In a six-page reply to the Election Commission's notice, Deora said he had not made any suo moto statement on price reduction and made those reported comments on being quizzed by the media on sidelines of a hydrocarbons conference in New Delhi. The commission on Wednesday sent a communication to Deora and the ministry's Secretary R S Pandey seeking their comments on complaints by BJP that the minister violated model code of conducts.
Petroleum Minister Murli Deora appealed on to petrol pump operators on Wednesday to call off their proposed two-day strike from April 13 saying their main demand of raising commission on sale of petrol and diesel will be considered.
The Congress core group is meeting later in the evening where the implementation of Kirit Parikh Committee report on fuel pricing reforms may be discussed.
Rejecting Arvind Kejriwal's allegation on gas pricing issue, Petroleum Minister M Veerappa Moily on Tuesday hit back at the Delhi Chief Minister and said that price fixing of petroleum products is done as per expert advice.
Planning Commission deputy chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia and former Planning Commission member Kirit S Parikh, who heads an expert committee on fuel pricing, may join the deliberations, official sources said.
The government on Wednesday denied any move to hive-off ONGC Videsh Ltd from its parent Oil and Natural Gas Corporation, saying the present arrangement of letting the subsidiary company scout for overseas oil and gas assets was working well.
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 union government is planning to release about 5.5 crore new LPG connections over the next five years, petroleum and natural gas minister Murli Deora said.
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.
Deora told Business Standard that a substantial volume of kerosene was also smuggled across the border, since the prices there were much higher. He added the government may have to rework various measures taken so far to curb the menace.
Petroleum Minister Murli Deora and Minister of State for Petroleum Jitin Prasada took charge on Friday.
The working group of India, Iran and Pakistan will meet in Islamabad from May 22 to May 24 to further work out modalities for Indo-Iran gas pipeline project.
Putin, who was the chief guest at the Republic Day celebration, was seen off at the airport by Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas Murli Deora.
The Prime Minister's Office on Thursday forwarded to Oil and Petroleum Ministry a letter written by Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in which he has demanded that the decision to hike gas price extracted from KG basin be kept in abeyance till completion of a probe into the issue.
Kapoor has told the Enforcement Directorate that he was 'forced' to buy the M F Husain painting from Priyanka Gandhi and the sale proceeds were utilised by the Gandhi family for the medical treatment of Congress president Sonia Gandhi in New York, according to the charge sheet filed by the federal anti-money laundering agency in a special court in Mumbai.
Launching a major global initiative for attracting foreign investment in the hydrocarbon sector, India on Monday held a roadshow in London for auctioning 55 oil and gas exploration blocks.
India plans to buy more liquefied natural gas from Qatar and will expand the capacity of its Dahej LNG terminal to 10 million tonnes a year from the present five million tonnes.
Congress on Tuesday cautioned against probe "inspired by political vendetta", as Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal ordered filing of an FIR against its party leader and Petroleum Minister M Veerappa Moily alleging collusion in hike in prices of natural gas from KG basin.
Coming down hard against Arvind Kejriwal for ordering an FIR against him and others for raising gas prices, Petroleum Minister M Veerappa Moily on Saturday said the former Delhi chief minister doesn't understand fundamental laws.
In January 2006, King Abdullah became the first Saudi monarch in 51 years to visit India.
RIL had said at that time the allegations were baseless and devoid of any merit.
The public has benefited from this decline in crude oil, which has translated into lower prices of petrol and diesel.
All cases that were registered last year during will be pursued.
Companies use journalists as conduits.
Delhi Police claims that the FIR reveals serious cognizable corruption & cheating offences, so matter is within its jurisdiction.
'If the government starts playing favourites, if the government acts in a manner which is not transparent, then natural resources which belong to not just you and me, but future generations, they fritter away. The anger against corruption, the anger against India's natural resources being looted is a consequence of the fact that within society there is a huge amount of turmoil and discontentment. Why should an Empowered Group Of Ministers or the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs decide the administered price of gas?' asks Paranjoy Guha Thakurta in this exclusive interview with Rediff.com's Sheela Bhatt.
Global crude oil prices have slumped by 49 per cent during the same period
The Big Chill is an upmarket cafe in New Delhi's tony Khan Market and that's where Deora wanted to meet. He introduces me to his favourite cake: tiramisu with a generous infusion of Bailey's, the Irish creme liquor. I take a spoonful, recall the reading on the bathroom scales earlier that morning, and resolutely push it aside, writes Aditi Phadnis.
The AAP deliberately flouted procedures when it attempted to table the Jan Lokpal Bill in the Delhi assembly on Friday, knowing that it would fall by the wayside. But Kejriwal was not perturbed as he was looking for an opportunity to opt out and the anti-graft bill was the perfect reason for doing so as it would enable him to go out in a blaze of glory and accuse the Congress and the BJP of not being serious about fighting corruption, analyses Anita Katyal.
The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation is very much aligned with the foreign policy priorities of the Modi 2.0 government, says Sana Hashmi.
'According to a powerful section of the Congress the vote was anti-Congress, anti-dynasty and pro-Modi, in that order. They say Modi won because he represented and completely played upon "Bhartiyata".' 'Sonia is being accused, privately, of protecting her son at the cost of the party's interest.' 'For the first time ever, 24 Akbar Road, the Congress headquarters, is assessing the "neeyat (intent)" of the Gandhi Parivar, which has never happened before.' A Rediff Correspondent lifts the veil off the churning within the Congress party in the wake of the party's rout in the election.