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Anurag Thakur takes charges as I&B Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw as Minister of Railways

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NEW DELHI: Anurag Thakur and Ashwini Vaishnaw on Thursday took charge as the Minister of Information and Broadcasting and Minister of Railways respectively.

Thakur said he would like to reach out to people through the ministry.

“I will make every possible effort to carry out the responsibility bestowed upon me by the prime minister,” he said.

A former IAS officer of the 1994-batch, Ashwini Vaishnaw has handled important responsibilities for over 15 years and was particularly known for his contribution to the public-private partnership (PPP) framework in infrastructure, something that will help him in the rail sector.

He has also held leadership roles across major global companies such as General Electric and Siemens.

Vaishnaw has done his MBA from the Wharton School, Pennsylvania University, and M.Tech from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kanpur.

He will also hold two other important portfolios of Communications and Electronics and Information Technology.

“Excellent work has been done in the Railways over the past 67 years. I am here to take the vision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi forward,” Vaishnaw said while taking the charge.

The newly appointed minister later took to Twitter to express his gratitude to the PM.

“Took charge as Cabinet Minister of Railways today. Once again from the core of my heart, I extend my gratitude to Hon’ble PM @narendramodi ji for entrusting me this responsibility,” he said.

COVID-19 India Update:India add new 45,892 new COVID-19 cases, 817 deaths

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New Delhi: India recorded a single-day rise of 45,892 new COVID-19 cases, taking its infection tally to 3,07,09,557, while the count of active cases increased slightly to 4,60,704 after being on a consistent downward trend for nearly 55 days, according to the Union Health Ministry on Thursday.

The death toll has climbed to 4,05,028 with 817 new fatalities being reported.

The number of active cases comprises 1.50 per cent of the total infections, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate stands at 97.18 per cent, data updated by the ministry at 8 am showed.

An increase of 784 cases has been recorded in the active COVID-19 caseload in a span of 24 hours, it showed.

Also, 18,93,800 COVID-19 tests were conducted in the country on Wednesday, taking the total number of such examinations so far to 42,52,25,897, while the daily positivity rate was recorded at 2.42 per cent. It has been less than three per cent for 17 consecutive days, the ministry said.

The weekly positivity rate has declined to 2.37 per cent, according to the health ministry.

The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 2,98,43,825, while the case fatality rate stands at 1.32 per cent, the data stated.

The total number of vaccine doses administered so far has reached 36.48 crore under the nationwide vaccination drive.

India’s COVID-19 tally had crossed the 20-lakh mark on August 7 last year, 30 lakh on August 23, 40 lakh on September 5, 50 lakh on September 16, 60 lakh on September 28, 70 lakh on October 11, 80 lakh on October 29, 90 lakh on November 20 and one crore on December 19.

India crossed the grim milestone of two crore infections on May 4 and three crore on June 23.

The 817 new fatalities include 326 from Maharashtra, 148 from Kerala and 75 from Karnataka.

A total of 4,05,028 deaths have been reported so far in the country. This includes 1,23,857 from Maharashtra, 35,601 from Karnataka, 33,196 from Tamil Nadu, 25,005 from Delhi, 22,666 from Uttar Pradesh, 17,850 from West Bengal and 16,141 from Punjab.

The Health Ministry stressed that more than 70 per cent of the deaths occurred due to comorbidities.

“Our figures are being reconciled with the Indian Council of Medical Research,” the ministry said on its website, adding that state-wise distribution of figures is subject to further verification and reconciliation.

36 US states file lawsuit against Google

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Washington: As many as 36 US states and Washington DC have filed a lawsuit against Google, alleging that the search engine giant’s control over its Android app store violates antitrust laws.

The lawsuit alleges that through a series of exclusionary contracts and other anticompetitive conduct in the Google Play Store, Google has deprived Android device users of robust competition that could lead to greater choice and innovation, as well as significantly lower prices for mobile apps.

New York Attorney General James and the coalition co-led by the attorneys general of Utah, North Carolina, and Tennessee also accuse Google of requiring app developers selling in-app digital content through apps purchased via Google’s Play Store to use Google Billing as a middleman, forcing app consumers to pay Google’s commission up to 30 per cent indefinitely.

Google has served as the gatekeeper of the internet for many years, but, more recently, it has also become the gatekeeper of our digital devices resulting in all of us paying more for the software we use every day, James alleged.

