The benchmark Sensex rose by 57 points on persistent buying in capital goods, IT and banking stocks as rejection of no-trust motion against the government bolstered hopes of more reform measures.

Government is bracing for a stormy winter session that begins on Thursday over the issue of FDI in retail with Trinamool Congress even threatening to move a no-confidence motion against the government.

Notwithstanding the Indian rupee recovering major part of its early losses, it logged a new two-month closing low of 55.12, down by a mere two paise against the Greenback.

The BSE benchmark Sensex on Wednesday surged by 131 points on speculations that the government might push through economic reforms in the winter session of Parliament starting on Thursday amid strong Asian cues.

The government proposes to push through key economic reforms Bills in sectors like insurance, pension and banking in the forthcoming Winter Session of Parliament which begins on Thursday.

After rising around 129 points in early trades on Tuesday, the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) benchmark Sensex gave up gains to end 10 points lower, dragged down by losses in Infosys, SBI and RIL, amid political talks of a no-confidence motion on FDI issue in Parliament.

Reserve Bank of India Governor D. Subbarao has said that it would be not possible to speed up the process of issuing new bank licences without fulfilling the enabling conditions.

The 30-share Sensex closed 162 points, or 0.88 per cent, lower at 18,309.37 - a level last seen on September 20.

The government and the Opposition are headed for a showdown on the issue of foreign direct investment (FDI) in multi-brand retail in the upcoming winter session of Parliament.

In India, Tesco has a partnership with the Tata group's retail operations company, Trent, for a cash-and-carry business.

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Following the October 29 Cabinet reshuffle, in all likelihood the last before the general elections of 2014, Business Today looks closely at the challenges before five of them, all holding key economic ministries.

Continuing with the reform agenda, the government is now planning to give the much awaited industry status to the real estate sector which will help sector get access to cheaper finance from banks.

By getting industry status, the real estate sector will get access to easier finance and this would bring down home prices so that come within the reach of the middle class, says Amrapali Group CMD Anil Kumar Sharma.

The long-pending land acquisition Bill is likely to be tabled in Parliament in the winter session. The Group of Ministers (GoM) examining the draft has finally arrived at a consensus over its provisions.

There is something about P Chidambaram's economics that the stock market loves, often disregarding the politics around him. But have the 10 weeks since Chidambaram's return to the North Block undone the damage done to the economy over the previous three years?

At present, six pension fund managers manage a corpus of Rs 20,535 crore. Most of this is mandatory contribution from Central government employees.

A provision has been introduced to make expenditure on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) mandatory.

Taking the reforms agenda forward, the Cabinet on Thursday cleared proposals that seek to allow up to 49 per cent foreign direct investment in insurance and pension sectors.

The Manmohan Singh govt is ready to ram through the next batch of economic reforms, including a hike in the foreign direct investment limit for pension funds to 49 per cent and amendment in the Forward Contract (Regulation) Act.