Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar, after meeting the farm ministers from South Asian countries, told reporters that "We have set aside two million tonnes of wheat that will be given to countries which have been asking for it through diplomatic channels."

Although India had banned wheat exports in 2007, analysts say that robust output and higher stocks at government warehouses have enabled India, the world's second-biggest producer, to set aside some wheat for overseas supplies.

The global financial crisis has taken its toll on the Tourism Industry. At a meeting with the members of the Federation of Hotels and Restaurants Association of India (FHRAI), the Government suggested that hotels should slash their tariffs by 10 to 15 percent.

FHRAI Delegation comprised of 5 members namely Vivek Nair, Vice-chairman, Leela Group; Rajindra Kumar, Hotel Taj Ambassador, Delhi; Salim Sherwani, Sherwani Hospitalities Ltd; Dr. Sunil Gulati, Uttarakhand Hospitality and Major Harish Sud, Secretary general, FHRAI.

The Bangalore-based airline, Kingfisher has defaulted on payments to GECAS. Vijay Mallya's Kingfisher Airlines leased four airplanes from GE Commercial Aviation Services (GECAS). The US Company filed complaint against Kingfisher before the aviation regulator of India for nonpayments.

Tata Motors, one of the largest automobile manufacturer in India, has announced closing of the Jamshedpur plant owing to a demand slump. A company spokesperson said, "About 95 per cent of commercial vehicles are purchased through financing. While we do not declare production rates, unavailability of finance, coupled with high interest rates, is forcing customers to postpone purchases."

Hyundai Motor India Ltd. (HMIL) launched the i20 cars in the European market. These were premiered at the Paris Motor Show last month. The company has dispatched a consignment of 2,820 cars from the Chennai port for Europe. 

i20s are very sophisticated new generation vehicles of Hyundai. These are designed at its Russelsheim design center in Germany. It is designed to fit in the European environment and pollution norms. The car will be available in 1.2 litre, 1.4 liter and 1.6 liter variants and will be powered by both diesel and petrol engines.

Privates and foreign banks are likely to cut interest rates in the coming days. Public sector banks have already decided to reduce interest rates following decrease in key interest rates by the Reserve Bank of India. Personal and commercial loans would be available at lower rates after cutting lending rates by public and private banks. It is to be noted that reserve bank is taking many steps to inject more liquidity in the market. Recently, it has cut cash reserve ratio, SLR and Repo rate leading to injection of more than Rs 2,60,000 crore into the system.