Once again, we are seeing Google use its dominance to illegally quash competition and profit to the tune of billions. Through its illegal conduct, the company has ensured that hundreds of millions of Android users turn to Google, and only Google, for the millions of applications they may choose to download to their phones and tablets, she said.

Worse yet, Google is squeezing the lifeblood out of millions of small businesses that are only seeking to compete. We are filing this lawsuit to end Google’s illegal monopoly power and finally give voice to millions of consumers and business owners, James said.

The lawsuit alleges that Google imposes technical barriers that strongly discourage or completely prevent third-party app developers from distributing apps outside the Google Play Store.

Specifically, Google builds into Android a series of misleading security warnings and other barriers that discourage users from downloading apps from any source outside Google’s Play Store, effectively foreclosing app developers and app stores from direct distribution to consumers, it alleges.

Google has not allowed Android to serve as an open source for many years, effectively cutting off potential competition.

Google forces OEMs that wish to design their devices to use Android to enter into agreements called Android Compatibility Commitments or ACCs. Under these take it or leave it agreements, OEMs must promise not to create or implement any variants or versions of Android that deviate from the Google-certified version of Android, the lawsuit alleges.

The lawsuit alleges that Google buys off its potential competition in the market for app distribution.

Google forces app developers and app users alike to use Google’s payment processing service Google Play Billing to process any payments for purchases of digital content made in apps obtained through the Google Play Store, it said.

Thus, Google is unlawfully tying the use of Google’s payment processor which is a separate service within a separate market for payment processing within apps to distribution through the Google Play Store. By forcing this tie, Google is able to extract an exorbitant processing fee for each transaction, as high as 30 per cent, and many times higher than payment processing fees charged in competitive markets, it alleged.

Explosion on at major global port in Dubai causes huge fire

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Explosion on at major global port in Dubai causes huge fire

Dubai An explosion inside a container on a ship docked at the Dubai port caused a massive fire on the vessel and shook the gleaming commercial hub of the UAE, authorities said on Thursday.

The blast occurred in the container aboard the vessel, preparing to dock away from the Jebel Ali Port’s main shipping line at around midnight on Wednesday.

There were no reported deaths or injuries and the fire is under control, authorities said.

There were 14 sailors aboard the ship, who were evacuated safely.

“A fire has been reported to have broken out in a container within a ship anchored in Jebel Ali Port. A Dubai Civil Defence team is working to put out the blaze,” Dubai Media Office said in a tweet on their official account.

Director-General of Dubai Civil Defence Major General Rashid Thani Al Matrooshi said the Jebel Ali Port fire has been brought fully under control and the cooling process is underway.

Teams took 40 minutes to control the blaze.

The blaze sent up giant orange flames on the vessel at the Jebel Ali Port, the ninth-largest port in the world and the biggest in the region.

The blast was heard across parts of Dubai, with residents hearing a loud explosion, according to witnesses. Panicked residents filmed from their high-rises as a fiery ball illuminated the night sky.

Residents from Marina, JVC, and Emirates Hills said that they heard a loud explosion that shook their doors and windows.

The Dubai Media Office posted a video of firefighters putting out the blaze at the port.

Lt General Abdullah Khalifa Al Marri, Commander-In-Chief at Dubai Police went to the fire site and said the fire occurred on a cargo ship at dockside 14, Gulf News reported.

The ship was carrying 130 containers. Three containers contained flammable materials. There were no explosives inside it or radioactive materials Lt Gen Al Marri said.

An investigation is ongoing to determine the reason behind the fire.

Jebel Ali Port Authorities said they took all necessary measures to ensure the normal movement of ships in the port.

Operated by the Dubai-based DP World, the port can berth some of the world’s largest ships.

The port is not only a critical global cargo hub but a lifeline for Dubai and surrounding emirates.

DP World describes Jebel Ali Port as a gateway hub and a vital link in the global trade network that connects eastern and western markets. The company did not immediately issue any public statement on the blast.

Port Jebel Ali was constructed in the late 1970s to supplement the facilities at Port Rashid.

Dubai is the region’s trade, business and tourism hub. The city is also one of the safest cities in the world.

Four MPs from Karnataka find place in Union Cabinet

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Four MPs from Karnataka find place in Union Cabinet

Bengaluru: Tech entrepreneur Rajeev Chandrasekhar, Dalit leader A Narayanaswamy and Shobha Karandlaje,

Bidar MP Bhagwanth Khuba, all from Karnataka, Wednesday found place in the Union ministry.

