After suspending futures trading in guar gum and guar seed last month, the consumer affairs ministry has said it would not hesitate recommending similar step on some other commodities to the forward markets commission (FMC), if it is leading to a price surge in real markets. But that step could not be taken without establishing such a link, it added.

Some futures tradings under govt scanner

Business Standard

Tamil Nadu has asked the Government of India to provide compensation till Goods and Service Tax (GST) was introduced as the revenue loss suffered by states was substantial and permanent.

TN seeks compensation till GST is introduced

The Comptroller &amp; Auditor General of India (CAG) has pulled up the Odisha government for not taking adequate steps to realize sales tax arrears from the dealers worth Rs 1,059.62 crore (as on March 31, 2011).

CAG pulls up Odisha over non-realisation of Rs 1,060 cr arrears

The Karnataka Milk Federation (KMF) is growing fast and has been rated as the standard brand in the international market. Moreover, according to the latest survey, KMF stands second in milk procurement, claimed chairman of Karnataka Milk Federation Somshekhar Reddy.

Karnataka milk federation to double procurement

The growth in freight earnings is despite recurring disruptions on the key revenue generating Kottavalasa-Kirandul (KK) line due to the Naxalite activities.

ECoR earnings up 11% at Rs 8,079 cr

The south Odisha fraction of the naxals, who have kept Biju Janata Dal (BJD) MLA Jhina Hikaka in their captivity since March 24, have once again extended their deadline to release the lawmaker in exchange for 29 prisoners, arrested for their association with the left wing extremism.

Naxals extend deadline to April 18 for MLA release

The Orissa Cricket Association (OCA) has insured IPL matches to be played at Barabati Stadium in Cuttack on April 22 and May 1, 2012 for Rs 20 crore.

IPL matches at Barabati insured for Rs 20 cr

With more than 200 RML (renewal of mining lease) applications pending at different levels, the state government is keen on disposing such cases at the earliest.

Mine lease renewal cases to go under scanner

The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (Irda) has strongly come out in support of a government-backed health insurance policy, which is in the works with an aim to provide health cover to a large population.

Irda for govt-backed health insurance scheme

Exactly a month after he was elected as the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, Akhilesh Yadav called on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to seek more funds, blessings and endorsement.

Akhilesh meets PM, shows he's in charge

The Microfinance Bill in its present form may hurt the growth of the Self-Help Group (SHG) programme being run across states to bring people above the poverty line, according to Union rural development minister Jairam Ramesh.

'Microfinance Bill impediment for self-help groups'

Ahead of the monetary policy for 2012-13 on Tuesday, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor D Subbarao on Saturday met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee to discuss the macroeconomic situation of the country.

Subbarao meets PM, FM ahead of RBI policy

Having set up its third drip irrigation plant in Savli, near Vadodara, Netafim India, a subsidiary of Tel Aviv, Israel-based Netafim is looking to scale up its capacity from 30,000 hectares to 90,000 hectares in next 12-18 months.

Netafim eyes 25% market share in drip irrigation space

Pharmaceutical exports in the first seven-month period between April and October, 2011, posted a 20 per cent growth to Rs 31,467 crore as compared with Rs 26,174 crore in the corresponding period previous year.

Pharma exports grow 20% in April-Oct 2011

Annapurna Studios, promoted by veteran Telugu film actor Akkineni Nageshwara Rao and his son Nagarjuna, has invested Rs 100 crore to develop 100,000 sft of five new large-format, fully air-conditioned shooting floors at its 22-acre studio in Banjara Hills. The expansion takes the total number of studio facilities at Annapurna to 10, making it the largest in Asia.

Annapurna expands studio with Rs 100 cr

While it is expanding its current 200 beds hospital to 400 beds in Ahmedabad, Apollo Group of Hospitals is now planning to set up an acute heart hospital as well in the city.

Apollo Group to invest Rs 15 cr for heart hospital in Ahmedabad

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi), has said trustee companies, which provide loans against pledged shares, would not be exempted from open offer obligations.

Trustee companies not exempted from open offers

It is customary for executives to set an &ldquo;out of office&rdquo; prompt when they are on leave, but one senior executive devised a unique automated response to a journalist&rsquo;s questionnaire. Within an hour of sending a message, a journalist received a reply saying, &ldquo;The replies are ready. Will send you soon.&rdquo; Two days later when the replies had not arrived, a reminder was sent. The reply was the same: &ldquo;The replies are ready. Will send you soon.&rdquo; After a couple of days, a third reminder elicited exactly the same response. That&rsquo;s certainly a unique way of declining to answer press queries.

Ready-made response

Kingfisher Airlines Chairman Vijay Mallya may be using Twitter to vent his anger on unfriendly media reporting but the airline he owns seems to be using its own account in a much more sensible way. Given the increasing criticism it has attracted for arbitrary flight cancellations, the airline has taken to updating its followers everyday on the number of flights from key destinations. Now, instead of calling the airport and airline, log on to Twitter for a flight update.

Kingfisher tweets

Why are jewellers getting support from political circles across the board on their demand to roll back the one per cent excise duty on non-branded jewellery that was proposed in the Budget? A revenue department official handling the issue had one explanation. The duty was introduced, he said, to curb money laundering since the jewellery and cinema businesses provide the two biggest avenues for doing so.

BS Reporter