New Delhi: According to a communication from the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, the Center has increased gas allocation to states and Union Territories to 50 per cent of the pre-crisis level, with an additional 20 per cent supply to be implemented from March 23.In a letter to Chief Secretaries of all states and Union Territories, Petroleum Secretary Dr Neeraj Mittal said the increased allocation is aimed at supporting key sectors, especially those related to food supply and public welfare.“I would like to now inform you that from 23.3.26 till further notification, an additional 20% is being allocated to the State, which will take the total allocation to 50% of the pre-crisis level. The additional allocation of 20% will be given on priority to the following sectors: Restaurants, Dhabas, Hotels, Industrial Canteens, Food Processing/Dairies, Food subsidized canteens/outlets run by State Governments or local bodies, Community Kitchens, 5 FTL for KG migrant labourers, with measures to ensure no deviation…,” read the letter.The ministry said the priority sectors for additional allocation include restaurants, dhabas, hotels, industrial canteens, food processing and dairy units, subsidized canteens run by state governments or local bodies, community kitchens and 5 kg free trade LPG for migrant labourers.“Additional allocation of 20% will be given to the following sectors on priority basis – restaurants, dhabas, hotels, industrial canteens, food processing/dairies, subsidized canteens/outlets run by state governments or local shops for food, community kitchens, 5 kg FTL for migrant laborers along with measures to ensure no diversion.”It also said that all commercial and industrial LPG consumers will have to register with oil marketing companies before being eligible for allocation under the 50 per cent supply.“All commercial/industrial LPG consumers will have to register with the OMC before being eligible to be allotted any commercial LPG out of the overall 50% allocation. The OMC will register such customers and maintain a record of the area in which they serve the end use of LPG and the annual weight requirement of LPG of that customer in the respective database.”Further, such consumers will have to apply for piped natural gas connection with the city gas distribution unit in their respective areas and take steps to be ready for PNG supply to qualify for LPG allocation.“All commercial/industrial LPG consumers will have to apply for PNG with the applicable City Gas Distribution Unit in their city and take all actions that will take them to a state of readiness to receive PNG, before they can be eligible to be allotted any commercial LPG out of the overall 50% allocation.”India’s weekly LPG imports fell to 265,000 tonnes in the week of March 19, from 322,000 tonnes in the week of March 5. Arrivals in West Asia fell to just 89,000 tonnes in the week ended March 19, the lowest share since January 2026, according to S&P Commodities at Sea (CAS).However, the report said alternative regional supplies rose to 176,000 tonnes in the week to March 19, mainly from the US, up from zero the previous week, when West Asia accounted for 100% of imports.Indian oil marketing companies are likely to import 2.2 million tonnes of LPG from the US in 2026, the report said. CAS data said US LPG loading to India is increasing, with volumes now exceeding those from traditional Gulf suppliers. India imports about 60% of its LPG requirement and about 90% of it comes from West Asia.

इस बार अयोध्या में ईद-उल-फितर का त्योहार कड़ी सुरक्षा व्यवस्था के बीच सौहार्दपूर्ण माहौल में मनाया गया. सुबह से ही शहर के विभिन्न ईदगाहों व मस्जिदों में नमाजियों की भीड़ देखी गयी. सिविल लाइन ईदगाह में खास तौर पर बड़ी संख्या में लोग नमाज अदा करने आये. मौसम की हल्की खराबी के बावजूद भी लोगों का उत्साह कम नहीं हुआ और सभी ने मिलकर शांति और भाईचारे के साथ इस पवित्र त्योहार को मनाया.

सिविल लाइन ईदगाह में भारी भीड़ जुटी
सिविल लाइंस स्थित ईदगाह पर सुबह से ही नमाजियों का आना शुरू हो गया था। कुछ ही देर में पूरा मैदान लोगों से भर गया. नमाज में बड़ी संख्या में लोगों ने हिस्सा लेकर एकता और भाईचारे का संदेश दिया. नमाज के बाद लोगों ने एक-दूसरे के गले मिलकर ईद की मुबारकबाद दी, जिससे पूरे इलाके में खुशी का माहौल बन गया.

पुलिस और प्रशासन की सख्त व्यवस्था
पुलिस और प्रशासन ने त्योहार को शांतिपूर्ण ढंग से संपन्न कराने के लिए सुरक्षा के व्यापक इंतजाम किये थे. जगह-जगह पुलिस बल तैनात किये गये थे और हर गतिविधि पर नजर रखी जा रही थी. प्रशासनिक अधिकारी भी मौके पर मौजूद रहे और पूरी व्यवस्था पर नजर रखते रहे, ताकि कहीं कोई अव्यवस्था न हो.

