Wednesday, June 4, 2008

Blast in Thane auditorium, 5 injured



Times Now.tv

1 hour ago

There
has been a low intensity bomb blast in Gadkari auditorium in Thane, on
the outskirts of Mumbai. Five people, including the watchman of the
auditorium, have been injured.

Two injured in bomb blast in Thane Hindustan Times

Five injured in explosion in Thane Press Trust of India

Reuters India - Thaindian.com - Daily News & Analysis

THANE: Atleast five persons were injured when a bomb went off in the
parking lot of a theatre here on Wednesday, the police said.

The
low intensity explosive wrapped in a plastic bag went off, shattering a
portion of the ceiling and damaging some tube lights of the parking lot
in the Gadkari Rangayatan, Thane Police Commissioner Anil Dhere said.

"It seems to be a deliberate act of mischief," Dhere said.

The
explosion came within four days after the recovery of a low intensity
explosive devise in Vashi's Vishnudas Bhave auditorium, a day ahead of
the IPL finals at the D Y Patil Stadium in nearby Nerul in Navi Mumbai.

The explosive at Vashi, which was made up of gelatin sticks, was defused.


Deputy Chief Minister R R Patil got in touch with Thane police
officials who informed him that a police team has already reached the
site to ascertain the nature of the blast, sources in the state Home
Department said.

The bomb was suspected to be planted on a bicycle in the parking lot.

Among
those injured were four employees of the theatre who tried to remove
the plastic bag kept on the bicycle, which triggered the explosion.

They have been admitted to the local hospital and said to be out of danger.

The fifth injured person was an outsider who had gone to the theatre.




Petrol up by Rs 5; diesel up by Rs 3; LPG up by Rs 50



MSN India

2 hours ago
Petrol
prices have been hiked by Rs 5 per litre, diesel by Rs 3 per litre and
LPG price hiked by Rs 50 per cylinder. PV Bhide, Revenue Secretary at
the announcement of the oil price decision said, "We have been
requested by the Ministry of Petroleum ...

Fuel price hike spooks investors; Sensex tanks nearly 450 points Economic Times

Maha govt not likely to reduce sales tax on petrol Business Standard

Hindu - NDTV.com - India Infoline.com - Livemint

Petrol prices are up by Rs5 per litre while diesel will be costlier
by Rs3 a litre. Price of domestic LPG is up by Rs50 per cylinder.
There`s no hike in kerosene prices


The UPA Government on Wednesday finally
bit the bullet and announced a package comprising a mix of price
increases and duty changes to enable the public sector oil marketing
companies to combat high crude oil prices.

Speaking at a news
conference in New Delhi today, Petroleum Minister Murli Deora said that
petrol prices have been hiked by Rs5 per litre while diesel will be
costlier by Rs3 a litre. The Government has also increased domestic LPG
price by Rs50 per cylinder. There has been no hike in the prices of
kerosene.

A litre of petrol sold in New Delhi will now cost Rs50.52 per litre, and diesel will be Rs34.48 a litre. The revised fuel prices will come into effect from midnight.

The Government had
previously increased fuel prices in February, the first time since June
2006. Cooking gas prices had been capped since April 2005.

Deora said that India's
petrol price should ideally have risen by 50%, and diesel and cooking
gas prices should have doubled, to bring domestic prices in line with
international rates.

Separately, the Finance
Ministry announced a revision in customs duty and excise duty on crude
oil and petroleum products to help cushion the common man from the
impact of the price hike.

Customs duty on crude
oil has been removed from 5% at present. The customs duty on diesel and
petrol has been cut to 2.5% from 7.5% while on other products
(including ATF) the same is down to 5% from 10%.

Excise duty on petrol
and diesel will be trimmed by Re1 per litre each. Currently, excise
duty on petrol is Rs14.35 per litre while the same on diesel is Rs4.60
a litre.

Net loss of revenues to
the Government on account of the duty reduction on crude oil and
petroleum products is Rs226.6bn for the remainder of the fiscal year.

Today's price rises may add between 0.5% and 0.6% to wholesale price inflation, Petroleum Secretary M.S. Srinivasan said.

The fuel price hike
will cut under recoveries by Rs211.2bn while Rs226.6bn will come from
the duty cuts. Even after the relief package, OMCs will suffer a net
revenue loss of Rs200bn in the current fiscal year.

The subsidy burden of
the upstream oil companies will be Rs450bn and the Government will
issue oil bonds worth Rs946bn. Despite the bailout package announced by
the Government, there will be a shortfall of Rs419.22bn.

Shares of the public
sector oil firms Indian Oil Corp (IOC), Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd.
(HPCL) and Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd. (BPCL) initially rose up to 4.4%
but later fell on concerns that the increase in prices was not adequate
for them to turn profitable.

Shares of carmakers and
two-wheeler manufacturers like Maruti, Tata Motors, Hero Honda and
Bajaj Auto extended losses after the fuel price increase.