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Resilient dynamism is this year’s theme at the
World Economic Forum which is underway at
Davos. Corporate and political bigwigs are in
attendance to project India as an investing
destination.
After accelerating at the start of the year, the Indian
indices are appearing a bit circumspect. Selling
pressure in afternoon trade dragged Nifty below 6050
levels turning the short term bias to negative. The
opening is expected to be flat to negative. Among the
earnings to watch would be RCom. Investors were
disappointed with HUL after it announced an increase
in royalty payment to the parent.
On the political front, Rahul Gandhi has charged up
emotions with his recent speech while the BJP
seems to have decided to let go of Nitin Gadkari as
BJP president. Gadkari will submit his resignation
today and Rajnath Singh is expected to take over as
head of the party.

The Reserve Bank of India on Tuesday left its key policy rate unchanged in its mid quarter (October-December) monetary policy. Cash reserve ratio (CRR) or the portion of deposits banks keep with the central bank also remained at 4.25%.

The Dalal Street pulled up after a sluggish start today. The Nifty ended 0.5 percent higher at 5,880. The Sensex also closed up around half a percent, at 19,317.

In an interview to CNBC-TV18, Amisha Vora, joint managing director of Prabhudas Lilladher says the policy changes, which have happened in India, are showing the renewed vigour of the government. "We will now probably focus little more on the fiscal cliff in US. It will also have some bearing on the market," she asserts.

According to her, GST would be one of the big game changers for India in 2013. "Globally, I think all eyes are still set on US," she adds.

The central bank will announce its credit policy on December 18. Vora says the changes in RBI's tone, which will determine the mood of the market, will probably help it come out of this range. "I think the decisive move should start in January. On Tuesday, the commentary change or a bit of optimism can be there, but I think the real action probably will start from January," she elaborates.

She feels one or two more successful disinvestments by the government will also be very critical as the pressure on deficits will look little more manageable.

Key equity benchmarks ended trade directionless on Wednesday, despite a better-than-expected October IIP number. The Sensex closed the session down 31.88 points or 0.16 percent at 19355.26, while the Nifty ended 18.00 points or 0.31 percent down at 5880.80.

Aided by smart recovery in manufacturing growth, factory output grew 8.2 percent in October compared with the 5 percent contraction recorded in the same month last year. Analysts polled by CNBC-TV18 had expected a rise of 4.5 percent in October output. (More on IIP)

Mahindra and Mahindra was the top gainer on the Nifty today, after reports suggested that the auto major is looking to raise vehicle prices by over a percent. Bank of America Merril Lynch has raised its target on the stock to Rs 1,035, foreseeing a trend reversal in the tractor segment. Autos overall as a sector did well; Bajaj Auto up 2.57 percent and Hero Motocorp up 1.92 percent.

Shares Kingfisher Airlines and Jet Airways closed the session up close to 5 percent after CNBC-TV18 reported that Etihad executives are scheduled to meet Jet Airways and Kingfisher Airlines top officials. Sources told the channel that Etihad's senior executives have been favouring Jet, but decision in this regard is not yet finalised.

Other major gainers of the day were Reliance (up 1.53 percent) and Sun Pharma (up 1.35 percent).

Among the top losers of the day, HUL lost nearly over 2.5 percent after Unilever Indonesia announced the change in the rate of royalty to be paid to its parent company, Unilever. HUL currently pays a royalty of around a percent, which is a significantly lower than the 3.5-6 percent most other MNC subsidiaries pay to the parent company.

Other losers include the likes of BHEL (down 2.04 percent), GAIL (down 2.01 percent). Grasim (down 1.76 percent) and HDFC (down 1.74 percent).

But the big story of the day was that finally there seems to be some breakthrough in the banking bill logjam. Finance minister P Chidamabram told reporters today that the government and the opposition have reached an agreement on passing the bill in parliament. BJP sources too indicated the same.

Gulf carrier Etihad Airways is close to buying a 48 percent stake in debt-ridden Indian carrier Kingfisher Airlines for a little over Rs 3000 crore, the Mumbai Mirror reported on Tuesday.

A formal announcement of the deal could come around December 18, the birthday of Kingfisher's flamboyant chairman, Vijay Mallya, the newspaper said, without saying how it got the information.

Kingfisher, whose planes have been grounded for the past two months, declined to comment on the report. Etihad did not immediately respond to an email sent by Reuters.

