Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee today said the Empowered Group of Ministers headed by him would decide on the price hike of diesel, LPG and kerosene when it meets next week.“A decision will be taken on raising prices of these items when the EGOM meets next week,” Mr. Mukherjee told reporters here after meeting Congress MLAs elected in the West Bengal Assembly elections.
Senior Congress leader Oommen Chandy is set to become the Kerala Chief Minister as he was elected as leader of Congress legislature party in Kerala on Sunday.Mr. Chandy is expected to meet Governor later in the evening regarding formation of Government.A meeting of the senior party leaders held at the KPCC headquarters here unanimously decided that Mr. Chandy should lead the United Democratic Front Ministry. 
In yet another ceasefire violation, Pakistani troops fired on Indian positions in Nikowal forward belt along the International Border (IB) in Jammu sector this morning.Pak rangers opened unprovoked firing on Indian Border Outposts which lasted over 45 minutes, a senior BSF officer told PTI.The BSF returned the fire, he said adding there were no casualties on the Indian side.
China will suspend diesel exports to ensure domestic supply as demand for the fuel rises due to the ongoing power shortages across the country.China will suspend diesel exports in the near future, other than to Hong Kong and Macao, China's top economic planning body said in a notice on Friday. The National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) also called for increased production of oil by-products and ordered dealers not to artificially raise the price of petrochemicals through hoarding. The notice came as the country enters its peak period for diesel use due to seasonal demand from the agriculture and fishing sectors. Meanwhile, power shortages have pushed up diesel demand as factories use diesel powered generators to maintain production. Many factories in Zhejiang Province, one of the country's major manufacturing bases, installed diesel powered generators after the power shortages in 2003, 2004 and 2005. 
No longer willing to accept stereotypes, a new generation of inquisitive Iranians is arriving in droves at Tehran's palatial Niyavaran exhibition complex to draw a first-hand impression about India, widely seen as a country undergoing a rapid transformation.On each day by mid-morning, crowds comprising mostly youth, begin to build up, soaking in the classy ambience, that is imparted by the majestic Niyavaran palace, the venue of a week-long Indian cultural festival in Iran. 
To ensure that no starvation death takes place and people are saved from malnutrition as far as possible, the Supreme Court on Saturday directed the Centre to release five million tonnes of foodgrains immediately for distribution in 150 most poverty-stricken districts or other poorer segments in the country.Though it was a holiday for the court, a Bench of Justices Dalveer Bhandari and Deepak Verma held a special sitting and passed the order, considering the urgency and gravity of the matter. 
A day after the Assembly election results were declared, state-owned oil marketing companies (OMCs) on Saturday decided to go ahead with the increase of Rs.5 a litre in petrol price.The biggest-ever increase in petrol prices, and the eighth since the prices were deregulated in June last year, will come into force from midnight on Saturday night. 
The Supreme Court on Saturday asked the Planning Commission to revise the per capita norms to determine below poverty line looking to the price index of May 2011 or any other subsequent dates.A Bench of Justices Dalveer Bhandari and Deepak Verma, at a special sitting to hear the case relating to streamlining of the public distribution system, pointed out that according to the parameters of the Planning Commission, Rs.15 per capita per day in rural areas and Rs. 20 in urban areas was the yardstick for evaluating “who is Below Poverty Line.”
The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is enhancing its capabilities by setting up more than half a dozen critical facilities across its installations, even as it is targeting to nearly double its transponder capacity over the next one-and-a-half years. 
Contrary to the claims made by Union Carbide Corporation — now The Dow Chemical Company — that the methyl isocyanate (MIC) which killed thousands of people in Bhopal in December, 1984, following a leak in its pesticide unit, was not highly poisonous, a report released by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has established that it caused not only “acute cyanide toxicity” but also “delayed or recurrent cyanide toxicity” due to thermal decomposition of the gas.
The countdown for the four-month south-west monsoon season has begun.The India Meteorological Department has forecast that the system is likely to set in over Kerala on May 31, with a model error of plus or minus four days.Kerala is the first point of entry for the system in the Indian mainland. June 1 is the normal date for the onset over Kerala.Meanwhile, monsoon flow, the IMD said, was expected to appear over the Andaman Sea in a few days and was likely to cover that region close to its normal date of May 20. 
TN:“In spite of scoring 93 per cent in core subjects, it is difficult to pursue my dream career in medicine in India, considering the intense competition. But Russia will provide me the opportunity. On completion of the course, I can return and practise medicine,” said S. Priyadarshini, a student at the ‘Days of Russian Higher Education in India' exhibition here on Saturday. 