State Bank of India, the country's largest lender, has reduced its benchmark lending  rate by 40 basis points to 9.3 percent after RBI's rate cut. It is the second bank to  cut base rate today, immediately after RBI move. Andhra Bank already slashed base  rate by 25 basis points to 9.75 percent with effect from September 29.

Meanwhile, the market halved its gains in late trade with the Sensex rising 214.08  points to 25830.92 and the Nifty climbing 67.60 points to 7863.30 due to profit  booking in rate sensitives. About 1250 shares have advanced, 1257 shares declined,  and 113 shares are unchanged on the BSE. Bank Nifty trimmed gains to 200 points from  more than 300 points as ICICI Bank and Axis Bank turned flat. SBI and HDFC Bank were  off day's high. Reliance Industries and ITC, too, witnessed some profit booking.

Finance minister Arun Jaitley says will reassess GDP forecast
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said on Tuesday he would reassess the official gross  domestic product forecast for Asia's third-largest economy in the current fiscal year  that ends next March. The government now forecasts that the economy would achieve  real growth of around 8 percent in the 2015-16 fiscal year. The pace of growth slowed  by more than expected to 7 percent in the quarter to June.

Chauhan to stay, Centre plans to appoint co-chair to placate FTII students
Gajendra Chauhan, viewed as close to the BJP, will remain as chairperson of the  premier Film and Television Institute of India (FTII), and to placate protesting  students, the government is planning to install a co-chairperson of the institute.  the government is also planning to remove around five members from the governing  council against whom the students had strong objections. Meanwhile,  the information  and broadcasting ministry is holding talks with students in Mumbai on Tuesday in the  hope of persuading them to call off their three-month-old strike.

Sentencing in Mumbai train blast case likely tomorrow
Nine years after a series of bomb blasts in suburban trains rattled Mumbai killing  188 people, a special court here is likely to pronounce the quantum of punishment for  12 convicts in the case tomorrow. Special Judge Yatin D Shinde had last week  concluded hearing arguments on the quantum of sentence when prosecution demanded  death penalty for 8 of the 12 accused while it sought life imprisonment for the  remaining four. On September 23, the Special MCOCA court had reserved its order on  sentencing in the case for September 30. Earlier, on September 11, it had convicted  12 of the 13 accused, all allegedly having links with banned SIMI, while acquitting  one.

Sahara strikes $6bn deal with Helvetica to bail out Roy
The Supreme Court has refused extension to Sahara Group over the re-payment of Rs  5,000 crore to Sebi as bank guarantee. The company had asked the Apex Court for time  till October 15 for the repayment to Sebi saying that they had struck a USD 6 billion  deal with Qatar-based investment group Helvitica Group. However, the court refused  extention stating that it was unsure of the bonafides of the Helvitica Group.

Delta farmers held for rail roko bid over Cauvery water in Tamil Nadu
Hundreds of farmers were today detained in different parts of delta districts in  Tamil Nadu, when they attempted to block trains demanding release of the Cauvery  river water by Karnataka for agriculture operations. Police said the farmers were  also pressing for immediate constitution of Cauvery River Water Management Board for  effective implementation of the inter-state water dispute tribunal's final award  apportioning the river water among the riparian states. The protesters owing  allegiance to various farmers organisations had proposed to block trains in various  places, including Tiruvarur, Mannargudi, Koradacheri, Peralam and Mayilathurai. But  they were detained at different points even before they gathered at the place of  protest, police said.

39 Indians taken as prisoners in Iraq by ISIS are alive, says MEA
The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Tuesday confirmed that the 39 Indians, who  have been taken as prisoners in Iraq, are still alive and said that the government  would do the necessary to secure their release after gathering more information. Prime minister Narendra Modi in his meeting today with Palestinian President Mahmoud  Abbas discussed about the condition of the Indians taken as prisoners in Iraq and  Libya. "The Prime Minister asked the president to share with him any information he  had regarding the condition of the Indians, to which the President replied saying  that any information regarding this matter has constantly been transferred between  India and Palestine and as soon as they receive any new information regarding the  prisoners, they will let us know," MEA official spokesperson Vikas Swarup told the  media