Diesel deregulated, prices cut by Rs 3.37 a litre

October 18, 2014

New Delhi, Oct 18: In much-awaited reform, the government on Saturday deregulated diesel prices, a move that will result in a price cut of Rs 3.37 a litre with effect from midnight tonight.

Diesel deregulatedFinance Minister Arun Jaitely said the Cabinet in its meeting today decided to deregulate or free diesel prices. Retail rates will now reflect international movement in oil prices.

As a result, rates will be cut by Rs 3.37 a litre with effect from midnight tonight.

This is the first reduction in diesel rates in over five years. Diesel rates were last cut on January 29, 2009 when they were reduced by Rs 2 a litre to Rs 30.86.

Diesel prices were last raised by 50 paisa on September 1 and cumulatively risen by Rs 11.81 per litre in 19 instalments since January 2013.

There couldn't have been more opportune time for the decision. Oil prices are near a four-year low and two major state elections are out of the way.

Reserve Bank Governor Raghuram Rajan has recently called on the government to "seize this moment", while inflation is the lowest in five years and refiners are selling at a profit for the first time ever.

Brent crude has fallen 25 percent this year to around USD 83 per barrel and expectation is that it may not cross USD 100 barrel anytime soon.

The process was set in motion by the previous UPA government when it eliminated controls on petrol prices in 2010 and in January last year decided to raise diesel prices by up to 50 paisa a litre every month.

The result has been that petrol prices have moved in tandem with global cost and retail rates being reduced on five occasions since August on falling oil rates. Prices have cumulative come down by close to Rs 7 per litre in last two-and-half months.

On diesel, the entire under-recovery or loss has been eliminated and oil firms started making profit from second half of September. The over-recovery or profit has since reached Rs 3.56 per litre.

Deregulation would mean that the government and state-owned explorers including Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) are no longer subsidising diesel.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had budgeted Rs 63,400 crore for petroleum subsidies which was 25 per cent lower than previous fiscal. But unlike past, the subsidy bill is unlikely to overshoot the budgeted amount due to fall in oil rates.

Oil subsidy account for a quarter of Rs 2.51 lakh crore.

Originally, petrol and diesel prices were deregulated in April 2002 when the NDA government was in power. Administered pricing regime, however, made a back-door entry towards the end of NDA regime in the first quarter of 2004 when crude prices started inching up.

The Congress-led UPA controlled rates as international oil prices went through the roof. In June 2010, however, it freed petrol price from its control and rates have since then moved more or less in tandem with cost.

It had in-principle decided to deregulate diesel, which is used in everything from cars and trucks to back-up power generators and agricultural water pumps. The fuel accounts for 43 per cent of the nation's fuel consumption.

In January 2013, the then UPA government decided to deregulate diesel prices in stages through a monthly 50 paise a litre increase. Rates were last hike on September 1 after which losses have been wiped off.

It is estimated that under-recovery or revenue loss on selling diesel, LPG and kerosene at prices lower than imported cost this fiscal will be around Rs 86,080 crore.

This will have to be met by cash subsidy from government as well as dole from upstream oil producers like ONGC.

The under-recovery estimate for the current fiscal is lower than Rs 1,39,869 crore of last fiscal. In 2013-14, the government had provided Rs 70,772 crore by way of cash subsidy while upstream firms picked up Rs 67,021 crore tab.

Sources said the under-recovery in (April-June) was Rs 28,691 crore. This was mostly met by Rs 11,000 crore cash subsidy from the government and Rs 15,547 crore coming from ONGC, Oil India Ltd and GAIL. The remaining Rs 2,144 crore was absorbed by fuel retailers (IOC, BPCL and HPCL).

In second quarter, the under-recovery is estimated at Rs 21,198 crore with diesel accounting for Rs 2,848 crore as compared to Rs 9,037 crore in the June quarter. Kerosene under-recovery was Rs 6,950 crore (Rs 7,524 crore in Q1) and LPG was Rs 11,400 crore (Rs 12,129 crore in Q1).

While diesel losses have been wiped off, oil firms lose Rs 31.22 a litre on kerosene and Rs 404.64 per 14.2-kg LPG cylinder.

Sources said government had provided Rs 1,00,000 crore cash subsidy in 2012-13 when under-recoveries touched an all- time high of Rs 1,61,029 crore. In the preceding year, Rs 83,500 crore was given. Upstream firms had chipped in with Rs 60,000 crore in 2012-13 and Rs 55,000 crore in 2011-12.

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Agencies
May 26,2020

New Delhi, May 26: The in-fighting among the residents of housing societies over feeding of stray dogs is nowhere near ending, with yet another attack on a pregnant Russian woman again in the national capital region this time in Noida.

The Russian woman residing in a condominium in Noida's Sector 71 was allegedly attacked by two men for feeding foundling canines inside the complex.

"We have initiated an inquiry and a case has been registered against the men for voluntarily causing hurt and criminal intimidation," Amit Kumar Singh, Station House Officer of Phase 3 police station told IANS.

The police said that the victim is married to an Indian man and they live in that society.

The issue was raked up on social media by one of the residents of the society. Her post had even solicited a response and help from the Noida Police Commissioner.

Kaveri Rana Bharadwaj wrote, "Mob led by Vikas Sharma, and Mr. Chauhan beat up a pregnant woman in Jagriti Apartment, Sector 71 Noida. Request you to immediately arrest these men and provide security to the scared woman!"