Abu Dhabi-based Etihad will initially buy a 30 percent holding in December and a further 18 percent by next August, the paper said, adding Etihad and Kingfisher refused to deny or confirm the stake sale.

Battling stiff competition and high operating costs, Indian carriers have been in talks to sell minority stakes to foreign investors. Etihad was reported to be eyeing buying a stake in Jet Airways , India's largest airline by total passengers carried.

Kingfisher, which Mallya launched with much fanfare in 2005, was once India's second-largest airline by domestic market share. For most of this year, the carrier has struggled to pay its staff and has not flown since early October due to protests and safety concerns.

According to one estimate, it is saddled with roughly USD 2.5 billion in debt.

Kingfisher shares were up 4.7 percent in early trade on Tuesday.

BSP chief Mayawati finally came to the issue of FDI in retail and hinted at supporting the government by speaking against the BJP. Speaking during the FDI debate in the Rajya Sabha, Mayawati said, "It is important to see in which sector foreign investment will be done. For any developing country, investment in all sectors is important." "FDI is needed for developing countries. FDI should do value addition," Mayawati added.

She also said that there is a perception in people's minds that FDI affect farmers and small traders, therefore, no decision should be taken without proper analysis and discussion. But she added that the plus point for the current FDI policy of the central government is that sates won't be forced to implement it.

2:20 pm: BSP chief Mayawati attacked the BJP alleging it used the CBI against her. During the FDI debate in the Rajya Sabha, Mayawati said, "CBI's misuse by this government has often been alleged. I would show how BJP misused CBI." Mayawati alleged that the BJP used the CBI to target her in the Taj corridor scam.

Following this, there was an uproar in the House as Mayawati's speech had no mention of FDI in retail. The Rajya Sabha was adjourned for 10 minutes following this.

2:00 pm: Bahujan Samaj Party leader Mayawati attacked the Bharatiya Janata Party during the FDI debate in the Rajya Sabha. Mayawati said Sushma Swaraj was suffering from the 'sour grapes' syndrome.

There was an uproar in the House as BJP MPs objected to Mayawati's comment on Sushma Swaraj. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kamal Nath defended Mayawti's comment saying usie of the word 'sour grapes' was not unparliamentary.

1:45 pm: BJP leader Arun Jaitley countered facts and figures given by the UPA for endorsing FDI in retail in the Rajya Sabha. Jaitley said that UPA's entire debate on FDI was based on deceptive and exaggerated figures.

He also demanded the government to reconsider FDI and withdraw it. He also appealed to the Parliamentarians to vote against FDI in retail.

1:13 pm: BJP leader Arun Jaitley slammed the government over FDI in retail in the Rajya Sabha and said that the people of India will vote against the UPA if it brings FDI. "If India implements FDI in retail, India will become a country of sales boys, the manufacturing sector will collapse, all the stores will be of international firms. We will be consumers of international products," Jaitley added.

1:00 pm: BJP leader Arun Jaitley criticised FDI in retail in the Rajya Sabha saying it will not benefit local shops. "Domestic retails source their product domestically, international retails source their products internationally where the products are the cheapest," Jaitley said.

"Manufacturing sector will be the first adversely affected sector where there is FDI in retail," he added. Jaitley also challenged Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal to get an international retail store opened in his constituency.

12:50 pm: Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley called the UPA a lame duck government saying, "You are a lame duck government. You need a strong support now," Jaitley said.

"When the government is not able to touch the 272 figure in the Lok Sabha, then a lot is questionable. To reach this number one has to take assistance from many and reach to some understandings. This is a worrying situation," Jaitley added.

12:45 pm: Law Minister Ashwani Kumar cited Walmart China's example during the debate on FDI in retail in the Rajya Sabha. "Walmart went to China 20 years ago, it amounts to 5 per cent of the market in China. It procures 60 per cent of the global procurement from China, so China benefits the most," he said.

12:35 pm: The government refuted the Opposition's claims that FDI will not benefit farmers. "The small and marginal farmers will be the biggest beneficiaries of this policy. The farming community will have a lot to rejoice if this policy is implemented ," Law Minister Ashwani Kumar said in the Rajya Sabha.

12:20 pm: Questioning the government's change of stand on FDI, AIADMK leader V Maitreyan said, "When Manmohan Singh was in the opposition, he opposed FDI in retail, when he is in power, he becomes the prime promoter of FDI in retail. What brought a drastic change in the opinion of PM Manmohan Singh and Sonia Gandhi towards FDI in retail?"

