-The Telegraph   The Trinamul Congress was silent on the petrol price hike for the second day, its leaders only saying that Mamata Banerjee would speak on the issue. While Trinamul is still working on its response to the Rs 5 rise that the Left has pounced on to attack the UPA government, of which the party is a key member, finance minister Pranab Mukherjee today said the Centre could not be...

-The Hindu   The All-India Democratic Women's Association (AIDWA) has condemned the latest increase in the price of petrol by Rs.5 a litre. “The increase is unwarranted, particularly because international prices of oil had shown a declining trend in recent weeks. This is indeed a post-election gift to people from the UPA government,” a statement issued by AIDWA said on Monday. “For the common people, who were reeling under relentless price rise for...

-The Hindu   Whatever the intention behind them, the new rules framed last month under the Information Technology Act, 2000 are likely to have a chilling effect on the development of the Internet as a medium of communication and information in India. Apart from the unreasonable restrictions on free speech they envisage, the rules raise serious concerns about the privacy of a citizen's personal information, including medical profile, financial position, and...

-The Business Standard   Union finance minister Pranab Mukherjee was being economical with the truth when he said that last Saturday’s petrol price hike decision was entirely that of oil marketing companies (OMCs). True, the government correctly but belatedly deregulated petrol pricing several months ago, but it is clear that despite a sharp increase in global crude oil prices in the past six months, the OMCs restrained themselves from increasing domestic...

-The Economic Times   In the steepest hike ever, state- owned oil companies today increased petrol price by about Rs 5 per litre with effect from midnight tonight. The increase in petrol price, which the oil firms had been holding since January even though crude oil had touched a two-and-a-half-year high, came a day after election results of five state assemblies were announced. IndianOil, Bharat Petroleum and Hindustan Petroleum will hike rates between...