Taking on the Bharatiya Janata Party for criticising the United Progressive Allaince government's decision of foreign direct investment in retail and fuel price hike, Congress general secretary Digvijay Singh charged the opposition with adopting double standards over issues when in power and outside it.
Quibbling between the Centre and the states on who should provide more relief to consumers on fuel prices intensified with the latter asking the Union Government to give an account of accruals to it from the latest hike in petrol and diesel prices.
In no case can the UPA government pamper the private oil companies to make windfall profits and at the same time increase the price of petrol and diesel and burden the people further
The government on Friday ruled out an immediate increase in petrol and diesel prices in line with rise in international oil prices.
Inflation in 'fuel and power' basket rose sharply to 11.22 per cent in May from 7.85 per cent in April as prices of domestic fuel increased in line with rising global crude oil rates.
Price of diesel, LPG and kerosene will have to go up.
While the average CPI hovers at 10 per cent for five years now, our tax benefits are almost a decade old.
PM blames 'circumstances beyond control'; FM says urged states to consider 25% cut in petrol taxes
A swift recovery in oil demand in India is not only helping the stability of the global market, it is giving huge fiscal headroom to the government in terms of additional excise duty.
A formal announcement is likely in Parliament on Wednesday. This will reverse half of the price hike in June, when petrol price was increased by Rs 4 and diesel by Rs 2.
Aviation turbine fuel to now cost more.
Indian Oil Corporation alone lost Rs 80 crore (Rs 800 million) per day, the company's Chairman Sarthak Behuria said.
The Bharatiya Janata Party will launch a one-day jail bharo agitation on Friday across the country during which party leaders and workers will court arrest to protest against the hike in prices of essential commodities and petrol products.
Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Sushma Swaraj will court arrest in Bhopal as part of Bharatiya Janata Party's nationwide 'jail bharo' agitation against hike in petrol prices and overall inflation on June 22, it was announced on Tuesday.
The United Progressive Alliance government has become a symbol of "heartless government" as it has failed to understand the pains of inflation borne by the common man, Bharatiya Janata Party leader Arun Jaitley said on Friday.
Rediff.com brings you a combined update of the effect of Thursday's Bharat bandh, called by the National Democratic Alliance, Left parties and Samajwadi Party to protest against the latest hike in petrol prices, from various parts of the country.
Photographs of how Bharat observed the Bandh, from across the country.
Banks witnessed thin business in the nation's financial capital on Thursday following the nationwide bandh called by NDA and Left parties against the steep hike in petrol prices last week.
UPA ally DMK also opposed the move and demanded withdrawal of the hike.
The quantum of hike had not yet been worked out, but it was likely to be Rs 2 a litre for petrol and Re 1 a litre for diesel.
In a virtual rebellion against the United Progressive Alliance government, its largest ally Trinamool Congress on Friday threatened to pull out over the petrol price hike, as it sought an appointment with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh before taking "any vital decision".
Diesel cars though deliver a high mileage but are heavy on the pocket.
The road ministry has put forward two proposals before the Prime Minister's Office and the finance ministry.
Even as the Opposition went hammer and tongs to enforce the nationwide strike call against the petrol price hike on Thursday, the common man seemed to be backing off from joining the protest.
The unprecedented hike in petrol prices has helped the Left and the Right to make common cause on Thursday for a nationwide protest, described by the Bharatiya Janata Party and its allies as Bharat Bandh and by Left as All India Protest Day.
As other members of the government have pointed out -- Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh and Chief Economic Advisor Kaushik Basu among them -- India cannot afford to delay increasing prices, given the ballooning subsidy bill.
Petrol and diesel price hike appears to have delayed impact as inflation rose to 4.14 per cent in the week ended July nine mainly due to costlier food and non-food products and minerals.\n
Financials declined amid profit taking while energy shares fell after the government hiked excise duty on transport fuels.
Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh late on Tuesday night and is understood to have briefed him about his talks with West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.
Petrol, diesel, LPG and kerosene prices are unlikely to be revised immediately as the Congress-led Government, which is yet to assume office
Admitting that hiking the prices og petrol diesel and LPG was a "difficult" decision, Finance Minister P Chidambaram
Especially after the recent hike in petrol prices, car makers are trying to come up with frugal options that can make up for the spiralling fuel prices.
The widening rift between Congress and Trinamool Congress came out in the open on Saturday with West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee lashing out at her ally at the Centre and said it was free to quit the alliance.
The finance ministry has rejected a cut in duties to avoid an increase in petro prices even as Petroleum Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar will begin a consensus-building exercise within the UPA for a fuel price hike.
From social engineering to bearing the cost of COVID-19 treatment to financial reconstruction of Tamil Nadu's debt the debutant chief minister is emerging as a leader with a difference, says Shjne Jacob
India's dependence on imported crude oil to meet domestic demand has been a matter of concern for years. Delivering the inaugural address at the global energy summit - Urja Sangam - in 2015, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had called for enhancing domestic oil and gas production to cut the import burden. He aimed at lowering it by at least 10 per cent by 2022 - to coincide with the platinum jubilee of India's independence. But this target is far from being achieved and the country's import reliance has only risen.
The more Mamata Banerjee ups the ante on contentious issues in the coming weeks, which she is expected to do, the more she and other allies will be in a position to extract their pound of flesh for their continued support to the government, says Neerja Chowdhury
Sentiments were also bearish largely in tandem with a sell-off in global markets as US Treasury yields surged to multi-year highs on robust economic data and comments from the Federal Reserve, sparking fears of accelerating inflation, brokers said.
