Petrol crosses Rs 100 in Bengaluru - 3rd metro after Mumbai and Hyderabad
New Delhi: Bengaluru on Friday became the third metro city in the country to see petrol price cross Rs 100 per litre mark after fuel prices were raised yet again.
Petrol price was hiked by 27 paise per litre and diesel by 28 paise, according to a price notification of state-owned fuel retailers.
The hike -- 26th in less than seven weeks -- pushed fuel prices across the country to new historic highs.
In Delhi, petrol hit an all-time high of Rs 96.93 a litre, while diesel is now priced at Rs 87.69 per litre.
Fuel prices differ from state to state depending on the incidence of local taxes such as VAT and freight charges.
And because of this, petrol retails at over Rs 100 per litre mark in eight states and union territories -- Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka, Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh.
While several districts of Karnataka already had petrol price over Rs 100, state capital Bengaluru reached the mark on Friday. Petrol in the city is now priced at Rs 100.17 per litre and diesel at Rs 92.97.
Bengaluru is the third metro city to see Rs 100 per litre petrol price. Mumbai on May 29 became the first metro in the country where petrol was being sold at over Rs 100 a litre. Petrol now costs Rs 103.08 a litre in the city and diesel comes for Rs 95.14.
The fuel touched that mark in Hyderabad earlier this week.
While Leh already had Rs 100 per litre petrol, Srinagar joined the league on Friday. Petrol at Indian Oil Corp (IOC) pumps in the city costs Rs 99.99 a litre and that on HPCL outlets at Rs 100.04.
Rates vary by a few paise from company to company in a city.
Sri Ganganagar district of Rajasthan near the India-Pakistan border was the first place in the country to see petrol hitting Rs 100 a litre mark in mid-February and last week it also earned the distinction of diesel crossing that psychological mark.
Petrol in the city is sold at Rs 108.07 a litre - the highest rate in the country, and diesel comes for Rs 100.82.
Rajasthan levies the highest VAT on petrol and diesel in the country, followed by Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.
The hike on Friday was the 26th increase in prices since May 4, when state-owned oil firms ended a 18-day hiatus in rate revision they observed during assembly elections in states like West Bengal.
In 26 hikes , petrol price has risen by Rs 6.53 per litre and diesel by Rs 6.96 a litre.
Oil companies revise rates of petrol and diesel daily based on the average price of benchmark fuel in the international market in the preceding 15 days, and foreign exchange rates.
International oil prices have firmed in recent weeks in anticipation of demand recovery following the rollout of vaccination programme by various countries. Also, the rupee has weakened against the US dollar, making imports costlier.
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SC issues criminal contempt notice to DDA VC over tree felling in southern ridge
New Delhi, May 16: The Supreme Court on Thursday issued a criminal contempt notice against Delhi Development Authority vice-chairman Subhasish Panda for allowing large-scale felling of trees in the southern Ridge's Satbari area to construct a road from Chhattarpur to Saarc University.
A bench of Justices Abhay S Oka and Ujjal Bhuyan expressed displeasure over the misleading affidavit filed by the vice chairman and presenting wrong facts in the court. It also directed planting of 100 new trees for each tree felled by the DDA.
Voicing strong disapproval of the affidavit filed by the DDA vice-chairman which stated that 642 trees were cut without his knowledge, the top court said it "cannot trust the DDA now".
"I have been a judge in Constitutional courts for over 20 years now and I have never seen a body misrepresenting facts and filing wrong affidavits. There has to be some limit, never before seen," Justice Oka remarked orally.
The top court noted that the felling of trees continued for 10 days and this fact was suppressed by the DDA despite knowing not a single tree could be touched in the ridge area (according to a 19995 order) without the court's permission.
It also noted the Delhi LG was also misled by the DDA officials by not informing about the correct facts about the felling of trees.
"Such conduct (of DDA VC) and suppression amounts to interference with the due course of court proceedings and administration of justice. We have already issued show cause notice for civil contempt. We therefore issue notice of criminal contempt," the bench said.
The apex court also directed the DDA to stop all further activities for construction of the road.
"We are of the view that 100 new trees for one tree felled have to be planted by the DDA. We, therefore, direct Forest Survey of India, Dehradun, to visit the road stretches to find out how many trees possibly may have been cut and assess damages.
"Entire record of contractor has to be shared. We request FSI team to submit a preliminary report to this court by June 20," the bench said.
The top court had earlier issued contempt notice to the vice-chairman of Delhi Development Authority (DDA) for the felling of over 1,000 trees for the construction of an approach road.
The apex court on March 4 had refused permission to DDA to fell 1,051 trees saying that their application is very vague.
The top court had said DDA being an instrumentality of the State, it is the duty of the DDA to first make an attempt to protect the environment by requesting for felling of only those trees which are absolutely mandatory.
"They must apply their mind whether alternatives can be examined to save the trees. Moreover, they want to construct the road through a forest. There is no permission obtained under the Forest Act.
"We direct the DDA to re-examine the proposal by employing the experts in the field. The exercise to be undertaken by the DDA is necessary for ensuring that while public work is carried out, minimum number of trees are required to be felled," the apex court had said.
