A courier company in Mumbai shows the way in providing employment for the hearing impaired. IN the milling crowds of Mumbai, they stand apart with their orange T-shirts printed with the name Mirakle Couriers. Every day, during the busy hours of the working week, one sees them on the sidewalks, in public transport and elsewhere with large black bags slung on their shoulders. It would not be enough to say...

Maharashtra govt launches a massive crackdown on mafia. Two days after Additional Collector Yashwant Sonawane was killed after he intercepted the adulteration of petroleum products, the Maharashtra government launched a massive crackdown on suspected adulterators in the state. Raids were carried out at over 200 locations across Maharashtra and the police have arrested some 180 people. At the Centre, the government announced measures to prevent the adulteration of auto fuels with cheaper...

A thriving black market in kerosene, estimated to be worth Rs 10,000 crore every year, killed additional collector Yeshwant Sonawane. A litre of kerosene sold at ration shops is often costlier than a bottle of packaged water. Most of this "poor man's fuel" is pilfered and sold in the black market for a price that's two or three times higher. It's really money for jam. Sonawane tried to meddle with this...

This week’s good news on food price inflation was evened out by the bad news on fuel prices hike. But, both were along expected lines. Thanks to the so-called “base effect” — the fact that last year this time food prices were rising sharply and since last year’s prices become the denominator in this year’s price ratio, the rate of inflation would be expected to moderate — and to an...

The Centre is all set to launch a scheme of granting domestic LPG connections free of cost to the below poverty line (BPL) families. The scheme, covering around 35 lakh families every year, is likely to be launched on October 2 (Gandhi Jayanti). The initiative was taken by Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas Jitin Prasada. Now, a consumer has to pay Rs. 1,250 as security deposit for getting an...