Government-owned oil marketing companies (OMCs) may witness a 52% jump in losses on account of selling fuel below cost at state-mandated prices to Rs.2 trillion in the next financial year, said R.S. Butola, chairman, Indian Oil Corp. Ltd (IOC), the nation’s largest fuel retailer. Such an increase will impact the financials of government-owned OMCs such as IOC, Hindustan Petroleum Corp. Ltd (HPCL) and Bharat Petroleum Corp. Ltd (BPCL), which currently register...
More »SEARCH RESULT
RTI activist told to pay for info by A Selvaraj
It is common for government agencies to come up with reasons for not supplying information sought under the Right to Information Act (RTI). Now, the state civil supplies department has come up with a googly. Responding to a RTI query, it told the applicant, "pay us money so that we can hire people to find out the information you seek." The applicant, M Thirumani of Padikuppam Road in Anna Nagar, filed...
More »Bt crop doubles India's cotton output
-PTI Biotech (Bt) crop technology has more than doubled India’s cotton production, a government report card said today, calling for more such revolutions. “By 2011-12, almost 90 per cent of cotton area is covered under Bt cotton and production has more than doubled. ... more such revolutions to accelerate agri-growth are needed,” said the State of Indian Agriculture 2011-2012. Cotton crop yields have gone up almost 70 per cent and export potential...
More »'Increase in production to help in controlling prices'
-The Indian Express Increasing farm production and removing market imperfections would help in controlling prices of commodities, a report has said. The report on 'State of Indian Agriculture 2011-12', tabled in the Lok Sabha, said that the principal factors behind the higher levels of inflation in the recent period are constraints in production and distribution especially in high value items such as pulses, fruits and vegetables, egg and meat. Increase in prices can...
More »A historic move to make drugs affordable-G Ananthakrishnan
India's use of the compulsory licensing provision under its patents law for the first time to make the patented cancer drug Nexavar available at affordable prices is an essential, although belated step to curb the mounting cost of drugs. The grant of the licence by the Controller-General of Patents, Designs and Trade Marks to Natco Pharma for manufacture of the drug Sorafenib Tosylate (Nexavar) to treat liver and kidney cancer is...
More »