New Delhi, Nov 3,2021: In a major relief to the common man ahead of Diwali, the Centre on Wednesday announced to cut excise duties on petrol and diesel by Rs 5 and Rs 10 respectively.
Prices of petrol and diesel will thus come down accordingly from tomorrow.
“Government of India has taken a significant decision of reducing Central Excise Duty on Petrol and Diesel by Rs 5 and Rs 10 respectively from tomorrow. Prices of petrol and diesel will thus come down accordingly,” Finance Ministry said.
Fuel prices have been on a high and breaching all previous records with opposition political parties mounting pressure on the government to cut taxes on the two motor fuels.
Petrol in Delhi is currently being sold at Rs 110.04 per litre, while diesel at Rs 98.42 per litre.
While announcing the duty cut on petrol and diesel, the government said that reduction in excise duty on petrol and diesel will also boost consumption and keep inflation low, thus helping the poor and middle classes.
New Delhi , October 17,202: Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) spokesperson Sudhindra Bhadoria on Sunday urged the Centre to reduce prices of petroleum products and bring Achhe Din for the common man.
Speaking to ANI, Bhadoria said, “We hear every day that petrol and diesel prices have increased. Petrol and diesel prices already scored a century. Even LPG cylinders are available for Rs 1,000. If you go to the farmers, they are saying that Diammonium phosphate (DAP) fertilizer is available at a cost of Rs 2000 in the black market.”
“I want to say that the government is giving relief neither to the farmers nor to the poor and the common man. Only some capitalists are flourishing here so the BJP government needs to bring ‘Acche din’ to the public,” he added.
Petrol and diesel prices continued to rise across the country for the fourth consecutive day on Sunday.
Petrol and diesel prices reached an all-time high as fuel rates continued to rise by 35 paise/litre across the country for the fourth consecutive day on Sunday. With the latest hike, the petrol price becomes Rs 105.84/litre while diesel will now cost Rs 94.57/litre in Delhi today.
BEIJING,Oct9,2021: China has added cryptocurrency mining to a draft list of industries in which investment is restricted or prohibited, although it reduced the number of sectors on the list overall, a document released by the state planner showed on Friday.
The “negative list” details sectors and industries that are off-limits to both Chinese and foreign investors.
The draft 2021 list of industries in which investment is either restricted or prohibited has been cut to 117, the National Development and Reform Commission said, down from 123 in 2020.
Industries not on the list are open for investment to all with no approvals required.
New Delhi, Oct 9,2021: Tata group has won the bid to acquire flag carrier Air India adding another airline brand in its hangar with the other two being Vistara and Air Asia India.
“Talace Pvt Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of Tata Sons Pvt Ltd, has emerged as a successful bidder for the sale of equity shareholding of GoI (Government of India) in Air India, in AIXL which is a subsidiary of Air India as a part of this transaction and 50 per cent of Air India in AISATS which is another joint venture of Air India along with management control,” Tuhin Kanta Pandey, Secretary, Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM) announced on Friday.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah-led Ministerial panel has approved the winning-bid.
The government had in January 2020 invited Expression of Interest (EoI) from private parties for selling 100 per cent stake in Air India along with its subsidiary Air India Express (AIXL) and 50 per cent stake in the carrier’s ground-handling JV Air India SATS (AISATS).
Pandey said that Talace Pvt Ltd quoted an enterprise value of Rs 18,000 crore to acquire the airline.
The successful bidder will retain Rs 15,300 crore of Air India’s debt and pay Rs 2,700 crore cash to the government.
New Delhi, Sep 22,2021: Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd (ZEEL) on Wednesday said that its board has given in-principle approval for the merger between Sony Pictures Networks India (SPNI) and ZEEL.
As per the deal, Sony Pictures Networks will hold a majority stake in the merged entity and infuse US$ 1.75 billion.
“The shareholders of SPNI, will hold a majority stake in the merged entity. The shareholders of SPNI will also infuse growth capital into SPNI as part of the merger such that SPNI has approximately USD1.575 billion at closing, for use in pursuing other growth opportunities,” Zee Entertainment said in BSE filing.
Post merger, Zee Entertainment stakeholders would hold 47.07 per cent equity stake in the merged entity while Sony Pictures Networks will hold the balance 52.93 per cent in the merged entity.
As per the term sheet of the merger, Punit Goenka will continue to be the Managing Director and CEO of the merged entity. Further, certain non-compete arrangements will be agreed upon between the promoters of ZEEL and the promoters of SPNI.
Tel Aviv [Israel], July 16,2021: Israel and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on Thursday signed a cooperation agreement in the fields of environment and climate.
The agreement aims to promote cooperation on the common environmental issues facing the two countries, including the conservation of biodiversity and ecosystems, protection of the marine and coastal environment, waste management, sustainable consumption and production, and air quality, Xinhua reported citing Israel’s Ministry of Environmental Protection said in a statement.
The agreement was signed a day after the UAE opened an embassy in Israel.
The collaboration also includes the setup of a center to deal with climate challenges in the arid environment, R&D of environmental technologies, educational and awareness activities, joint projects, conferences and training courses, it added.
Last month, Israel Foreign Minister Yair Lapid visited the UAE on the first official trip by an Israeli minister to the Gulf state, where he inaugurated the Israeli embassy in Abu Dhabi and a consulate in Dubai.
Israel and the UAE announced in August 2020 that they would normalise diplomatic relations, bringing over a decade of covert ties into the open.
Bahrain, Sudan and Morocco later also joined the US-brokered Abraham Accords, and other countries were also rumoured to be in talks.
Hyderabad, Jul 10,2021:General Insurance Employees All India Association (GIEAIA) General Secretary K Govindan said the ‘Central government should merge the public insurance companies under one entity instead of privatizing them’.
Delivering his lecture on the ninth day of the month-long AIBEA National Webinars to commemorate the 52nd anniversary of Bank Nationalisation on theme ‘Vibrant Banking for Vibrant India’ and focus ‘people’s money for people’s Welfare’, on Friday night, he took the attendees through the entire journey of banking system in India and the significant events on bank’s nationalization that have eventually resulted in ripe fruit for the nation.
On the contrary, in the current scenario public sector units including banks and insurance companies are being pushed towards privatization, Mr Govindan said and narrated as to how before Nationalisation of general insurance companies in 1971, there had been a mushroom of private general insurance companies and due to their mismanagement and failures, general insurance companies were nationalised under four Public Sector General Insurance Companies — National Insurance Company, Oriental Insurance Company, United India Insurance Company and New India Assurance.
Since the nationalisation of general insurance companies, the business of the general insurance got improved manifold. At the lowest rate of premium, the public sector insurance companies are able to provide general insurance coverage to the people of the country especially to the common man, he said.
Suggesting the alternative, the GIEAIA General Secretary said, “the government should merge public insurance companies under one entity instead of privatizing them.”
Pointing towards the wrongful approach of the government, the speaker shared that the insurance sector is dealing with other challenges like working with the hospitals that do not follow standardized charges. Instead of acting enablers for this public institution, the government is just dismantling or privatizing them, he remarked.
On his recent meeting with the Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharam, Mr Govindan said, “When we met her last week we did ask when there are already 21 private insurance companies then why add one more.”
He said the Finance Minister assured to protect all the benefits, however, there would be some benefits that might not be available post the anticipated privatization of the sector like job security, social security and reservation.
The speaker said that while AIBEA is fighting to safeguard the public sector banking, the GIEAIA too wants the Insurance sector to remain a public institution.