Wholesale Price Index inflation: primary commodities and fuel pressures rose, led by food and petroleum price increases.
The Weekly Wholesale Price Index bulletin reports week on week increases in Primary Articles and Fuel & Power for the week ended 2 April 2011, with Food Articles-especially fruits and vegetables-driving Primary Articles' rise while Non Food Articles marginally declined; Fuel & Power rose on higher petroleum product prices. The release provides subgroup level week over week changes, build up from financial year end, year on year inflation rates, 52 week averages and six week trends for selected commodities, and identifies the data as provisional.

Wholesale price inflation rises, driven by fuel and manufactured product price increases, with primary articles easing.
The Wholesale Price Index (base 2004 05=100) rose 1.4 percent to 148.0 in March 2011 (provisional), with the annual WPI based inflation rate at 8.98 percent. Primary Articles fell slightly while Fuel & Power increased substantially (notably coal, aviation turbine fuel and furnace oil). Manufactured Products rose 1.4 percent with significant gains in Textiles, Chemicals and Basic Metals; subgroup movements are detailed in annexures alongside weights and six month trends.

Reform of global governance sought to make institutions more representative, with deeper BRICS cooperation and rule-based order.
Adoption of the Sanya Declaration and an Action Plan directs BRICS cooperation across security, finance, trade and sustainable development; designated banks commit to a framework agreement to provide credit in local currencies and cooperate in capital markets and financial services. Members agree to intensify consultations as concurrent United Nations Security Council members, pursue reform of institutions of global governance for greater representativeness, and uphold a rule-based international order respecting sovereignty and territorial integrity.

Rule-based global governance urged as BRICS prioritizes trade reform, clean energy, nuclear safety and security cooperation.
BRICS commits to cooperative policies promoting rule-based global governance and reforms of political, security, financial and trade institutions; endorses a balanced Doha outcome and a fair multilateral trade regime; and prioritises operational cooperation on clean energy, nuclear safety, disaster relief, capacity building, and responses to non-traditional security threats to support inclusive socio-economic transformation.

Confidentiality in investigations: two-part DG reports and broader confidential treatment protect commercially sensitive materials.
The amendments allow the Director General to submit investigation reports in two parts to protect commercially sensitive information and permit the Commission or Director General to accord confidential treatment to additional information even without a party's request; they also replace power-of-attorney filings with a simple authorization letter, restrict inspection of internal documents, require a show-cause notice and hearing before imposing Chapter VI penalties, and adjust copy submission and fee requirements.

Compulsory licences: existing patent law governs, no new guidelines; patent office directed to decide applications promptly.
Compulsory licences are to be governed by the existing Patents Act and TRIPS obligations; no additional guidelines will be issued. The Controller General of Patents must not delegate the grant of compulsory licences, must decide applications promptly, and must ensure patentees comply with reporting obligations, with patentee data reviewed in the annual report to government.

Joint Drafting Committee formed to prepare draft Lok Pal Bill, with mixed government and civil society nominees and fixed deadline.
A Joint Drafting Committee is constituted to prepare a draft Lok Pal Bill, composed of five Government nominee ministers and five nominees of Shri Anna Hazare (including himself). The Chairperson is the Union Finance Minister, the Co Chairperson is a civil society nominee, and a senior Law Minister serves as Convenor. The Committee shall commence work immediately, evolve its own procedure for drafting the proposed legislation, and complete its work by the specified deadline.

Lokpal bill consensus between government and civil society prompts collaborative drafting and Cabinet submission during the monsoon session.
Agreement between the Government and civil society establishes a consensus-driven process to draft the Lokpal Bill, with the Government committing to place the legislation before the Cabinet for introduction in Parliament during the monsoon session after wide stakeholder consultation.

Open multilateral trading regime reaffirmed; India commits to early Doha conclusion and concluding EFTA negotiations.
India reaffirmed commitment to an open, equitable, predictable, non-discriminatory and rule-based multilateral trading regime and support for an early conclusion of the Doha Round. Negotiations with the European Free Trade Association are expected to be concluded by year end; bilateral ties with Switzerland include about 170 Swiss companies in India, significant trade and employment links, and cooperation priorities in manufacturing, infrastructure, renewable energy, biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, chemicals and services.

Wholesale Price Index update: primary articles rose while fuel and power indices remained unchanged, with itemized inflation trends.
The press release provides provisional weekly wholesale price indices and point to point annual inflation rates for Primary Articles and Fuel & Power for the week ending 26 March 2011. It records a week on week rise in the Primary Articles index with detailed sub group movements-Food Articles, Non Food Articles and Minerals-identifying items driving increases and declines, while Fuel & Power indices and the annual inflation rate remained unchanged; annexures supply item level indices, build up inflation and six week trend data.

