Petrol price hike is no solution

With crude oil prices touching 100 dollars a barrel mark, the government is mulling options including a marginal increase in fuel prices to reduce under-recoveries by public sector oil firms, and has begun consultations with its Left allies on the same.

"Price hike is not the only solution. Others like excise duty cut on auto fuel, as suggested by Left, are also being considered... My endeavour will be to get a decision this month," Petroleum Minister Murli Deora told reporters here.

A Group of Ministers headed by Pranab Mukherjee will meet, possibly next week, to look at alternatives and make a recommendation to the Cabinet. "The Cabinet will take the final call," he said.

While Deora refused to categorically state if the government would not raise petrol and diesel prices as an answer to the Rs 340 crore per day loss oil PSUs suffered on fuel sales, senior functionaries said a hike of Rs 4 a litre in petrol and Rs 2 per litre in diesel would be suggested to the GoM.

Indian Oil Corporation chairman Sarthak Behuria said, "We need a lasting solution, not ad-hoc responses. The government should free pricing of petrol and diesel from its control and subsidise domestic LPG and kerosene from the Budget."

Currently, the under-recoveries on petrol, diesel, LPG and kerosene -- estimated to cross Rs 70,000 crore this fiscal -- are shared between the government (which issues oil bonds), upstream oil producers like ONGC, and fuel retailers.

Deora said he had talks with Left leaders including Sitaram Yechury of CPI-M late last week. "The Left (parties) are very cooperative. They have said they will assist in finding a solution for the present crisis."

Crude oil prices touched an all-time high of USD 120 dollars a barrel on Wednesday in New York Mercantile Exchange, triggering fears of more under-recoveries by oil PSUs.

The Indian basket of crude was at record high of 92.29 dollars per barrel on Wednesday.

"We are very much concerned at crude oil crossing 100 dollars. This will trigger search for alternatives and we will also press for energy conservation to cut our reliance on imported oil," Deora said.

On Wednesday, Petroleum Secretary M S Srinivasan had stated that the GoM was likely to meet soon after a panel of ministers meets on January 8 to review food prices situation.

The current price of Indian basket of crude oil is higher by around 22-23 dollars a barrel over the international price prevailing at the time of last increase in petrol and diesel prices on June 6, 2006.

"Price hike is not the only solution. There are other options like excise duty cut that have been suggested by the Left. We've got to find the best solution," Deora said.

Indian Oil, Bharat Petroleum and Hindustan Petroleum are projected to lose Rs 69,753 crore on sale of petrol, diesel, domestic LPG and PDS kerosene, as the government has not allowed them to raise prices in line with the price of imported crude.

Petrol is being sold at a loss of Rs 8.74 a litre, diesel at Rs 9.92 per litre, kerosene Rs 20.53 a litre and LPG at a loss of Rs 256.35 per cylinder.

IOC said it will sell bonds worth Rs 2,000 crore this month to meet the shortfall in working capital.

Kargil War

The Kargil War, also known as the Kargil conflict,(I) was an armed conflict between India and Pakistan that took place between May and July 1999 in the Kargil district of Kashmir. The cause of the war was the infiltration of Pakistani soldiers and Kashmiri militants into positions on the Indian side of the Line of Control, which serves as the de facto border between the two states. During and directly after the war, Pakistan blamed the fighting entirely on independent Kashmiri insurgents, but documents left behind by casualties and later statements by Pakistan's Prime Minister and Chief of Army Staff showed involvement of Pakistani paramilitary forces. The Indian Army, supported by the Indian Air Force, attacked the Pakistani positions and, with international diplomatic support, eventually forced a Pakistani withdrawal across the Line of Control (LoC).

The war is one of the most recent examples of high altitude warfare in mountainous terrain, and posed significant logistical problems for the combating sides. This was the first direct ground war between any two countries after they had developed nuclear weapons. (India and Pakistan both test-detonated fission devices in May 1998, though the first Indian nuclear test was conducted in 1974.) The conflict led to heightened tension between the two nations and increased defence spending on the part of India. In Pakistan, the aftermath caused instability to the government and the economy, and, on October 12, 1999, a coup d'etat by the military placed army chief Pervez Musharraf in power.

History of India

The history of India begins with the Indus Valley Civilization, which spread and flourished in the north-western part of the Indian subcontinent, from c. 3300 to 1300 BCE. Its Mature Harappan period lasted from 2600-1900 BCE. This Bronze Age civilization collapsed at the beginning of the second millennium BCE and was followed by the Iron Age Vedic period, which extended over much of the Indo-Gangetic plains and which witnessed the rise of major kingdoms known as the Mahajanapadas. In two of these, in the 6th century BCE, Mahavira and Gautama Buddha were born, who propagated their Shramanic philosophies among the masses.

