Fuel price hike continues; petrol at Rs 81.28 in Delhi
New Delhi, Sep 14 : Domestic fuel prices continued their upward movement on Friday and touched fresh record levels in three of the four metro cities.
In the national capital petrol price rose by 28 paise, to a fresh record high of Rs 81.28 on Friday, from the previous level of Rs 81 per litre, data from the Indian Oil Corp's website showed.
Price of the fuel in the other key cities of Mumbai and Chennai also rose to new record levels of 88.67 and Rs 84.49 respectively, up from Rs 88.39 and Rs 84.19 per litre on Thursday.
In Kolkata, petrol was sold at Rs 83.14 on Friday, against the previous close of Rs 82.87. The record level in the West Bengal capital is Rs 83.75 per litre, touched on Tuesday.
Transportation fuel prices have been on the rise for over a month now on the back of high crude oil prices and a weak rupee. Depreciation in the rupee against the US dollar makes the import of crude oil dearer as transaction takes place with dollars.
The Brent crude oil is currently priced over $78 per barrel.
In tandem with petrol prices, cost of diesel also scaled new highs. In Delhi, Mumbai and Chennai, price of the fuel rose to Rs 73.30, Rs 77.82 and Rs 77.49 per litre, from the Thursday's levels of Rs 73.08, Rs 77.58 and Rs 77.25 per litre.
Diesel price in Kolkata rose to Rs 75.15, from the previous Rs 74.93 per litre. The all-time high price of diesel in the city is Rs 75.82 per litre, recorded on Tuesday.
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Maharashtra sets up state vaccination task force to strengthen immunisation programme
Mumbai (PTI): The Maharashtra government has set up a State Vaccination Task Force to strengthen the regular immunisation programme and review the progress of related campaigns, a health department official said on Monday.
The State Vaccination Task Force will comprise at least 29 members and will be headed by the administrative head of the health department, he informed.
The government has also constituted separate district-level and municipal vaccination task forces to improve implementation and address challenges at the grassroots level, he said.
Municipal task forces, chaired by respective civic commissioners, have been constituted in view of the vast urban population in Maharashtra and the role of civic bodies in implementing different health programmes.
The district-level task forces will function under the chairmanship of collectors.
"Complete immunisation of children at the appropriate age is an extremely simple, cost-effective and highly effective measure to reduce child mortality and the prevalence of diseases among kids. Immunisation is a powerful tool for reducing illness in children," maintained the official.
To ensure full vaccination of all children, the state government implements various campaigns from time to time as per the central government guidelines, he pointed out.
"Active participation and cooperation of other relevant government departments are essential (in making these campaigns successful)," according to the official.
The state-level body will review the regular immunisation programme, associated campaigns and vaccine-preventable diseases in detail. It will also conduct focused assessments of high-risk districts and municipal corporations, including vacancies at district, municipal and sub-district levels, availability of cold chain equipment, resource gaps and training requirements, he noted.
The state task force will review allocation and utilisation of funds for immunisation and ensure timely action by officers concerned based on reports from district and municipal task forces and state-level monitoring mechanisms, the official said.
It will also ensure active coordination and participation of other government departments in immunisation drives, while district and municipal task forces will carry out similar functions at their respective levels, the official added.
