PM failed to accept nation’s fitness challenge
In a country like India which has stark contrasts in standards of people’s lives, fitness is deemed rather ostentatious. Yoga and spirituality are up for sale much like fitness equipment in the market. Fake babas and swamijis are much celebrated too. They are not only setting up massive business establishments, but are also making money out of the talks they deliver on psychological and physical health. With more than 50% of people suffering from malnourishment, fitness is a misnomer. Our Prime Minister Modi is busy playing the fitness game while people at the lower strata are suffering from lack of hygienic food, safe drinking water and access to health and education. Initially he posed for pictures under Swacch Bharat campaign. But after spending a few thousand crores to clean it up, he has gone totally quiet about it. All the money, a few thousand crores of rupees has gone down in the drain. The government has remained unaccounted on people’s money. Lives of paurakarmikas, cleaners and janitors has remained the same. Devotees and industrialists have been polluting the much adored river Ganga. The government feigns helplessness.
Now at such momentous times, Modi is busy playing the fitness game. He has been challenging others also to participate in this, by tagging them on his social media. Having turned foreign countries as his mainstay except for the times when any state would be preparing for elections, he is a classic example of a person who has lost his track. This fitness game seems like a small time preparation to 2019 elections. When he tagged Karnataka CM H D Kumaraswamy, the latter has said he is more concerned about the fitness of the state equally or over his own physical fitness. He even sought the cooperation of Modiji in this regard, conveying to him that he need not be taught a lesson or two in fitness which is not even his priority. He has in fact indirectly advised the PM to pay attention to the nation’s fitness.
This country’s fitness and Narendra Modi’s personal fantasy of fitness are not interconnected at all. A global report has challenged about the overall fitness of the youth of this nation. Instead of accepting that challenge, Modi has taken refuge in social media.
The recently published Global Poverty Index has shown India has slipped two more positions below. This means increasingly the country is going hungry. India has gone further down from 97th position to 100th one now. This would also mean India is in much worse condition compared to Nepal, Bangla etc. India was in 57thposition among 119 countries that had participated to understand their global hunger index in 2013. By 2016 India had reached 92 and now the country is at 100th position. According to Wealth Hunger Life organization Director “self sufficiency of food is also getting affected. The economic policies made by the current govt are responsible for this. This has had a direct impact on food nutrition and security” she had said. And her anticipation has a lot of truth in it. Anaemia is the biggest menace India is facing which is contributing to maternal mortality and poor health of new borns.
Hunger leaves an indelible mark on the lives of young men. Children who grow being subject to malnutrition can never accept such fitness challenge. Hunger, ill-health and illiteracy are interconnected. Hunger has a direct link to resurfacing of TB in this nation. Things have reached really difficult phase after demonentisation. People are losing jobs in small cities and semi-urban areas and new jobs are hard to come by in agrarian and small industries sector. Migrant labourers are returning to their villages owing to no jobs in the city. Modi’s economic understanding has excluded the poor from its focal area, hence this field has very limited allowance set aside for it. With this, how can the country take fitness challenge? Hence, Modi should stop spending resources on social media presence and listen to the WHO report and guidelines to eradicate the poverty totally.
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Commercial LPG hike: Delhi restaurant owners warn of higher menu rates, job losses
New Delhi (PTI) A day after a 50 per cent rise in commercial LPG cylinder prices, Delhi's food business, with restaurant owners and street vendors have warned of higher menu rates, financial strain and potential job losses if the trend persists.
The price of commercial LPG was hiked by a steep Rs 993 per 19 kg cylinder, marking the third consecutive monthly hike amid rising global energy prices linked to the West Asia conflict.
For many in the restaurant industry, the spike has been both sudden and steep.
Manpreet Singh, honorary treasurer of the National Restaurant Association of India, said that eateries are already grappling with supply challenges alongside rising costs.
"There is a huge difficulty in getting these cylinders, and black marketing is also increasing in many unregulated sectors," he said, noting that prices that were once around Rs 1,600, often dropping to nearly Rs 1,300 with discounts, have now surged to between Rs 3,000 and Rs 4,000 per cylinder.
He further added that a medium-sized restaurant typically uses between two and five cylinders daily, making the increase particularly burdensome as costs mount.
Singh further said that as costs mount, smaller establishments could struggle to stay afloat. Instead, the association has advised restaurants to shift towards piped natural gas connections through Indraprastha Gas Limited as a more sustainable alternative.
"If this problem continues, PNG is the only long-term solution," he said, adding that temporary measures like coal offer limited relief due to slower cooking times and that it can largely be used only for tandoors.
Echoing similar concerns, Kabir Suri, owner of Mamagoto in Khan Market, said the impact is already visible across the industry. "There has been almost a threefold increase in cylinder prices for restaurants," he said, adding that rising fuel and logistics costs are compounding the pressure.
"If this continues, it will become a significant financial burden, and food prices will inevitably go up. Adding to this burden, higher fuel costs are also affecting logistics and transportation, making a price rise unavoidable. The extent of the impact will vary between small eateries and large chains depending on their scale," he said.
Global oil prices have surged nearly 50 per cent following disruptions in energy supply chains due to the West Asia conflict, pushing up commercial fuel costs and transport expenses.
A West Delhi-based restaurateur said they are trying to manage rising costs while keeping their staff secure. "We are trying to ensure that our staff, from kitchen workers to waiters, are paid on time and do not face immediate hardship," the owner said.
"We are a small restaurant with seating for about 20 to 25 people at a time. But if this continues for long, we will have to take difficult calls. There is only so much we can absorb, and menu prices will have to go up. We hope this does not continue for a longer period," he said.
Another restaurant owner in North Delhi, who did not wish to be named, said operational adjustments alone may not be enough. "We are checking our costs very carefully and trying to cut wherever possible, but if fuel prices remain high, it will eventually affect how we run the business," the owner said.
"Coal helps in tandoor cooking, but it takes more time," the owner further added.
The strain is even more acute among street vendors, many of whom operate on thin margins. A vendor in Saket said he had recently expanded his business, moving from a mobile cart to a rented outlet.
"I have a family to feed and more responsibilities now. Earlier, I managed with a moving cart, but after renting the place, expenses increased," he said. "Whenever cylinders were unavailable, I had to buy them at higher rates in the black market. Now even regular supply is too expensive, and if this continues, we may have to shut down," he added.
In Laxmi Nagar, another vendor said they are struggling to keep the business running. "Sometimes we even used domestic cylinders from home when supply ran out because we had to keep the stall running," he said, adding that rising costs leave little choice but to increase prices or bear losses.
On April 1, the rates of commercial LPG cylinders were hiked by Rs 195.50 per cylinder, followed by a Rs 114.5 hike on March 1, taking the total increase over the past three months to Rs 1,303. With the latest revision, a 19 kg commercial LPG cylinder now costs Rs 3,371.5 in Delhi, up from Rs 2,078.5 earlier.
The prices of domestic LPG cylinders used for household cooking have remained unchanged. They were last increased by Rs 60 per 14.2 kg cylinder on March 7 and currently cost Rs 913 in Delhi.
