Government ministers have canceled several official trips abroad in the wake of an admonition from the Indian prime minister to cut costs, according to their offices. After the government raised fuel prices last week, a move that sparked protests across the country, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh sent a letter to all ministers telling them to reduce expenses. “As we ask the people to bear some of the financial burden of our oil imports, it is not only necessary from the resource conservation point of view but also as a moral duty to cut out all wasteful expenditure in our own establishments,” Singh wrote in a letter released last Thursday. “I am therefore writing to ask you to severely curtail expenditure on air travel, particularly foreign travel.” Shipping Minister T.R. Baalu canceled a trip to Finland as a result of the letter, his office said. Tourism Minister Ambika Soni also canceled a planned trip to the United States where she was going to attend a dance festival and a medical conference, her office said. The mayor of New Delhi, Arti Mehra, canceled a trip to Germany where she was going to study multi
