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Free Ration Schemes Extended For 3 More Months In UP: Yogi Aditynathโ€™s First Decision In Second Term

Lucknow: The Yogi Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh has decided to extend its free ration scheme by three more months. The decision was taken today in the first cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, who took oath as the chief minister for the record second time in a grand ceremony in capital Lucknow yesterday.

โ€œFree ration will be given in UP for three months. We have taken this decision keeping in mind the poor. The policies of the central and state government have to be reached to the people,โ€ Brijesh Pathak, the Deputy Chief Minister in the new government, told NDTV following the cabinet meeting in Lok Bhawan, Lucknow.

The new cabinet headed by Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath met on Saturday morning. In this meeting of the Council of Ministers, it was decided that 15 crore beneficiaries in UP would be given free ration for three months. The decision related to taking forward the food scheme was informed by the CM himself during the first press conference of his second term after the meeting of the Council of Ministers.

โ€œThe poor are getting ration since the Corona period,โ€ he said. Actually, free ration and administration were a big issue during the UP elections, while former CM and SP Chief Akhilesh Yadav had promised that if he came to power, he would give free ration to the poor.

He had also claimed that the poor would not get ration if the Yogi government returned to power. In such a situation, the UP government has also tried to give a big message through this decision. Meanwhile, Jitin Prasada has said that they will take the message of PM Narendra Modi to the whole country.

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Fuel Prices Increasing Due To Russia-Ukraine War, Says Union Minister Nitin Gadkari

Aleesha Sam

Mumbai: Union Minister Nitin Gadkari on Friday justified the hikes in fuel prices, thrice in the last four days, saying that the oil prices had gone up within the international market owing to the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine, which was beyond the Indian governmentโ€™s control.

Speaking at a session titled โ€œNew India, New Manifesto-Sab Ka Saath, Sab Ka Vikas,โ€ at the ABP Networkโ€™s inaugural โ€˜รdeas of Indiaโ€™ summit here on Friday, Mr Gadkari, Minister for Road Transport and Highways, also said that, โ€œSometimes, Hindutva is projected in a wrong way.โ€ โ€œIn India, 80 per cent of the oil is imported. Amid the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine, the oil prices have spiralled up within international markets and we can not do anything about that,โ€ he said when asked about the high petrol and diesel prices and how the government was planning to the issue.

The minister said that he has been making a pitch for making India self-reliant since 2004, โ€œwith which, we need to make our own fuel,โ€ while laying stress on the need for developing indigenous energy generation capabilities.

Petrol and diesel prices were hiked by 80 paise a litre each on Friday, the third increase in four days, as oil firms recoup losses from holding rates during the period prior to the recently-concluded assembly elections.

These hikes are the steepest single-day rise since the daily price revision began in June 2017.

With three increases beginning March 22, petrol and diesel prices have gone up by โ‚น 2.40 a litre.

A record 137-day hiatus in rate revision ended on March 22 with an 80 paise per litre increase in rates, and similar hikes have followed in the subsequent days.

The prices had been on a freeze since November 4 ahead of the assembly elections in five states โ€” a period during which the cost of crude oil soared by USD 30 per barrel.

โ€œIndia will soon have a โ‚น 40,000 crore ethanol, methanol and bio-ethanol production economy, reducing our dependence on petroleum imports,โ€ he said.

Leading car and two-wheeler manufacturers in India are working on developing products with flex-fuel engines which will be launched in the coming months, he mentioned.

Highlighting the manufacturing capabilities of India in developing battery and green hydrogen technology, he said, โ€œThe prices of IC (internal combustion) engines and electric vehicles will be on par in India in the next two years. We are working on developing green hydrogen production indigenously in the country by harnessing it from sources like sewage water and biomass.โ€ Emphasising that the BJP does not โ€œacceptโ€ any discrimination based on caste, religion, language or gender, he said, โ€œSometimes, Hindutva is projected in a wrong way. The basic principle of Hindutva is justice for all and appeasement of none.โ€ According to Mr Gadkari, in the BJPโ€™s philosophy, โ€œnationalismโ€ is the primary focus.

โ€œThe second focus lies in good governance and development while the third most important pillar is Antyodya, under which we try to uplift those who belong to socially and economically backward classes,โ€ he said.

Stating that โ€œthe Supreme Court has rightly described Hindutva as a way of lifeโ€, Mr Gadkari said that religion and community are different from each other.

โ€œSo sometimes, Hindutva is interpreted as anti-Christian and anti-Muslim. In the last seven years (since the Modi-led NDA government came into power), none of the Central government schemes have been discriminatory against anyone. There was no communal approach in our schemes,โ€ he said.

In the non-BJP states not declaring the movie โ€˜The Kashmir Filesโ€™ tax-free, unlike some BJP ruled states, he said, โ€œThe Indian Constitution has a Federal structure. Every state government has a right either to make or not to make a movie tax-free. We respect that.โ€ On being asked about the lack of a strong opposition in the country, Mr Gadkari said, โ€œI want to tell the opposition that in politics, no defeat is ultimate.โ€ He quoted former US president Richard Nixon, โ€œA man is not finished when he is defeated but a man is finished when he quits.โ€

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