Newsmakers: Dec retail inflation up at 5.61%, TCS Q3 net profit up 14.2% and more

Retail inflation accelerates to 5.61% in Dec: The retail inflation accelerated to 5.61 per cent for the month of December on the back of rising food prices, the government data released by Ministry of Statistics showed. The consumer price index inflation was at 5.41 per cent in November.

TCS net profit up 14.2% at Rs 6,083 cr in Dec quarter: Tata Consultancy Services reported an increase in the net profit by 14.2 per cent at Rs 6,083 crore on sales of Rs 27,364 crore in the October-December quarter. The country's largest software exporter had reported a net profit of Rs 5,328 crore in the October-December period of last fiscal. TCS CEO Natarajan Chandrasekaran said stricter US visa norms and Chennai floods had put pressure on the company's revenues.

Ensure RBI is not seen as paper tiger, says Rajan: As RBI chides banks to act tough on bad debts, Governor Raghuram Rajan has asked his colleagues to ensure that the central bank is not seen as mere "paper tiger" and even rich and powerful wrong-doers are not spared. He also wondered whether there was a need to be "more intolerant of sloppy practices at regulated entities, so that these do not result in massive scams years later?" In his New Year message to all RBI employees, the academic-turned-central banker said the country is often described as "a weak state".

Industrial output contracts by 3.2% in Nov: The Index of industrial production (IIP) contracted by 3.2 per cent in November year on year, the government data showed. The industrial ouput stood at 9.9 per cent in October.

Sugar cess ceiling hiked to Rs 200/quintal: President Pranab Mukherjee has given his assent to the Sugar Cess (Amendment) Bill, 2015, raising the ceiling of the impost from Rs 25 to Rs 200 per quintal, a measure that will help sugarcane growers and cash-starved mills. Presidential assent to the bill, which will help the government meet its expenditure on interventions to ensure payment of dues to the sugarcane farmers, was granted on January 8, official sources said.