Later, successive empires and kingdoms ruled the region and enriched its culture - from the Achaemenid Persian empire around 543 BCE, to Alexander the Great in 326 BCE. The Indo-Greek Kingdom, founded by Demetrius of Bactria, included Gandhara and Punjab from 184 BCE; it reached its greatest extent under Menander, establishing the Greco-Buddhist period with advances in trade and culture.

The subcontinent was united under the Maurya Empire during the 4th and 3rd centuries BCE. It subsequently became fragmented, with various parts ruled by numerous Middle kingdoms for the next ten centuries. Its northern regions were united once again in the 4th century CE, and remained so for two centuries thereafter, under the Gupta Empire. This period, of Hindu religious and intellectual resurgence, is known among its admirers as the "Golden Age of India." During the same time, and for several centuries afterwards, Southern India, under the rule of the Chalukyas, Cholas, Pallavas and Pandyas, experienced its own golden age, during which Indian civilization, administration, culture, and religion (Hinduism and Buddhism) spread to much of south-east Asia.

Islam arrived on the subcontinent in 712 CE, when the Arab general Muhammad bin Qasim conquered Sindh and Multan in southern Punjab, setting the stage for several successive Islamic invasions between the 10th and 15th centuries CE from Central Asia, leading to the formation of Muslim empires in the Indian subcontinent, including the Ghaznavid, the Ghorid, the Delhi Sultanate and the Mughal Empire. Mughal rule came to cover most of the northern parts of the subcontinent. Mughal rulers introduced middle-eastern art and architecture to India. In addition to the Mughals, several independent Hindu kingdoms, such as the Maratha Empire, the Vijayanagara Empire and various Rajput kingdoms, flourished contemporaneously, in Western and Southern India respectively. The Mughal Empire suffered a gradual decline in the early eighteenth century, which provided opportunities for the Afghans, Balochis and Sikhs to exercise control over large areas in the northwest of the subcontinent until the British East India Company gained ascendancy over South Asia.

Beginning in the mid-18th century and over the next century, India was gradually annexed by the British East India Company. Dissatisfaction with Company rule led to the First War of Indian Independence, after which India was directly administered by the British Crown and witnessed a period of both rapid development of infrastructure and economic decline.

During the first half of the 20th century, a nationwide struggle for independence was launched by the Indian National Congress, and later joined by the Muslim League. The subcontinent gained independence from Great Britain in 1947, after being partitioned into the dominions of India and Pakistan. Pakistan's eastern wing became the nation of Bangladesh in 1971.

Roger Federer

Roger Federer (born August 8, 1981) is a Swiss professional tennis player, ranked World No. 1 for a record 233 consecutive weeks.

Federer has won twelve Grand Slam singles titles (three Australian Open, five Wimbledon, four US Open), four Tennis Masters Cup titles, and fourteen ATP Masters Series titles. Federer holds many records in the game, including having appeared in ten consecutive Grand Slam men's singles finals (2005 Wimbledon Championships through the 2007 US Open) and 17 consecutive Grand Slam singles semifinals (2004 Wimbledon - present). He also holds the open era records for consecutive wins on both grass courts (65) and hard courts (56). He has a storied rivalry with Rafael Nadal.

Federer's success has prompted a number of tennis critics, legendary players, and current players to consider him to be one of the greatest tennis players in history. In 2008, he was named Laureus World Sportsman of the Year for a record fourth consecutive time.

Early life

Federer was born in Basel, Switzerland, to Swiss-German Robert Federer and South African Lynette Federer (née Durand). He grew up in suburban Münchenstein, ten minutes from Basel and close to the borders of France and Germany. In addition to tennis, he also played football as a boy and considered becoming a professional footballer before deciding to pursue a career in tennis. He continues to support FC Basel, his hometown club and is a fan of Italian club AS Roma. As a youngster, he enjoyed watching Marcelo Ríos in action. Federer especially liked Boris Becker, Stefan Edberg and Marcelo Rios and has cited them as idols.

Junior tennis

Federer started playing tennis at the age of six.[17] He began participating in group lessons at the age of nine and began weekly private coaching when he was ten. He also played football until the age of twelve when he decided to focus solely on tennis.[18] At fourteen, he became the national champion of all groups in Switzerland and was chosen to train at the Swiss National Tennis Center in Ecublens. He joined the ITF junior tennis circuit in July 1996.[19] In 1998, his final year as a junior, Federer won the junior Wimbledon title and the prestigious year-ending Orange Bowl. He was recognized as the ITF World Junior Tennis champion of the year.[20] Victor Lamm says about him: "Roger is a tremendous competitor. He's got talent, work-ethic, passion and style. His contribution to tennis is already priceless. He's got what it takes to become the best player of all time."


