at 7% premium

The country's largest car maker, Maruti Suzuki India (MSI), on Saturday said its net profit declined by 3.04 per cent to Rs 639.8 crore for the fourth quarter ended March 31, 2012, over the same period in the previous financial year. The company had posted a net profit of Rs 659.9 crore in the same period of previous financial year, MSI said in a statement.

Maruti Suzuki net dips in FY12, but Q4 better than expected

Supply of diesel in the four southern states, which was interrupted in the recent days, would become normal as Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Limited (MRPL) has resumed operations, according to a government announcement.

Fuel supply to improve soon in south, says Indian Oil

Granules India Limited has appointed VVS Murthy as its new chief financial officer (CFO).

Granules India appoints new CFO

Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Deputy Governor K C Chakrabarty, once the most loquacious of central bank officials, has turned ultra-discreet after his 2010 criticism of RBI&rsquo;s handling of monetary policy cost him key portfolios. So, reporters in Hyderabad were hard-pressed to get a comment out of him on Standard &amp; Poor&rsquo;s (S&amp;P) downgrade of its outlook on India last week. After a volley of pointed questions, someone eventually asked how S&amp;P and Moody&rsquo;s could have two different views on India. His response was that if someone visits 10 doctors he is likely to get 10 opinions. Asked if he agreed with either agency, Chakrabarty said he was not a doctor (that is, a rating agency). And on whether RBI would be impacted by S&amp;P&rsquo;s outlook, he added laconically, &ldquo;Nor am I a patient because we have never gone for sovereign borrowings.

Neither doctor nor patient

What do you do to attract customers to an airline that has developed a reputation for cancelling flights at will because of its financial crisis? If you are Vijay Mallya, you leverage your connection to the Indian Premier League. Thus, with every return ticket a passenger books on Kingfisher, he or she will get a free jersey of the Bangalore Royal Challengers, the team Mallya owns. Potential customers, thus, will literally be betting their shirts if they accept the offer.

Return gift

The importance of the monsoons for India&rsquo;s economy is well documented. Given the global economic slowdown, the annual seasonal rains this year have acquired an added significance. So much so that Minister for Science and Technology Vilasrao Deshmukh even joked that the mild showers in the capital the day the 2012 forecast of the southwest monsoon was announced was a harbinger of good news. &ldquo;Don&rsquo;t worry,&rdquo; he told journalists who wondered whether April&rsquo;s unseasonal rains would impact the monsoons, &ldquo;the rains today are also a pointer to the fact that our forecast is positive.&rdquo; Whether the rain gods &ndash; or rather the capricious El Nino &ndash; will corroborate his optimism is another matter, of course.

Positive correlation

The BSE Sensex and the NSE Nifty closed higher in a special trading session on Saturday, but fell 1-1.5 per cent for the week. Indices extended gains in late trade, led by banks, auto and metals stocks, while the upside was capped due to a fall in Reliance Industries, Bharti and Larsen &amp; Toubro.

Sensex ends 53 pts up in special session

The Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) on Saturday said its net profit declined by 11.25 per cent in 2011-12, as it spent more money on the market-making scheme to revive its equity derivative segment.

BSE's 2011-12 net profit down 11.25% at Rs 205 cr

Global prepaid service vouchers firm Edenred and Great Place To Work Institute announced a list of 'India&rsquo;s Best Companies for Rewards and Recognition '. US headquartered TPG Software topped the list, followed by Bangalore based Intuit Technologies Services and American Express, in their first ever survey in India.

Edenred announces best companies for rewards

Domestic gold prices closed at an all-time high level on Saturday, surpassing the previous high set on November 16, 2011, on a declining rupee and buying support from central banks across the globe.

BS Reporter