Assesses critical needs of common people
New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday called for an ‘all-out effort’ to safeguard the Indian citizens from the impact of the war in West Asia and stressed a timely and authentic public information system to ward off any misinformation or rumour-mongering.
At a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS), chaired by him, the Prime Minister assessed the availability of critical needs for the common people and said all efforts must be made to safeguard the citizens from the impact of this conflict.
The meeting was held to review measures taken by ministries and departments in view of the West Asia conflict, and discuss further initiatives in that context, the Prime Minister’s Office said in a statement. This was the second special CCS meeting on this issue. The first was held on March 22.
Modi directed all concerned departments to take all possible measures to ameliorate the problems of citizens and sectors affected by the ongoing global situation, the PMO statement said.
At the meeting, the Prime Minister took stock of fertilisers and steps being taken to ensure their availability in the Kharif and Rabi seasons. He emphasised a smooth flow of authentic information to the public to prevent misinformation and rumour-mongering.
“Chaired a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS). Reviewed the steps being taken by various Ministries and Departments in the wake of the ongoing West Asia conflict and also discussed the next set of initiatives to be taken,” Modi said in a post on X.
Energy, agriculture, fertilisers, aviation, shipping and logistics were some of the sectors discussed in the meeting, he said.
Cabinet Secretary T V Somanathan briefed those present about action taken to ensure the supply of petroleum products, particularly LNG/LPG, and power.
Sources are being diversified for the procurement of LPG with new inflows from different countries. Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) is also being sourced from different countries.
Prices of LPG for domestic consumers have remained the same, and anti-diversion enforcement to curb its hoarding and black marketing is being conducted regularly, the cabinet secretary said.
Union ministers Amit Shah (Home), S Jaishankar (External Affairs), Nirmala Sitharaman (Finance), Piyush Goyal (Commerce), Shivraj Singh Chouhan (Agriculture), J P Nadda (Health) and Ashwini Vaishnaw (Railways) were among those present at the meeting.
Union ministers Manohar Lal Khattar (Power), Pralhad Joshi (Food and Consumer Affairs), Kinjarapu Rammohan Naidu (Civil Aviation) and Hardeep Singh Puri (Petroleum) also attended it.
National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and the Prime Minister’s two principal secretaries, P K Mishra and Shaktikanta Das, were in attendance. The attendees were informed that initiatives have been taken to expand piped natural gas connections.
Measures like exempting the gas-based power plants with a capacity of 7-8 GW from the gas pooling mechanism and increasing rake for positioning more coal at thermal power stations, have also been taken to ensure availability of power during the peak summer months.
Interventions proposed to be taken for emerging challenges in such sectors as agriculture, civil aviation, shipping and logistics were also discussed. Efforts, like maintaining urea production to meet requirements, coordinating with overseas supplies for DAP/NPKS suppliers, are being taken to ensure fertiliser supply, they were told.
State governments are being requested to curb black marketing, hoarding and diversion of fertilisers through daily monitoring, raids and strict action, the statement said.
The retail prices of food commodities have been stable over the past month. Control rooms have been set up for constant monitoring and interaction with States/UTs on prices and enforcement of the Essential Commodities Act. The prices of agricultural products, vegetables and fruits are also being monitored.
Efforts to globally diversify India’s sources for energy, fertilisers and other supply chains, and international initiatives to secure safe passage of vessels through the Strait of Hormuz and diplomatic efforts are being taken by the government.
US could leave Iran soon: Trump
Dubai: Iran kept up its attacks on Israel and Persian Gulf neighbours on Wednesday as airstrikes pounded Tehran.
The US President told Reuters in a telephone interview ahead of his televised address on Wednesday night that the US would be finishing its war in Iran soon, but he wouldn’t give a timeline.
“I can’t tell you exactly … We’re going to be out pretty quickly,” he said.
But once the US leaves, he said, “We’ll come back to do spot hits” on targets, as needed.
Earlier, Trump again made contradictory statements about whether he was ready to wind down the war or escalate it.
Trump struck a belligerent tone Wednesday in a Truth Social post, demanding that Iran stop blocking the Strait of Hormuz.
He said if Iran did not stop blocking the Strait of Hormuz – the waterway vital to global oil supplies – the US would bomb the Islamic Republic “back to the Stone Ages”.
A day earlier, Trump said the US “will not have anything to do with” ensuring the security of ships passing through Hormuz; that was an apparent backtrack from a previous threat to attack Iran’s power grid if it did not open the strait by April 6.
