Concerns that political gridlock in Italy could reignite the sovereign debt crisis and choke off tentative green shoots of recovery look set to dominate a European Central Bank meeting this week, analysts say.

India must make tough spending choices, Finance Minister P. Chidambaram said on Thursday, even as he unveiled a bigger-than-expected outlay for the coming fiscal year in one of the most highly anticipated Indian budgets of recent years.

Indian software tycoon Azim Premji said Saturday he has given US$2.3 billion to an education charity that he controls, reportedly the biggest charitable donation in the country's recent history.

India on Friday unveiled rules for issuing new bank licenses in a push to expand financial services into the country's rural hinterland where hundreds of thousands of villages have no banking outlets.

Shares in India's debt-laden Kingfisher Airlines rose 5 percent Tuesday after its parent firm United Breweries said it would raise the sum it can lend to the carrier, which is desperate for cash.

India is seeking to cancel a US$750 million order for a dozen helicopters from Italian defense group Finmeccanica, the defense ministry said on Friday, responding to growing pressure over kickback allegations.

Essar Energy said an expansion in refining capacity and the ability to better process lower-cost heavy crude oils helped firm up refining margins in the third quarter. Essar Oil, India's second largest private refiner, said current price gross refining margin rose to US$9.75 per barrel at its Vadinar refinery in the western Indian state of Gujarat, up from US$2.82 per barrel last year.

India, the world's leading importer of weaponry, opened one of Asia's biggest aviation trade shows Wednesday with Western suppliers eyeing lucrative deals and a Chinese delegation attending for the first time.

India's ailing Kingfisher Airlines, whose planes have been grounded since October, posted a net loss of 7.55 billion rupees (US$142 million) in the three months to December, the company said on Tuesday.

South Asia's biggest air show kicks off in India on Wednesday, where global armament firms will be vying for multibillion-dollar contracts from the world's biggest importer of weapons.