Senior Bharatiya Janata Party leaders are not on talking terms with expelled leader Jaswant Singh after he refused to resign from the chairmanship of the Public Accounts Committee of the Parliament, Union minister Murli Deora claimed on Friday. The Petroleum and Natural Gas minister, who is heading a high-level delegation to London, said senior BJP leaders, including L K Advani, Sushma Swaraj and Murali Manohar Joshi, are not on talking terms with their former colleague.
The bear hug in which the Prime Minister loves to smother Western VIPs might strike as theatrical, boastful and, above all, unhygienic, in these stricken times, says Sunanda K Datta-Ray.
Petroleum Minister Murli Deora on Monday launched the service, which will be initially available in the national capital and would be extended to other metropolitan cities, state capitals and towns.
After a breakfast meeting between Mohan Bhagwat and L K Advani, the RSS today said that it has been assured by BJP that its leaders will resolve all problems faced by the party, including the leadership crisis, unitedly.
Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh chief Mohan Bhagwat on Saturday stepped up efforts to rescue the Bharatiya Janata Party from its current crisis, by possibly discussing a road map ahead, as he held hectic parleys with L K Advani and top leaders including Murli Manohar Joshi.There were indications that the BJP could come out with some statement on Sunday but Sangh Parivar sources said nothing spectacular could be expected.
The Petroleum Ministry has allocated additional natural gas from Reliance Industries' eastern offshore gas fields to three power plants to meet electricity deficit in northern states reeling under drought.
Had the government intervened at the right time, the controversy over an MoU that provides for dividing a national resource, would not have arisen, he said.
Though the government had earlier this year explicitly decided to compensate Indian Oil, Hindustan Petroleum and Bharat Petroleum for the losses they incur on selling domestic liquid petroleum gas and kerosene through public distribution system by way of oil bonds, the finance ministry has not issued any bonds for the three quarters.
Lok Sabha MP Harsh Vardhan on July 23 wrote to Petroleum Minister Murli Deora asking why the government had kept quiet for all this while on the Ambani family MoU that provides for dividing Krishna-Godavari basin gas between companies run by brothers Mukesh and Anil.
State-run oil marketing companies Indian Oil, Hindustan Petroleum and Bharat Petroleum are likely to lose Rs 45,478 crore (Rs 454.78 billion) this fiscal on selling fuel below cost, Petroleum Minister Murli Deora said.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has constituted a ministers' group to monitor the government's stand on the Ambani gas dispute in the Supreme Court.
"I would say there was a good response from the people (we met today), and something substantial can come out of it. But I cannot give you the names or details of our meeting," Deora, when asked to give a sense of the meeting by rediff.com, said.
Deora is believed to have explained the oil ministry's position on gas pricing and utilisation.
Anil Ambani's Reliance Natural Resources continued its attack on the government for allegedly favouring brother Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Industries Ltd on the sale price of gas from the Krishna Godavari D6 basin. At $4.2 per million British thermal unit (mBtu), the price fixed, there is a premium of more than 100 per cent over the gas available through the administered pricing mechanism, it said.
A friend of Mukesh Ambani should not be petroleum minister
Asserting that it had no role in the Ambani family dispute, the government on Monday declared in Parliament that it will do everything to protect its legal right to regulate usage of gas.
The government may soon raise prices of natural gas produced by state-owned ONGC and Oil India by as much as 30 per cent, Petroleum Secretary S Sundareshan said on Monday.
In a new twist in the gas row between the Ambani brothers in the Supreme Court, the Anil Ambani-led RNRL on Thursday sought cross-examination of Petroleum Minister Murli Deora, accusing the Government of siding with the Mukesh Ambani's group RIL.
For the second successive day, the Opposition disrupted proceedings in Parliament over the government's new sugarcane price policy.
Amidst the legal battle between Reliance Industries Ltd and Reliance Natural Resources Ltd over gas from Kaveri basin, Petroleum Minister Murli Deora has hit out at the Ambani brothers for fighting over a natural resource that belongs to the government and the people of the country.
