The Congress led UDF government in Kerala on Thursday waived the sales tax on the latest petrol price hike, saying it was committed to bringing some relief to the people affected by the latest increase.

"UDF government does not justify the Centre's decision to increase prices. But we are committed to bringing some relief to people and are bringing down sales tax on petrol. With this decision, petrol price will come down by Rs. 1.63 per litre," Chief Minister Oommen Chandy told reporters after a special cabinet meeting here on Thursday.

A team of TN public works department (PWD) engineers will visit Mullaperiyar Thursday to fill holes dug by experts to study structural safety of the dam.

Principal secretary (PWD) M. Saikumar said the work would be completed in four days starting Thursday. The experts appointed by a Supreme Court-constituted empowered committee (EC), which studied safety of the 116-year-old structure, reportedly dug seven six-inch wide and 130-190-foot deep holes across the 1,200-foot main dam.

In a bid to provide some relief to the citizens burdened by rise in prices of food items, the city government plans to soon revive a scheme under which subsidised wheat flour will be sold at over 400 outlets at around `14 per kg.

The decision to revive the scheme came after Union minister of state for food and civil supplies K.V. Thomas at a meeting with chief minister Sheila Dikshit agreed to her request to provide additional quota of subsidised wheat to Delhi.

Major energy savings in the steel re-rolling sector and in the small tea processing enterprise, initiated by the UNDP, has seen a substantive increase in energy efficiency in these industries.

UNDP, India, country director Caitlin Wiesen, told this newspaper, “Intervention in the steel re-rolling industry has seen efficiency levels go up between 30-40 per cent.”

With rupee depreciation leading to jump in oil import bill, petroleum minister S. Jaipal Reddy on Tuesday said there is an immediate need to raise fuel prices, but refused to say when the hike will actually take place.

“It (price increase) is very essential but (before hiking rates) we have to talk to political parties,” he told reporters here on way to Ashgabat for signing of the agreement for the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India pipeline.

A third of malaria drugs used around the world to keep the spread of the disease at bay are counterfeit, recent data has suggested. According to a study published in the reputed journal the Lancet, around 7 per cent of the drugs tested in India was found to be of poor quality with many being fake.

Researchers who looked at 1,500 samples of seven malaria drugs from seven countries in Southeast Asia said poor-quality and fake tablets are causing drug resistance and treatment failure. “Much of this morbidity and mortality could be avoided if drugs available to patients were efficacious, high quality, and used correctly,” said the Lancet.

Taking a stern stand against poachers, Maharashtra Government on Tuesday decided that action taken by forest authorities against those caught while hunting down tigers will not be considered a crime.

Talking to reporters here, Forest Minister Patangrao Kadam said if the forest officials fire upon the poachers injuring or killing them, the action will not be considered a crime

The Delhi government will convert the shelter homes, constructed last year to provide roof to the homeless in winter, into all-weather accommodation.
In the first phase, 30 homes out of 150 will be upgraded by next month so that the homeless can stay there throughout the year. Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board (DUSIB) is implementing the project.

Panicked people rushed into the streets when a powerful earthquake shook northern Italy early on Sunday, killing three people and injuring at least 50, emergency services said.

The 5.9-magnitude quake struck around 02:00 GMT and was felt throughout the northeast of the peninsula, from the Emilia-Romagna region to Venice, with its epicentre at Finale Emilia, 36 kilometres (22 miles) north of Bologna.

It took place at a depth of 10 kilometres (six miles) and lasted around 20 seconds, followed by several aftershocks.

State-owned trading giant MMTC has inked pacts with Japanese and South Korean steel companies including Posco, to supply 2.8 million tonnes of iron ore annually for a period of three years.

"We have signed iron ore supply contracts with five Japanese firms and one South Korean company for a period of three years. The exports are expected to start from July this year,"