Rice

Rail freight hike on coal may raise power tariffs

The proposed increase in coal freight rate by 5.7 per cent in the Railway Budget 2013-14 will have no effect on the coal sector but may lead to a marginal increase in the electricity tariffs. Railways Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal sought to increase the freight rate on coal from Rs 685.10 per tonne, to Rs 724.80 - a hike of 5.79 per cent. ...  

Rail freight hike on diesel may lead to rise in retail prices

Railways on Tuesday hiked freight rates for moving diesel and cooking fuels by almost 8 per cent, a move that may result in marginal hike in retail fuel prices. ...  

Highlights of Railway Budget 2013-2014

Rail Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal on Tuesday presented his maiden Rail Budget. There has been no hike in passenger fares, but marginal hike in freight charges, reservation fee, cancellation fee, tatkal charges and supplementary charges. ...  

UPA strategy meet: PM, Sonia to meet allies after Rail Budget

Railway Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal will be the first Congress minister in 17 years to announce the Railway Budget on Tuesday and indications are that rail fares are likely to go up in line with the fuel price hike. ...  

Rail Budget: Expect costlier travel, new trains

Railway Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal is set to present what will be the first Railway Budget by a Congress minister in 17 years on Tuesday. Indications are that rail fares are likely to go up in line with the fuel price hike. ...  

Pawan Kumar Bansal to present Rail Budget on Tuesday

All eyes will be on Railway Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal on February 26 on whether he yields to pressure of hiking passenger fares yet again or looks at other measures to mobilise resources to offset the burden of the recent diesel price hike. Bansal had on January 22 hiked passenger fares across-the-board after the Railways faced a loss of about Rs 25,000 crore in the passenger segment. ...  

Environment-friendly electric cars create flutter in Jalandhar

With a fuel price hike every other day a man in Jalandhar is dedicating himself in an effort to find an economical and ecological solution to fuel guzzling cars. Sumeet Aneja has come up with many attractive, viable and most importantly buy-able electric cars. ...  

LS Speaker to urge for smooth Budget Session during all-party meet

Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar has called for an all-party meet on Wednesday to urge all political parties to allow Parliament to proceed as planned during the Budget session starting on February 21. ...  

Jet Airways offers major discount on airfare

Joining the low-fare war triggered by budget carrier SpiceJet in January, full service carrier Jet Airways on Tuesday announced special fares as low as Rs 2,250 for a single journey across its domestic network. The airline has put 20 lakh seats on over 450 daily flights across 57 destinations on sale, for six days effective February 19 under the offer, a Jet press release said. ...  

Moily rules out rollback in petrol, diesel hike

Oil Minister M Veerappa Moily on Monday ruled out a rollback in the Rs 1.50 a litre hike in petrol and 45 paisa per litre increase in diesel rates saying only a small raise has been passed on to consumers. ...  

Sharad Pawar to meet trade union leaders today

Union Minister Sharad Pawar is expected to meet trade union leaders later Monday evening in connection with the two-day countrywide bandh called by trade unions later this week. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had asked Pawar to negotiate with trade union leaders. ...  

PM appeals to trade unions to call off strike

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Sunday appealed to protesting central Trade Unions to withdraw their proposed two-day strike from February 20 saying it would cause loss to economy besides inconvenience to people and offered talks. Protesting against Government's "inaction" on price rise and alleged violation of labour laws, 11 central trade unions and workers' federation have called for a two-day nationwide strike starting from February 20. ...  

Political parties criticise fuel price hike, demand rollback

Politicians across the board have criticised the recent hike in fuel prices. Key UPA ally DMK on Saturday condemned the petrol price hike and demanded that government retain its control on pricing of petroleum products besides seeking a change in pricing policy. ...  

Fuel price hike: Jaya demands change of pricing policy

Slamming the hike in fuel prices, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa on Friday said the move amounted to betraying the middle and lower classes and made a fresh demand for changing the fuel pricing policy. "Even before the ink had dried up after signing the hike in prices of diesel recently, the Centre is increasing the price of petrol by Rs 1.50 and diesel by 45 paise...it amounts to...  

Hillary top contender for 2016 US president poll: Survey

Former US secretary of state Hillary Clinton has emerged as the frontrunner for the 2016 presidential race, according to a new survey. The latest Fox News poll asks the simple question, "Would this person make a good president?" Out of a dozen potential 2016 candidates, the top two picks are the two former secretaries of state, Democrat Clinton and Republican Condoleezza Rice. ...  

Petrol prices hiked by Rs 1.50 per litre, diesel by 45 paise a litre

The oil firms on Friday decided to increase fuel prices again. While the price of petrol will be increased by Rs 1.50 per litre, that of the diesel will be hiked by 45 paise per litre. The hike was expected this week as the oil firms were slated to begin to exercise the recently accorded freedom to adjust rates in step with cost. ...  

Apple slashes prices of MacBook Pro by up to Rs 20,000

Apple says it has lowered the price of its 13-inch MacBook Pro laptops and updated its processors. The 13-inch MacBook Pro with Retina display now starts at Rs 99,900 for 128GB of flash, and Rs 1,14,900 for a new 2.6 GHz processor and 256GB of flash. ...  

Inflation probably eased to three-year lows in January

India's headline inflation likely moderated to its lowest level in more than three years in January, helped by a slower rise in prices of manufactured goods, which should give policymakers more leeway to revive a slowing economy. The government will release the data around 12 pm on Thursday. ...  

Petrol, diesel prices may be hiked this week

Petrol price may be hiked by about Re 1 a litre and diesel by 50 paise a litre by this weekend as oil firms begin to exercise the recently accorded freedom to adjust rates in step with cost. State-owned oil firms are losing Rs 1.32 a litre on petrol as international oil rates have firmed up during the last two weeks. ...  

Apple, Microsoft to be grilled by Australian parliament for high product prices

Apple Inc has been ordered to appear before Australia's parliament with fellow technology giants Microsoft Inc and Adobe Systems Inc to explain why local consumers pay so much for their products, despite the strong Aussie dollar. ...