Table of Contents
The Hindu Editorial Analysis
We understand the significance of reading The Hindu newspaper for enhancing reading skills, improving comprehension of passages, staying informed about current events, enhancing essay writing, and more, especially for banking aspirants who need to focus on editorials for vocabulary building. This article will explore today’s editorial points, along with practice questions and key vocabulary.
Commercial LPG cylinder prices cut by ₹183 per refill
- Public sector oil marketing companies (OMCs) reduced the price of 19-kg commercial LPG cylinders by ₹183.5 per refill and 5-kg Free Trade LPG (FTL) cylinders by ₹13 on Wednesday. This shows that LPG supply is getting better as the four-month conflict in West Asia now seems to be coming to an end.
- This is the first cut in commercial LPG prices in 2026. Before this, the price had gone up four times since March 7, with a total increase of ₹1,345 per refill.
- The price cut has come one week after the government removed the restrictions on the supply of commercial LPG.
- However, there is no relief for household LPG users. The price of domestic LPG cylinders has not changed, even though it had already been increased in two phases by nearly ₹90.
- The OMCs also reduced the price of aviation turbine fuel (ATF) for domestic airlines by ₹5 per litre.
- Separately, private oil company Nayara Energy reduced petrol prices by ₹5 per litre and diesel prices by ₹3 per litre. The company runs more than 7,000 fuel stations across India.
- Nayara Energy had earlier increased petrol and diesel prices by the same amount on March 26, when the West Asia conflict was at its peak.
- After the latest price revision, the cost of a 19-kg commercial LPG cylinder is now:
- Delhi: ₹2,930 (reduced by ₹183.5)
- Mumbai: ₹2,885.5 (reduced by ₹182)
- Kolkata: ₹3,081.5 (reduced by ₹174)
- Chennai: ₹3,106 (reduced by ₹177)
- The 5-kg ‘Chhotu’ Free Trade LPG (FTL) cylinder, which is mainly used by migrant workers, now costs ₹808.5 per refill in Delhi.
- Commercial (non-domestic) LPG makes up about 13% of the total LPG sold by public sector OMCs.
- According to the latest provisional data for June 2026 released by the Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell (PPAC), the total use of domestic and commercial LPG together fell by 16.7% compared to the same period last year.
- The fall in LPG consumption happened when restrictions on commercial LPG supply were in place and people also had to wait longer to book LPG refills.
- Speaking to The Hindu, Prashant Vashisht, Senior Vice-President and Co-Group Head of Corporate Sector Ratings at ICRA, said that the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz should help improve LPG supplies, as long as there is no fresh conflict in the region.
- He also said that LPG prices are likely to become more stable because the Gulf region is once again becoming India’s main source for buying LPG.
- He further explained that before the conflict, India depended mainly on Gulf countries for its LPG needs.
- During the conflict, India had to buy extra LPG from the United States and Australia. Since these countries are much farther away, transportation and delivery took more time, which increased supply-related problems.
Centre sets minimum wage at ₹300 per day under the VB-GRAM G Scheme
- The Central Government has fixed a minimum daily wage of ₹300 under the Viksit Bharat-Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) (VB-G RAM G) Act, 2025. The new law came into effect on Tuesday and has replaced the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), 2005.
- The new wage rule increased the daily wage to ₹300 in the 21 States and Union Territories where workers were getting less than ₹300 under MGNREGA. States that were already paying more than ₹300 received only small increases.
- Four major Hindi-speaking States saw a big increase in daily wages compared to the 2025–26 MGNREGA wage rates:
- Uttar Pradesh: Increase of ₹48
- Bihar: Increase of ₹45
- Madhya Pradesh: Increase of ₹39
- Rajasthan: Increase of ₹19
- Among all the States and Union Territories, Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu was the only Union Territory where the daily wage remained exactly the same as it was under MGNREGA.
- Telangana had the smallest increase in wages. The daily wage went up by only ₹1, from ₹307 to ₹308, which is an increase of just 33%.
- Other southern States were already paying more than the ₹300 minimum wage, so they also received only small increases:
- Andhra Pradesh: 6% increase
- Tamil Nadu: 7% increase
- Karnataka: 2% increase
- If we do not count the special wage rate of ₹450 given in some gram panchayats of Sikkim, Haryana continues to have the highest daily wage at ₹409. However, its increase was only 25%.
- Haryana (₹409), Goa (₹406), and Kerala (₹401) are the only States where the daily wage is more than ₹400.
- Many northern and northeastern States received wage increases of more than 15% so that their daily wage could reach the new minimum of ₹300. These States include Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Jharkhand, Assam, Tripura, Sikkim, and West Bengal.
- Congress General Secretary Jairam Ramesh criticised the government’s notification and said that the new wage rates are still “unjustifiably low.”
- He repeated the Congress party’s demand, first made during the 2024 Lok Sabha election campaign, that every worker in India should get a national minimum daily wage of ₹400.
- He also said that the Expert Committee led by Anoop Satpathy, which was formed by the Modi government, had recommended a national minimum wage floor of ₹375 per day in 2019.
- Ramesh further said that the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Rural Development, led by Saptagiri Ulaka, has also been regularly recommending higher wages for MGNREGA workers.
