During February, sugar prices rose by 55.5% year-on-year while potatoes turned costlier by 30% and pulses by 35.58%. Among fuel items, petrol prices rose by 11.7% and high-speed diesel by around 9%

Wholesale price-based inflation rose to 9.89% in February from 8.56% in the previous month due to increase in prices of certain food items such as sugar and the hike in excise duty on fuel announced last month, reports PTI.

Sugar prices rose by 55.5% in February year-on-year while potatoes turned costlier by 30% and pulses by 35.58%. Among fuel items, petrol prices rose by 11.7% and high-speed diesel by around 9%.

Overall, the fuel index for the month rose by 1.5%. Non-coking coal rose 12%, coking coal 9% and high-speed diesel and petrol by 2% each.

Inflation is expected to rise further following the hike in excise duty on petrol and diesel in the Budget.

To tame inflation, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), in its quarterly monetary review, had asked banks to keep aside more cash with them. It hiked the cash reserve ratio—the amount banks have to park with the apex bank—by 75 basis points to 5.75%, which would suck out Rs36,000 crore from the system.

The RBI's projection of inflation touching 8.5% by this fiscal-end has already been breached last month.
 

The bench was in no mood to relent and said that Mr Raju, being the main accused, has the propensity to influence the witnesses and, hence, his bail cannot be granted

The Supreme Court on Monday dismissed the bail application of disgraced Satyam founder, Ramalinga Raju, the main accused in a multi-crore fraud case, reports PTI.

"When serious crimes are committed, people are bound to be in jail," a bench headed by Chief Justice KG Balakrishnan observed.

The bench, also comprising Justices Deepak Verma and BS Chauhan, was in no mood to relent and said that Mr Raju, being the main accused, has the propensity to influence the witnesses and, hence, his bail could not be granted.

It also rejected 56-year-old Mr Raju's argument that he was entitled to bail as the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had already filed the third charge-sheet in the case and that he was suffering from serious health ailments like cardiac problem and hepatitis.

The bench noted, "He (Mr Raju) is also getting proper medical treatment."

Senior counsel S Andhiarjuna submitted that Mr Raju was languishing in jail since January 2009. The trial court would be required to examine 671 witnesses and peruse 1.60 lakh documents, further extending his stay in prison, he said.

He also submitted that several other accused including some senior auditors have been awarded bail and, hence, Mr Raju was entitled to the same on the principle of parity.

The bench rejected the repeated pleas of Mr Raju that the CBI should at least be given a notice on Mr Raju's bail application.

The apex court said that Mr Raju cannot be released until the main witnesses in the case are examined.

It said that Mr Raju can file an appropriate application for his bail at a later stage when all the main witnesses are examined.

According to a an economic survey carried out in Bihar, poor turnover and constantly increasing losses are plaguing the state’s public sector units

State-run or public sector units (PSUs) in Bihar have become white elephants and a big drain on the exchequer, says a survey, reports PTI.

The state Economic Survey presented in the Bihar Assembly during the ongoing session presented a bleak future for the 51 government-run companies—17 working and 34 non-functioning—and suggested merger of working PSUs and immediate closure of the non-functioning units.

The survey report said that of the 51 government companies as on March 2008, the majority lacked rigorous accountability structures.

The report said that the total investment in the public sector as on March 2006 was Rs8,631.32 crore, comprising equity of Rs622.70 crore (7.21%) and long-term loans for Rs8,008.62 crore (2.79%). Mainly due to poor turnover and ever-increasing losses, the Bihar government has been left with no other choice but to wind up the loss-making units, the survey suggested.

The Economic Survey report said that the four statutory corporations of the state government—Bihar State Electricity Board (BSEB), Bihar State Financial Corporation (BSFC), Bihar State Road Transport Corporation (BSRTC) and Bihar State Warehousing Corporation (BSWC) are running at huge losses.

The loss of BSEB increased to Rs854.61 crore in 2006-07 from Rs54.30 crore in 2004-05. "The accumulated loss of the BSEB has been increasing steeply and stands at more than Rs1,524 crore at the end of 2007-08. The return on investment has been negative and the government has paid a subsidy of more than Rs2,300 crore during the period from 2004-05 to 2006-07," the survey report said.

The total government loans due from the Board stood at more than Rs6,200 crore as on March 2007, the Survey said.