6.8 magnitude earthquake in sikkim strong tremors felt in North India

Strong tremors were felt in parts of North and East India after an earthquake of 6.8 magnitude shook Sikkim this evening. (Buzz on Twitter) The epicentre of the quake is said to be just 64 kilometres North-West of Gangtok. The tremors were felt in Lucknow, Patna, Kolkata, New Delhi and the National Capital Region. (Forum: Did you feel the tremors?) There are reports of telephone lines snapping and power cuts in parts of Sikkim. The quake comes just days after an earthquake of 4.2 magnitude hit Haryana's Sonepat district, sending tremors in New Delhi.

Breaking news: Petrol to be dearer by Rs 3.14 per litre

State-owned oil companies are all set to hike petrol prices by around Rs 3 per litre which will be effective from midnight.

"Looks like the hike will be over Rs 3.14 per litre," a top official at one of the three state-run fuel retailers said.

Indian Oil Corp (IOC), Bharat Petroleum Corp(BPCL) and Hindsutan Petroleum Corp (HPCL) now lose Rs 2.61 per litre due to high international crude oil prices and with rupee touching two-year low against the US dollar, the losses have increased the cost of importing crude oil.

"After adding local taxes, the hike needed at retail level comes to over Rs 3 per litre," the official said.

Petrol price were last hiked by Rs 5 per litre on May 15. It costs Rs 63.70 per litre in Delhi.

"The exact quantum of hike at different cities is being worked out," the official said.

Petrol price was freed from the government control in June last year but the retail rates have not moved in line with cost as high inflation rate forced the oil companies to seek 'advice' from parent oil ministry before revising rates.

IOC, BPCL and HPCL have lost Rs 2,450 crore this fiscal on selling petrol below the cost.

Besides petrol, the three firms are losing Rs 263 crore per day on selling diesel, domestic LPG and kerosene below cost. Diesel is being sold at a subsidy of Rs 6.05 a litre, kerosene at Rs 23.25 per litre while domestic LPG rates are under-priced by Rs 267 per 14.2-kg cylinder.

Rupee fell to 48 per dollar yesterday for the first time since September 2009. "Every rupee depreciation, the under-recovery (revenue loss) increases annually by around Rs 9,000 crore," he said.

Sensex flat in afternoon trade

A benchmark index for the Indian equities markets Thursday was ruling flat in afternoon trade as traders took a breather after the rally in the previous session and awaited the monetary policy update scheduled Friday.

The 30-scrip sensitive index (Sensex) of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), which opened at 16,837.76 points, was ruling at 16,738.49 points, up 37.17 points or 0.22 percent from its previous close at 16,709.6 points.

It rose to a high of 16,843.98 points in early trade but later slipped to touch a low of 16,545.47 points.

The 50-scrip S&P CNX Nifty of the National Stock Exchange too was trading higher at 5,037.15 points, up 0.49 percent.

The Reserve Bank of India will take a call on raising interest rates when it meets Friday to review the monetary policy.

Broader markets were largely subdued with the BSE 100 index up 0.4 percent. Realty, IT, consumer durables and telecom stocks were on the rise, while capital goods declined.

The market breadth was positive with 1,382 stocks advancing, compared to 1,168 on the decline and 93 remaining unchanged.

Sensex gainers at this time included DLF, Tata Motors, TCS and SBI, while the losers included Maruti Suzuki, L&T, Tata Steel and ONGC.

In Asia, Japan's Nikkei closed 1.76 percent up at 8,668.86 points, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng index was trading flat at 19,068.54 points.

Chinese markets edged lower with the Shanghai Composite index closing 0.23 percent lower at 2,479.05 points.

European bourses rose amid optimism that the Germany and France would unveil new steps to help curb the debt crisis faced by countries in the Euro zone.

Many of Kerala temple’s treasures were stolen

Even after a judicial commission listed the lost valuables of Sree Padmanabhaswamy temple in Thiruvananthapuram in 2008, the temple administration headed by the Maharajah of Travancore, Sree Uthradom Thirunal Marthanda Varma, never took action against the culprits.

The temple has been in the news lately after its vaults, opened on the orders of the Supreme Court, revealed treasures worth over Rs 1,00,000 crore. Only one last vault, vault A, remains to be opened as the Travancore Maharajah,  Uthradam Tirunal Marthanda Varma, the temple’s traditional custodian, objected to it saying the deity was not happy about it. He held a ritual called Devaprasnam to claim the vault should not be opened.

