Perhaps one of the biggest deterrents to whistleblowing about corruption in Indian companies is the fact that current laws do not guarantee protection of the whistle-blower's identity.

With the country's economic growth rate slumping to a nine-year low, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh appears to have been prodded into action.

Fiscal deficit feeds into inflation, pushes up interest rates and pulls down growth. In 2011/12, India's fiscal deficit was 5.9 per cent of GDP, 1.3 percentage points more than what was forecast in Budget 2011. This comes on the heels of a fiscal deficit of over six per cent of GDP in two of the last three years.

Jet Airways says it has mutually agreed with tax authorities on a payment schedule for the pending service tax dues.

Aviation is still hitting the headlines, for all the wrong reasons. The International Air Transport Association, an umbrella body of all travel agents, suspended Kingfisher Airlines from its clearing house following mounting unpaid dues.

The Dow Jones industrial average lost 22.33 points, or 0.18 per cent, at 12,734.63. The Standard & Poor's 500 was down 7.60 points, or 0.57 per cent, to 1,318.45.

International Monetary Fund chief Christine Lagarde calls for a bigger rescue fund in the 17-member eurozone and the creation of the eurobonds in order to address the single currency bloc's debt crisis.

In a consumer-friendly move that is expected to help mitigate some of the problems faced by users and also bring in some transparency, the Trai asks telcos to publish their tariff plans in newspapers - at least one in regional language and another in English.

The Reserve Bank says it prefers long-term foreign direct investment inflows to short-term debts as the former is more stable in nature.

The European Central Bank took modest steps Thursday to help revive Europe's economy and financial system, including cutting a key interest rate. But President Mario Draghi said there is no existing plan for large-scale government bond purchases, as markets had been hoping.

In a breather for corporate executives embroiled in the 2G scam, the Supreme Court nod led to a spate of bail applications being accepted.

Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong also said: \"The underlying problems - indebtedness and imbalances - remain unresolved, in particular in Europe.\"

The search for a successor to Rata Tata, chairman of Tata Sons, ended on Wednesday, after its board chose Cyrus Mistry, who will take over from Ratan Tata in December 2012. A brief history of the five chairmen in the group's history.

Caught at Silly Point: Former Pakistan captain Salman Butt and pacers Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Aamer became the first cricketers to be sent to prison for corruption, when a London court found them guilty of spot-fixing.

European leaders agree to increase the eurozone's main bailout fund to one trillion euros as part of a package of measures to stave off Europe's spiralling debt crisis.

Leading ratings agency Crisil on Monday joined its rivals in revising the country's growth forecast for this fiscal downward to 7.5 per cent, citing a lack of reforms and repeated rate hikes on the domestic front, besides weak global economic fundamentals.

Asian markets tumbled sharply in early trading on Monday, hurt by data suggesting debt-strapped Greece 's attempts at austerity were not yielding results and a weakening economic picture in Europe.

The central bank hiked key policy (repo) rate by 25 basis points to 8.25 per cent. This is the 12th straight rate hike effected by the monetary authority since March 2010, in its frustrating war against high inflation. The market, meanwhile, had factored the rate hike in. Most observers stated they expected it.

About 47 firms have paid 18.52 per cent more tax for the quarter than they had paid a year ago, taking total payments in the latest quarter to Rs 15,035 crore.

With market analysts feeling that theReserve Bank is unlikely to pause on its tight monetary policy, the autoindustry sees no respite even during the forthcoming festive season and expectsfurther slowdown in sales in the months ahead.