New Delhi, May 11 : C. P. Joshi has been given additional charge of the railway ministry, while Kapil Sibal has got the additional charge of the law and justice ministry, a Rashtrapati Bhavan communique said Saturday.

Pawan Kuamr Bansal and Ashwani Kumar had resigned from the respective posts Friday night. President Pranab Mukherjee has accepted the resignations, the communique added.

Joshi is presently the surface transport minister and had earlier held the additional charge of railway ministry when Mukul Roy quit after Trinamool Congress left the UPA- II government.

New Delhi, May 11 :  Prime Minister Manmohan Singh should also go following the resignation of two cabinet ministers, BJP president Rajnath Singh said Saturday.

He told the media here that the country needed a new government. "There is no alternative other that a new government," he said.

The Bharatiya Janata Party leader said if the prime minister introspects, he will have no option but to resign.

"Two ministers resigned yesterday. The question is not of one or two ministers, whatever has been going on has put a question mark on the whole administrative process.

New Delhi, May 10 : Diesel price will increase by 90 paise per litre plus taxes from Friday-Saturday midnight, the country's largest oil marketing firm Indian Oil Corporation said Friday.

The company has decided to hike the price after a gap of two months.

Indian Oil Corporation said the Rs. 0.90 per litre increase in price would cover the increase of April and May.

“Indian Oil Corporation Ltd. has decided to increase the Retail Selling Price of Diesel w. e. f midnight of 10th/11th May '13 by Rs. 0.90/litre (excluding VAT) covering the increase for the months of April and May 2013,” the company said in a statement. (IANS)

New Delhi, May 10 : Reliance Communications Friday said its net profit surged almost 300 percent to Rs. 624 crore in fiscal 2012-13.

The company posted a net profit of Rs. 624 crore for the year ended March 31, 2013 as compared to Rs. 156 crore for the year ended March 31, 2012.

Total income increased from Rs. 11,863 crore for the year ended March 31, 2012 to Rs. 12,820 crore for the year ended March 31, 2013.

Reliance Communications share price rose 0.55 percent to Rs. 110.30 at the Bombay Stock Exchange.(IANS)

New Delhi, May 10 : Over 20,000 slum dwellers were treated by a team of 262 doctors in a month-long campaign by the Art of Living (AoL) foundation, it was announced here Friday.

The 108 free health checkup and awareness camps were launched April 14 in collaboration with the Indian Medical Association (IMA) in slum clusters in several east Delhi localities in five phases over five consecutive Sundays. The last round is scheduled May 12.

"The camps focused on detection and treatment for acute illnesses, provision of health education and spreading awareness about maternal health," said Maheish Girri, international director of AoL.

New Delhi, May 10 : The Supreme Court Friday dismissed actor Sanjay Dutt's plea seeking review of its March 21 judgment upholding his conviction under the Arms Act and sentencing him to five years in jail in the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts case.

A bench of Justice P. Sathasivam and Justice B. S. Chauhan refused to review the verdict on Dutt's plea.

Dutt, 53, was sentenced to five years in jail by the apex court March 21 for illegal arms possession during the 1993 Mumbai bomb blasts.

New Delhi, May 10 : State-run power generator NTPC posted a 69 percent year-on-year rise in profit for the fourth quarter ended March to Rs. 4,381 crore.

The company's sales for the quarter grew marginally to Rs. 16,461 crore, up a little over one percent year-on-year.

The company posted a net profit of Rs. 12,619 crore for the year ended March 31, 2013, as compared to Rs. 9,223 crore for the year ended March 31, 2012.

Total income increased from Rs. 64,841 crore for the year ended March 31, 2012, to Rs. 68,775 crore for the year ended March 31, 2013.

New Delhi, May 10 : Actor Prateik, who has gone underground to get a makeover for the upcoming film "Issaq", will be romancing 16-year-old Amyra Dastur in the movie.

Director Manish Tiwary has intentionally kept the identity of Amyra under wraps.

"Issaq" is a movie adaptation of Shakespeare's "Romeo And Juliet" in which Amyra's character is known as Bachchi. Prateik, 26, is said to be getting voice training as well for the movie.

New Delhi, May 10 : Passenger car sales in India fell 10.43 percent in April as high interest rates and fuel costs dampened consumer sentiments, the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) said Friday.

Data furnished by SIAM showed a decline of 10.43 percent, as only 150,789 units were sold in the month from 168,354 units in April, 2012. The passenger car sales had fallen 6.7 percent in the year ended March 31, the first time in a decade.

New Delhi, May 10 : Ritesh Agarwal, who founded Oravel. com, a startup that provides an alternative to hotel stays in India, has bagged the $100,000 Thiel Fellowship for 2013.

Agarwal, 19, born in Odisha, is the only Indian who has made it to the Thiel list of "20 under 20 years of age globally".

