The Union government will gain close to Rs 1.6 lakh crore in additional revenues this fiscal from a record hike in excise duty on petrol and diesel that has pushed the total incidence of taxation on auto fuels to 70 per cent of the price. Late on Tuesday evening, the government hiked excise duty on petrol by Rs 10 per litre and that on diesel by Rs 13 a litre to mop up gains arising from international oil prices falling to a two-decade low.

That would reverse the growth trend of around 11 per cent per annum, which the industry has logged over the past ten years, making it one of the most adversely-affected sectors of the economy.

Even after filling up reserves, govt would have secured only nine days of emergency supplies.As lockdown has crimped demand for fuel products, it has saddled refineries with unsold stocks

Sanjali Ekatpure from Akluj, Solapur writes about her mother Shailaja Ekatpure.

'In Mumbai the mortality rate was reaching a percentage of almost 8 plus in about April.'