June 06, 2008	Friday	Jamadi-us-Sani 01, 1429

KOLKATA, June 5: Fuel price hikes prompted a strike in three Indian states on Thursday, and Malaysia’s resurgent opposition vowed street protests as pump prices there rose by up to 60 per cent.

Communist allies of the ruling coalition in India started a week of protests against Wednesday’s price hikes by calling a one-day strike in the three states they rule — West Bengal, Kerala and Tripura — leaving streets, offices and airports largely deserted.

They say the government should have done more to insulate consumers from high global oil prices, even though it only passed on a fraction of surging crude costs when it raised heavily subsidised prices of petrol and diesel by about 10 per cent.—Reuters