Speaking against FDI in retail, Maitreyan said, "The government is spreading a wrong myth that FDI in retail will bring in employment. "

12:05 pm: AIADMK leader V Maitreyan moved motion on FDI in retail in the Rajya Sabha ad initiated the debate.

Earlier, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) objected to the papers being laid on the FEMA regulations. BJP said the minister needed to explain the regulations as FEMA has far reaching implications.

11:05 am: The Trinamool Congress has compared the debate on FDI to match-fixing saying that a minority government has no locus standi to fix the debate. "Match fixing won't do, minority government won't be allowed to fix debate. The government has to go," TMC leader Derek O'Brien said.

The Samajwadi Party has said that it will not vote in favour of the government on FDI. SP leader Naresh Aggarwal said, "We won't vote in the Rajya Sabha in favour of the government. We won't make our stand clear on walking out."

Meanwhile, AIADMK leader V Maitreyan said the Opposition was prepared for any eventuality in the Rajya Sabha. "Whether debate will go to vote we don't know. The Opposition is prepared for any eventuality. If the arithmetic is clear, the Oppositionn will win," Maitreyan said.

The UPA-II government has won the winter test in the Lok Sabha, defeating the Opposition motions over FDI in retail and changes in Foreign Exchange Management Act. But now its time for an acid test in the Rajya Sabha, where the government is not in a majority.

There were enough indications that the government will have it easy in Lok Sabha when it puts to vote the contentious issue of bringing in FDI in multi-brand retail into India. The going got better when the Samajwadi Party and Bahujan Samaj Party walked out before the actual vote after making noise against FDI. "FDI is anti-farmer, so we decided to walk out instead of voting against it," SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav said.

With the UPA managing its numbers well, the battle has been won, but the question is whether it can win the war. The bigger hurdle will now come in the Rajya Sabha where the government has already been accused of diversionary tactics to avoid an uncomfortable vote.

The UPA is likely to take advantage of SP and BSP's disruptive politics in the House, that is the charge being levelled by the Opposition leader in the Rajya Sabha, Arun Jaitley. Jaitley said, "The government is unsure of which way the Rajya Sabha vote will go. Therefore, it has no serious intention of allowing the Rajya Sabha conduct its business."

"This government has a terrible track record in the last few days. It wasted the first four days of this session of Pariament because it did not allow a vote and thereafter when it did agree to allow a vote on the FDI resolution, it's either the government members or it's the ruling party members or their allies who jump into the well every morning at 11 and since they are uncomfortable with the number situation in the Rajya Sabha, not a minute of work has been transacted in the Rajya Sabha. The entire opposition and that's the real opposition from the Left or the right is waiting quietly wanting the Question Hour to go on, wanting the zero hour and the debates to go on. It's only the government or its allies who are disturbing the House," Jaitley said.

The government has refuted those charges being levelled by Arun Jaitely claiming the opposition is behaving a like bad loser. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has already declared that the FDI policy has been cleared. The government is confident of getting the numbers in the Rajya Sabha where the arithmetic is not as clear as it was in the Lok Sabha. "We will manage the numbers in the Rajya Sabha also," Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kamal Nath said.

Meanwhile, RJD chief Lalu Prasad also hit out at the BJP saying, "BJP has never been a party that serves the farmers. It was BJP that had brought 100 per cent FDI proposal in 2004. They failed to implement it, but Congress succeeded."

The numbers in Rajya Sabha:

HOUSE STRENGTH - 244

HALF-WAY 122

UPA 90

CONG (70) + DMK (7) + NCP (7) + OTH (6)

SUPPORT 26

BSP (15) + SP (9) + RJD (2)

OPPOSITION 118

NDA (66) + LEFT (14) + TMC (9) + OTH (29)

NOMINATED 10

Does govt have the numbers?

FOR FDI = 102

UPA 91 + RJD 2 + NOM 9

UPA SHORT OF 20

AGAINST FDI = 101

NDA (66) + LEFT (14) + TMC (9) + ADMK 7 + BJD 5

OPPOSITION SHORT OF 21

UPA OUTSIDE SUPPORT = 24

BSP (15) + SP (9)

If this group votes for FDI

FOR FDI NUMBER INCREASES = 126

IF SP+BSP VOTE AGAINST

AGAINST FDI = 125

BUT IF THIS GROUP ABSTAINS

HOUSE STRENGTH - 220

HALF-WAY 110

FOR FDI = 102 (SHORT OF 8)

AGAINST FDI = 101 (SHORT OF 7)