* AUTOMOBILES: Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers has requested the finance ministry to put a 1.2-mln-rupee floor for a sports utility vehicle to come under the ambit of the 300-basis-point hike in excise duty.
* AVIATION: National carrier Air India owes state-owned oil-marketing companies 43.24 bln rupees in dues, including interest. Air India is once again putting up for rent eight floors of its building at Nariman Point in Mumbai.
* BANKING: RBI Governor D. Subbarao said Basel III capital requirements will improve the quality of banks' capital but could also push up the cost of credit. RBI Governor D. Subbarao said that some corrective steps need to be taken following the recent allegations of money laundering against ICICI BANK, HDFC BANK and AXIS BANK.
* ENERGY: Petroleum and Natural Gas Board has fixed 21.25 mscmd capacity as Reliance Gas Transportation Infrastructure's East West Pipeline opens access for other carriers of natural gas. Government may revise the gas pricing policy in next few weeks and may also announce the shale gas policy soon.
- Government plans to set up a special fund to back local insurers in providing cover to refiners that buy crude oil from Iran .
* EXCHANGES: Investors trading on the BSE will have to settle all single stock futures and options contracts in cash starting Apr 26.
* EXPORTS: Government plans to give an incentive package worth 15-20 bln rupees as part of the annual review of the foreign trade policy.
* FMCG: Parle Products has roped in superstar Amitabh Bachchan to endorse its new mid-premium brand.
* GOVERNMENT: The National Food Security Bill, 2010 is likely to be passed in the Budget session of parliament.
* INFRASTRUCTURE: RBI Governor D. Subbarao has ruled out the possibility of easing bank lending norms for infrastructure companies but added that the burden of financing the sector would remain on banks.
* INSURANCE: Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority has sought data from insurance companies whose products cropped up in recent allegations of bank officials helping in money laundering.
* INVESTMENT: The government has rationalised norms for foreign institutional investor investments in government securities and corporate bonds by removing
all sub-limits.
* MARUTI SUZUKI INDIA : Is eyeing the fast-growing utility vehicle space to expand its presence and market share.
* MEDIA: Telecom Regulatory Authority of India has notified regulations afresh restricting advertising time on television channels to 12 minutes per hour. Disney UTV Studios has signed an eight film satellite deal with Zee Network for seven years.
* POLITICS: Ahead of general elections next year, the government may hasten to include Uttar Pradesh and Bihar in its ambitious plan to transfer cash directly into the bank accounts of beneficiaries of key welfare scheme.
* RAILWAYS: Indian Railways has issued a notification regarding hike of 5.8% in base freight rate from Apr 1.
* REALTY: SEBI is probing investor frauds in realty projects being launched by numerous real estate developers. The ministry of housing and urban poverty alleviation is planning to set up a system of single-window clearance for real estate projects to bring down the approval time.
* REGULATORS: The Financial Sector Legislative Reforms Committee has recommended unifying SEBI, IRDA, PFRDA and FMC into a single regulator and keeping RBI separate.
* RETAIL: IKEA's 105-bln-rupee foreign direct investment proposal may be taken up by the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs in the first week of
April.
* TELECOM: The Department of Telecom has told BHARTI AIRTEL, Vodafone and Loop Telecom that their licences, expiring in 2014, cannot be extended and they will need to bid for spectrum.
- Telecommunications Minister Kapil Sibal expects free national mobile roaming to come into effect from October.
