India's annual retail inflation rose to 3.65 per cent in February from 3.17 per cent during the previous month, official data showed on Tuesday.

However, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) data released by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) showed that the index had risen by 5.26 per cent during the corresponding period of last year.

According to CPI data, the rise in retail inflation was mainly due to a surge in the annual food inflation by 2.01 per cent last month from 0.61 per cent in January.

The CPI data revealed that the annual retail inflation for rural India was 3.67 per cent while that for the urban centres was 3.55 per cent. The annual food inflation was 2.08 per cent in rural areas and 1.87 per cent in the urban areas. 

Theresa May's Brexit bill has cleared all hurdles in the Houses of Parliament, opening the way for the prime minister to trigger Article 50 by this March-end.

Peers accepted the supremacy of the House of Commons on late Monday after MPs overturned amendments aimed at guaranteeing the rights of EU citizens in Britain and giving Parliament a "meaningful vote" on the final Brexit deal, reported the Guardian.

It paved the way for the Article 50 Bill to be given Royal Assent on Tuesday, after peers in the upper chamber also caved in, rather than deciding to "ping" it back to the Commons in a series of late-night votes.

But May's victory was overshadowed by Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon's demand for a second referendum on the Scottish independence.

Accusing May of blocking Scotland's desire for a special deal with the EU, Sturgeon said the referendum should be held between autumn 2018 and spring 2019 — without last-minute concessions.

Within hours, No.10 Downing Street announced May would not, as widely expected, trigger Article 50 as early as Tuesday, instead suggesting it would take place in the final week of March.

The day of drama began when Sturgeon called a press conference to warn that May's Brexit strategy made a second referendum all but inevitable.

She accused May of refusing to discuss full Scottish access to the single market, saying: "The UK government has not moved even an inch in pursuit of compromise and agreement."

May immediately accused Sturgeon of playing a "game", telling her "politics is not a game", and accused her of "tunnel vision", the newspaper reported.

"The tunnel vision the SNP has shown today is deeply regrettable; it sets Scotland on a course for more uncertainty and division," May said.

"And this is at a time when the evidence is that… the majority of the Scottish people don't want a second independence referendum."

Sources close to May said she would not allow a referendum until several months after Britain's EU exit, the Telegraph said.

MPs voted down the Brexit bill amendment on EU nationals' rights by 335 to 287, a majority of 48, with peers later accepting the decision by 274 to 135.

The second amendment on whether to hold a meaningful final vote on any deal after the conclusion of Brexit talks was voted down by 331 to 286, a majority of 45, in the Commons.

The Lords then accepted that decision by 274 to 118, with Labour leader Lady Smith telling the Guardian that continuing to oppose the government would be playing politics because MPs would not be persuaded to change their minds.

Brexit Secretary David Davis said Britain stands on the threshold of the "most important negotiation for a generation" after Parliament gave May the power to trigger Brexit.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said the rejection of the Lords amendments was "deeply disappointing" but insisted that the opposition would continue to press for the rights of EU nationals to be prioritised and for the maximum parliamentary oversight of the process.

Gold weakened for the fifth straight session at the domestic bullion market here on Tuesday owing to slackened demand at prevailing levels amid steady global cues.

Silver also continued its downfall on sluggish industrial demand.

Standard gold (99.5 purity) moved down by Rs.135 per 10 grams to finish at Rs.28,265 from last Friday's closing level of Rs.28,400.

Pure gold (99.9 purity) also dipped by a similar margin to end at Rs.28,415 per 10 grams compared to Rs.28,550 previously.

Silver (.999 fineness) dropped by Rs.185 to finish at Rs.40,880 per kg from Rs.41,065 previously.

Globally, gold prices steadied as expectations of an interest rate rise by the US Federal Reserve boosted the dollar, while political risks in Europe kept losses in check by boosting the metal's safe-haven appeal.

The dollar index climbed by about 0.3 per cent, making dollar-priced gold costlier for non-US investors.

Spot gold was mostly unchanged at $1,203.42 per ounce at early trade.

