Will ensure no fuel shortage in country: Hardeep Singh Puri
Darpan News Desk IANS, 08 Mar, 2022 03:01 PM
New Delhi, March 8 (IANS) Amid speculation that petrol prices will increase after the Assembly elections in five states, Union Petroleum & Natural Gas Minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Tuesday said that it will be ensured that the country does not face a fuel shortage.
Addressing a press conference here, Puri reminded how the Congress party had deregulated petroleum prices during its reign.
Recently, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi had attacked the government over the issue, saying, "Get petrol tanks filled immediately. Modi government's offer is about to end."
Puri said civic elections are scheduled to be held in many states of the country in October.
From March 1, prices of commercial LPG cylinder rose by Rs 105. The hike in the prices of commercial cylinders is adversely affecting hotel and restaurant owners. A commercial LPG cylinder weighing 19 kg, which earlier cost Rs 1,907, is now selling at Rs 2,012.
Speculation is rife that after the elections in the five states are over, prices of domestic LPG, diesel and petrol may witness an increase.
As per recently released reports, after the completion of the poll process, petrol and diesel prices, which have remained unchanged since Diwali, may be increased by Rs 15 to Rs 22 per litre.
The price of crude oil in the international market has reached $117 per barrel.
According to experts, if the Russia-Ukraine war continues, then crude oil prices could reach $ 185 per barrel.
The detection of two cases of Omicron, the latest variant of Covid-19, in Karnataka was not unexpected in view of the interconnected world that people live in, Poonam Khetrapal Singh, Regional Director, WHO South-East Asia, said on Thursday.
In a major reprieve to traders ahead of the assembly polls, the Punjab Cabinet on Wednesday decided to exempt about 1.50 lakh cases from assessment related to cases of 'C' form from 2014-15 to 2017-18.
Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader Manjinder Singh Sirsa on Wednesday joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), ahead of the next year's Punjab Assembly elections.
Stating that the BJP government should stop attempting to divide farmers even at this stage - two days after the three farm laws were repealed in the Parliament, the Samyukt Kisan Morcha on Wednesday on condemned the government's statement that it does not have data about farmers' death.
Leaked toxic Methyl IsoCyanate (MIC) gas from the Union Carbide of India Ltd (UCIL) factory started affecting the residents of Madhya Pradesh capital city Bhopal, especially those residing in the southeast direction from the factory, around 2 a.m. on the intervening night of December 2 and 3 in 1984.
The Indian government, before taking any final decision on the resumption of international flight operations, is "closely monitoring" the situation emerging out of the detection and spread of coronavirus' Omicron variant.