'He couldn't hold himself from chanting 'Siyavar Ramchandra ki Jai'.'
Five persons were killed and 150 others sustained burn injuries in a major fire that broke out after a petrol tanker exploded in Sitapura industrial area in Jaipur on Thursday evening, the police said. The fire spread fast and enveloped several factories located within a radius of three kms. Details about the extent of the damage caused by the fire is still awaited, said the police.
Aam Aadmi Party termed BJP prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi as "an autocrat and dictator in his party" and claimed that even senior BJP leaders L K Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi have "no say" before him.
"They (prices of petroleum products) should be linked to world prices," Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia told PTI when asked about the global crude prices now surging to about $70 a barrel.
Producer Dinesh Vijan throws a success bash for his latest film Badlapur.
Challenging the verdict is a deterrent to future peace and harmony and a socially irresponsible act, argues Vivek Gumaste.
Deregulating petrol and diesel prices has been on the cards since the crude oil prices came down by $100 from the historic high of $147 a barrel, a few weeks back. But with the rates climbing again, doubts are being cast if prices can actually be freed. Crude oil prices are ruling at $71-72 a barrel, a seven-month high.
Deora, who met Mukherjee on Monday afternoon to present his ministry's Budget wishlist, also discussed the deregulation of fuel prices.
A prime minister-appointed expert group, headed by Kirit Parikh, suggested on Wednesday freeing petrol and diesel prices and suggested raising liquid petroleum gas rates by a steep Rs 100 per cylinder and kerosene by Rs 6 a litre.
The finance minister as part of his pre-Budget consultations is meeting industry bodies and ministers and has slotted Deora for June 15, a source said. On Deora's agenda will be getting back the seven-year exemption or holiday from payment of income tax for natural gas producers. He may also press for infrastructure status for natural gas.
Finance minister Pranab Mukherjee is believed to be in favour of giving state-run oil firms freedom to fix price of petrol and diesel in step with cost, as he feels the current moderate global oil rates may be the last window India has to deregulate fuel pricing.
Check out the star arrivals.
Jaswant Singh could stick out like a sore thumb for BJP even in the Lok Sabha after its attempt to remove him from the Chairmanship of the Public Accounts Committee has been virtually rejected by Speaker Meira Kumar.
"Oil companies are still losing money. . .Please pray that prices come down further so that we can consider reducing fuel prices," Petroleum Minister Murli Deora told reporters.
Talks between the government and striking oil Public Sector Undertakings failed late Thursday night over the officers' insistence on getting an immediate hike in their wages as the agitation threatened a major disruption in supply of petrol across the country. Deora is likely to meet Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Friday afternoon on the issue after the meeting of the Union cabinet in the morning.
Gurpreet Singh Bhullar, a close associate of gangster Chhota Shakeel, was extradited to Mumbai from Bangkok on Thursday. Bhullar, a sharp-shooter for the Shakeel gang, is wanted in several cases in Mumbai, including those related to murder and attempt to murder
Despite the hype over the possible candidature of All India Congress Committee General Secretary Digvijaya Singh for the Varanasi Lok Sabha seat, the Congress has narrowed down its choice to local legislator Ajay Rai and former party MP Rajesh Mishra, with the former emerging as a front runner.
Petroleum Minister Murli Deora has sought reconstitution of an empowered group of ministers to decide on allocation of gas from RIL-operated KG-D6 fields to new customers. Deora, who met T K A Nair, principal secretary to the prime minister on Sunday, has formally written to the Cabinet secretary for reconstitution of the eGoM on the lines of the previous ministerial group headed by the then External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee.
With terrorists using the sea route to unleash the deadliest attack on India in 15 years, an alarm has been sounded on security of oil and gas installations, particularly offshore areas, with companies offering to bear part of the cost of enhanced surveillance and patrolling.
BJP sources indicated that swearing-in ceremony could take place on May 30.