Silver inched up 0.1 per cent to $16.95 per ounce.

Planning to iron out all the hurdles in doing telecom business in India, the sector regulator on Tuesday sought comments from industry stakeholders.

In a paper 'Ease of doing Telecom Business in India', the stakeholders have been requested to provide inputs with detailed explanation and justification by April 11, 2017. The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) will analyse them and, if required, take further necessary action for simplification of processes.

"The Authority is of the opinion that various processes that a telecom licensee is required to go through, should be simplified and combined to the extent possible to economise on efforts on part of the telecom service providers (TSPs) as well as the government," the sector regulator said in a statement.

"Therefore, it is important to identify the bottlenecks, obstacles or hindrances that are making it difficult to do telecom business in India and thus, require regulatory intervention," it added.

The TRAI mentioned that some of the processes that could be reviewed for ease of doing business are – matters related to unified licence; spectrum allotment and use; provision of telecom services using satellite media and merger and acquisition policy.

"In addition, there can be processes in other areas which may be requiring simplification. The stakeholders are requested to identify such areas of concern and review the existing processes and suggest mechanisms that ease the business activity," said the statement.
 

With wrinkles appearing in the time-tested Indo-Russia relationship over a host of issues, Russian President Vladimir Putin is sending Deputy Prime Minister and his envoy to the Far East Region Yuri Trutnev to India on Wednesday

During his four-day visit, Trutnev is scheduled to visit Mumbai and Delhi and hold talks with senior Indian officials as well as top executives of Indian corporations to attract investments from India in the Far East Region of Russia. Indications are that Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar would also be soon flying to Moscow.

Trutnev’s is the first high-level visit from Russia to India in recent months following certain unhealthy developments in ties between the two nations. Indian officials say the visit would provide the two sides an opportunity to hold free and frank discussions on all issues of mutual concern.

India has not taken kindly to Russia holding  joint military exercises with Pakistan in September and subsequently hosting a trilateral meeting with China and Pakistan on Afghanistan in December last year. Russia had also upset India by giving broad hints that it was more inclined towards Pakistan’s policy on Afghanistan to court the Taliban for bringing about a rapprochement between the Afghan regime and the militant outfit. However, the rapidly changing global situation, particularly after the inauguration of President Donald Trump in the United States, has apparently influenced Moscow to realise that it could not take its traditional friendship with New Delhi for granted, especially while crafting its policy on India’s neighbourhood.

Senior Russian officials have gone on record to say that Russia would not conduct military exercises with Pakistan again. Also, after keeping New Delhi out of the meeting on Afghanistan in December, Russia invited India to the six-nation talks it hosted in February to take stock of the situation in the trouble-torn nation.

Last week, Moscow gave signs of a change in its position on the Taliban when the Russian Foreign Ministry issued a strong statement, rejecting all accusations that Moscow was supporting the militant outfit. The accusations were part of the attempts to discredit Russia and were made by forces which were not interested in stabilising the situation in Afghanistan, it said.

Trutnev is likely to court Indian investment and participation of Indian businesses in special economic zones in the Russian Far East which offers tax concessions and other incentives to foreign investors. The visit is being seen as a major exercise to exploit the untapped potential of the Indo-Russian economic cooperation.

The stunning election success of the BJP in Uttar Pradesh gave the market a rush of adrenaline as the Nifty on Tuesday pulled off an all-time closing high of 9,087 and the Sensex raced to a two-year high.

The euphoria even saw the 50-share NSE index breaking through the 9,100-mark to hit 9,122.75, an all-time intra-day high too.

Intra-day, the Rupee flexed muscles, climbing to 66.14.

Despite a sharp increase in WPI inflation, investors set aside all their caution and pumped in more money on hopes that the assembly poll win will make the government push through bold reforms.

A strong set of industrial output numbers for January provided the perfect backdrop to reap more dividends. IIP expanded 2.7 per cent year-on-year.

At one point, the 30-share blue-chip index rallied 615.70 points to hit a high of 29,561.93. In the end, it settled up 496.40 points, or 1.71 per cent, at 29,442.63 — a level last seen on March 5, 2015.

