Congress appeals to people not to pay electricity bills till they get uninterrupted power supply
Bhubaneswar (PTI): Protesting frequent power outages across the state, the opposition Congress in Odisha called upon people not to pay pending electricity bills till they get uninterrupted power supply.
The call was given by Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC) president Sarat Pattnayak on Monday when party workers and leaders staged a demonstration and gheraoed GRIDCO, the bulk power supplier, office in Bhubaneswar to protest frequent power outages across the state amid the hot and humid conditions.
Holding banners and raising "anti-government" slogans, the party workers gathered at the GRIDCO office and attempted to barge into the premises by breaking the barricades. However, they were prevented by police personnel.
Pattnayak said the state government had sanctioned Rs 5,000 crore to the distribution company for infrastructure development. Now the Energy minister is saying that the power outage is due to poor infrastructure.
He also said that Rs 20,000 crore was earmarked for electricity infrastructure development. Where is the remaining Rs 15,000 crore, the Congress leader asked adding that the people were suffering for no fault of theirs.
"We appeal to people not to pay pending electricity dues till they get uninterrupted power," Pattnayak said.
Congress MLA Suresh Routray alleged that the people in the state were suffering while Odisha supplies coal to other states.
Meanwhile, the BJP also gheraoed the Tata Power Central Odisha Distribution Limited (TPCODL) office in Dhenkanal on Monday while protesting the power outage in the district.
The demonstrators also threatened to call Dhenkanal bandh if TPCODL fails to address the power outage in the district.
The protest was later called off after TPCODL executive engineer assured of an uninterrupted power supply.
BJP activists also staged demonstration before the Tata Power office in Balasore's Soro protesting the power outage in the area.
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Trump pauses Project Freedom, claims great progress for final agreement with Iran
Washington (PTI): President Donald Trump has suspended “Project Freedom,” to escort ships through the Strait of Hormuz, claiming progress in negotiations with Iran toward an agreement to end the war.
In a post on Truth Social on Tuesday, Trump said, “Great progress has been made toward a complete and final agreement with representatives of Iran.”
“Based on the request of Pakistan and other Countries, the tremendous Military Success that we have had during the Campaign against the Country of Iran and, additionally, the fact that Great Progress has been made toward a Complete and Final Agreement with Representatives of Iran, we have mutually agreed that, while the Blockade will remain in full force and effect, Project Freedom (The Movement of Ships through the Strait of Hormuz) will be paused for a short period of time to see whether or not the Agreement can be finalized and signed," Trump said.
Project Freedom was launched on Monday to escort ships, stranded due to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, out to safety. Trump had announced the operation on Sunday and the US Central Command began implementing it the next day.
However, the Project led to friction in the vicinity of the narrow seaway, a key route for transporting one-fifth of the global oil supplies, with the UAE claiming that its ships were attacked by Iran. The US also claimed to have destroyed several Iranian small boats.
Trump’s statement on Truth Social came hours after US Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced that Operation Epic Fury, launched on February 28, had concluded as its objectives have been achieved.
"Operation Epic Fury is concluded. We achieved the objectives of that operation. We're not cheering for an additional situation to occur. We would prefer the path of peace. What @POTUS would prefer is a deal... that is, so far, not the route that Iran has chosen," Rubio told a press conference at the White House on Tuesday.
On Project Freedom, Rubio said the goal was to rescue almost 23,000 civilians from 87 different countries who were trapped inside the Persian Gulf and left for dead by the Iranian regime.
"This is not an offensive operation. This is a defensive operation, and what that means is very simple: there’s no shooting unless we're shot at first. We’re not attacking them, but if they're attacking us or they’re attacking a ship, you need to respond to that," Rubio said.