"Being part of Thiel Fellowship is a humbling experience. I made it because of the sheer process and quality of execution achieved at Oravel. com," says Agarwal, who always wanted to solve large problems using cutting edge new-age technologies.

New Delhi, May 10 : Britain's biggest retailer Tesco Friday said it is waiting for more clarity on India's foreign direct investment (FDI) policy and would accordingly decide on opening stores in Asia's third largest economy.

Tesco chief executive officer Philip Clarke along with Tata International managing director Noel Tata met Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma to seek clarity on various conditions imposed on the global supermarket chains to invest in India.

New Delhi, May 10 : CPI-M leader Brinda Karat Friday wrote to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, seeking his intervention in the appointment of the chairperson of the Rehabilitation Council of India (RCI), which she said plays a big role in advancing the interests of the disabled.

Karat said the post has not been filled despite the selection committee making its recommendations almost a year back and directions from the court.

New Delhi, May 9 : Actor-filmmaker Farhan Akhtar has been named the new face of smartphones brand Intex Technologies and he says the products are value-for-money.

"To me, Intex has been a long standing player that spells trust, credibility, innovation and evolves with the usage patterns of consumers like us," Farhan said in a statement.

"The products are versatile and offers value-for-money, I am looking forward to this association and the next line up of innovative offerings from the Intex stable," he added.

New Delhi, May 9 : Soumyajit Ghosh and Mouma Das made the mixed doubles final at the Commonwealth Table Tennis Championships here Thursday, a day on which India made sure of at least seven medals in the individual competitions.

Ghosh and Mouma beat top seeds from Singapore, Yang Zi and Yu Mengyu, 11-9, 11-6, 12-10, in the semifinals. They will meet another Singaporean pair, Zhan Jian and Zhou Yihan, in the title clash to be held later in the evening.

New Delhi, May 9 : Punjab National Bank's net profit dropped 20.6 percent during the fourth quarter (January to March) of fiscal 2012-13.

It posted net profit of Rs. 1,130.8 crore during the quarter compared to Rs. 1,424.06 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2012.

Total Income increased from Rs. 10,964.50 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2012 to Rs. 11,552.84 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2013.

It posted a net profit of Rs. 4,747.67 crore for the year ended March 31, 2013 as compared to Rs. 4,884.20 crore for the year ended March 31, 2012.(IANS)

New Delhi, May 9 : Prime Minister Manmohan Singh called on President Pranab Mukherjee Thursday amid speculation on the fate of Law Minister Ashwani Kumar following the apex court observations about the government's role in the CBI affidavit on the coal block allocation issue.

Official sources said the prime minister's meeting with the president lasted about half an hour. However, no details of the meeting were immediately available.

There has been speculation that the Congress leadership might decide to replace Ashwani Kumar following the apex court observations.

New Delhi, May 9 : National carrier Air India will resume commercial operations of the reinstated Boeing-787 Dreamliner from May 15. The first flights will be between Delhi and Bangalore and Delhi and Kolkata.

The airline will begin the 787 Dreamliner operation first on the Delhi-Bangalore sector in the early hours of May 15 and then on the Delhi-Kolkata route later in the day.

The airline received the aviation regulator, Directorate General of Civil Aviation's final airworthiness certificate Tuesday on one of the Dreamliners, which was modified by a Boeing team which is in India.

New Delhi, May 9 : Nokia Thursday unveiled a new smartphone named Asha 501 priced at $99 (Rs. 5,000), aiming to capitalise on the growing demands for low-cost smart device in the developing countries like India.

The new device, which has basic functions of smartphones, will be available in Indian and other markets from June. It offers 2G connectivity, Wi-Fi and access to internet and applications like Facebook, but it does not support 3G network.

Finland-headquartered Nokia announced the global launch of the new device here, giving clear indication of its positioning in the emerging markets.

New Delhi, May 9 : American automobile major General Motors Thursday launched its new multi-purpose vehicle (MPV) Enjoy.

The vehicles' petrol version is priced at Rs. 5.49-6.99 lakh and the diesel one at Rs. 6.99-7.99 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi).

The GM's new MVP is expected to compete with the likes of Maruti Suzuki's Ertiga, Toyota's Innova and Mahindar's Xylo. However, Toyota's Innova and Mahindra's Xylo have a starting price of above Rs. 9 lakh.

According to the company, it was able to achieve attractive introductory price due to extensive localisation of the components.

New Delhi, May 9 : Public sector Union Bank posted a 2.07 percent rise in net profit to Rs. 789 crore for the last quarter (January-March) of the 2012-13 financial year from Rs. 773 crore clocked during the corresponding period in 2011-12.

The net interest margin (NIM) for the fourth quarter of 2012-13 was at 2.89 percent compared to 3.16 percent during the fourth quarter of 2011-12.

For the whole fiscal (2012-13), the bank's net profit went up by 20.76 percent to Rs. 2,158 crore from Rs. 1,787 crore in 2011-12.