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Petrol price up Rs 4, diesel by Rs 2

     New Delhi: The Central Government has decided to hike petrol price by Rs 4 a litre and diesel by Rs 2 per litre, but spared any hike of domestic cooking gas (LPG) and kerosene for Public Distribution System (PDS). The hike was approved at a meeting of the Union Cabinet, which was chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. It was only a fraction of the increase actually needed to offset the spiralling international oil prices. Petrol prices needed to be raised by Rs 9.33 per litre, diesel by Rs 10.43 a litre, PDS kerosene by Rs 17.16 per litre and domestic LPG by Rs 114.45 per cylinder. A Rs 4 a litre hike in petrol and Rs 2 per litre increase in diesel prices would give oil firms Rs 9,200 crore, still a far cry from the projected Rs 73,500 crore revenue loss projected for 2006-07 due to firming up of global oil prices. While petrol and diesel prices were last revised in September 2005, kerosene prices have remained unchanged since March 2002 and LPG since November 2004 despite a 60 percent jump in cost of raw material (crude oil).

     Sources said Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Murli Deora has proposed that the share of subsidy burden on upstream firms ONGC, GAIL and OIL be raised to Rs 24,000 crore this fiscal from Rs 14,000 crore last year to partly offset the Rs 73,500 crore under-realisation. The current retail prices at Delhi correspond to a price of around 26 dollars per barrel for kerosene (global prices ruling at 87.04 dollars per barrel), 272 dollars per tonne for LPG ( 470 dollars per tonne global price), 60 dollars per barrel for petrol (88.53 dollars per barrel international price) and 56 dollars per barrel for diesel (83.98 dollars per barrel imported cost). The petroleum ministry projected under-realisation of Rs 8390 crore on petrol, Rs 37,940 crore on diesel, Rs 19,403 crore on kerosene and Rs 7,779 crore on LPG this fiscal if either prices or duties were kept unchanged. The Cabinet also approved reduction in customs duty on petrol and diesel from 10 to 7.5 percent, besides issuance of Rs 28,000 crore oil bonds to PSUs, Deora told reporters here.

New Chief Election Commissioner (Go To Top)

      New Delhi: The Centre on Monday named N. Gopalaswamy as the new chief of the Election Commission. Gopalaswamy, currently an Election Commissioner, will succeed incumbent chief election commissioner BB Tandon, whose tenure ends at the end of June. An official announcement, however, is awaited. Gopalaswamy is the senior of the two incumbent Election Commissioners, the other being Navin Chawla. Election Commission is a three-member independent body, comprising of two Election Commissioners and a Chief Election Commissioner.

J-K DSP's plea in sex-racket rejected (Go To Top)

      New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday rejected Deputy Superintendent of Police in Jammu and Kashmir police, Mohammad Ashraf Mir's plea, challenging the High Court order which bars any subordinate court from issuing anticipatory bail or regular bail in Jammu and Kashmir sex scandal case, without its permission. The petition came up for hearing before a vacation bench comprising Justice Arijit Pasayat and Justice CK Thakker. According to sources, the CBI on Sunday arrested Mir, who is an accused in the sex scandal, after he was identified by Yasmeena, the minor girl whose arrest led to the exposure of the scandal in Srinagar recently. He had been missing for the past 10 days. The State has been rocked by a spate of protests and demonstrations, often violent, over a suspected prostitution ring allegedly involving police officers, senior bureaucrats, businessmen besides others. The CBI has so far questioned over two dozen persons including senior police and civil officers. Last month, an angry mob had ransacked the house of Sabina, the woman suspected of running the prostitution ring, before razing it to the ground and setting fire to her belongings. The woman and three others were detained by police for questioning after pornographic videos and video clips on mobile phones showing nude Kashmiri girls were circulated in Srinagar. The incident is being probed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), after the Srinagar High Court stepped in, to probe accusations about senior officials being involved.

Congress candidate for Maharashtra RS seat

      New Delhi: A day after the BJP, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and the Shiv Sena nominated industrialist Rahul Bajaj as their joint candidate for the Rajya Sabha by-election, the Congress today named PCC general secretary Avinash Pandey as its nominee for the seat vacated after Pramod Mahajan's death. The Congress nominated Pandey for the June 15 Rajya Sabha bye- elections from Maharashtra as Bajaj's candidature came as a big surprise for the party considering the fact that the Congress and the Sharad Pawar-led NCP run a coalition government in the State. Interestingly, the NCP had already declared that it would not support a Congress nominee for the by-elections, saying the Congress had sabotaged the recent Legislative Council elections in which all the four Congress candidates got elected. Today is the last day for filing of nominations for the bye- election.

