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By:

Quaid Najmi

4 January 2025 at 3:26:24 pm

Commercial LPG 'evaporates' in Maharashtra

Mumbai : The short supply of commercial LPG cylinders turned ‘grim’ on Wednesday as hundreds of small and medium eateries – on whom the ordinary working Mumbaikars depend on for daily meals – shut down or drastically trimmed menus, on Wednesday.   With an estimated 50,000-plus hotels, restaurants and small food joints, the crunch is beginning to be felt severely, said Federation of Hotel and Restaurant Association of India (FHRAI) vice-president and Hotel and Restaurant Association Western...

Commercial LPG 'evaporates' in Maharashtra

Mumbai : The short supply of commercial LPG cylinders turned ‘grim’ on Wednesday as hundreds of small and medium eateries – on whom the ordinary working Mumbaikars depend on for daily meals – shut down or drastically trimmed menus, on Wednesday.   With an estimated 50,000-plus hotels, restaurants and small food joints, the crunch is beginning to be felt severely, said Federation of Hotel and Restaurant Association of India (FHRAI) vice-president and Hotel and Restaurant Association Western India (HRAWI) spokesperson Pradeep Shetty.   “We are in continuous touch with the concerned authorities, but the situation is very gloomy. There is no response from the Centre or the Ministry of Petroleum on when the situation will ease. We fear that more than 50 pc of all eateries in Mumbai will soon down the shutters. The same will apply to the rest of the state and many other parts of India,” Shetty told  ‘ The Perfect Voice’ .   The shortage of commercial LPG has badly affected multiple sectors, including the hospitality and food industries, mass private or commercial kitchens and even the laundry businesses, industry players said.   At their wits' ends, many restaurateurs resorted to the reliable old iron ‘chulhas’ (stoves) fired by either coal or wood - the prices of which have also shot up and result in pollution - besides delaying the cooking.   Anticipating a larger crisis, even domestic LPG consumers besieged retail dealers in Mumbai, Pune, Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, Ratnagiri, Kolhapur, Akola, Nagpur to book their second cylinder, with snaky queues in many cities. The stark reality of the 12-days old Gulf war with the disturbed supplies has hit the people and industries in the food supply chains that feed crores daily.   “The ordinary folks leave home in the morning after breakfast, then they rely on the others in the food chain for their lunch or dinner. Many street retailers have also shut down temporarily,” said Shetty.   Dry Snacks A quick survey of some suburban ‘khau gullies’ today revealed that the available items were mostly cold sandwiches, fruit or vegetable salads, cold desserts or ice-creams, cold beverages and packed snacks. Few offered the regular ‘piping hot’ foods that need elaborate cooking, or charging higher than normal menu rates, and even the app-based food delivery system was impacted.   Many people were seen gloomily munching on colorful packets of dry snacks like chips, chivda, sev, gathiya, samosas, etc. for lunch, the usually cheerful ‘chai ki dukaans’ suddenly disappeared from their corners, though soft drinks and tetrapaks were available.   Delay, Scarcity  Maharashtra LPG Dealers Association President Deepak Singh yesterday conceded to “some delays due to supply shortages” of commercial cylinders, but assured that there is no scarcity of domestic cylinders.   “We are adhering to the Centre’s guidelines for a 25 days booking period between 2 cylinders (domestic). The issue is with commercial cylinders but even those are available though less in numbers,” said Singh, adding that guidelines to prioritise educational institutions, hospitals, and defence, are being followed, but others are also getting their supplies.   Despite the assurances, Shetty said that the current status is extremely serious since the past week and the intermittent disruptions have escalated into a near-total halt in supplies in many regions since Monday.   Adding to the dismal picture is the likelihood of local hoteliers associations in different cities like Pune, Palghar, Nagpur, Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, and more resorting to tough measures from Thursday, including temporary shutdown of their outlets, which have run out of gas stocks.

Dalit actress accuses Domino India honcho of rape, fraud

Updated: Feb 27, 2025

Domino India

Thane/Mumbai: After a Bombay High Court order, the Thane Police have initiated a probe into sensational allegations of rape by a Mumbai actress against business honcho, Shyam Sundar Bhartia, head of the Jubilant Bhartia Group that runs the India operations of the global giant, Dominos Pizza.


When contacted by The Perfect Voice, a top Thane Police officer confirmed the FIR (Feb. 22) lodged with Kapurbawadi Police Station while the victim’s lawyer Sofiya Shaikh also corroborated the ongoing developments in the high-profile case.


