My Scribles

The Congress party has returned to power in Assam and Kerala. In West Bengal, it's back in power after almost four decades riding piggyback on its ally the Trinamool Congress. In Tamil Nadu it sees the defeat of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam as a blessing in disguise, since it will now have to deal only with a much weakened DMK which will be in no position to dictate terms. The only slight regret that the Congress has is in Puducherry where it has lost its government to the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam. For a party which was in the doghouse on issues of corruption for the last many months, the Congress is back in business. As a senior party functionary put it, "The message has gone loud and clear that the party is healthy, fit and fine. On the contrary it is the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Left parties which need to look within and introspect on their performance". Having ensured the return of the Congress to power in Assam for the third term, Tarun Gogoi i...

The increase in petrol prices from Saturday midnight has made the fuel more expensive than aircraft turbine fuel, used to power planes. The reason is a skewed duty structure. ATF costs Rs 60.56 a litre in New Delhi. A further price cut of Rs 1.8 was announced on Sunday. Petrol costs Rs 63.37 a litre. Oil marketing companies price petrol and diesel on a trade-parity basis. The price includes a 7.5 per cent Customs duty. There is no Customs duty on ATF, priced on an import-parity basis. The excise duty on petrol is Rs 8 a litre. There is no excise duty on ATF. Internationally, ATF prices are usually higher. This year, the average ATF price has been about $134 a barrel in the Gulf and $137 in Singapore. Petrol, known as motor spirit, has averaged $128 a barrel. At the refinery gate, where government oil companies calculate international-parity prices, the situation reverses. For instance, the ATF price was Rs 53,058 per kilolitre at Indian Oil's Mathura refinery last week, while the p...