Bhatt's plea on Fanaa dismissed (Go To Top)

       New Delhi: The Supreme Court today dismissed a petition filed by film-maker Mahesh Bhatt seeking direction to the Gujarat government for providing security for the peaceful screening of Fanaa, starring Aamir Khan, in the state. The court said that the theatre owners interested in exhibiting the film could ask for police protection, if required. Meanwhile, the multiplex owners in Gujarat have decided not to screen the film, even as many movie theatres and multiplexes have been screening Fanna far more than a week.

Rituals mark World Environment Day (Go To Top)

      Varanasi/Agra/Gwalior: India marked the World Environment Day, which is being observed across the globe today, with religious spirit and innovative actions on Monday. People in several parts of the country marched, skated and performed religious rituals to make people conscious of their surroundings. In the temple city of Varanasi, Ved Prachar Mandal (Indian Scriptures Publicity Group), which organised a ritual ceremony, said that these were not only religious rituals to please the almighty but had a scientific basis behind it. "Trees in this environment are not enough to support the ecology. Ghee, when put in the fire proves beneficial for the environment. The flames coming out from this fire ritual reaches the universe and the upper layer of the environment that creates pressure and leads to rainfall that is useful for all living beings on the earth," said Surya Devi, Teacher, Ved Prachar Mandal.

    Agra, on the other hand, opted for a clean up spree of the surroundings of the world famous Taj Mahal, the monument of love, now a World Heritage Site. However, situated on the banks of Yamuna river, which has the dubious distinction of being the most polluted river in India, nowadays work as a distraction for tourists who visit to see the beauty of Taj Mahal. Hotel Taj View Association, a motley group of local environmental activists, volunteered to clean up the surroundings of the monument. They have been organising various events in support of environment conservation for the last 7-8 years. "There is so much of pollution and dirt behind the Taj Mahal. People throw dirt and even the remains of the carcases of animals and birds. It pollutes the river. If we resolve not to throw waste into the river and clean it up, then we can save environment," said Ajay Singh, member of Hotel Taj View Association. In Gwalior, school children marched on skates to make people realise that vehicle pollution could be avoided. Children wearing colourful helmets and carrying the banners, skated their way to mark the World Environment Day. "This rally is organised to make people realise that the tress should never be cut and environment should be conserved. You all should tell the government that trees should not be cut and there should be less smoke," said Kabir, a participant in the rally.

No talks with Sonia on power
sharing: Karunanidhi (Go To Top)

       New Delhi: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi on Monday met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress President Sonia Gandhi. Karunanidhi said his talks with the Prime Minister of Sonia did not cover any political subjects like sharing of power in the State, but only developmental issues. This was Karunanidhi's first visit to the national capital after assuming office. Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) chief Karunanidhi wrested power from AIADMK chief J. Jayalalitha in the May 8 elections. The Tamil Nadu government is planning to set up a television assembly plant at the Nanguneri SEZ as an estimated 50 lakh sets have to be produced and distributed over two to three years time. The octogenarian leader had promised in his poll manifesto rice for the poor at two rupees per kilo, land for the landless poor and free television sets to families that do not have one, basically to poor households. DMK swept the polls in Tamil Nadu as the party-led Democratic Progressive Alliance (DPA) won 163 seats in the 234-strong Assembly. The UPA Congress government has also pledged full support to Karunanidhi. But post-election, Congress's state leaders had been clamouring for a place in the coalition government, which the DMK has so far not agreed to.

25,000 left homeless by Asom floods (Go To Top)

      Guwahati: Around 25,000 people have been displaced following flash floods in different districts of Asom due to heavy rains over the last few days. In an official statement, the Asom Government said that at least 70 villages were submerged in the districts of Nagaon, Dhemaji, Tinsukia, Karimganj and Hailakandi. Flood waters have also damaged bridges, electrical poles and disrupted both roads and rail communications in several areas, said the statement. Meanwhile, Asom's Barpeta District and other parts of Lower Asom have been inundated by the swirling waters of the River Brahmaputra. Thousands of people have fled their homes for safer destinations. The erosion of embankments along side the river is posing major threat to over a 100 villages in Morigaon District. Majuli, the world's largest river island, has been partially submerged, as also parts of the famouse Kaziranga Wildlife Sanctuary, which is home to the world's largest concentration of the endangered one- horned rhinos. The Brahmaputra and its tributaries, including the Jia Bharali, the Kopili and the Puthimari, are still flowing above their respective danger levels following heavy rains in their catchment areas.