Himachal Pradesh govt to give security to Kangana in state, may extend it during her Mumbai visit
Shimla: The Himachal Pradesh government has decided to provide security to Bollywood actor Kangana Ranaut in the state and is also considering to extend it during her upcoming visit to Mumbai, Chief Minister Jairam Thakur said here on Sunday.
The chief minister disclosed it while talking to reporters after a BJP legislature party meet here.
This is our duty to provide her security as she is a daughter of Himachal Pradesh and a celebrity, he added.
Responding to reporters' queries, Thakur said that both Kangana Ranaut's sister and her father have approached the government seeking security for the actor.
Her sister telephoned me yesterday and talked to me. Her father too had written to the state police seeking the security. So I have asked DGP to give her security in the state, said Thakur.
The actor has also a programme to visit Mumbai on September 9 for which the government is considering to provide her security during the visit also, he added.
The chief minister, however, refused to say anything on Kangana Ranaut's recent remarks on actor Sushant Singh Rajput's suicide case, stating that the matter is being investigated.
He also avoided answering questions on the alleged threats given by Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut to the actor.
Earlier on Sunday, Raut demanded that the actor Ranaut apologise for her comments against Mumbai and Maharashtra.
Ranaut in a tweet recently had compared Mumbai to Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK).
"Why is Mumbai feeling like Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir?" Ranaut had asked recently in a tweet, tagging with it a September 1 news report where Raut purportedly had said she should not come back to Mumbai if she was afraid of the city police.
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LPG bookings close to normal, but situation continues to be worrisome
New Delhi (PTI): Bookings for domestic LPG refills are approaching pre-war normal levels, signalling a gradual return to normalcy, but concerns persist as supply restrictions on commercial consumers, including hotels, remain in place due to ongoing disruptions in input supplies caused by the West Asia conflict.
Over 33 crore domestic LPG consumers had, on average, booked about 55 lakh cylinders daily before the February 28 military strikes by the US and Israel on Iran. The escalation triggered sweeping retaliation from Tehran, effectively shutting the Strait of Hormuz - a critical shipping corridor used by major Gulf producers such as Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the UAE to export crude oil, gas and LPG to key markets including India.
The shutdown of the Strait of Hormuz blocked India's access to almost 60 per cent of its LPG, leading to curtailment of supplies to commercial users and triggering panic buying by domestic users, which peaked to 87.7 lakh on March 13.
Bookings have since fallen to 56-57 lakh on March 18, said Sujata Sharma, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas.
"Panic booking is coming down," she said, adding that the government continues to prioritise the supply of available LPG to domestic households.
However, "LPG (supply) situation remains worrisome but there is no dry out at any LPG distributor," she said.
Commercial users are getting just a fifth of their requirement.
Sharma said domestic LPG production has increased by over 40 per cent in the last two weeks and the three public sector oil marketing companies have been making normal, pre-war levels of daily deliveries of LPG refills.
"Our supply has not dipped. Some days the supply has been higher (than pre-war times). On March 18, 54.91 lakh LPG cylinders were delivered against a booking of over 56 lakh," she said.
Oil companies are operating extra shifts to keep LPG deliveries in pace with the bookings. They delivered 62.5 lakh cylinders on March 13 and 60 lakh on March 14 - the peak two days of panic bookings.
LPG supplies are under close monitoring amid the prevailing geopolitical tensions, with no dry-outs reported at distributorships and domestic cylinder deliveries continuing uninterrupted, she said.
Online bookings have risen sharply to 94 per cent, while Delivery Authentication Code (a unique OTP that is sent to registered mobile numbers of actual users to ensure LPG is being delivered to correct customers) coverage has expanded to 83 per cent.
In addition, customers near a city gas network are being encouraged to shift to piped natural gas - a convenient alternative to LPG as the fuel continuously travels through pipes to household kitchens without the botheration of refill bookings.
"In the last two weeks, 1.25 lakh new domestic, commercial and industrial connections have been issued," she said.
Raids and inspections to stop black marketing continue with seizure of cylinders as well as FIRs in several states.
The Union government on March 18 wrote to all state governments asking them to take all steps to prevent black marketing and hoarding while taking stringent actions against violators.
Besides, alternate fuels such as kerosene are being promoted, she said adding commercial LPG stocks have been placed with states for using them as per their priority list.