RAJEEV CHANDRASEKHAR: Rajeev Chandrasekhar, a tech entrepreneur and a BJP Rajya Sabha member from Karnataka, has worked on areas such as urban governance and armed forces issues.

Serving his third term in the Upper House, the 57-year-old son of a former Air Force officer, entered politics in 2006. In the previous two terms, he was an independent.

Chandrasekhar founded BPL Mobile in 1994. He, however, exited the cellular sector in 2005, with BPL valuing at USD 1.1 billion at the time. In 2005, he founded Jupiter Capital, an investment and financial services firm.

Jupiter Capital, which was established with an initial investment of USD100 million, today has investments and managed assets of over USD one billion ranging from technology to transportation, logistical services to hospitality and entertainment, sources close to him said.

Chandrasekhar served as the youngest President of industry chamber FICCI in 2008-09.

Born on May 31, 1964, he holds Bachelors in electrical engineering, and Masters in Computer Science from Illinois Institute of Chicago. On completing Masters in 1986, he worked at Intel as Senior Design Engineer and a CPU architect on the “80486 and Pentium Microprocessors” till 1991.

Also a philanthropist, his “Flags of Honour Foundation” looks after the families of Armed Forces martyrs, and the “Namma Bengaluru Foundation” partners with city residents and works at grass-roots to highlight and improve the civic and administrative conditions of Bengaluru, according to sources.

Chandrasekhar had also approached the courts to intervene on behalf of citizens in the case of Sec 66A, Aadhaar privacy issues and voting rights for Armed Forces, they said.

A NARAYANASWAMY: A Narayanaswamy, a first time MP who was denied entry into a village in his constituency nearly two years ago as he was a Dalit, on Wednesday found a berth in the Union cabinet.

A Lok Sabha member from Chitradurga (SC) constituency, he belongs to the Madiga sect of Dalit community, and has served as MLA from Anekal segment for four times- 1998, 1999, 2004 and 2008.

Narayanaswamy had also served as the Chief Whip of the BJP Legislative Party in the Karnataka assembly in 1998 -1999, and was minister in the BJP government from 2010 to 2013.

As an MP, he is currently serving as a Member of the Committee on Welfare of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, Standing Committee on Water Resources, and Consultative Committee, Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment.

Narayanaswamy is considered close to BJP National General Secretary (Organisation) B L Santosh, and his induction is seen in some political quarters as part of the party’s strategy to further consolidate its “Dalit Left vote base”.

Born on 16 May, 1957 in Anekal, he is a BA graduate from Government Arts College, Bengaluru.

In a shocking incident of untouchability, he was prevented from entering Pemmanahalli village, a Gollarahatti (settlement of Golla/Yadavs), in Tumakuru district, which falls under his Lok Sabha constituency, in September 17, 2019 when he had gone there for some development-related work.

SHOBHA KARANDLAJE: An outspoken politician who does not mince words on issues she strongly feels about, Shobha Karandlaje, once considered as a close confidant of state BJP strongman and Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa, was a surprise pick in the Union cabinet expansion Wednesday.

A two-time Lok Sabha member from Udupi-Chikmagalur, she is also the state BJP vice president. With an RSS background, she has grown through the ranks.

Incidentally, Karandlaje is from the politically-influential Vokkaliga community in southern Karnataka, to which Sadananda Gowda who resigned from the union cabinet today, also belongs to.

As someone who had wielded a considerable amount of influence during the previous BJP rule under Yediyurappa, 54-year-old Karandlaje has by and large remained in her constituency in recent times, and there was an element of surprise in her induction.

Born on October 23, 1966 at Puttur in Dakshina Kannada district, her educational qualification includes M.A. (Sociology) and Master of Social Work. She is unmarried.

Karandlaje was MLC from 2004 – 2008, MLA from 2008 – 2013, and served as Minister for Rural Development & Panchayati Raj, Power, and Food and Civil Supplies during the previous BJP government.

Under attack from dissident MLAs then, led by the mining baron Reddy brothers, for her being accorded “prominence” by chief minister Yediyurappa and her “interfering” with the functioning of other ministries, Karandlaje was forced to resign as minister in November 2009, as the dissidence threatened the stability of the then BJP government.

She was, however, inducted back into the cabinet by Yediyurappa in September, 2010.

