Natural gas price hike 'fuel loot': Congress
New Delhi, Oct 1: The Congress on Monday dubbed the latest hike in the price of domestic natural gas as "fuel loot" and demanded that the Centre rolls back the excise and custom duties to give relief to the masses.
"First, an unabated rise in petrol-diesel prices, and now a massive hike in prices of LPG/CNG by the Modi government has severely hurt the common people. This unpardonable rise in fuel prices caused by the government's ‘tax terror' has burnt gaping holes in the pockets of people.
"The 10 per cent hike in natural gas price will have a spiralling effect on the price of CNG, PNG, urea, fertilisers and electricity, leading to increased cost of transportation, electricity and fertilisers," Congress leader Pawan Khera told the media here.
On Friday, the government had announced a 10 per cent hike in the price of domestic natural gas, that will in turn increase price of CNG, and production cost of electricity and urea.
"Since May 2014, the Modi government has increased central excise duty 12 times -- raising Central Excise on petrol by 211 per cent and on diesel by 443 per cent. Customs duty has been increased manifold. This has led to a Rs 12 lakh crore fuel loot by fleecing and duping the common people. Why doesn't the government roll back excise and customs duty to give a relief of Rs 10-15 per litre," added Khera.
The Congress leader also demanded to know why petrol and diesel prices continue to rise despite average crude price during the last 52 months has been 55 per cent lesser than that during the UPA tenure.
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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.