जनप्रतिनिधियों ने दी ईद की मुबारकबाद
इस मौके पर समाजवादी पार्टी के सांसद अवधेश प्रसाद और पवन पांडे भी ईदगाह पहुंचे. उन्होंने नमाजियों से मुलाकात कर उन्हें ईद की मुबारकबाद दी और आपसी भाईचारे को मजबूत करने की अपील की. उनकी मौजूदगी से लोगों में काफी उत्साह था.

इमाम ने शांति की दुआ की
नमाज के बाद शहर इमाम मौलाना समसुल कादरी ने देश-दुनिया में अमन-चैन की दुआ करायी. उन्होंने कहा कि आज के समय में सभी देशों के बीच शांति और संतुलित नीतियों की जरूरत है, ताकि पूरी दुनिया में भाईचारा बना रहे.

नगर निगम ने व्यवस्था संभाली
ईद के मौके पर नगर निगम ने साफ-सफाई और अन्य व्यवस्थाओं का विशेष ध्यान रखा. ईदगाह एवं आसपास के क्षेत्रों में साफ-सफाई, पानी एवं अन्य आवश्यक सुविधाएं उपलब्ध करायी गयीं। अधिकारी लगातार मौके पर मौजूद रहे, जिसके चलते कार्यक्रम सफलतापूर्वक संपन्न हुआ.

Cesar Chávez’s name and likeness were swiftly removed from buildings, streets, parks and schools after allegations emerged that the farmworker rights icon had been accused of sexually assaulting minors and fellow labor leader Dolores Huerta. Within just two days of the New York Times investigation revealing the claims, officials and activists across California moved quickly to erase Chávez’s presence from public spaces. Many people said they were shocked by the allegations and felt immediate action was necessary. The speed of the response was described as unprecedented, especially in a state where Chávez’s legacy is deeply embedded in the fight for farmworkers’ rights, the Los Angeles Times reported.Officials noted that reevaluating place names as the dark side of history becomes more apparent is nothing new, pointing to recent steps to change the names of other controversial figures, including those associated with the Confederacy and Father Junipero Serra, though those efforts were slower and more deliberate. In the hours and days following the allegations against Chávez, many officials said that communities should respond quickly and focus on a movement larger than Chávez, adding that these actions sent a message that such behavior was unacceptable.On Thursday, L.A. Mayor Karen Bass and City Council members announced they would drop the holiday honoring Chávez’s birthday and instead rename it “Farm Workers Day” in honor of farmworkers.“I appreciate that my community has the honesty and strength to accept these new revelations in a very expedient manner, and as we do in Los Angeles,” said Los Angeles City Council member Monica Rodriguez, adding that the effort to rename the holiday was immediate.Two years after Chávez’s death, Araceli Moller de Barrios, who worked in the fields for nearly 30 years after arriving in the United States in 1995, said the news that Chávez had sexually abused young teenagers and Huerta had sent shock waves through the community she worked with daily as they struggled for better working conditions and safety. She said that she was sexually harassed by supervisors and that she had seen other women experience harassment.Although he didn’t work in the fields at the time, he said he agreed that cities and elected officials should recognize the hard work of farm workers who toil in the summer to supply food across the country.“People don’t know the sacrifice, what it’s like to eat in the hot sun, when they didn’t provide shade, when there weren’t bathrooms nearby,” he said. “They’re the ones who deserve everything.”There was talk in some communities of removing the Chávez name and replacing it with more general respect for farm workers and activists, placing the movement above any individual. In an interview with Latino USA, Huerta said that streets named after Chávez should be named after the movement.“Everything should be named after the martyrs of the farm worker movement. Every street should be named after them,” Huerta said.Moller de Barrios said she would like to see Huerta honored through the renaming of streets and parks for his sacrifice in fighting for farm workers’ rights and for bearing his secret, “for all the things that fell upon him”. The allegations are a reminder that they have the power to speak, he said.“We have to use our voices,” she said. “We are no one’s sexual object.”Irene de Barricua, policy and communications director of Lidares Campesinas, a farmworker and women-led organization, told The Times that farmworkers “do not want to be politicized or romanticized, but simply humanized” and provided the dignity of working in safe and fair conditions.Chávez’s name has been continuously honored since his death in 1993, including renaming an old Brooklyn Avenue on L.A.’s Eastside for Chávez. That move faced controversy from residents who argued that the city was erasing their history and burdening them with the cost of replacing the stationery, but over time naming things after Chávez became shorthand to honor Latino civil rights and activism. As the controversial legacies of historical figures became mainstream, their presence faded from the public eye.In 2020, the murder of George Floyd sparked controversy over race across the country, prompting communities and institutions, including in California, to remove public monuments of former slaveholders or prominent Confederate figures. It then considered taking down statues of Father Junipero Serra, described as the architect of California’s Roman Catholic missions, whose work during Spanish colonization marked the beginning of exploitation and destruction for native Californians since their arrival in 1769. The debate raged because many people still held high regard for the Franciscan priest who was canonized in 2015 but had statues removed, including one in downtown Los Angeles south of Olvera Street. The removal of Father Junipero Serra took months and sparked debate within the Latino community about Serra’s place in history.Katherine Goodis, a history professor and director of the public history program at UC Riverside, said removing Chávez from public view was the easy part.“Moving too fast and not having the complex and challenging process needed to actually work toward more than a superficial appearance of revisionist history is a terrible idea,” Goodis said.He argued that the real issue is who gets to declare the hero. Historians and teachers, including Goodis, said that rather than focusing on one individual to represent a historical movement or event, more effort should be made to elevate lesser-known figures in the community who contributed to the broader cause and with whom the community can identify and connect.The Cesar Chávez Foundation and family said Friday it was aware of the city of Los Angeles’ intention to rename the holiday that once celebrated Chávez to honor farm workers, and said it supports the move.“The decision about how to celebrate the movement and its participants rests with the local communities who organize those recognitions, events and commemorations. This has always been the case,” the foundation’s statement said. “Whatever decision they ultimately make we support and respect.”