The gauge had gained 44 points in the previous two sessions. Markets were shut on Monday for Holi.

The 50-scrip Nifty settled higher by 152.45 points, or 1.71 per cent, at a life-time high of 9,087, surpassing its previous record of 8,996.25 on March 3, 2015.

Foreign funds net purchased shares Rs.412.14 crore last Friday, as per the provisional figures.

February wholesale price inflation climbed to 6.55 per cent, from 5.25 per cent in the previous month. Expectations of more liquidity in bourses had a positive impact, traders said.

The BSE capital goods index gained the most, rising 3.06 per cent, followed by realty 2.57 per cent, consumer durables 2.40 per cent, bank 1.93 per cent and FMCG 1.60 per cent.

"The market started the day with a gap-up opening, triggered by the strong performance of the BJP in the recently held five state elections in India," said Karthikraj Lakshmanan, Senior Fund Manager Equities, BNP Paribas Mutual Fund.

ICICI Bank was the best performer with 5.99 per cent gain. Support also came from Hindustan Unilever (4.54 per cent), L&T (4.40 per cent), HDFC Ltd (3.69 per cent), Asian Paints (3.51 per cent), Maruti Suzuki (3.02 per cent) and Adani Ports (2.92 per cent).

Sun Pharma rose 3.61 per cent to Rs.708.25 after the US health regulator proposed to lift the import alert on the company's Mohali (Punjab) manufacturing plant.

With the buying activity gathering momentum, second-line stocks continued their upward sprint. The BSE mid-cap and small-cap indices rose 1.43 per cent and 1.19 per cent, respectively.

Other Asian markets ended mixed while European shares remained indecisive in early session as investors awaited the start of the Federal Reserve's policy meeting.

BJP leader Manohar Parrikar was sworn in as chief minister of Goa on Tuesday by Governor Mridula Sinha.

Parrikar, who resigned as Defence Minister, was administered the oath of office in presence of top BJP leaders including BJP national president Amit Shah, Union Ministers Venkaiah Naidu, Nitin Gadkari, JP Nadda and several other dignitaries.

Nine ministers were also sworn in during the ceremony, namely Sudin Dhavalikar and Manohar Azgaonkar of the Maharashtrawdi Gomantak Party, Vijai Sardesai, Vinod Palienkar and Jayesh Salgaonkar of the Goa Forward, Francis D'Souza, Pandurang Madkaikar of the BJP and Independent legislators Govind Gawde and Rohan Khaunte.

By sending a high-profile delegation to Islamabad to attend the Asian Parliamentary Assembly meet, India has given subtle hints to Pakistan that it was willing to consider putting the stalled dialogue process back on track provided Islamabad stops exporting terrorism.

A three-member Indian Parliamentary delegation is participating in the three-day meet being hosted by the Senate of Pakistan.

The Indian delegation includes Congress Lok Sabha member and former Minister of State for External Affairs Shashi Tharoor, BJP Lok Sabha member Meenakashi Lekhi and journalist-turned nominated member of the Rajya Sabha, Swapan Dasgupta, who is considered close to the BJP leadership.

The presence of Tharoor, who tweeted a picture of the three MPs participating in the Islamabad meet, in the delegation is significant since it clearly reflects that the Congress party too would like the government to bring about certain amount of normalcy in ties with Pakistan.

India’s participation in the parliamentary meet virtually confirms the speculation that India could reopen the channels of communications with Pakistan after the assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh and other four states. The government has also given the go-ahead to the Indus Water Commissioner to attend the talks in Lahore on March 20-21 on the contentious Indus Water Treaty (IWT). It is to be seen whether the Indian MPs would be meeting top Pakistani politicians or officials during their stay in Islamabad.

Amid allegations that EVMs were tampered with in the just-concluded assembly polls, the Delhi Congress has asked Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal to conduct the upcoming civic polls through ballot papers.

 "Many are doubting EVMs. Not prejudiced-nor casting aspersions on results. I want Arvind Kejriwal to hold MCD elections through ballot papers," Delhi Congress chief Ajay Maken said on Twitter.

