Will appeasement, rising unemployment and her dictatorial style become major obstacles in her path? asks Payal Singh Mohanka.
'The last four years was not Dravidian rule, it was BJP rule by proxy.'
The government on Tuesday ruled out any rollback of last month's increase in prices of petrol, diesel and LPG, and said a policy for pricing of major petroleum products was under review.
The government is unlikely to take up the issue of reducing petrol, diesel and domestic LPG prices on Thursday as consultations on petroleum ministry's simultaneous proposal for freeing auto fuel pricing were not complete.
The Cabinet, scheduled to meet on Thursday, may reduce petrol price by Rs 5 a litre, diesel by Rs 3 per litre and domestic LPG by Rs 25 per cylinder, giving relief to the common man and further easing inflationary pressures.
"At the moment there is no proposal before us for reducing prices," petroleum secretary R S Pandey told reporters in New Delhi. State-run oil retailers have started making profits on sale of petrol and diesel, but continue to incur hefty losses on domestic LPG and kerosene.
State-run Indian Oil, Hindustan Petroleum and Bharat Petroleum are projected to lose Rs 1,28,135 crore (Rs 1,281.35 billion) on fuel sales this fiscal. IOC, BPCL and HPCL lost Rs 92,853 crore (Rs 928.53 billion) on fuel sales (audited figures) in April-September and are projected to lose Rs 35,282 crore (Rs 352.82 billion) in the second half of 2008-09 fiscal.
Stocks like L&T, DLF and ITC are likely to offer good returns in medium term.
Petroleum Secretary R S Pandey said a revision in fuel prices was under consideration and a decision will be taken in due course. "Revision does not necessarily mean a cut in prices. We will have to wait and see on which products a reduction will be effected, by how much and when. The government will have to take a comprehensive view... What government will decide we cannot anticipate today."
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
A couple and their two children were injured in a small LPG cylinder blast in their house in Sarai Kale Khan area of South Delhi on Friday, the police said.
'What is proposed is that we tax payers pay Rs 1,000 per month to selected JanDhan accounts of poor families.' 'I am sure there are at least 10 crore Indians for whom Rs 1,000 is no big deal.'
R P Matta, a retired financial sector employee, who recently came back from Canada, was stabbed to death by his son Rahul around 2.15 pm, police said.
'He has a gift none of his eight predecessors, from Manmohan Singh to Rajiv Gandhi, had: Being able to speak directly and convincingly to a large enough section of Indians who will take his word for gospel,' notes Shekhar Gupta.
'Karna is the greatest warrior in the Mahabharata -- in fact, Arjuna is a nobody in front of Karna.' 'But Arjuna had a better advisor in Krishna than Karna.' 'Karna failed because he listened to the wrong advice given by Salya.' 'It just shows wrong advisors can land even the mighty in trouble.'
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi discussed the Rs 225,040 crore (Rs 2250.40 billion) revenue loss oil PSUs face without raising price of petrol, diesel, LPG and kerosene and duty cuts this fiscal on three occasions but failed to give a clear verdict.
'The way opposition parties such as the Nationalist Congress Party, Shiv Sena, the Samajwadi Party, Rashtriya Janata Dal and the Jharkhand Mukti Morch have supported her, if she wins, she will be the biggest opposition face for 2024'
In politics, if your objective is only winning elections, just Chanakya neeti might do. For governance you need both, Chanakya neeti and Ram Rajya. You can neither beat up the farmers into submission, nor dismiss them as 'Khalistanis', asserts Shekhar Gupta.
The government on Tuesday increased the distributors' commission on domestic cooking gas (LPG) by 38 paise on a 14.2 kg cylinder and by 20 paise on a 5 kg cylinder, resulting in an equivalent increase in the prices of the fuel.
The new model, named M800 Duo will have dual fuel option of petrol as well as LPG, the company said in a statement. The new M800 will be available in two options--M800 Standard with LPG, priced at Rs 2.05 lakh ex-showroom Delhi and M800 AC LPG tagged at Rs 2,26,000.
International air travel of passengers has been permitted in a limited manner under the Vande Bharat mission. Further opening-up will take place in a calibrated manner.
Dairies, milk plants, grocery shops, chemists and petrol pumps, ATMs, e-commerce services of essential items like food and medicines will remain open, he said.
The Indian basket represents the price of Oman and Dubai sour grade crude.
Was there a possibility that we might have a part solution today to the power and energy shortages of tomorrow?
India's water future remains very bleak. The monsoon season, which once extended to 4 months, is now down to less than 30 days of heavy rain.
In a letter to Cabinet Secretary P K Sinha, the Commission said it had received complaints about hoardings with photographs of the prime minister being displayed at petrol pumps in poll-bound Goa.
Venkaiah Naidu said Aadhaar will not be made mandatory till the entire population gets such cards or UID numbers.
Multinational companies like Shell, Caltex, Elf and SHV that have been attracted by the huge possibility to market Liquified Petroleum Gas in India are these days waiting for their chance.
Narendra Modi's landslide victory gives him the mandate to deregulate diesel prices as well as raise natural gas rates with a clear road map towards free pricing to cut subsidies and shrink the budget deficit.
The latest round of petrol and diesel price increase, on Thursday, met with opposition from many corners.
Profit on sale of diesel swelled to Rs 1.90 per litre as oil ministry awaits return of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to cut rates.
Dharmendra Pradhan, Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, Nirmala Sitharaman and Piyush Goyal have been elevated to Cabinet ministers.
RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das on Friday said that inflation is on a declining trajectory, as it has fallen by 170 basis points from its January 2020 peak. Retail inflation fell to four-month low of 5.91 per cent in March over the previous month, mainly due to easing food prices.
A group of four-five 'Nihangs' (Sikhs armed with traditional weapons and dressed in loose blue top) were travelling in a vehicle and they were asked to stop at a vegetable market by the Mandi board officials at around 6.15 am, police said.
"Deora's ability to be a good listener, and his understanding of business, as he is an industrialist himself, helped the empowered group of ministers reach a decision that more or less has satisfied all parties," a senior official says.
Diesel prices should be immediately hiked by Rs 4-5 per litre, the Kirit Parikh Committee has recommended while favouring continuation of existing pricing principles for controlled petroleum products.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday presented the Budget for 2021-22 in the Lok Sabha that is expected to provide relief to the pandemic-hit common man as well as focus more on driving economic recovery through higher spending on healthcare, infrastructure and defence amid rising tensions with neighbours, As India emerges from the COVID-19 crisis, the ninth Budget under the Modi government, including an interim one, is widely expected to focus on boosting spending on job creation and rural development, generous allocations for development schemes, putting more money in the hands of the average taxpayer and easing rules to attract foreign investments.
Petroleum ministry has suggested extending government subsidy on domestic LPG and kerosene for an indefinite period as the gap between domestic retail price and current international prices was too large to be bridged through a price hike.
BJP would observe the next 10 days -- from Sunday to September 17, the birthday of the PM -- as 'seva parva'.
These are initiatives not commonly seen in economic administration.
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