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India strike over petrol price disrupts normal life | India strike over petrol price disrupts normal life |
(about 1 hour later) | |
A strike called by India's opposition parties in protest against a sharp increase in petrol prices has disrupted normal life in parts of the country. | A strike called by India's opposition parties in protest against a sharp increase in petrol prices has disrupted normal life in parts of the country. |
Protesters blocked traffic on the iconic Howrah Bridge in Calcutta and stopped trains in Uttar Pradesh state. | |
Some public buses have been damaged in the southern Karnataka state and auto-rickshaws gone off the roads in Delhi. | |
Last week, state-run oil firms raised petrol prices by more than 11% or 7.54 rupees (13 US cents) a litre. | |
The steepest single increase in a decade in petrol prices is likely to fuel inflation. | |
The oil firms said they were forced to increase prices because the falling rupee had made imports costlier. | The oil firms said they were forced to increase prices because the falling rupee had made imports costlier. |
'Business suffers' | |
Reports of anti-government marches, roadblocks and pickets outside government offices have come in from several parts of the county. | |
"The price rise is killing us and the government is sleeping but today we will wake them up," news agency AFP quoted Ravikant Sahai, a grocery shop owner in Delhi, as saying. | |
Mr Sahai said he would not open his shop and hoped many other traders would join the strike. | |
"Petrol price rises hurt everyone. Our business suffers. Why is this government determined to hurt us?" he said. | |
The strike has affected public transport and attendance in government offices, factories and educational institutions. | |
Opposition parties have demanded that the price increase should be rolled back. | Opposition parties have demanded that the price increase should be rolled back. |
In 2010, the government allowed state-run oil firms to fix the price of petrol but it continues to control the prices of diesel, kerosene and cooking gas to protect the poor and to keep a check on inflation. | In 2010, the government allowed state-run oil firms to fix the price of petrol but it continues to control the prices of diesel, kerosene and cooking gas to protect the poor and to keep a check on inflation. |
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