Firstpost revealed in an earlier story that the vaults had been opened before, despite claims to the contrary by the Maharaja. Fresh documents with Firstpost reveal that a Judicial commission appointed by the Principal Sub-Judge of Thiruvananthapuram also indicated that several valuables from the vaults had been lost or stolen.

The Commission submitted its findings to the court listing the missing valuables from the temple on 14 November 2008. Headed by Advocate Commissioner BR Shyam and V Suresh, the Commission visited the temple and opened the vaults where the golden and silver pooja utensils were kept.

The report lists the missing utensils at the temple. “Incidentally, it came to our notice  that in the item No 4 – Thankakuda, a golden umbrella with hanging tassels made of gold  and green stones, 14 green coloured stones were found broken. The hangings were attached to the umbrella by golden threads. Some of the golden threads  were found missing …”

A paramilitary serviceman is seen at The Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple in Thiruvananthapuram. AFP

“In item  No 5, Vellipidi Swarnakuda (golden umbrella with silver handle), and with hanging tassels of green stones covered with gold  attached to the umbrella by golden hooks, 44 golden hooks were missing and were replaced by copper or iron hooks. Three golden threads in the golden umbrella were also found missing. In Item No 15, two out of the four silver bells were found missing,” the judicial commission report revealed.

But when the Commission inquired about the missing valuables at the temple, the Executive Officer told them that he had only recently taken charge of the temple administration and was not aware about the missing valuables.

The Judicial Commission opened the temple vault in the presence of Executive Officer, the Treasurer, the palace representative Ravi Varma Raja, Advocate Balagovindan, Advocate Anandapadmanabhan,  Advocate Punchakkari Raveendran Nair, Advocate Vishwanathan Pillai, Appraiser Muthukrishnan and a few temple staff.

“Advocate Anandapadmanabhan and Advocate Balagovindan have requested us to take the sample weight of one item in each category. This request was strongly opposed by Punchakkari Raveendran Nair and palace representative Ravi Varma Raja stating that there is no specific order from the court for that purpose. The Executive Officer present was willing for weighing the valuables and conducting the purity test on the pooja utensils by the Judicial Commission. Since the parties objected (to) the weighing of valuables, we have decided to do so next time after getting specific orders from the court,” the commission report stated.

The Commission tried to weigh 11 precious valuables kept in a wooden box to ensure the security of the valuables, but the resistance of the royal family suggested that they may have been aware of the temple loot going on for years.

The Commission also found that one silver bell was missing from the list of pooja utensils handed over to the temple authorities on 19 October 2008.

The Judicial Commission also noted that “the golden and silver articles worth millions of rupees handed over to the temple authorities were not properly handled by the persons who are using them for the poojas”.

Petrol prices may go up by Rs 3 a litre

State-owned oil firms may have to raise petrol prices by as much as Rs 3 per litre as the rupee touched two-year low against the US dollar, increasing the cost of importing crude oil.

"Oil retailers are losing Rs 2.61 per litre or Rs 15 crore per day on sale of petrol. Together with local taxes, the hike needed to level domestic rates with international prices is about Rs 3 per litre," a top government official said.

IOC , BPC L and HPCL have lost Rs 2,450 crore this fiscal on selling petrol -- whose rates were freed from government control in June last year -- below the cost. "At current rate, oil firms will accrue another Rs 2,850 crore of loss on sale of petrol, taking the total loss on a fuel that was freed from control, to Rs 5,300 crore for the full fiscal," the official said, adding, "Oil firms will have to take a call on raising petrol price soon."

Besides petrol, the three firms are losing Rs 263 crore per day on selling diesel, domestic LPG and kerosene below cost. Diesel is being sold at a subsidy of Rs 6.05 a litre, kerosene at Rs 23.25 per litre while domestic LPG rates are under-priced by Rs 267 per 14.2-kg cylinder.

"The industry lost around Rs 65,000 crore in the first half of the current fiscal on the three products and for the full year the revenue loss is estimated at Rs 121,571 crore at the price of Indian basket at USD 110 per barrel," said the official.

Rupee fell to 48 per dollar today for the first time since September 2009. "Every rupee depreciation, the under-recovery (revenue loss) increases annually by around Rs 9,000 crore," he said, underscoring the need for action on the price front on all the three products.