-The Telegraph Union minister Kapil Sibal has promised measures to ensure that the Centre’s curbs on cooking-gas subsidy would not derail the midday meal scheme that serves eight crore children in 12 lakh elementary schools. The Telegraph had reported on Wednesday that self-help groups had stopped preparing midday meals in over 50 primary schools in North 24-Parganas since Monday saying they could not afford the cylinders’ new price. Chief minister Mamata Banerjee had...
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LPG price up by Rs 11.42 after dealer commission is marked up; petrol, diesel rates may go up
-PTI The price of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) used as cooking gas has been increased by Rs 11.42 per cylinder after the government decided to raise the commission paid to dealers. Petrol and diesel prices may also go up marginally as the oil ministry is thinking of raising the dealers’ commission by at least 23 paisa and 10 paisa a litre respectively. On Friday, the ministry issued orders raising the commission paid to...
More »PM Manmohan Singh directs cash transfers for social welfare schemes
-The Economic Times Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has taken charge of the UPA's initiatives to directly transfer welfare benefits and subsidies into individual beneficiaries' bank accounts - a system that would plug the rampant leakages of funds earmarked for the poor via schemes such as NREGA on which the government spends over 3,00,000 crore annually. A new ministerial co-ordination committee under the PM would now fast-track the architecture for cash transfers while...
More »Oil PSUs: Decoding the math of loss or under-recovery and what it means-Avinash Celestine
-The Economic Times How right was the government when it stated that the under-recoveries posed a threat to 'our national economy'? Or when the government says that it gave more to the sector in the form of subsidies than it earned as fuel taxes? The government would also like you to believe that the under-recoveries, dependent as they are on the price of crude in the international market, and the exchange...
More »Accounts of PSU oil companies under scrutiny -Siddharth
-The Times of India The finance ministry has ordered a scrutiny of the books of oil marketing companies to see if the under-recoveries stated by them are in order or not. The move was initiated at the behest of finance minister P Chidamabram, who asked his officers to look into the issue even before diesel prices were raised and a cap on subsidized cooking gas cylinders was announced last week. The exercise...
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