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.
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.
The gas row between the Ambani brothers had its echo in the Lok Sabha on Thursday with Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav making a strong plea for gas from Reliance at cheaper rates for state-owned NTPC, a plea also being used by the Anil Ambani group.
Replying to a calling-attention motion in Rajya Sabha, oil minister Murli Deora said the $4.2 per million British thermal unit price fixed for gas produced from KG-D6 fields of RIL was lower than the average of $5.51 per mmBtu charged by UK's BG-led consortium for Panna/Mukta and Tapti gas. It was also lower than the $4.3 per mmBtu price of gas produced from Cairn's Ravva Satellite fields and $4.75 per mmBtu for the UK firm's Lakshmi fields.
A B Vajpayee and L K Advani head a list of 68 leaders of the Sangh Parivaar and bureaucrats held culpable by the Liberhan Commission for leading the country to the "brink of communal discord" over the Ayodhya issue. In a scathing indictment, the Commission said these leaders cannot be given the benefit of the doubt and exonerated of culpability.
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.
The Election Commission on Wednesday issued notice to Petroleum Minister Murli Deora for his remarks on effecting a fuel price cut after the conclusion of assembly elections next month. The opposition Bharatiya Janata Party had approached Chief Election Commissioner N Gopalaswami over the issue contending that the announcement amounted to violation of the Model Code of Conduct enforced by the commission.
Within days of India approaching International Atomic Energy Agency for country-specific safeguards for nuclear power plants, the ministry issued advertisements in newspapers explaining what the uranium extracted energy can do to the nation's energy security. Energy-hungry India has a huge unmet power demand and the heavily subsidised diesel is being used as fuel to generate electricity.
Replaying to a question in the Rajya Sabha on Monday, Deora said there are some outstanding issues including finalization of the gas price with Iran.
After 47 years in electoral politics, Union minister Sharad Pawar on Monday became a member of the Rajya Sabha for the first time.
The new car will be shipped-in as a completely built unit from Lamborghini's facility at Sant'Agata in Italy.
The board of ONGC has approved its 30 per cent share of the $2.431 billion revised field development cost proposed by Cairn India for the Block RJ-ON-90/1, petroleum minister Murli Deora informed the Rajya Sabha on Monday. ONGC will invest $729.43 million.
Black clouds of smoke were billowing from the tanks, and could be seen at least from a distance of ten kms on the Jaipur-Tonk highway. District Collector Kuldeep Ranka told PTI that a charred body was clearly visible near the IOC tank premises, but it was not possible to reach and recover it.
Petroleum Minister Murli Deora will meet Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Wednesday in an effort to secure energy assets, including UK-listed Imperial Energy Plc.
The government on Thursday rejected demands for a roll back in the hike in petrol and diesel prices, saying it would favourably consider the issue only when global crude prices come down.
Sources said that Shah had a detailed discussion with him on Modigate.
Ajit Mishra, vice president, Research, Religare Broking, answers your queries.
Ravindra Jadeja's gutsy 77 and Munaf Patel's brisk unbeaten 36 guided Rest of India to 260 in their first innings on the opening day of their Irani Trophy match against Ranji Champions Mumbai in Nagpur on Thursday.
When Advani shook hands, the prime minister did not come out his seat. While Samajwadi Party leader Mulayam Singh Yadav hugged Advani for a second, Lalu Prasad too came out of his seat to greet Advani, but did not hug him.
Petroleum Minister Murli Deora and Minister of State for Petroleum Jitin Prasada took charge on Friday.
Crude oil prices in July last year rose to a historic high of $147 and then plumetted to four-year low of $37 per barrel, all in just four months time. The minister said the global financial crisis which was the primary reason for the slump in international oil prices, has forced India to revise growth targets.
Narendra Modi is all set to be elected leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party and the National Democratic Alliance parliamentary coalition on Tuesday as jockeying for positions in the new Cabinet gained momentum on Monday.
Joshi alleged that in many of the cases there has been a hundred per cent rise in the price of commodities. He also said that the UPA government is ignoring the plight of farmers.
Concerned over the fuel shortages and petrol pumps running dry, the government said on Friday it would deploy central forces to ensure supply lines are not dried due to the ongoing strike by oil sector executives. "The government will deploy central forces wherever necessary," petroleum secretary R S Pandey told reporters even as petroleum minister Murli Deora met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to brief him about the strike by officers of oil PSUs.
The strike by the oil company executives under the umbrella of the Oil Sector Officers Association has brought the country to a grinding halt with over 90 per cent of petrol pumps across the country running dry.
The Oil Sector Officers Association, which claims to represent executives at 14 state-run firms, is protesting against a pay increase smaller than it had demanded.
Chidambaram met petroleum secretary R S Pandey on Sunday morning to keep himself posted about the issues regarding the indefinite strike call given by oil PSU executives from January 7, sources said. Sources said Chidambaram told Pandey that the group may need three to four meetings to form its view and the first in the series has been scheduled for January 7 evening.
The Bharatiya Janata Party is likely to announce the names of its candidates for over 150 Lok Sabha seats on Thursday.
"I understand your pain," Singh, who rushed to the city from Delhi, said during his meeting with some of those injured in the terror attacks that have left 125 dead
Responding to a Call Attention Motion in Rajya Sabha on the recent price hike, Deora said the July 2 increase had helped IOC, BPCL and HPCL cut their revenue losses for July from Rs 4,870 crore (Rs 48.7 billion) to around Rs 2,880 crore (Rs 28.8 billion).
Vijay Mallya-owned Kingfisher Airlines owes state-run oil companies over Rs 950 crore (Rs 9.50 billion0 in unpaid fuel bills while financial crisis-hit NACIL has cleared almost two-thirds of its outstanding.
Fuel consumption is projected to grow to 136.61 million tonnes in 2009-10 against 133.4 million tonnes in the previous fiscal, Deora informed the Rajya Sabha. The expansion in demand will be the slowest since 2005-06.
The ministry, however, clarified that there was no change in the prices of kerosene and LPG.
Petroleum Minister Murli Deora and Chairman of Oil and Natural Gas Corporation R S Sharma are planning a visit to Russia in the first week of next month, hoping the Russian government would give its assent for the proposed acquisition of UK-listed Imperial Energy.
The decision came after a storm was kicked up by the ruling party members on Thomas' statement earlier this week that the PAC can call the PM to depose on the note ban issue.
Highly placed sources said Oil Minister Murli Deora took exception to Menon's proposals during a meeting of the Federation of Indian Airlines and Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel to resolve the crisis arising out of mounting fuel bill arrears. "There should not be any layoffs. Why are you raising it now," sources quoted Deora as telling Menon.
"You will have to wait for that," Petroleum Minister Murli Deora told reporters. International crude oil prices are ruling at $74 per barrel on Tuesday.
A core group of ministers on Wednesday held inconclusive deliberations on a proposal to raise fuel prices, necessitated by a spike in global crude prices that threatens to spawn an oil import crisis.
Petroleum minister Murli Deora discussed the idea of levy of $0.20 per million British thermal unit as cess on natural gas to mop up Rs 3,000 crore (Rs 30 billion) annually for laying down the gas pipeline network with CEOs of state-run firms. The brainstorming session called to chalk out the 100-day plan for the new government also decided on launching a new Scheme of Rural LPG Distributor (Gramin LPG Vitrak), petroleum secretary R S Pandey said.
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