When contacted, a member of the Resident Welfare Association (RWA) of the society said that the allegations levied by her are false and that he, along with a handful of other people, had only asked her not to feed the dogs.

Vikas Sharma divulged, "The woman was called at the society gate by the members of the RWA. When she was asked not to feed the street dogs, she became aggressive, started fighting with the residents of the society and even pushed a 70-year-old woman. The complaint that she registered against us is false. We did not even touch her."

He added that there are 70-80 street dogs in the society who have lately become extremely aggressive. "The lady was asked not to feed them as people feared stepping out of their houses and getting bitten."

In another incident on Tuesday, a Greater Noida man beat up a Chinese woman for allegedly fostering a stray dog which bit his canine.

Greater Noida District Commissioner of Police Rajesh Kumar Singh told IANS that the man named Amar Pratap Singh of ATS Paradiso misbehaved with the woman after his dog was bit by another dog who she used to feed every day.

The incident happened in the wee hours of the day when the accused took his dog out for a walk. "After his dog was bitten, in a fit of rage, he misbehaved with the Chinese woman." A Non-Cognizable Report (NCR) has been registered and no arrests have been made so far, the police said.

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Agencies
February 25,2020

New Delhi, Feb 25: Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Monday told a meeting of Delhi Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and party leaders that "professional assessment" is that the violence in north-east Delhi has been "spontaneous".

He also said adequate forces have been already deployed in affected areas even as he urged political parties to avoid provocative speeches and statements which could flare up the situation and desist from rumour-mongering. He also instructed Delhi Police Commissioner Amulya Patnaik to re-activate local peace committees. 

"Shah noted that the professional assessment is that the violence in the capital has been spontaneous. He expressed confidence in Delhi Police and said that the force has shown maximum restraint to get the situation under control," a statement issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) said.

However, on Monday, government sources had claimed that violence in the national capital "appeared to be orchestrated" to coincide with the high-profile visit. A PTI report from Hyderabad on Tuesday also quoted Minister of State for Home G Kishan Reddy as saying that the violence in Delhi has been perpetrated intentionally and the Narendra Modi government would not tolerate such incidents. 

While Shah said adequate forces have been deployed, there were also reports that the Delhi Police Commissioner told MHA top brass that it did not have adequate forces to control the violence that erupted in north-east Delhi. However, Delhi Police later tweeted that the Commissioner has denied that "no such information was given to MHA" and such reports were "totally baseless". 

Urging parties to avoid provocative speeches and statements which could flare up the situation, the statement said, Shah expressed confidence in Delhi Police and said that the force has shown maximum restraint to get the situation under control.

Appealing to all to maintain restraint and desist from rumour-mongering while instructing the Delhi Police Commissioner to re-activate local peace committees, Shah said Delhi's borders with Uttar Pradesh and Haryana have been under surveillance for the last three days. 

Shah also urged parties to ask their local leaders to hold meetings in sensitive areas and instructed senior police officers to visit vulnerable police stations at the earliest

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Agencies
July 20,2020

New Delhi, Jul 20: Reiterating that China has still occupied India's territory, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Monday attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi saying that he has fabricated a fake strongman image to come to power which has now become India's biggest weakness as he has to protect the idea of 'Chhapan Inch'.

Taking to Twitter, the Congress leader posted a video message and wrote, "PM fabricated a fake strongman image to come to power. It was his biggest strength. It is now India's biggest weakness."

In the video message, speaking on "China's Strategic Game Plan" the Congress leader said: "What is China's strategic and tactical game plan? It is simply not a border issue. The worry I have is that the Chinese are sitting in our territory today. Chinese don't do anything without thinking about it strategically."

"In their mind, they have mapped out the world and they are trying to shape the world. That's the scale of what they are doing. That's what Gwadar is, that is what belt and road is. It is a restructuring of the planet. So when you are thinking about the Chinese you have to understand that that is the level at which they are thinking," he added.

Now at the tactical level, they're trying to improve their position. Whether it is Galwan, whether it's Demchok or whether it is Pangong Lake. The idea is to position themselves, he said.

"They are disturbed by our highway they want to make our highway redundant and if they are thinking larger scale, they want to do something with Pakistan in Kashmir. So it is not simply a border issue. It is a border issue designed to put pressure on the Prime Minister of India," the Congress leader said.

"And they are thinking of putting pressure in a very particular way. And what they are doing, is that they are attacking his image. They understand that it in order for Mr Narendra Modi to be an effective politician; in order for Mr Narendra Modi to survive as a politician, he has to protect the idea of--Chhapan Inch. And this the real idea the Chinese are attacking. They are basically telling Mr Narendra Modi that if you do not do what we say, we will destroy the idea of Mr Narendra Modi as a strong leader," he added.

Gandhi continued saying, now the question is, how will PM Narendra Modi react. Will he take them on? Will he take on the challenge and say absolutely not, I'm the Prime Minister of India. I do not care about my image I'm going to take you on. Or will he succumb to them?

"The worry I have so far is that the Prime Minister has succumbed. The worry I have is, the Chinese are sitting in our territory today and the Prime Minister has said publicly they are not, which to me tells me that is worried about his image and defending his image," said Gandhi.

"And if he allows the Chinese to understand that they can manipulate him because of his image, the Indian Prime Minister will no longer be worth anything for India," he added.

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