-Yahoo.com   Rural development minister Jairam Ramesh today described India as the "dirtiest and filthiest" country in the world where people with mobile phones go out to answer the "call of nature".   The comment was the latest addition to the minister's repertoire of controversial statements on a gamut of subjects ranging from education and research to sport utility vehicles (SUVs) and sanitation. Ramesh, who last month said open defecation was a "blot" and a...

Here in Delhi, you can buy a litre of petrol for a little less than Rs 69. A cylinder of cooking gas costsRs 405. But there's one state capital where petrol costs Rs 200 a litre and gas a staggeringRs 2,000 a cylinder. That city is Imphal, the capital of our easternmost state, Manipur. Since August 1, the state has been hostage to a withering siege: a blockage of two...

Consider this. Every time petrol prices rise, oil companies end up losing more money. How? The price differential between petrol and diesel increases further; people start buying diesel-powered vehicles so oil firms bleed more. Even worse, we all bleed because dieselisation adds to toxic pollution in our cities. This, in turn, adds to the health burden and costs. This is all very well accepted. Yet, nobody has done anything to fix...

-The Hindu   “Allowing oil firms to control market will hurt economy”   De-regulation by which the three public sector oil companies are empowered to set the price of petrol and other petroleum products has been challenged in a public interest litigation petition in the Supreme Court. The All India Youth Federation (AIYF), represented by its general secretary P. Sandoshkumar, said there was no rationale behind replacing the Administered Pricing Mechanism (APM) with the Import...

-The Hindu   Nothing is more reflective of the confusion and mix-up of priorities of the United Progressive Alliance government than the mismanagement of fuel pricing. While struggling to control inflation through monetary policy, the government sees no problem in allowing oil marketing companies to continually raise the price of petrol. The latest hike, by more than Rs.3 a litre, comes on top of the two substantial increases earlier this year. Although...