जब धामी दूसरी बार मुख्यमंत्री बने तो उनके पास करीब 25 विभाग थे. मंत्री चंदन रामदास के निधन के बाद परिवहन समेत सभी विभाग सीएम के अधीन आ गये. प्रेमचंद अग्रवाल के कैबिनेट से इस्तीफे के बाद वित्त, शहरी विकास, आवास, जनगणना समेत उनके सभी विभाग सीएम के पास आ गए. धीरे-धीरे विभागों की संख्या बढ़कर 35 हो गई है।

अपनी पिछली सरकार में धामी ने तत्कालीन मंत्री हरक सिंह रावत को ऊर्जा दी थी, लेकिन वर्तमान में यह विभाग भी उन्हीं के पास है. अब पांच नए मंत्रियों के बीच काम का बंटवारा होने के बाद कहीं न कहीं सीएम धामी का बोझ कम होगा. नए मंत्री इन विभागों में नई सोच के साथ तेजी से काम करेंगे. सरकार का लक्ष्य है कि इन विभागों की योजनाओं का लाभ जनता तक बेहतर तरीके से पहुंचे.

ये भी पढ़ें…उत्तराखंड: हिमस्खलन की चेतावनी, ऊंचाई वाले इलाकों में बर्फबारी, इन पांच जिलों के लिए बताया गया खतरा

नये मंत्रियों के पास एक साल से भी कम समय है

धामी के लिए विभागों का बंटवारा इसलिए भी अहम है क्योंकि अब चुनाव में एक साल से भी कम समय बचा है. ऐसे में विभाग मिलने के बाद नए मंत्रियों के सामने प्रदर्शन के साथ-साथ जनता के बीच अपनी पहुंच मजबूत करने की चुनौती होगी. माना जा रहा है कि इससे एक तरह से सरकार के काम में तेजी आएगी.

Actor Bharat candidly discussed the fickle nature of the film industry at the ‘Kalidas 2’ audio launch, and stressed that the market value of an actor is determined by the performance of his last film. He highlighted the important role of a good director in an actor’s career and highlighted ‘Kalidas’ as his important comeback film.

Actor Bharat’s recent speech at the audio launch of ‘Kalidas 2’ hit with its raw honesty. The actor took center stage to discuss the “stones and roses” of his career, which spans from his meteoric rise in the early 2000s to his recent resurgence. Bharat does not shy away from the brutal reality of the box office, noting that while hit films bring celebration, a flop can lead the industry to claim that an actor has “no market.”

