The newsroom was as busy as ever last week. Corporate report cards, market blues, tugs-of-war, a royal wedding and a poignant funeral - there was no dearth of topics to discuss! Here's some of the buzz:

Prarthana: Is this a summer of discontent? A good many people seemed irritated this week. The DGH with Reliance Industries, ruling party members of the Public Accounts Committee with Murli Manohar Joshi, farmers in Jaitapur with the government, and not to forget, a section of Air India's pilots with its management.

Vedant: Guess everyone loves a good fight. Just that some really can't afford it. Air India ranks high on that list. There seems to be no end to the national carrier's woes. First, the bankers dither on its debt restructuring plan, and now this crippling strike by the pilots. Botched merger, mounting losses, discontent workforce – it better get its act together soon, or risk becoming a dinosaur.

Prarthana: Hey, do spare a thought for passengers too. Cancelled flights, exorbitant rates – they sure were a harried lot.

Vedant: So were investors this week. Five straight days of losses saw the Sensex down 466 points. This despite a kosher earnings show by many companies - ICICI Bank, Petronet, Exide Industries, Maruti, quite a long list.

Prarthana: There seems to be more than meets the eye. Oil is stubborn at close to peak levels. Inflation worries are still very real; there's fear of margin pressure and steep rate hikes by RBI next week. The markets seem quite jittery, ready to pounce on those who don't deliver. See what happened to Crompton Greaves – a lacklustre show and the stock got hammered down 10 per cent. Wipro too got the stick treatment on weak guidance numbers.

Vedant: Guess it's going to be more time for investors in the ‘harried club'. For William and Kate though, it's finally an entry into the ‘married club'. Quite a build-up and a media spectacle, it was. Lotsa folks in the UK seemed pleased as punch with this alliance!

Prarthana: Closer home, bank depositors may have reason to smile, if the RBI's discussion paper on deregulation of SB account rates is anything to go by. The central bank seems to be in favour of letting banks decide their own rates for savings accounts. If all goes well, depositors could earn up to 6 per cent per annum, compared with the fixed 3.5 per cent today.

Vedant: Hey, but do bear in mind that this is a double-edged sword. So, you could earn much less too, when banks don't need your money in the SB account. Also, some banks do not seem to favour this impending change.

Prarthana: Guess change is the only constant. With Narayana Murthy hanging up his boots as Chairman and KV Kamath taking his place, Infosys too is in the throes of big change.

Vedant: And so is Puttaparthi. Sathya Sai Baba's death plunged millions of his followers into grief.

comment COMMENT NOW