Tension gripped Osmania University campus on Tuesday with another student committing suicide by setting himself ablaze in protest against the delay in formation of Telangana.
An Empowered Group of Ministers, headed by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, is likely to meet on May 21 to decide on freeing petrol and diesel prices from government control.
The annual under-recoveries of state-run oil marketing companies have been estimated at Rs 1.1 lakh crore, the government told the Lok Sabha on Thursday.
Currently, the government controls prices of petrol, diesel, domestic liquid petroleum gas and kerosene and compensates public sector firms through a complex mechanism that has squeezed out liquidity with the retailers and drained resources of upstream firms.
Siphoning off food and fuel meant for the poor has made India's public distribution system ineffective.
The loss, which is made good through government subsidy, has declined since March as the rupee strengthened against the dollar and global oil prices softened.
Petroleum Minister Murli Deora on Monday ruled out any rollback in the increased prices of petroleum products, saying the hike has been reasonable and minimum. "The hike is reasonable and minimum ...," Deora told reporters here.
The fall in global oil prices has trimmed the losses of state-owned oil companies, but it may not be enough to prevent a Rs 4 per litre increase in diesel prices and a Rs 20-25 per cylinder hike in LPG rates later this month.
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Amid a spate of government proposals at its door, the Election Commission has asked all Union government departments to route their proposals through the Cabinet Secretariat.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Tuesday said that diesel prices too will be freed from government control as part of 'much-needed reforms', but LPG and kerosene will continue to be subsidised.
A pro-Telangana school student set himself ablaze raising slogans in support of a separate state, leading to tension on the Osmania University campus in Hyderabad on Saturday.
A powerful bomb contained in a can was found at the Howrah railway station in Kolkata on Thursday, but it was defused before it could cause any damage
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After natural gas prices, the government looks set to bite the bullet on auto fuel prices, with a panel of ministers scheduled to meet on June 7 to decide on freeing petrol and diesel prices.
In yet another case of suicide for the cause of Telangana, a 18-year-old girl student set herself ablaze in Mahabubnagar district of Andhra Pradesh tonight, police said.
Though the government had earlier this fiscal explicitly decided to compensate Indian Oil, Hindustan Petroleum and Bharat Petroleum for the losses they incur on selling domestic LPG and kerosene through PDS by way of oil bonds, the finance ministry has not issued any bonds for the three quarters.
Alleging that she had been raped by president of the students' union of her college, a girl set herself on fire in Rajasthan's Bhilwara district and is in a critical condition, police said on Tuesday.
Protests continued in the Rayalaseema and coastal regions of Andhra Pradesh for the fourth day on Monday against bifurcation of the state.
Three fuel retailers -- Indian Oil Corporation, Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited -- lost about Rs 26,618 crore (Rs 266.18 billion) in revenues on selling petrol, diesel, domestic LPG and kerosene below cost during the first half of the current fiscal, a ministry official said.
A Telangana sympathiser, who set himself on fire four days ago protesting the arrest of Telangana Rashtra Samithi chief K Chandrasekhar Rao, succumbed to his burn injuries in a hospital in Hyderabad.
The Railways Minister said gas stoves carried by some passengers blew up when they were preparing breakfast on the speeding train in violation of rules.
Transport minister R Ashoka said on Thursday all new autorickshaws registering in the city should be 'green'.
The petrol price hike has added to the woes of the common man.
Food inflation, at almost 17 per cent, along with the rise in fuel prices will be a bitter pill for consumers.
The issue of price rise is a worry for every government -- it is a political volcano. But the United Progressive Alliance on Friday steeply hiked the fuel price. Will people react? Or do they remain silent and suffer? Abhishek Mande talks to experts to 'read' the pulse.
Banks, ATMs and quite a few markets were kept open on Sunday while 2.5 lakh sacrificial goats have been made available in the Kashmir valley to help citizens celebrate Eid-ul-Azha with traditional fervour.
The room for political manoeuvre to raise petroleum prices is the highest at this point in time, says Business Standard.
State-owned Indian Oil, Bharat Petroleum and Hindustan Petroleum currently lose Rs 180 crore per day.
Petroleum Minister Murli Deora on Monday hinted at a hike in fuel prices, asserting that a final call on it would be taken by the Group of Ministers in the meeting to be held in New Delhi on June 7.
After a spike, losses on sale of diesel have fallen by nearly a rupee to Rs 2.49 per litre as international oil rates have moderated.
The Finance Ministry will give Rs 12,000 crore in cash to Indian Oil, Hindustan Petroleum and Bharat Petroleum to cover for less than half of the losses they incurred on selling LPG and kerosene this fiscal.
The basket of crude oil India buys from overseas markets averaged $68.07 per barrel in September as against the August average of $71.98 a barrel.
The finance ministry has offered less than half of the Rs 31,700 crore (Rs 317 billion) sought by the oil ministry to make up for revenue losses incurred by the state-owned retailers on sale of LPG and kerosene. Petroleum Minister Murli Deora on Thursday met Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee to seek compensation for the public sector oil firms for their losses but the meeting remained inconclusive.
The Petroleum Ministry on Wednesday sought over Rs 19,620 crore (Rs 196.20 billion) in compensation for state retailers Indian Oil, Bharat Petroleum and HPCL, which sold cooking fuels below cost in 2009-10 fiscal.
State-owned Indian Oil Corp, Bharat Petroleum and Hindustan Petroleum are collectively losing Rs 2.65 billion (Rs 265 crore) per day on selling fuel below cost and may end the fiscal with a Rs 874.4 billion (Rs 87,440 crore) revenue loss.
The state-owned Indian Oil Corporation may see revenue loss on fuel sales jump 63 per cent to over Rs 42,540 crore (Rs 425.40 billion) in the current fiscal.
However police said they were investigating the reason behind his suicide.
IOC, BPCL and HPCL currently sell petrol at a loss of Rs 6.12 per litre, Rs 4.60 a litre on diesel, Rs 18.42 per litre on PDS kerosene and Rs 265.27 per 14.2-kg LPG cylinder.
The country's biggest fuel retailer Indian Oil Corporation on Wednesday said it is losing Rs 107 crore (Rs 1.07 billion) a day on selling auto and cooking fuel below cost even as it awaits the government to announce clear compensation package.
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