Amid rumblings in the Bharatiya Janata Party over Bihar poll rout and attack on its leadership by party veterans, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari on Wednesday strongly defended Prime Minister Narendra Modi and party President Amit Shah, saying they cannot be held responsible for the defeat.
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Oil Minister Murli Deora has said that petrol and diesel prices would not be cut till crude oil prices fell to $67 a barrel, since the depreciation in the rupee against the US dollar had eroded gains from falling oil prices, which touched a 7-month low.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad may have used a mix of charm and roguish coercion to let India know that he expected the Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline proposal to become a reality in 45 days. But India is in no hurry to take a decision, a top Cabinet minister in the United Progressive Alliance government said. The volatile political environment in Iran and Pakistan has as much weightage now and the UPA government is becoming more reluctant.
Crude prices are hovering near $100 a barrel level after hitting a six-month low of $98 on Thursday. Petroleum Secretary R S Pandey said that crude prices are expected to fall even further.
India hopes to conclude the acquisition of UK-listed Imperial Energy in 4-5 weeks, Petroleum Minister Murli Deora said on Friday. OVL is now awaiting approval of Kremlin to takeover the company, which has assets in Tomsk region of the western Siberia in Russia.
Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC) is in talks with Reliance Industries and Indian Oil Corporation for investing in refineries and petrochemical plants in the country.
The allusion is simple: Modi is the BJP in Gujarat. This encapsulates a paradigm shift in the way the BJP's internal politics is now being run.
"Will the government come up with a POTA-type law?" asked senior BJP leader Murli Manohar Joshi in the Rajya Sabha while participating in a discussion on serial bomb blasts in Uttar Pradesh.
GAIL has already been appointed as the nodal agency for the pipeline in India.
The decision came after a storm was kicked up by the ruling party members on Thomas' statement earlier this week that the PAC can call the PM to depose on the note ban issue.
Three Indian authors are on the 2008 Booker Prize long-list. Will any of them win the feted prize?
The government on Monday ruled out any immediate increase in petrol and diesel prices despite a spurt in international crude oil prices.
Crude oil prices have fallen to below $113 a barrel this week from all-time high of $147 per barrel witnessed last month. The basket of crude oil India buys averaged $109.88 per barrel, down from $119 a barrel price on June 4 when petrol, diesel and domestic cooking gas prices were raised.
Taking Indo-Chinese co-operation in the oil sector a step forward, the country's biggest oil refiner and retailer, Indian Oil Corporation, has signed a memorandum of understanding with integrated Chinese national oil company Sinopec.
Besides late Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray and former prime minister Indira Gandhi, NCP president Sharad Pawar also figured in the posters.
Indian Oil Corporation has developed an indigenous technology that can double LPG production in refineries, Petroleum Minister Murli Deora said on Thursday.
ONGC Videsh Ltd has much riding on $150 million investment plans in gas and oil exploration that Petroleum Minister Murli Deora says is critical for India's energy security. But apart from this, Myanmar apparently offers rich potential in engineering, fertilisers, tourism and pharmaceuticals for the private sector.
Iraq has invited Indian Oil Corporation, the country's largest oil refiner, to set up refineries in the war-torn country, and also participate in other downstream projects, a government statement said.
'Drone warfare has come to stay.' 'India should exploit the expected Reaper acquisition from the US to build an effective counter terror campaign,' argues Group Captain Murli Menon (retd).
The Opposition National Democratic Alliance and the Third Front continued to disrupt proceedings in Parliament over the Indo-US civil nuclear agreement leading to adjournment of both Houses till 1600 hours.
GoM meeting regarding petro product price hike has been postponed and a decision on the prices will come only after Jan 28.
Already under fire from all quarters over special economic zones, an important parliamentary committee has firmed up its strong opposition over acquisition of farm land.
Monday's meeting of the empowered group of ministers on pricing of gas from Reliance Industries' D6 block in the Krishna-Godavari basin has proved inconclusive.
"Yesterday's GoM meeting was inconclusive as two ministers were not present. We did discuss some proposals and I hope the GoM and government will find a solution (to the spike in crude oil prices)," Petroleum Minister Murli Deroa told reporters in New Delhi on Friday.
The three government oil marketing companies, Indian Oil Corporation, Bharat Petroleum and Hindustan Petroleum, are losing Rs 320 crore a day as they sell at subsidised rates.
Alberto Contador will cement his status as the best grand tour rider of the modern era if he emerges as the winner of the Big Four's battle royale at the Tour de France -- the most highly anticipated race in decades.
'Having spent four years in that country and been able to assess the thought process of their military up close, I am of the opinion that a reprisal is inevitable.' 'The Pak military lives in a high ego make believe world (even believing a nuclear war is fightable!) and I know they WILL respond soon enough,' says Group Captain Murli Menon (retd).
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He sought oil bonds from the finance ministry to cover 57.1 per cent of the total Rs 77,000 crore losses suffered by the oil companies in 2007-08.
Also known as 'Serpent' for his skills of deception and evasion, 63-year-old Sobhraj had filed an appeal in the apex court against the life sentence given to him by the Kathmandu District Court, for the murder of American backpacker Connie Bronzich. He is suspected to have killed at least 12 travellers in India, Thailand and Nepal in the 1970s.
With the rising price of crude oil, the gap between the desired selling price and the actual selling price -- referred to as under-recovery -- is up to Rs 190 crore (Rs 1.9 billion) a day. The solution is to raise retail prices, an unpopular move.
'Like in cricket, M S Dhoni was the captain and Virat Kohli played under him.' 'Then Dhoni played under Kohli.' 'Now imagine, having a second switch.' 'That is the analogy here, and I find no other example in Indian politics, or even world politics.'
India and Libya discussed ways to boost their relationship, particularly in the IT and Oil sector during talks visiting Petroleum Minister Murli Deora had with Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi in Tripoli.
The Parliamentary Committee on Special Economic Zones on Friday said no further SEZs should be notified unless the law is amended to include changes pertaining to land acquisition.
Petroleum Minister Murli Deora is likely to meet Finance Minister P Chidambaram later this week to seek greater compensation for oil companies, who are currently losing about Rs 450 crore (Rs 4.5 billion) a day on fuel sales. Indian Oil, Bharat Petroleum and Hindustan Petroleum are likely to see doubling of revenue loss on sale of petrol, diesel, domestic LPG and PDS kerosene to Rs 150,000 crore. The three fuel retailers together lost Rs 77,304.50 cr on fuel sale in 2007-08.
On Thursday, Petroleum Minister Murli Deora had also informed Parliament that the government under instruction from United Progressive Alliance Chairperson Sonia Gandhi is not proposing any fuel price increase despite crude nearing $100 a barrel mark. Crude oil prices have risen by almost 50 per cent since the UPA government assumed office, but only a fifth of that has been passed on to the customers.
ONGC Videsh Ltd, the overseas investment arm of Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC), has signed a joint venture agreement with Petroleos de Venezuela S.A. (PdVSA) to take 40 per cent stake in the San Cristobal oilfield in Venezuela. Under the agreement, OVL and PdVSA will develop the field from its current production level of 20,000 barrels per day to 40,000 barrels per day, company officials said. OVL will make a total investment of $ 355.738 million comprising signature.
Iran on Friday invited India's Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf to Tehran for signing a tri-nation deal on natural gas, supply of which could start from 2011.
