Nirmala Sitharaman refuses to meet OPS
New Delhi, July 24 : Senior AIADMK minister and Tamil Nadu Deputy Chief Minister O. Pannerselvam was on Tuesday refused an appointment by Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, a development that created flutters in political circles in the state.
Pannerselvam, who was appointed Coordinator in the AIADMK after the split in the party last year, wanted to meet the Defence Minister and thank her for her help in giving an air ambulance to rush his brother for treatment in Chennai.
After telling the media that it was a courtesy call, Panneerselvam left for Defence Ministry along with senior party MP V. Maitreyan. While he was made to wait, Maitreyan met the minister. Forty-five minutes later, Sitharaman's office tweeted: "Appointment was given to V. Maitreyan. Deputy Chief Minister of TN O. Panneerselvam has not met Nirmala Sitharaman."
A distraught Deputy Chief Minister left for the airport straight from the Defence Ministry to take a flight back to Chennai with his supporters.
In Chennai, Chief Minister K. Palaniswamy said his deputy had gone to Delhi to meet Sitharaman and thank her for her help in providing air lift facility for his ailing brother.
Speculation was rife that Panneerselvam sought an appointment with BJP President Amit Shah to prove to his detractors in the party that he had better equations with the BJP high command but failed to get an appointment with him.
Significantly, the AIADMK had supported the NDA government in the opposition no-confidence motion in the Lok Sabha.
On reaching Chennai, Panneerselvam told the media: "One should have the heart to accept anything."
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LPG crisis: Karnataka temples gear up to stock wooden logs for ‘Prasada’
Bengaluru (PTI): Temples in Karnataka have started preparations to stock wooden logs fearing that the LPG shortage could hamper the ‘Prasada’ preparation and distributions to the devotees.
The looming LPG crisis in the state in the wake of Iran-Israel conflict has made the temple managements jittery.
According to the Akhila Karnataka Hindu Temple Archakas Federation (AKHTAF) president M S Venkatachalaiah, there is no immediate crisis in the temples.
“We have LPG cylinder stock that can last for a week but if this scarcity continues then there will be a problem in serving Prasada (offerings to the deity) to the devotees,” AKHTAF president said.
He added that many temples in the state have started stocking wooden logs to overcome the LPG crisis.
“Our temples have started preparing to store wooden logs to prepare Prasada though currently we don’t have a problem, at least for a week,” Venkatachalaiah told PTI.
Another priest working in a temple belonging to the state Endowment Department said the temples may have to go back to the traditional way of cooking as done in the ancient time using wood.
The LPG crisis has not affected the mid-day meal programme for government school students yet, though there was a meeting in the Education Department to find ways to tackle if crisis deepens, sources associated with the Mid-day Meal programme said.
Meanwhile, the largest partner of the Mid-day Meal programme in the country is Akshaya Patra.
The NGO said they do not depend much on LPG gas cylinder.
“The LPG crisis has not affected us. Our kitchens are steam-based, and we generate steam through boilers which run on electricity. That’s point number one. Point number two—gas is used only for very minor things, mainly for seasoning. That is the tadka,” an Akshaya Patra executive told PTI.
According to him, the NGO has has a gas reserves for about nearly one month across India, though gas is used in very small quantities every day.
He pointed out that the Mid-day meal programme will not be affected because in one or one-and-a-half weeks, schools will close owing to summer vacation.
Akshaya Patra feeds 23.5 lakh children across more than 24,000 schools across India, in 16 states and three Union Territories, he said.
