Of the 170 million rural households in the country, a government website claims to have connected 82 per cent of them. The metered households are 50 per cent of the total. As on February, 2018, of the 780,000 villages to be intensively electrified or provide connection to all in households, 493,000 have been covered. However, the amount and quality of the power supply cannot be ascertained from this data. No clause in any of the rural electrification programmes promises 24 hours' power supply.
The Cabinet, scheduled to meet on Thursday, may reduce petrol price by Rs 5 a litre, diesel by Rs 3 per litre and domestic LPG by Rs 25 per cylinder, giving relief to the common man and further easing inflationary pressures.
Modi also pitched for a social movement to ensure the safety of women and girls.
'...because the party is based on the Constitution.'
These notes can be used at government hospitals, railway ticketing, public transport, airline ticketing at airports, milk booths, crematoria/burial grounds, petrol pumps, metro rail tickets, purchase of medicines on doctor prescription from the government and private pharmacies, LPG gas cylinders, railway catering, electricity and water bills and ASI monument entry tickets. Highway toll has been scrapped till November 14.
The Congress had on Friday extended support to the countrywide 'chakka jam' called by the farmer unions, saying party workers will stand shoulder to shoulder with farmers in their protest.
These are initiatives not commonly seen in economic administration.
The staggered increase in kerosene rate may not have the same impact of freeing up the fuel price as for diesel.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday termed the hike in rail fares as "unprecedented and anti-people" and demanded its roll back in the interest of common people.
Modi accuses Congress of spreading 'lies, confusion and pessimism'
The cabinet on Friday discussed the fuel price increase in the context of the surge in international oil prices.
The government has allowed oil companies to raise diesel price by 50 paise a litre per month; bulk users to be charged market price.
The Left parties on Friday asked Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for a rollback in petroleum prices and said the Budget should conform with the Common Minimum Programme.
The cabinet committee on economic affairs will meet this evening to decide on the prices of petrol, diesel, LPG and kerosene, petroleum minister Mani Shankar Aiyar said.
Away from limelight, Jeevika Didis are silently fighting the coronavirus in rural Bihar.
Financial services majors Citi and HSBC said the long awaited government decision to hike fuel prices is a positive step, although it will fan the already high inflation and may not prevent fiscal slippage.
Indian Oil Corp, the nation's largest fuel retailer, positioned adequate stocks of all petroleum products -- petrol, diesel, kerosene and LPG in the state.
The outcome is beyond the market's expectation and will be a sentimental boost, say analysts.
Dr APJ Abdul Kalam believes India can transform herself into a developed nation by the year 2020. The young people of India, headed by a creative leader, can help us reach this goal, says the former President.
'We have the more difficult reforms to do such as the reduction of subsidy, the insurance and pension sector reform, eliminating bureaucratic red tape and implementing Goods and Services Tax'
The demand for black oils and specialty products like fuel oil, bitumen, petcoke and sulphur has also shown marked improvement, facilitating increase of refineries throughput.
'The last four years was not Dravidian rule, it was BJP rule by proxy.'
But demand has shown signs of pick up in the last 10 days of April after the government allowed resumption of economic activity beyond the urban municipal limit.
A CRPF vehicle had suffered slight damage when a Santro car went up in flames after an explosion at Tethar village, seven km from Banihal, shortly after a Jammu-bound convoy crossed the Jawahar Tunnel, the gateway to Kashmir valley.
For the seven months since February 2014, the benchmark index surged nearly 27%.
A total of 1.71 lakh earthen lamps were lit up at the grand event while a chopper decorated as the mythological 'Pushpak Viman' descended on the Ram Katha Park with artistes decked up to resemble Lord Ram, Sita and Laxman.
While the likelihood of these states going the Lanka or Greece way may be an alarming assessment, the financial situation of some states such as Punjab and West Bengal is indeed quite weak.
Declining crude price translates into lower under-recoveries for OMCs
Curfew-like situation prevailed in East Delhi's Trilokpuri area for the third consecutive day with people not being allowed to step out of their houses though no untoward incident took place in the violence-hit locality on Monday
Since August, petrol price has been cumulatively cut by Rs 9.36 per litre.
An interplay of Modi government's outreach in Bihar and the sequence of events in Chirag Paswan's life could make Bihar a game of musical chairs when the results are out.
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 government on Thursday more than doubled the price of natural gas that is used to produce electricity, make fertilisers, turned into CNG and piped to household kitchens for cooking, on the back of a spike in global energy prices. The price of gas produced from old regulated fields, such as the nation's largest gas field of Bassein of ONGC, will rise to a record high of $6.10 per million British thermal unit (mmBtu) from the current $2.90 per mmBtu, according to the oil ministry's Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell (PPAC). The new price, which is likely to result in a hike in CNG and piped cooking gas rates, will be for six months beginning April 1.
Renewable energy is mistakenly restricted to electricity.
In June, the government had decontrolled petrol, causing a hike of Rs 3.5 per litre, and increased diesel prices by Rs 2 a litre, LPG by Rs 35 a cylinder and kerosene by 3 a litre -- amid protests by opposition parties.
Food inflation, at almost 17 per cent, along with the rise in fuel prices will be a bitter pill for consumers.
Profit on sale of diesel swelled to Rs 1.90 per litre as oil ministry awaits return of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to cut rates.
Sharpening his attack on the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and Narendra Modi, Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi on Thursday accused them of trying to usurp the legacy of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel and recalled the Congress stalwart's description of the RSS as "a venomous organisation" which could "finish" the country.
The increase in petrol price, which the oil firms had been holding since January even though crude oil had touched a two-and-a-half-year high, came a day after election results of five state assemblies were announced.
Moily insisted that no proposal has been moved to the Cabinet for raising diesel rates beyond the 40-50 paise a litre monthly increase, which has been implemented since January.