* AUTO: Renault Nissan will launch an entry-level small car in India , codenamed Datsun K2, in the first half of 2014. It is expected to be priced at around 300,000 rupees.
* AVIATION: Air India will lower free baggage allowance to 15 kgs from 20 kgs on domestic flights and start charging 200-250 rupees per kg on excess baggage from next week.
* BANKING: Reserve Bank of India will look at options other than just open market operations to manage liquidity conditions in the banking system.
* GOVERNMENT: Has moved the National Food Security Bill, 2011 in Lok Sabha for consideration.
* CEMENT: The Competition Commission of India has begun scrutiny of a complaint against incursion of a Chinese firm in Indian waste heat recovery projects in the cements sector.
* COMMODITIES: With climate playing havoc in key maize-growing areas, the government has introduced four new seed varieties that can withstand excessive rains, drought and heat.
* INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY: The Indian public cloud services market will grow 36% on year to $443 mln in 2013, information technology research firm Gartner said.
* INSURANCE: Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority Chairman T.S. Vijayan has said the regulator has started examining the allegations of money laundering levelled against some insurers by an online news portal.
* INVESTMENT: Government is planning to introduce new classification for investors that do not come under foreign direct investment route and would be classified as foreign portfolio investors.
* MEDIA: A parliamentary committee has sought to make a case for controlling the media, both print and electronic, through a statutory regulator. (Mint)
* PHARMA: The government is revisiting the proposal for price negotiation of patented drugs with the Department of Pharmaceuticals recently sending a reminder to stakeholders to send comments on pricing of patented medicines.
* PORT: The Centre's move to phase out dredging subsidy could impact efficiency of the Haldia Dock Complex under the Kolkata Port Trust, and cargo handled could dip to 30 mln tn per annum by 2020.
* POWER: Coming down hard on states doling out free or cheap electricity at the expense of distribution companies, power minister Jyotiraditya Scindia has said the cost of such subsidies should be borne by the state governments.
* REGULATORS: RBI Governor D. Subbarao has reiterated that growth-inflation dynamics forms an important basis for its policy guidance.
* RETAIL: The ministry of corporate affairs, department of industrial policy and promotions and the enforcement directorate have sought more answers from US retail giant Walmart on lobbying in India , including a break-up of expenses incurred. UK-based retailer Marks & Spencer is under government scanner for a possible violation of the foreign direct investment policy on single-brand retail that bars investors from selling multiple brands in a single store.
* TAXATION: Finance ministers of Bharatiya Janata Party-ruled states said the Centre and states are yet to arrive at a consensus on crucial issues including compensation.
* TELECOM: The government will soon announce new norms that will make payment of the controversial one-time spectrum fee a pre-condition for merger and acquisitions among established phone companies.
