Petrol hits a record at Rs 89/litre in Mumbai
New Delhi, Sep 15: Fuel prices in the country hit a new benchmark on Saturday with the price of petrol in Mumbai touching Rs 89 per litre, for the first time ever.
It was priced at Rs 89.01 in the financial capital of the country, up from Rs 88.67 per litre on Friday, data on the Indian Oil Corp's website showed.
In the other key cities of Delhi and Chennai too, petrol prices climbed fresh highs of Rs 81.63 and Rs 84.85, against the previous levels of Rs 81.28 and Rs 84.49 per litre respectively.
Cost of the key fuel in the eastern city of Kolkata rose to Rs 83.49, from the Friday's level of Rs 83.14 per litre. The all time high in the city is Rs 83.75, recorded on Tuesday, September 11.
The recent surge in transportation fuel prices is largely attributed to high crude oil prices and a falling rupee. A weak rupee against the dollar makes the import of crude oil expensive.
The price of Brent crude oil is currently over $78 per barrel.
Cost of the other transportation fuel, diesel also increased on Saturday. In Delhi, Mumbai and Chennai touching fresh record levels of Rs 73.54, Rs 78.07 and Rs 77.74 per litre, against the previous levels of Rs 73.30, Rs 77.82 and Rs 77.49 per litre.
In Kolkata, it is 43 paise short of the record high price of Rs 75.82, hit on Tuesday. Diesel, in the West Bengal capital was priced at Rs 75.39 on Saturday, up from previous level of Rs 75.15 per litre.
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In phone call, PM Modi, US President Trump resolve to promote global peace, security
New Delhi, Jan 27 (PTI): Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Donald Trump on Monday vowed to work towards a "trusted" partnership between India and US and advance global peace and security in their first phone conversation since the American leader's inauguration last week.
Modi and Trump exchanged views on global issues, including the situation in West Asia and Ukraine, and deliberated on measures to boost bilateral cooperation in areas such as technology, trade, investment, energy and defence, an Indian readout said.
The two leaders agreed to meet soon, it said.
"Delighted to speak with my dear friend President @realDonaldTrump @POTUS.
Congratulated him on his historic second term," Modi said on 'X'.
"We are committed to a mutually beneficial and trusted partnership. We will work together for the welfare of our people and towards global peace, prosperity, and security," he said.
In a statement, the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) said the two leaders "reaffirmed" their commitment for a "mutually beneficial and trusted partnership".
"They discussed various facets of the wide-ranging bilateral Comprehensive Global Strategic Partnership and measures to advance it, including in the areas of technology, trade, investment, energy and defence," it said.
"The two leaders exchanged views on global issues, including the situation in West Asia and Ukraine, and reiterated their commitment to work together for promoting global peace, prosperity and security," the PMO said.
"The leaders agreed to remain in touch and meet soon at an early mutually convenient date," it added.
It is not immediately known whether the issues of immigration and tariff figured in the talks.
Like in many countries, there have been some concerns in India as well over the Trump administration's approach on immigration and tariff.
President Trump has already talked about slapping "100 per cent tariffs" on the BRICS grouping, a bloc that includes India too.
It is learnt that the phone call was initiated from the Indian side.
External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said last week that India is looking for "bolder, bigger and a more ambitious" relationship with the US and indicated its readiness to work with the Trump administration to address issues like illegal immigration and trade.
The phone conversation between Modi and Trump came six days after External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar held separate meetings with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and National Security Advisor Mike Waltz in Washington.
Jaishankar also attended the Quad foreign ministers' meeting in the American capital. The meeting was the Trump administration's first foreign policy engagement.
At a media briefing in Washington on January 22, Jaishankar said his meetings signalled that the Trump administration "prioritising" the bilateral relationship with India.
The external affairs minister also said that there was agreement between the two sides about the need to be bolder, bigger, and more ambitious about the bilateral relationship.
Asked about the Trump administration's policy on tariff and immigration, Jaiswal said on Friday that India is looking at addressing issues in a constructive manner.
"Our approach has always been to address issues in a constructive manner which is in keeping with the interests of both countries," he had said at his weekly media briefing last week.
"We remain in close communication with the US administration and would like to continue to work towards strengthening our economic partnership further," he said.
India is also keen to continue cooperation under the Initiative on Critical and Emerging Technology (iCET) that was launched during the tenure of the Biden administration.
