Zameer Ahmed blames Union government for petrol price hike in Karnataka
Bengaluru: Zameer Ahmed Khan, Minister for Housing and Minority Welfare, stated that the BJP-led NDA government was responsible for the price hike in petrol and diesel in the state. He was addressing the media in Bengaluru on Monday.
Addressing reporters, Khan said that the central government charged Rs 32.98 per liter of petrol and Rs 31.83 per liter of diesel as excise duty. He criticized BJP leaders for not raising their voices about this issue.
He highlighted that during the UPA government, excise duties on petrol and diesel were significantly lower, at Rs 9.48 and Rs 3.56 per liter, respectively. At that time, petrol was priced at Rs 68.31 per liter and diesel at Rs 48.63 per liter. Under the current BJP government, petrol prices have surged to Rs 106 per liter, despite a decrease in crude oil prices from Rs 97.68 per barrel during the UPA era to Rs 77.64 per barrel now.
Khan questioned why petrol and diesel prices have not decreased despite the lower crude oil prices. He also pointed out that during the tenure of the Basavaraj Bommai government in Karnataka, petrol prices crossed Rs 100 per liter, and cooking gas prices soared from Rs 419 to Rs 903.
Questioning the BJP leaders' silence on the price hikes by the Union government, Zameer Ahmed challenged them to come to an open discussion on the issue.
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Ruskin Bond hospitalised in Dehradun due to leg problem
Dehradun (PTI): Author Ruskin Bond has been admitted to a hospital in Dehradun due to a leg problem, a close friend of the writer said here on Sunday.
After visiting Bond at the hospital, well-known Dehradun-based publisher Upendra Arora said the elderly author was unable to walk properly, following which he was admitted to a private hospital here on Saturday.
The 91-year-old Bond, a recipient of the Padma Bhushan, lives in the Landour area of Mussoorie.
Arora said Bond is undergoing physiotherapy under medical supervision and is expected to be discharged from the hospital in two to three days.
"There is nothing serious," he said.
Bond has written more than 500 short stories, essays and novels, of which 69 books are for children.
He was awarded the Sahitya Akademi Award in 1992 for Our Trees Still Grow in Dehra.
