Petrol Prices Likely To Increase Again

• Petrol Prices. State-owned oil companies are demanding a Rs1.82 per litre increase in petrol prices, which, if it comes into effect, will be the fourth hike this year. The companies have cited the depreciation of the rupee and the increases in prices of crude oil as their reasons for this demand. The government is yet to take a call on the matter. [NDTV Profit]

• Text Limit. Mobile phone users will now be able to send 200 text messages a day as the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India has doubled the daily cap of 100 SMSes a day that it had implemented to stop unsolicited texts from telemarketers. [The Economic Times]

• Student Suicides. New data released by the National Crime Records Bureau, revealed a 26 per cent increased in student suicides from 2006 to 2010, with Bangalore, Delhi and Mumbai accounting for most victims in that order. For the first time in five years, Maharashtra recorded the largest number of suicides in 2010. [The Times of India]

• Syphilis Update. According to the National Aids Control Organisation, India is on the verge of eliminating syphilis. The sexually transmitted disease, which earlier affected eight per cent of pregnant women, now affects less than one per cent. Among female sex workers, it affects about four per cent as against 30 per cent, a few years ago. [The Times of India]

• Jail Time. Former Pakistan Test cricket captain, Salman Butt and bowler Mohammed Asif have been found guilty of conspiring to fix parts of last years Lord’s Test against England. Butt, 27, and 28-year-old fast bowler Asif plotted to bowl deliberate no-balls in the match as part of a lucrative betting scam. Butt and Asif, who are the first cricketers ever to be convicted for fixing part of a match, face up to seven years in prison. [The Times of India]