Petrol price hiked in India

Petrol price was on Friday hiked by Rs. 1.40 per litre, the second big increase in rates in as many weeks.

A rise in international oil prices and depreciation in rupee have necessitated a Rs. 1.40 per litre increase in price of petrol with effect from Friday midnight, said a statement by Indian Oil Corporation (IOC).

The hike is excluding local sales tax or VAT and the actual increase in rate for consumers will be higher after including the tax incidence.

The previous petrol price hike was Rs. 1.50 a litre excluding VAT on February 16, 2013.

The increase in price for consumers in Delhi will be Rs. 1.68 per litre and the new rate will be Rs. 70.74 a litre from Saturday as against Rs. 69.06 a litre currently.

“The price increase has been necessitated by two factors — the international gasoline (petrol) prices have increased from $128.57 per barrel to $131.00 a barrel since the last revision; and the rupee has depreciated from Rs. 53.43 to Rs. 54.15 per dollar during the period,” the statement said.

Petrol in Mumbai will cost Rs. 77.66 a litre as against Rs. 75.89 per litre currently.

“The trends of international oil prices and rupee-dollar exchange rate shall be closely monitored and the same shall be reflected in future price changes,” said IOC, the nation’s largest oil retailer.

Apart from losses on sale of petrol, oil firms are suffering under-recovery (revenue loss) on sale of diesel of Rs. 11.26 per litre, kerosene of Rs. 33.43 a litre and LPG of Rs. 439 per cylinder. The loss on diesel has risen from Rs. 10.72 a litre on February 16, when its rates were increased by 45 paise excluding VAT.

IOC said it will end the fiscal with a revenue loss of Rs. 86,500 crore on sale of diesel, LPG and kerosene. The industry, comprising of IOC and two other state firms, will be Rs. 163,500 crore during current year.

Following are the revised prices of petrol at Indian Oil Corp (IOC) petrol pumps in four metros.

Rates at pumps of Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd (BPCL) and Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd (HPCL) vary by a few paise.

Region	Current price	Revised Price
Delhi	69.06	70.74
Kolkata	76.59	78.34
Mumbai	75.89	77.66
Chennai	73.95	72.17

Parliament passes bill to change Orissa's name

   The Rajya Sabha Thursday passed a bill to change the name of Orissa to 'Odisha' and an amendment in the constitution to rename Oriya language as 'Odiya'."The name of the state specified as Orissa in the First Schedule of the Constitution be changed as Odisha," Home Minister P. Chidambaram said while introducing the bill in the Rajya Sabha. The Orissa (Alteration of Name) Bill, 2010, and the Constitution (113th Amendment) Bill, 2010, for the change of the name of the language were moved by Chambermaid on the basis of resolutions passed by the Orissa assembly.Both bills were passed by the Lok Sabha in November 2010. "The government of Orissa forwarded to the central government in December 2008 the resolution passed by the legislative assembly of Orissa on 28th August, 2008," the home minister said. "As required by the provision to Article 3 of the Constitution, the president referred the bill to the legislature of the state of Orissa for expressing its views thereon," he said. The state assembly adopted a unanimous resolution agreeing with the bill, the home minister said.


                                                                                                                                       Source:NDTV

Govt. not keen to see a corruption- free India: Hazare

Anti-corruption activist Anna Hazare left Ralegan Siddhi for Mumbai on Monday afternoon amidst a rousing farewell in his hometown. Speaking to the people just before leaving, Mr. Hazare stated that he was fit for the agitation. He said that it was the government that had forced him to go on another fast.

''The common man is suffering, the government is blind to see that. I have been accused of being against the party ( Congress) but this wouldn't have happened if the party had worked for the people. I am not fond of fasting, I have been forced to do it because of the incompetent government,'' Mr Hazare said. He accused the government of not being keen to see a corruption- free India. ''Political power runs on money, and money runs on the same power,'' he stated.

He assured the people that he was not for the three-day fast. ''I was not well for three days, but now I am fit to fast,'' he said.

Mr. Hazare reiterated that he will stage a dharna outside Sonia Gandhi's house on December 30.''They promised us a strong Lokpal bill and then did a U-turn,'' he said.

He stayed that he didn't fear death and was ready to face anything. ''We have all seen how they (the police) attacked protesters in Ramlila Maidan during Baba Ramdev's agitation. I don't fear death,'' he said.

Mr. Hazare stopped at Alandi, the place of Sant Dnyaneshwar's 'samadhi', en route to Mumbai to seek blessings.

 
                                                                                                                         source:The Hindu