AAP demands fuel prices reduction of Rs 10 a litre
New Delhi, Oct 4: Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convener Arvind Kejriwal demanded a Rs 10 per litre cut in fuel prices, hours after the Centre announced a reduction of Rs 2.5 per litre in prices of petrol and diesel on Thursday.
The Delhi chief minister said the Modi government raised excise duty on petrol from Rs 9.48 to Rs 19.48, leading to a steep rise in its price despite a sharp decline in international prices of crude oil.
"Modi government raised excise duty on petrol by Rs 10 and today reduced only Rs 2.50. This is cheating. Centre should bring down petrol prices at least by Rs 10," he said in a tweet.
Delhi BJP chief Manoj Tiwari mocked the chief minister, saying his comment meant he wanted to help Delhi by reducing petrol prices by Rs 10 a litre.
"It means @ArvindKejriwal Ji wish to help Delhi by reducing Rs.10 per litre on petrol and diesel, nice gesture!! Thanks kejriwal Ji," Tiwari tweeted.
The Central government announced a Rs 2.50 a litre cut in petrol and diesel prices, factoring in excise duty reduction of Rs 1.50 per litre and asking oil companies to absorb another Re 1.
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley asked state governments to follow suit by cutting sales tax or VAT by a similar amount. The reduction followed petrol and diesel prices touching new highs.
Tiwari demanded the Delhi government cut VAT on petrol and diesel by Rs 2.50 per litre so that the people of Delhi may also get relief of Rs 5 per litre on the fuels as was done by governments in BJP-ruled states.
BJP's leader of Opposition in Delhi Assembly Vijender Gupta said the Delhi government owed "much more" to Delhiites and demanded it reduce the petrol price by Rs 10.50 and diesel price by Rs 7.92 per litre.
"Union Finance Minister asking state Governments to reduce price by Rs 2.50 is not applicable to Delhi. Kejriwal government is pocketing arbitrarily increased 12 per cent VAT on petrol and 10.5 per cent VAT on diesel," Gupta charged.
AAP spokesperson Saurabh Bhardwaj charged that the Centre is "fooling" people.
"For four years, the prices of petrol and diesel were increased and now the Centre is fooling people by decreasing it by Rs 2.50 per litre," he said.
This is an attempt of providing "fake relief" to the people in view of "dipping popularity" of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and coming assembly elections in three states, Bhardwaj alleged.
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NATO, others turn down US call for help in Hormuz: Trump
Washington (PTI): President Donald Trump on Tuesday said NATO and most of US' other allies have rejected his calls to help secure the Strait of Hormuz as the war with Iran entered the third week.
In a social media post, Trump asserted that Iran’s military has been “decimated” and he no longer felt the need for assistance from NATO countries or anyone else.
Last week, Trump had sought help from European nations and others who depend on oil supplies transiting from the Hormuz Strait to safeguard the critical waterway.
“The United States has been informed by most of our NATO “Allies” that they don’t want to get involved with our Military Operation against the Terrorist Regime of Iran, in the Middle East, this, despite the fact that almost every Country strongly agreed with what we are doing, and that Iran cannot, in any way, shape, or form, be allowed to have a Nuclear Weapon,” the US President said in a post on Truth Social.
Iran's attacks on Gulf nations and its grip on the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of the world's oil is transported, have sparked increasing concerns of a global energy crisis and are unnerving the world economy.
“I am not surprised by their action, however, because I always considered NATO, where we spend Hundreds of Billions of Dollars per year protecting these same Countries, to be a one-way street — We will protect them, but they will do nothing for us, in particular, in a time of need,” Trump said.
He said Australia, Japan and South Korea too have turned down his call for help.
“Fortunately, we have decimated Iran’s Military – Their Navy is gone, their Air Force is gone, their Anti-Aircraft and Radar is gone and perhaps, most importantly, their Leaders, at virtually every level, are gone, never to threaten us, our Middle Eastern Allies, or the World, again,” Trump said.
He said that given the scale of recent military successes, the US no longer "need" or desires assistance from NATO countries, adding that it never relied on such support in the first place.
Speaking as President of the United States, the "most powerful" country in the world, "we do not need" help from anyone, Trump said.
The West Asia conflict began on February 28 when the US-Israeli combine conducted airstrikes on Iran.
The Strait of Hormuz, the narrow waterway that connects the Persian Gulf to the open ocean, has effectively been shut following the US and Israel attack on Iran and Tehran's sweeping retaliation.
However, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi had said that from Tehran's "perspective", the strait is "open". "It is only closed to Iran's enemies, to those who carried out unjust aggression against our country and to their allies.”
Earlier in the day, a second Indian-flagged LPG tanker, Nanda Devi, reached the country after safely sailing from the war-hit Strait of Hormuz. On Monday, the first ship, Shivalik, reached Mundra port in Gujarat.
As of now, 22 Indian vessels remain on the west side and two on the east side of the strait.
Indian authorities are in constant touch with all the relevant stakeholders in the region to secure the safe passage of the remaining ships, officials said.
