According to Jaitley, the 7.7 per cent economic growth in the fourth quarter of 2017-18 'firmly' established India as the fastest growing major economy in the world and the trend is \"likely to continue for the next few years\".

The ED and CBI are probing the father and son for allegedly taking kickbacks in exchange for getting the Aircel-Maxis deal of over Rs 3,500 crore cleared by the Foreign Investment Promotion Board in 2006, when P Chidambaram was the Finance Minister.

Former Finance Minister P Chidambaram appeared before the Enforcement Directorate (ED) for the second time for a fresh round of questioning pertaining to the Aircel-Maxis money laundering case.

The scale of value destruction in the telecom sector has been huge. Only sensible policies and practices can save it now.

The ED questioned P Chidambaram based on the statement given by then FIPB officials on the alleged role played by the former Finance Minister in giving FIPB approvals of over Rs 3,500 crore.

The Central government levies Rs 19.48 excise duty on a litre of petrol and Rs 15.33 on diesel. States charge value added tax that varies from state to state. In Delhi, VAT on petrol is Rs 16.41 and on diesel Rs 10.05.

Reluctant to cut losses, the government is weighing on options before taking a step that could either provide a relief to the consumers or hamper its revenue prospects.

A tougher option could be to finally bring petrol and diesel under GST, which has been dangled as a lollipop for a long time. Even at a prohibitive 18 per cent tax rate, petrol would barely cost Rs 45.75 per litre.

There seems to be no end in sight to the political machinations that have ensued after the Karanataka election results threw up a hung assembly.

Ending the 19-day freeze on the hike in petrol and diesel prices, the oil marketing companies (OMCs) on Monday increased the petrol price by 17 paise a litre while the diesel price was hiked by 21 paise.

The Income Tax Department on Friday filed four prosecution complaints against the former Finance Minister P Chidambaram and his family members.

It's not just the common man in India who is fuming over rising petrol prices. US President Donald Trump is also feeling the pinch of rising crude prices. Trump lashed out at the oil exporting group OPEC for keeping the oil prices 'artificially high'.