- Referring to the ongoing protests over minimum wages in industrial areas like Noida and the slow growth of rural wages across the country, Mr. Ramesh said that the government’s decision is both “a snub to India’s workers” and “an unwise economic policy.”
- He added that a fair minimum wage for Indian workers should be based on Dr. Satpathy’s recommendation and should also take into account the increase in prices since 2019.
- Ulaka said that the Congress party opposed the VB-G RAM G Act “from the streets to Parliament” and will continue to oppose it.
- He appealed to the Central Government to cancel the VB-G RAM G Act and bring back a stronger MGNREGA instead.
- Ulaka criticised the change from MGNREGA, which gave workers a legal right to demand work, to the VB-G RAM G scheme, which he said depends more on the government’s decision to provide work.
- He said that one of the biggest concerns is the new system of sharing costs between the Centre and the States.
- Under MGNREGA, the Central Government paid almost the entire labour cost, while the cost of materials was shared between the Centre and the States in the ratio of 60:40.
- Under the VB-G RAM G Act, however, the total spending on both labour and materials will now be shared between the Centre and the States in the 60:40 ratio, according to Mr. Ulaka.
- He further said that if more work has to be provided beyond this limit, the extra financial burden will have to be borne by the State governments.
Government asks WhatsApp to pause the username feature
- WhatsApp is working on a new username feature that will let people chat without sharing their phone numbers. However, the Union government has raised concerns about this feature.
- A senior government official said on Wednesday that the Centre believes this feature could lead to more spam messages, fake accounts pretending to be someone else, and other types of online misuse.
- Because of these concerns, the government has sent a notice to WhatsApp and asked the company not to launch the feature for now.
- The Centre has directed WhatsApp to submit a detailed explanation of the username feature within three days. It has also instructed the company not to roll out the feature until detailed discussions with the government are completed.
- According to the notice sent by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) to WhatsApp’s Chief Compliance Officer in India, the government believes the feature could make online fraud, phishing scams, digital arrest scams, and impersonation attacks happen more often. It said that the feature could allow criminals to contact and message potential victims more easily. A copy of this notice was reviewed by The Hindu.
- The username feature is similar to features already available on messaging apps like Telegram and Signal, where people can chat with others without sharing their phone numbers.
- Explaining why it wants to introduce this feature, Meta said that when people meet someone new—such as classmates, neighbours, or people they meet at events—they may not feel comfortable sharing their phone number because it is personal and connected to many parts of their life. Because of this, some users may prefer to chat without giving out their phone number.
- A WhatsApp spokesperson said that the username feature has not been launched yet and will be introduced slowly later this year.
- To reduce the risk of fake accounts, WhatsApp has already reserved usernames of public figures, government organisations, celebrities, and verified Meta accounts so that only the real owners can use them. The company has also reserved usernames that closely resemble famous names to help prevent impersonation.
- WhatsApp also said that users will be able to choose whether they want to reply to messages received from unknown accounts.
- The company also said that the country linked to the sender’s phone number will be shown to the person receiving the message as an extra safety measure.
- According to Meta, the feature will include built-in systems to detect spam and prevent misuse. It will also show the sender’s country of origin to help users identify where a message is coming from.
- Meta also announced that users will have the option to turn on a special “username key.” If this option is enabled, anyone who wants to message that user through their username must also know the username key, giving users more privacy and better control over who can contact them.
- WhatsApp has been facing increased attention from the Central government over the past few years.
- Last year, the Department of Telecommunications directed Meta to make sure that people cannot use WhatsApp unless the SIM card linked to their WhatsApp account is active on the device.
- The Department also instructed Meta to automatically log users out of WhatsApp Web every six hours.
- Although the rule requiring users to log out of WhatsApp Web every six hours was later withdrawn, the rule that links WhatsApp access to an active registered SIM card is still in force.
- Meta has opposed rules that it believes could weaken WhatsApp’s end-to-end encryption, including by challenging a provision of the IT Rules in the Delhi High Court. However, the company has taken a more cooperative approach in recent years and has moved towards following the government’s directions related to SIM card verification.
Important Questions
- Why did public sector oil marketing companies (OMCs) reduce the price of 19-kg commercial LPG cylinders by ₹183.5 per refill?
- How did the four-month conflict in West Asia affect India’s LPG supply, imports from the United States and Australia, and transportation costs?
- How does the VB-G RAM G Act, 2025 differ from MGNREGA, 2005 in the sharing of labour and material costs between the Centre and the States?
- Why did Congress General Secretary Jairam Ramesh describe the new minimum daily wage notification of ₹300 as “unjustifiably low”?
- Why did the Union government ask WhatsApp to pause the rollout of the username feature?
- What safety measures did Meta introduce in the WhatsApp username feature to reduce the risks of spam, phishing, digital arrest scams, and impersonation attacks?
Important Vocabulary
- Provisional – Temporary and not yet final.
- Restrictions – Official limits or controls.
- Consumption – The amount used.
- Stability – The condition of being steady or unchanged.
- Notification – An official announcement.
- Recommendation – A suggested course of action.
- Criticised – Expressed disapproval.
- Burden – A heavy responsibility or load.
- Impersonation – Pretending to be another person.
- Phishing – Fraud to steal personal information.
- Encryption – Protecting data by converting it into a secure form.
- Compliance – Following rules or regulations.
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