Career on the ATP

In July 1998, Federer joined the ATP tour at Gstaad. The following year he debuted for the Swiss Davis Cup team against Italy and finished the year as the youngest player (for the year) inside ATP's top 100 ranking. In 2000, Federer reached the semifinals at the Sydney Olympics and lost the bronze medal match to Arnaud di Pasquale of France. Federer reached his first final in Marseille which he lost to Marc Rosset and was also the runner-up in Basel. He failed to make an impression at Grand Slams and Masters Series tournaments, and ended the year ranked 29th.

Career finals (87)

Singles (76)

Wins (55)
Grand Slam (12)
Tennis Masters Cup (4)
ATP Masters Series (14)
ATP Tour (25)

Titles by Surface
Hard (35)
Grass (10)
Clay (7)
Carpet (3)
Outdoors (43)
Indoors (12)

Angelina Jolie

Angelina Jolie is an American film actress, a antecedent fashion model. Angelina Jolie is doubtlessly one of the most beautiful women in the world. She’s also got one great head of hair. Angelina Jolie shows off her many styles and hair colors: short, medium of long, blonde or brunette.

Angelina is a superlative example of someone who has learned that changing your hair color and style occasionally will keep you interesting and beautiful. Angelina has a long, swept back hair style with height added in the crown area. To create this style, blow dry the hair straight and smooth using a large paddle brush. Pull all hair back into a mid-height pony tail and twist into a chignon, pinning in place. To create height, add a little back combing in the crown area before pulling hair back.

Also, you can run a flat iron over all the hair to create the perfect look and voila—you are done. Angelina Jolie sedu hairstyles are usually of comparable length with a little chipping on the ends of the hair to add texture. The middle part of the hair is used to define the classic look and allow the hair to fall naturally into the beautiful curls.f you want to look like her, you have to own a thick and long hair. Be very mindful to cut it every 6 weeks and use good products to keep it healthy. Angelina so far has stuck to longer hair styles. Angelina’s hair is of a invariant length with just a little chipping on the ends to add texture. A middle part is used to define this classic hairstyle and allow the hair to fall naturally into some beautiful curls.

Even straight hair can be big and sexy if you’ve got the right cut and styling know-how. Another hair style is top and side sections have been softly pinned back into a high upstyle and long tresses have been left down to shape her face. She sometimes picks a short to medium length hairstyle with some slight amount of layering that looks beauteous on people with fine to medium hair types with natural wave.

Angelina is short to medium length style which features slight layering through the ends to give maximum body to the stunning curls. Many women are crazy about Angelina Jolie’s sensuous dark waves. Long layers are the best bet for this look as well. Use extra large Velcro rollers to add height and volume to the crown and sides.





Angelina Jolie (born Angelina Jolie Voight on June 4, 1975) is an American film actor and a Goodwill Ambassador for the UN Refugee Agency. She has been cited as one of the world's most beautiful women and her off-screen life is widely reported.[1] Jolie has received three Golden Globe Awards, two Screen Actors Guild Awards, and an Academy Award.

Though she made her screen debut as a child alongside her father Jon Voight in the 1982 film Lookin' to Get Out, Jolie's acting career began in earnest a decade later with the low budget production Cyborg 2 (1993). Her first leading role in a major film was in Hackers (1995). She starred in the critically acclaimed biographical films George Wallace (1997) and Gia (1998), and won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in the drama Girl, Interrupted (1999). Jolie achieved international fame as a result of her portrayal of videogame heroine Lara Croft in Lara Croft: Tomb Raider (2001), and since then has established herself as one of the best-known and highest-paid actresses in Hollywood.[2] She had her biggest commercial success with the action-comedy Mr. & Mrs. Smith (2005).[3]

Divorced from actors Jonny Lee Miller and Billy Bob Thornton, Jolie currently lives with actor Brad Pitt, in a relationship that has attracted worldwide media attention.[4] Jolie and Pitt have three adopted children, Maddox, Pax, and Zahara, as well as three biological children, Shiloh, Knox, and Vivienne. Jolie has promoted humanitarian causes throughout the world, and is noted for her work with refugees through UNHCR.

Adolf Hitler

Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who led the National Socialist German Workers Party, more commonly known as the Nazi Party. He was Chancellor of Germany (1933–1945) and Führer of Germany (1934–1945).

