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.
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.
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 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.
The new car will be shipped-in as a completely built unit from Lamborghini's facility at Sant'Agata in Italy.
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.
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.
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.
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.
"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
After 47 years in electoral politics, Union minister Sharad Pawar on Monday became a member of the Rajya Sabha for the first time.
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.
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 ministry, however, clarified that there was no change in the prices of kerosene and LPG.
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.
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.
Jagat Prakash Nadda was elected unopposed as the Bharatiya Janata Party national president on Monday after he emerged as the only leader in the fray following the nomination process in which his candidature was endorsed by top party leaders.
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.
For the second time in as many months, the Government on Wednesday night cut petrol price by Rs 5 a litre and diesel by Rs 2 per litre, while the domestic LPG rate was also slashed by as much as Rs 25 per cylinder.
The NSE Nifty ended at 4,449, up 112 points. The market breadth was positive - out of 2,852 stocks traded, 2,147 advanced while 649 declined.
The drop in international oil prices has resulted in revenue loss of Indian Oil, Bharat Petroleum and Hindustan Petroleum dip to Rs 400 crore per day from Rs 450 crore (Rs 4.5 billion) a fortnight back. The basket of crude oil India buys averaged $111.09 a barrel in the second fortnight of August as compared with $117.37 per barrel in the first fortnight of the month.
Sources said that Shah had a detailed discussion with him on Modigate.
The Bharatiya Janata Party is likely to announce the names of its candidates for over 150 Lok Sabha seats on Thursday.
In a relief to Murli Deora, the Election Commission on Tuesday gave him a clean chit, saying the Petroleum Minister did not violate the Model Code of Conduct when he referred to taking a decision on the fuel prices after assembly polls in six states.EC sources said that the Commission looked into the video clippings and found no substance in the complaint made against Deora.Deora came under attack last week for his remarks on fuel prices after the conclusion of assembly polls
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.
On the insistence of petroleum minister Murli Deora, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin is sending Shmatko to attend the conference of energy ministers of the Commonwealth of Independent States that New Delhi is hosting on November 25-26.
The fourth phase of the Lok Sabha elections will go to polls on April 29. The voting will be held for 71 seats spread across 9 states.
Petroleum Minister Murli Deora after a meeting with his Iranian counterpart Gholam Hosein Nozari for talks on the $7.5 billion Iran-Pakistan-India pipeline project said there were 'some minor problems' which have been sorted out.
India has asked oil cartel Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries to raise crude oil production to stem the relentless rise in international oil prices that have threatened to derail import dependent economies such as India.
