Finance ministry asks automobile sector to submit a report on the impact of such a move within a week’s time The government appears to have made up its mind to increase excise duty on diesel cars to neutralize the advantage of the state subsidy that has prompted motorists to increasingly favour vehicles powered by the fuel that’s Rs.30 a litre cheaper at the pump than petrol. Indications that the government is leaning...

Doing a course from global top universities such as Harvard, Peking or Oxford, while being in India, will soon be a reality. Country’s higher education regulator, the University Grants Commission, on Saturday opened doors for world top 500 universities to start dual degree or twining courses with Indian higher education institutions. The commission approved regulations also gave six months to higher education institutions in India running courses of foreign universities to...

Now that the SC has upheld the 25 per cent clause, Centre and states must work on implementation Now that the Supreme Court has upheld the constitutional validity of reservation of 25 per cent of admissions at the entry-level in private unaided schools for disadvantaged sections, focus should shift to the implementation of this provision. The Right to Education Act stipulates that private unaided schools “shall be reimbursed expenditure so incurred...

-The Business Standard Govt cannot delay increasing diesel, LPG prices Petroleum Minister Jaipal Reddy, speaking after a ministerial-level meeting on inflation on Monday, said that the government had no immediate plans to raise the administered prices of diesel, kerosene and domestic LPG (liquefied petroleum gas). This comes after oil marketing companies raised the price of petrol last week by Rs 7.50 per litre, an increase of 12 per cent. Mr Reddy’s...

The policy deep-freeze and land acquisition woes have resulted in over 500 projects, mostly power and steel, being shelved or put on hold during 2011-12, entailing a total investment of over Rs 5,00,000 crore. According to CMIE estimates, during the year Rs 1,70,000 crore worth of investment projects had been abandoned by project developers, and another Rs 3,30,000 crore worth were stalled on account of various procedural issues. The core sectors, led...