A committee appointed by the government to look into US giant Walmart's lobbying activities to enter the Indian market is ready with its report and is likely to be submitted in a day or two.

The Supreme Court on Wednesday upheld the government policy of allowing Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in multi-brand retail.

Walmart continued to lobby with the American lawmakers over Indian retail FDI rules during the first quarter of 2013, even as a probe is underway into the global retail giant's US lobbying activities for facilitating its India entry.

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar defended his repeated demand for special status to the state saying it (the status) will boost private investment in a big way to accelerate its industrial development.

After declining for two months in a row, foreign direct investment (FDI) in India grew by 8 percent year-on-year to USD 2.15 billion in January.

Bank of America-Merrill Lynch (BofA-ML) on Tuesday said with an estimated USD 10 billion pumped in during the March quarter, foreign institutional investors' (FIIs) holding in Sensex firms has touched an eight-year high, while the promoter stake in them was lowest in as many years.

The Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) on Saturday released the latest edition of consolidated FDI policy incorporating the changes made in the regulations over the past one year.

The government will roll out direct transfer of cash subsidy on cooking gas (LPG) in 20 districts from June 1. The Centre looks to cut its subsidy outgo by up to Rs 10,000 crore annually by eliminating diversions.

Government on Wednesday said 2012 has been a bad year for FDI due to global economic slowdown and steps were being taken to increase its inflow.

Announcing further liberalization of FII investment norms, Finance Minister P Chidambaram on Saturday said the government is "steadily and surely" working on next generation of reforms to put the economy back on high growth path.