Civil Aviation Minister has denied any move to regulate fares, saying the Centre only wants to make the pricing system transparent. (ET)

The Planning Commission has snubbed finance ministry’s big pitch for a cut in budget allocation to the 12th Five-Year Plan. (ET)

The Reserve Bank of India and Bank of Japan have concluded a three-year bilateral currency swap arrangement between the two countries. The arrangement aims at addressing short-term liquidity difficulties and supplementing the existing international financial arrangements. (BL)

The Civil Aviation and Petroleum Ministries plan to jointly approach the Finance Ministry to convince it on the need to notify aviation turbine fuel as a ‘declared good’. The proposal’s acceptance will mean that the States will not be able to levy sales tax of more than 4% on ATF. At present, the sales tax on ATF goes as high as 30%. (BL)

The Foreign Investment Promotion Board has approved foreign direct investment proposals worth Rs272mn to infuse foreign equity in a company. Six FDI proposals have been deferred and Government rejected seven FDI proposals. (BL)

The Indian banking system’s outlook for the next 12-18 months remains negative, reflecting the continued challenging nature of its domestic operating environment, according to Moody’s Investors Service. (BL)