Rise in LPG cap unlikely for now

January 6, 2013

gas_price_hike

New Delhi, Jan 6: Domestic consumers may have to wait longer for the cap on subsidised LPG cylinders to be raised from six to nine. The Petroleum Ministry has been pressing for a relaxation, but the Finance Ministry has expressed serious reservations.

“Lack of revenue and a wide fiscal deficit may not make it possible this year to extend such subsidies,” a senior official in the Finance Ministry said. He, however, added that after this year’s Budget is presented, some provisions may be made by adjusting the flow of funds.

An additional Rs 3,000 crore will be needed to provide households with nine subsidised cylinders every year. The government is not willing to burden the exchequer any further. This was the reason behind the Petroleum Ministry not preparing a Cabinet note regarding the matter, sources told Deccan Herald.

Petroleum Minister M Veerappa Moily, in a premature statement ahead of the Gujarat Assembly elections, had said the government may raise the cap.

The government is already in a tight spot after allocating funds for social sector programmes, including flagship schemes like the MGNREGS and the direct cash transfer. In fact, the Finance Ministry never favoured raising the cap to nine cylinders. Moily had discussed the issue with Finance Minister P Chidambaram, but to no avail.

The Finance Ministry had contended that the whole purpose of capping subsidised cylinders will be defeated if the government goes with relaxing the restriction. The exchequer has to shell out Rs 35,000 crore towards cooking gas subsidy in 2012-13.

Besides, the Finance Ministry also suggested the Petroleum Ministry to reduce the gap between the four different price categories of LPG cylinders - subsidised cylinder, additional refills that a household may buy beyond the six cylinders, cylinders used by charitable and other institutions and commercial use, like in hotels.

According to the finance ministry, a wide gap in price of these four categories has led to the misuse of subsidised refills.

Sources said the petroleum ministry is trying to find a middle path to tackle the problem. They added that the ministry has proposed a different rate structure for bulk buyers of diesel like the Railways, defence and public and private sector companies. It has proposed some cut in diesel subsidy for these organisations, which account for close to 20 per cent of the total diesel consumption. The proposal, if implemented, can save the exchequer close to Rs 15,000 crore every year, which can in turn be diverted to raise the LPG cap.

However, lifting the subsidy on diesel for the Railways will culminate in an unusual hike in passenger fares in the next Budget, which can draw flak from political opponents.

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News Network
February 9,2020

Srinagar, Feb 9: Authorities on Sunday snapped mobile internet services in Kashmir as a precautionary measure to prevent any law and order disturbance on the seventh death anniversary of Parliament attack convict Mohammad Afzal Guru, officials said.

The mobile internet services were suspended early in the morning as the authorities apprehended violence in the valley in view of the bandh call given by separatist outfits, the officials said.

The authorities had restored 2G internet services in Kashmir on January 25, more than five months after snapping all communication facilities in the valley following abrogation of Article 370 on August 5 last year.

Police on Saturday lodged an FIR against the banned Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) for calling a strike on Afzal Guru's death anniversary.

Guru was hanged in 2013 inside Tihar jail for his role in the Parliament attack in December 2001.

Two journalists were summoned by police for reporting the JKLF press release, which had called for strike on Sunday and Tuesday -- the death anniversary of the outfit founder Mohammad Maqbool Bhat.

They were let off after five hours of questioning. Bhat was hanged in 1984 and is buried inside Tihar jail.

Meanwhile, normal life in Kashmir was affected due to the strike, the officials said.

Markets and business establishments remained closed, while public transport was largely off the roads, they said.

There have been no reports of any untoward incident from anywhere in the valley so far, the officials added.

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Agencies
May 10,2020

New Delhi, May 10: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Saturday demanded that Prime Minister Narendra Modi ensured audit of donations made to the PM-CARES Fund, and to share the details and the money spent with the people.

"The PM-CARES Fund has received huge contributions from PSUs and major public utilities like the Railways. It's important that the Prime Minister ensure the fund is audited and that the record of money received and spent is available to the public," he tweeted.

The #PmCares fund has received huge contributions from PSUs & major public utilities like the Railways.

It’s important that PM ensures the fund is audited & that the record of money received and spent is available to the public.

— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) May 9, 2020
His remarks came amid reports that the central government is accumulating a huge sum of money in the Prime Minister's Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situations Fund set up as a corpus to fight novel coronavirus and that the amount spent will not be audited by the Comptroller and Auditor General.

The CAG office had clarified that since the fund is based on donations, it has no right to audit a charitable organisation.

On Friday, Rahul Gandhi told the media that the PM-CARES Fund should be audited and people of the country should know about the donors and the donations made.

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News Network
May 22,2020

New Delhi, May 22: Reserve Bank Governor Shaktikanta Das on Friday extended the moratorium on payment of loans by another three months till August to provide much-needed relief to borrowers whose income has been hit due to the coronavirus crisis.

In March, the central bank had allowed a three-month moratorium on payment of all term loans due between March 1, 2020, and May 31, 2020.

Accordingly, the repayment schedule and all subsequent due dates, as also the tenor for such loans, were shifted across the board by three months.

As a result of this moratorium, individuals’ EMI repayments of loans taken were not deducted from their bank accounts, providing much-needed liquidity.

The EMI payments will restart only once the moratorium time period expires on August 31.

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