On Directors in Bharat Udyog

Talking about his experiences, Bharat said that he has worked with many new directors throughout his career. According to Cinema Vikatan, he stressed how important it is for an actor to find the right filmmaker. He said, “I have worked with many new directors in my career. What I’ve learned is that if you find a good director, your journey will open up. If you don’t have that, that’s where the problem starts.” He explained the importance of direction in an actor’s career.

Description of success and failure by Bharat.

Bharat further discussed the real situation regarding the success or failure of films. He told that every actor goes through ups and downs. He said, “Every hero in cinema has to face both success and failure. After three hits, people celebrate you. But if you suddenly flop, they say you have no market.” He further said, “Business in this industry depends on your last film.” His statement clearly showed how quickly perceptions can change in the film industry.

Bharat calls ‘Kalidas’ his comeback film

Speaking about ‘Kalidas’, Bharat told how the film played an important role in his career. He said, “At such a time, Kalidas came to me and this became my comeback film. I never left cinema. I kept pushing to be here.” He also opened up about audio launch events, saying, “I see a lot of big audio launches on reels. I do films too, but my films never get such big audio launches. I’m not saying this for sympathy; it’s the truth.His honest words gave a clear picture of his journey and mindset.

About ‘Kalidas 2’

Directed by Sri Senthil, ‘Kalidas 2’ stars Bharath in the lead role Bhavani ShreeSangeeta, Aparathi, and Prakash Raj In leading roles. The crime thriller has a score by Sam CS, complemented by a strong technical team.

Royal Challengers Bangalore (PTI Photo/Shailendra Bhojak)

Ravichandran Ashwin There has been strong early support for Royal Challengers Bangalore’s title defence, insisting the franchise has assembled a squad capable of adding another team. IPL crown in the next few seasons. Having ended their 17-year title drought in 2025, RCB are entering IPL 2026 with the weight of expectations and the pressure that comes with being the defending champions.RCB only retained in 2025 mega auction Virat KohliRajat Patidar, and Yash Dayal before rebuilding their roster. The overhaul included the addition of key players like Phil Salt, Jitesh Sharma, Josh Hazlewood, Tim David and Bhuvneshwar Kumar, giving the team a more balanced composition that led to the franchise’s long-awaited first IPL trophy.

Title winning depth in RCB team

Speaking on his YouTube channel, Ashwin praised the balance and depth of the team, and said it is no longer dependent on just one or two stars. “RCB can add another title in the next two years with this team. It is not easy to win the IPL, but they have the building blocks, they have the replacements as they go,” he said.Ashwin highlighted how RCB have overcome past shortcomings in their combination. “The way they have addressed the shortcomings in the combination. It’s a good package to be in the top two,” he said.For years, RCB has been criticized for relying too much on star power. The post-auction reconstruction has changed that perception. Batting is now more flexible, pace resources are stronger, and each player has a clear role in the team.

Foreign strength and Hazlewood’s absence

Ashwin described RCB’s overseas contingent as one of the best in the tournament. He said, “In Phil Salt, Jacob Bethel, Tim David and Romario Shepherd, this is probably the best four foreign players, and it is one of the best in the tournament.”Despite Josh Hazlewood’s availability being uncertain for the start of IPL 2026 due to his injury, Ashwin believes it could work in RCB’s favour. He said, “Honestly, it is a blessing in disguise for RCB. If they do not have Hazlewood and they are worried about Salt’s form, he can play both Salt and Bethel. And when Hazlewood comes back, you will have a clear picture about his form and based on that you can make changes.”Ashwin also noted the flexibility of the bowling attack. “If the bowling is leaking too much, they can drop Mangesh Yadav and bring in Jacob Duffy or Hazlewood if fit. They have a team that can conquer home conditions and handle the ups and downs with bat and ball,” he said.

Ahwin’s RCB probable XI (considering Hazlewood unavailable):

Virat Kohli – Phil Salt – Jacob Bethel – Rajat Patidar – Jitesh Sharma – Tim David – Romario Shepherd – Krunal Pandya – Bhuvneshwar Kumar – Mangesh Yadav – Yash Dayal – Suyyash Sharma (Impact Sub)With this mix of experience and overseas firepower, Ashwin believes that RCB are well-equipped to defend their title and be at the forefront of IPL 2026.

FBI Director Kash Patel warned Friday that Russian hackers have targeted US officials and other high-value individuals through the encrypted messaging app Signal, with thousands of accounts already compromised.In a post on“The operation targets individuals with high intelligence value, including current and former U.S. government officials, military personnel, political figures, and journalists,” the FBI director said. “Globally, this effort has resulted in unauthorized access to thousands of individual accounts.”