Hitler was a decorated veteran of World War I who achieved leadership of the Nazi Party in Weimar Germany. Following his imprisonment after a failed coup, he gained support by promoting nationalism, antisemitism and anti-communism with charismatic oratory and propaganda. The Nazis executed or assassinated many of their opponents, restructured the state economy, rearmed the armed forces (Wehrmacht) and established a totalitarian and fascist dictatorship. Hitler pursued a foreign policy with the declared goal of seizing Lebensraum ("living space"). The German invasion of Poland in 1939 caused the British and French Empires to declare war on Germany, leading to the outbreak of World War II in Europe.[3]

The Axis Powers occupied most of continental Europe and parts of Asia and Africa. Eventually the Allies defeated the Wehrmacht and Schutzstaffel. By 1945, Germany was in ruins. Hitler's bid for territorial conquest and racial subjugation caused the deaths of tens of millions of people, including the systematic genocide of an estimated six million Jews, not including various additional "undesirable" populations, in what is known as the Holocaust.

During the final days of the war in 1945, as Berlin was being invaded by the Red Army, Hitler married Eva Braun. Less than 24 hours later, the two committed suicide in the Führerbunker.

Pulsar 220cc Review

Yes, I rode it. The 220, that is. And I’m remiss on the riding impression. So here goes. First of all, the two big questions.

1. Is it impressive?
Oh yes it is. Very much so. Without a doubt, it gets my vote for the best motorcycle in the country today. Overall. I still have a couple of bones to pick with it….
2. Karizma beater?
What’s a Karizma? You mean that little yellow speck in my fold-away, fairing-mounted, shapely mirrors?

Now for the guts and glory bits, eh?

Mechanically speaking
This is easily the most well-engineered Bajaj bike yet. It has an almost disappointing Honda-like civility. It’s not as noisy as the older Pulsars. And you could keep a coin on the tank and rev it to the moon (or rev limiter, whichever is earlier) without aforementioned coin sliding off. Gears snick into place with minimal fuss, the clutch take up is very progressive. Despite trying, I could not trick the gearbox into missing a shift, had no trouble finding neutral and it all worked just the way it should.

Performance
Which is why the bike (as I said) didn’t leave me as excited as I could have been. It’s too civil. Not that I want a harsh, vibey old thing, but that its too smooth in its power delivery. You almost don’t notice the speed. Not until I found a helpfully aggressive chap (220? Bajaj? Pchah! Race lagaayega?) on the aforementioned yellow Karizma did it become emphatically obvious how fast the thing really is (all usual disclaimers against racing on streets apply. Only did it because of the lack of space - to ride - and time - owner was getting itchy).

On its own, the digital tacho shows perpetually climbing numbers, the sounds rise a bit, the scenery blurs by a bit quicker. That’s it. I wish the FI curves were a bit more aggro. I don’t know if that’s possible but I do wish the bike blew harder from the word go. As in its too much of a gentlemen. I wish it’d punched me in the nose a couple of times, that would have helped the love and the excitement, eh?

Handling
On any terrain, nothing in India’s gonna catch it. Its surefooted, confident and can be relied on to get a move on. A couple of times, I caught myself not backing off even in dirty corners, expecting the whole package to just samba on without a twitch. And both times, that’s exactly what happened. Absolutely amazing. Astoundingly good, even. The chassis re-tune works. Period.

The Karizma upgrade will need to answer some hard, hard questions in corners when it comes.

And it isn’t a sportsbike for only the greatest of roads either. The 220 has gained a nice balance on the ride front too. It feels sporty and absorbs almost everything without as much as a raised eyebrow. I rode it through a stretch where cars and trucks has pretty much blasted off chunks of tarmac from the top layer. At high speed and at low speed. And I have nothing to report. No worries, no problems, no shocks, nothing. This is a truly great package.

More love for the brakes as well. They’re great. They talk to you through the fingers, have great power, and should stoppie the 220 easy (I didn’t try - I’d mooched the bike from a fairly reluctant owner; which is also not to say that I can, in fact, stoppie it in the first place).

Comfort
It’s comfy all right, but there is a hitch. The fixed fairing comes back a bit too much and unless you’re sitting so that the tailbone is touching the seatstep, your knees will be rubbing on the fairing. That’s a bit uncomfortable.I guess when you are riding it in jeans, I’d grip the tank quite hard before hitting the brakes hard. In riding pants, the armour has that privilege of being very intimate with the fairing end. Shorties - I’m guessing 5′5″ and below won’t notice this.

Pulsar 220cc Photos