B P Samantray
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Bhubaneswar, 1st sept 2016: A two-day maiden International conference on cooking gas will be held in the capital city focusing on need for an LPG enabled household, problems arising due to absence of LPG connection, besides the usage of traditional bio mass cooking fuels and their impact on both health and environment.
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Leading Public Sector oil companies – Bharat Petroleum Corporation, Indian Oil Corporation & Hindustan Petroleum Corporation have come together to organise the nation’s first Conference. The conference will be inaugurated by Jharkhand Governor Smt. Droupadi Murmu on September 1.
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The international conference will see over two dozen speakers and delegates from over a dozen developing countries such as Brazil, Guatemala, Ghana, Senegal, Kenya, Nigeria, Nepal, Bhutan, Indonesia, Cameroon and Sri Lanka. Further, experts and stakeholders from USA and Europe will speak on global best practices and the likelihood of their adoption in the Indian context.
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The conference will also be witnessed by a cross section of dignitaries including Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare Jagat Prakash Nadda, Union Minister of State (Ind. Charge), Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas Dharmendra Pradhan, UN Assistant Secretary General & Deputy Executive Director UN Women Lakshmi Puri, and Chairman, Global LPG Partnership, USA Kimball Chen.
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Senior bureaucrats and heads of state-owned oil companies including Petroleum & Natural Gas Secretary K.D. Tripathy, Telecom Regulatory Authority of India Chairman Ram Sewak Sharma, IOC Chairman B. Ashok, BPCL Chairman & Managing Director S. Varadarajan, and HPCL Chairman & Managing Director M. K. Surana will also speak on the critical subject.
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The conference, which concludes on September 2, will also have a session on the hugely successful “Give it Up’ schemethat has given birth to a silent revolution and encouraged a large part of India’s affluent section to voluntary give up their LPG subsidy in favour of the nation’s poor.
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The meet will also discuss the success of the largest Direct Bank Transfer Scheme PAHAL that now allows direct transfer of subsidy on cooking gas to the beneficiary’s bank account and the crucial role of technology in curbing pilferage of funds.
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An integral part of the conference will be discussion on Ujjwala and how it is becoming a vehicle of women empowerment & overall socio economic growth for the poor in India.
