-The Times of India   The Supreme Court on Monday said pricing of petrol and diesel determined by a complex mechanism fell exclusively within executive's policy domain and refused to entertain a public interest litigation demanding rollback of repeated sharp hikes in motor Fuel Prices.  Ex-MP P C Thomas had filed the appeal in the apex court challenging a Kerala high court's decision to dismiss his PIL questioning "irrational and hypothetical fixation of...

-The Economic Times Repressed, unrevised retail prices by fiat have led to rising diesel consumption nationwide, thoroughly misallocating resources and recklessly fretting away scarce budgetary funds in the bargain. The government needs to promptly decontrol diesel prices and put paid to open-ended oil consumption subsidies, as it has rightly proposed to in the Union Budget.  Further dither and non-decision would wreak havoc in government finances and hook the fiscal deficit figure over...

-The Hoot The West Bengal Chief Minister has made it clear that any public voice of dissent would be curbed by whatever means required. “If required, I will tell the people which newspapers to read in future”: this gem of an announcement was made by West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee in an interview given to selected news channels recently. Giving interviews to a chosen few, especially those who would not dare...

Traffic in Kolkata was a mess on Tuesday after auto owners and drivers put blockades at different important intersections of the city and its fringes. The updated police report says that at least eight important roads are blocked since morning due to the agitation. Since Monday, hundreds of auto divers and owners descended on the roads in protest of the excessive hike in LPG price. "In the past one year LPG is...

The Budget provides proof of the United Progressive Alliance government having forgotten the importance of its own “flagship schemes”. BUDGET 2012-13 provides conclusive proof that the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government has lost its way. It has managed the remarkable feat of upsetting almost everyone and making no one happy. The Budget is highly regressive in both taxation and spending terms and will raise prices of essentials, so aam aurat and...