Kejriwal wanted to know if Modi would reduce natural gas prices, which were allowed to be doubled to Rs 8 per unit, and said he was accordingly sending an open letter to him. He held a press conference in New Delhi on the matter.

For the first nine months of the current financial year, SBI incurred Rs 17,225 crore towards staff expenses, up 35 per cent over the same period last year.

Finance Minister P Chidambaram said his vote-on-account budget to be presented in the Lok Sabha on February 17, will be short, between 12 and 18 pages, on which he would prefer a debate.

Unperturbed by the rise in the fiscal deficit, Finance Minister P Chidambaram exuded confidence that it would remain within the target of 4.8 per cent of GDP in the current financial year.

The speculation was triggered by the Prime Minister's decision to hold a rare press conference on January 3, which will only be the third of his current tenure. The Prime Minister will complete his tenure, the PMO said, rubbishing a report of his stepping down before the polls.

After an age, telecom firms look to the future with hope and to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India chairman with gratitude. In Khullar, the companies see a rare regulator who understands them.

Earlier, the government had projected the current account deficit in the current financial year at $70 billion, which was revised downwards to $60 billion by Finance Minister P Chidambaram on the back of declining gold imports and recovery in exports.

The finance minister also expressed the government's resolve to extend full support to new investment proposals and said that corporates need not sit on cash. He asked them to start investing.

Business Today Editor Chaitanya Kalbag says the ADB thinks GDP will grow by 5.7 per cent in 2014/15, but it is not as if the tendencies in the Indian economy will go away magically after the elections.

\"I just want to emphasise that discussion is taking place on what can be done. Something will be announced as and when the scheme will be put together,\" RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan said.

The \"dog days of summer\" in July and August are commonly identified with stagnation. No better term can be found for our situation, with our politicians in denial about its gravity.

The finance minister, according to officials, will also be updating the FIIs about decisions taken by the government and the RBI to arrest the value of rupee which had touched the lifetime low of 65.56 to a dollar on Thursday.

The agency, however, warned that unchecked fiscal deficit and high inflation could lead to a negative rating action.

The global financial services major also said that in the near-term, rupee weakness could persist, especially in the absence of policy initiatives to quickly boost capital flows.

Fresh heavy dollar selling by exporters and some banks, along with a rally in local equities boosted the sentiment and helped the rupee close at 63.20.

Finance Minister P Chidambaram has said the country's economic growth is likely to remain flat in the first quarter of the current fiscal, but is likely to pick up in the remaining three quarters.

The India rupee continued its slide against another currency, the British Pound, breaching the 102-mark before closing at 100.6.

On a day when the rupee breached the 65-level against the US dollar, Finance Minister P Chidambaram asserted there was no cause for panic and said stability will return to currency markets as government continues to promote investment and growth.

Finance Minister P.Chidambaram outlined the steps the government would take to raise long-term foreign money, including allowing some public sector companies to raise money abroad.

Brushing aside opposition after dithering for nearly four years, the Congress and the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) coalition on Tuesday unanimously endorsed creation of a separate Telangana state from out of Andhra Pradesh.