After her Bahujan Samaj Party was decimated in the Uttar Pradesh assembly polls, party chief Mayawati alleged the voting machines had been "managed" to favour the Bharatiya Janata Party.

She asked the poll panel to hold the results of Uttar Pradesh and Uttarkahand assembly elections and do re-polling using paper ballots.

The Election Commission subsequently rejected her allegations.

Former Chelsea midfielder Michael Essien, who featured in nine seasons with the English giants, joined the Indonesian football club Persib Bandung on Tuesday.

Essien's stint with Chelsea saw the team win a Champions League, two Premier League titles and four FA Cups. 

Essien, 34, has also played for Real Madrid and AC Milan, besides his English club appearance.

The Ghana-born is one of the most talked-about players signing for Indonesian football since Roger Milla and Mario Kempes, who played for the South Asian country in 1990s.

Persib Bandung are one of the most supported clubs in India and recently finished third in the prestigious President's Cup football tournament.

The Congress party on Tuesday said that Goa Governor Mridula Sinha unilaterally invited the BJP to form the next government in the state, despite a letter by the Congress party to her seeking an invitation to form the government, AICC General Secretary Digvijaya Singh said on Tuesday.

"We wanted to stake claim since March 12. We had even given her a letter by the night of March 12. She still did not give us time, and went against 'established conventions' and invited the BJP to form government," Singh told a press conference in Panaji.

The Congress is expected to meet the Governor in a bid to stake claim later on Tuesday.

Both the Congress, which has emerged as the single largest party in the February 4 elections in Goa, and the BJP which has 13 MLAs in the 40-member Goa legislative assembly, are locked in a tussle over government formation.

Sinha on Sunday invited former Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar to form government, after the latter submitted letters of support from 21 MLAs, which includes three MLAs each from regional parties Goa Forward and the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party and two Independent legislators. One more Independent MLA Prasad Gaonkar from Sanguem assembly constituency, submitted his letter of support to BJP on Monday.

Parrikar will be sworn in as Chief Minister later on Tuesday.

Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday accused the BJP of using money to "steal the mandate" in Manipur and Goa following the party's bid to form governments in both the states despite being the runner-up.

Breaking his silence after the Congress' drubbing in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand assembly polls, Gandhi also said his party needed structural and organisational changes. 

"We have an ideological fight with the Bharatiya Janata Party and we will continue to do that. What BJP has done in Manipur and Goa, is basically what their ideology is and which is what we are fighting," Gandhi told the media. 

Asked to comment on allegations that the Congress' central leadership did not act soon enough in Goa, Gandhi replied: "It's not a question of soon enough, it's a question of how much money the BJP has thrown to steal the mandate in Manipur and Goa. That's the question."

Gandhi said the Congress' performance in the assembly polls was not bad. 

"We are in the opposition, you have ups and downs. We had a little down in Uttar Pradesh, that's fine we accept it. 

"We had five elections, we formed the government in Punjab and won in Manipur and Goa. That is not a bad result. It is true that we lost in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand. 

"But as far Congress is concerned we do need to make structural, organisational changes," added Gandhi. 

South Korean prosecutors on Tuesday said they planned to summon former President Park Geun-hye this week for questioning over a corruption scandal for which she was impeached.

Park will be summoned as a suspect over allegations that she colluded with her friend Choi Soon-sil to extort money from Samsung Group, Yonhap News Agency reported.

"We will decide tomorrow (Wednesday) when to summon former President Park and inform her," an official of a special prosecutors told the media. 

"We will let you know once we are prepared."

The decision comes after Park was dismissed by a court last week over the scandal and thus stripped of her presidential immunity from criminal prosecution.

Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday said a probe has been ordered into the Maoist attack in Chhattisgarh's Sukma district that killed 12 CRPF personnel and said the government is committed to counter and eliminate Left Wing Extremism.

The Home minister in his statement to the Lok Sabha said the success of the armed forces against Left Wing Extremism (LWE) has rattled the rebels. 