Economic cooperation in infrastructure and agro processing to deepen, with cross border investments and connectivity projects prioritized.
India and Thailand will deepen bilateral economic cooperation in infrastructure, manufacturing and agro processing, prioritising the North East as a sub regional market and land bridge. Cooperation targets pharmaceuticals, automobiles, chemicals, and food processing, with emphasis on Thai participation in infrastructure projects-including a tri lateral highway-and investment in cold chains, warehouses and food processing facilities. India permits full foreign direct investment in agro processing, making Thai expertise in agro processing and manufacturing integration a central operational focus.

Tax refund issuance deadline: completion of pending paper refunds ordered to clear unprocessed AY10 11 claims by the set date.
The central tax administration ordered that all pending paper refund returns for AY 2010-11 entered into the system but not processed be issued by April 10, 2011; CIT wise lists show a system total of 735,655 pending cases and an aggregate refund amount, while noting the system undercounts total pending refunds because an estimated eight lakh paper returns remain unentered, many in Mumbai and Delhi.

Trade balance narrows as export growth outpaces imports, improving the external sector's cumulative position this year.
Monthly foreign trade report for February 2011 summarises export and import values and growth rates and reports that cumulative export growth outpaced import growth for April-February 2010-11. Oil imports showed modest month-on-month variation but rose cumulatively, while non-oil imports recorded stronger month and cumulative growth. The cumulative trade deficit for April-February 2010-11 narrowed relative to the prior year as export growth exceeded import growth, with provisional aggregates presented in dollar and rupee terms and percentage comparisons distinguishing oil and non-oil components.

Wholesale Price Index movement for primary articles and fuel & power indicates diverging weekly trends and persistent elevated year on year inflation.
Wholesale Price Index movements for Primary Articles and Fuel & Power for the week ended 19 March 2011 show a modest weekly decline in Primary Articles driven by falls in several food and non food items, while Fuel & Power rose week on week due to higher petroleum product prices. Both major groups continued to exhibit double digit year on year inflation rates, with detailed subgroup tables and a six week trend annexure showing heterogenous commodity level trends.

Bilateral Investment Protection Agreement pending ratification, enabling greater investment protection and cooperation in key economic sectors.
India and Zimbabwe intend to expand cooperation in mining, power, agriculture, railways and ICT, anchored by the Bilateral Investment Protection Agreement which India has ratified and is awaiting Zimbabwean ratification before exchange of instruments; complementary initiatives include an Indo Zimbabwe SME project with machinery, training and a planned Vocational Training Centre, increased technical cooperation training slots, major Indian investment in ZISCO, and the reactivation of the Joint Trade Committee to coordinate trade and investment implementation.

International MSME collaboration to share advisory experience and pursue structured dialogue for sectoral development and market access
Bilateral cooperation on Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises is proposed through exchange of best practices and institutional experience, with Canada offering to share its SME Advisory Committee model for policy advice. Indian officials acknowledged common challenges in financing and marketing and agreed to follow-up meetings to concretize steps for a structured dialogue focused on sectoral engagement and sustained policy-level exchanges to enhance SME development and market linkages.

Foreign direct investment in multi brand retail remains undecided following a discussion paper and inter ministerial review.
The Government has not taken a decision on Foreign Direct Investment in Multi Brand Retail Trading. The current policy allows foreign investment in single brand retail under conditions; a Discussion Paper was issued to obtain stakeholder views and an Inter Ministerial Committee analysed the comments and submitted a report that made no recommendation on multi brand retail FDI.

Wholesale price inflation: primary articles and non food commodities drove weekly rises while fuel and power remained unchanged.
Wholesale Price Index data for the week ending 12 March 2011 report Primary Articles at 188.0 (up ~1.0% weekly) with year on year inflation 13.53%; Food Articles rose modestly led by poultry, fruits & vegetables while Non Food Articles increased notably led by logs & timber and raw cotton; Fuel & Power remained unchanged at index 157.9 with point to point inflation 12.79%.

Service tax exemption on specified hospital and diagnostic services maintained until GST implementation; garment retail abatement increased.
The proposal to impose a service tax on air conditioned hospitals with more than twenty five beds and on diagnostic services was withdrawn and those services are exempted from the levy until the Goods and Services Tax comes into force; additionally, the abatement on the retail price of certain branded readymade garments and textile made ups was increased, reducing the taxable base for those products.

Electronic TDS/TCS submission via pen drive enabled; submitters must verify TIN center feasibility and media will be returned.
Acceptance of e-TDS/TCS statements has been expanded to permit submission via pen drive in addition to CD; filers should confirm feasibility with TIN Facilitation Centres, a single media may contain multiple statements, and the submitted media will be returned after acceptance.