The FIR was lodged after the Bombay High Court (Feb. 18) Justice Revati Mohite-Dere and Justice Neela Gokhale’s directive to the Thane Police, while disposing of the Thane-based Dalit victim’s Feb. 10 plea, levelling accusations of multiple rape incidents in Singapore, New Delhi and Mumbai, besides financial frauds.


The 34-year-old actress contended that she sought judicial intervention as the Thane Police dilly-dallied on her complaint of Nov. 11, 2024 against Bhartia, 73, for three months.


Irked by the delays, the court sought Thane Police’s Assistant Commissioner of Police Rajkumar Dongre via video-conference, where he assured that the FIR would be registered after recording the victim’s statement – though no arrests have been so far.


Besides Bhartia - ranked 80th on Fortune India’s list of richies last year – the FIR has named Bollywood networker Kamaljeet Singh, his wife Pooja Kamaljeet Singh and their daughter Mallika.


Bhartia is a prominent figure in India Inc., with multiple ventures, plus business and family connections with top media and business houses.


As per the plea and FIR, the victim started acting in films in 2022 and through producer Hashim Khan, came in contact with Pooja Kamaljeet Singh in 2023.


Through the Singh couple, she first met Bhartia on May 3, 2023 at Hotel Taj in Santacruz, when he promised to make her a ‘big star’, and he called her and Pooja Singh for a meeting in Singapore (May 18-24, 2023).


She said that Bhartia came to pick them up at the airport on morning of May 19, 2023, took them to his home, and that evening had a party where Pooja Singh forced her to have drinks, or their host would be upset.


Apparently intoxicated by the drinks and feeling fuzzy, the victim said that Bhartia thrust himself and raped her, abused her, while Pooja Singh shot the acts on her mobile which she later threatened to make viral; while the brutal sexual assaults continued for the next three days.


On return to Mumbai, Pooja Singh said in order to become a big star such compromises have to be made, continued blackmailing her and summoned her to ITC Maratha Hotel near the airport on June 26.


There, Bhartia raped the victim, and again called her to Pooja Singh’s Versova flat, later Taj Land’s End in Bandra, Hotel Novotel in Andheri and the sexual assaults continued at different places including New Delhi, over the next few months.


Around October 2023, Pooja Singh floated a film production company, Flying Colours Pvt. Ltd., with Kamaljeet and Mallika - plus the victim - as the Directors, in which Bhartia committed a funding of Rs. 50 crore.


Subsequently, in March 2024, Bhartia invested just Rs 9.44 crore, which Pooja Singh ‘transferred’ into her personal account without the knowledge of the victim.


As per the plea, Pooja Singh also colluded with a CA, Chandra Prakash to fraudulently misuse her digital signature and chucked her off from the post of the company’s Director.


At one point, the victim underwent a surgery for which the company paid Rs 20 lakhs, and under orders of Pooja Singh, half the amount was transferred to her account.


When the distraught victim approached the police on November 11, 2024, Kamaljeet Singh was furious and called her up at home on January 11, 2025 to hurl a string of abuses, threats and ultimatum to make the video clips viral.

Kamaljeet Singh made crass comments on her physique, called her a “neech, SC chamar” (lowly person belonging to a Scheduled Caste) and even threatened to kill her, as per the victim’s complaint.


In their order, the judges said that “the police shall investigate the case on its own merits in accordance with the law” and also made it clear that they had gone into the merits of the victim’s complaint.’


Bhartia denies sexual assault allegations

Jubilant Bhartia Group Chairman Shyam S Bhartia has denied allegations of sexual assault, saying he will cooperate with the investigating agency, a regulatory filing said on Tuesday.


Terming the allegations in the FIR as "baseless, false and disparaging", Jubilant FoodWorks Ltd (JFL) filing, quoting Bhartia, said it was made with a "clear malafide intent against him".


According to a section of the media, rape and money fraud allegations were levelled by a Bollywood actress, whose name has not been revealed, against Bhartia and his one associate.


"... the Company has received a statement from Mr Shyam S Bhartia, Chairman, Jubilant Bhartia Group, in his personal capacity, where he denies all the allegations as they are baseless, false and disparaging, and made with clear malafide intent against him," said JFL, which operates fast-food chains - Domino's Pizza and Dunkin' Donuts.


It further said the order of the Bombay High Court specifically states that the police shall investigate the case on its own merits.


Moreover, the court has also made it clear in the order that they have not dwelled on the merits of the complaint in any manner whatsoever.


"As a respectable citizen, Shyam S Bhartia would fully cooperate with the investigation agency as and when called upon to do so," it said, adding that "as the investigation in this matter is ongoing, no additional comments can be made at this stage".


Moreover, Bhartia has further requested that the privacy of the family be respected, the statement added.


JFL also confirmed that the reports have no material impact on the company or its operations.

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