"In 2016, our armed forces met with big success in all LWE affected areas particularly Chhattisgarh. While 135 extremists were killed, 789 were arrested and 1198 surrendered. 

"There has been a 15 per cent decline of Maoist violence in 2016. From 495 acts of Maoist violence in 2015, in 2016 the number of such acts came down to 395," he said. 

In one of the biggest Maoist attacks in the past two years, 12 CRPF personnel were killed and four injured in an ambush by the rebels on Saturday.

Paying homage to the slain troopers, Rajnath Singh said a probe by the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) Director has been ordered to find out lapses if any that led to the attack and assured the Centre's commitment towards countering and eliminating the Left Wing extremism. 

"The Centre government will pay Rs.45 lakh ex gratia to the families of each of the martyrs, along with Rs.25 lakh from CRPF risk fund, Rs.1 lakh from CRPF welfare fund and Rs.25 lakh of insurance. Under the liberalised pensionary award, families will also be entitled to get full salary of the martyred soldiers till the age of retirement," he said. 

Congress and its UPA allies on Tuesday staged a walkout of the Lok Sabha to protest the alleged efforts to install BJP government in Goa and Manipur despite it having the numbers.

Members of Congress, NCP and RJD raised the issue during Question Hour. Congress leader in the House Mallikarjun Kharge claimed that democracy is being murdered.

When the Speaker said she would not allow the Question Hour to be disrupted and members should raise such matters in the Zero Hour, Kharge said if they are not allowed to raise the issue in the House, where else would they go.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said since the Congress leader has used "strong words", they should either be expunged or the government be allowed to respond.

The Speaker said nothing beyond the questions and answers will be allowed to go on record.

The Congress, NCP and RJD members then staged a walkout.

The Congress has alleged that the BJP is moving against the law and precedent in forming their governments in Goa and Manipur, saying they are the single largest party in both the states.

Saturn's icy moon Enceladus has an underground ocean of liquid water that may be only a few kilometres beneath the surface – much closer than thought – according to NASA scientists who found that the south polar region of the moon is warmer than expected.

The excess heat is especially pronounced over three fractures that are not unlike the "tiger stripes" – prominent, actively venting fractures that slice across the pole – except that they do not appear to be active at the moment.

Seemingly dormant fractures lying above the moon's warm, underground sea point to the dynamic character of Enceladus' geology, suggesting the moon might have experienced several episodes of activity, in different places on its surface.

The finding confirms the results of an earlier study that estimated the thickness of Enceladus' icy crust.

The studies indicate an average depth for the ice shell of 18 to 22 kilometres, with a thickness of less than five kilometres at the south pole.

"Finding temperatures near these three inactive fractures that are unexpectedly higher than those outside them adds to the intrigue of Enceladus," said Cassini Project Scientist Linda Spilker at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in the US.

"What is the warm underground ocean really like and could life have evolved there? These questions remain to be answered by future missions to this ocean world," said Spilker.

The study was published in the journal Nature Astronomy.

Owning moral responsibility for the dismal performance of the Congress in the zilla parishads elections in Odisha, BK Hariprasad on Monday resigned from the post of general secretary of the All India Congress Committee (AICC) and also as a member of the AICC Working Committee.

Hariprasad told the media that he originally offered to resign on March 9 owning moral responsibility for the party's poor show in these polls.

He, however, ruled out quitting the party as he was a loyal party worker. "I will not think of quitting the party even in my wildest dreams," he added.

Soon after the death of Odisha Congress leader Lalatendu Bidyadhar Mohapatra, differences within the state unit had increased.

Hariprasad had to face the ire of students' leaders in Odisha, leading to suspension of some of them. The students' wing threatened Hariprasad that he would be greeted with black flags through his tour of Odisha. Such differences resulted in BJD returning to power in many zilla parishads, and the Congress making way for BJP to occupy the position of principal opposition party.

The ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) had emerged as the single largest party winning 473 zilla parishad seats, while the BJP secured 297 seats. The Congress won only 60 seats.