Karandlaje followed her mentor when Yediyurappa quit the BJP and floated the KJP in 2012 and was appointed its working president. She had unsuccessfully contested the 2013 assembly election from Rajajinagar.

However, she along with Yediyurappa returned to BJP fold, and contested the 2014 parliamentary election from Udupi-Chikmagalur constituency as the party’s candidate and won.

Interestingly, unlike last time around, Karandlaje is not seen among the inner circles of Yediyurappa in the present government, amid reports about soured relationship between the two, and the chief minister’s younger son B Y Vijayendra’s growing influence.

She was quite vocal on issues such as religious extremism, ‘love jihad’, and alleged killing of Hindu activists.

Bidar MP Bhagwanth Khuba: Bhagwanth Khuba, a two time Lok Sabha member, hails from the politically dominant Lingayat community which the BJP considers as its key vote base in north Karnataka.

His induction into the Union ministry on Wednesday is being seen as a move to fill up Lingayat representation in the cabinet that had fallen vacant following the death of Suresh Angadi, due to COVID-19 in September last year, who was serving as Minister of State for Railways.

An engineering graduate, Khuba (54), was involved in a family business and had never fought an election before he entered the Lok Sabha in 2014, by defeating political giant from the region, Congress veteran and former Chief Minister late N Dharam Singh in Bidar segment.

He again won the seat in 2019, by defeating another Congress heavyweight in the region Eshwar B Khandre. The fight against the two Lingayat leaders in the community’s bastion was keenly watched.

Born on June 1, 1967 at Aurad in Bidar, he obtained B.E. (Mech.) from Sree Siddaganga Institute of Technology, Tumakuru.

He is currently a member of the Standing Committee on Agriculture, and Consultative Committee, Ministry of Railways.

BJP MP Saumitra Khan quits as BJYM’s Bengal chief, slams Adhikari for ‘misleading central leaders’

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BJP MP Saumitra Khan quits as BJYM's Bengal chief, slams Adhikari for 'misleading central leaders'

Kolkata: The growing discord in the BJP’s Bengal unit came to the fore on Wednesday as Lok Sabha MP Saumitra Khan stepped down from the post of the party’s state youth wing chief and took to Facebook to launch a blistering attack on Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari, claiming that he tries to take credit for all saffron camp achievements.

Khan did not cite any reason but his announcement on Facebook coincided with the report that some BJP MPs from Bengal might be made union ministers of state.

The Bishnupur MP, however, asserted that he wouldn’t quit the saffron party.

“From today, due to personal reasons, I am relieving myself of the responsibility of Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM) state unit. I was in BJP, I am in BJP, and will continue to be a part of it,” Khan, who had crossed over to the saffron camp in 2018 from the TMC, said on Facebook.

Iterating that he has full faith in Narendra Modi and the central leadership, he, however, trained guns on Adhikari and said that “one particular leader was making frequent trips to Delhi and claiming credit for every success of the party”.

“This leader of opposition in the state should look in the mirror. He is misleading the leaders of New Delhi. He considers himself the tallest leader of the party in Bengal,” Khan said in a video that he posted on the networking site.

He claimed leaders of just one or two districts are running the entire organisation in the state.

In a dig at state BJP president Dilip Ghosh, the disgruntled leader further said, “He understands only half of what happens. He cannot comprehend all of it.”

Sharing responsibility for the party’s defeat in assembly polls, Khan said, “It is time for me to step down. I have never hankered for any post.”

Alleging that “many politicians with dubious credentials had been inducted into the BJP before assembly polls”, Khan said, “Some of them were nominated and they failed to win the elections.”

He further said that “it appears only some people made sacrifices for the party and the rest had no contribution”.

Adhikari, on his part, refused to respond to Khan’s allegations.

“I will not comment. I will not take it seriously. He is my younger brother. I will go and have lunch at his residence in Delhi. I had campaigned for Saumitra Khan in Kotulpur in 2011. I wish him every success in his career,” he maintained.

The leader of opposition also said that he doesn’t attach much importance to Facebook videos.

Asked if any disciplinary action would be taken against Khan, he said, “I shouldn’t talk on organisational matters. It will be decided by state president Dilip Ghosh.”

Reacting to Khan’s comments, TMC state general secretary Kunal Ghosh said the rivalry between the old and the new leaders of the saffron camp is now out in the open.

“Suvendu had enjoyed power in TMC before joining the BJP. Now he is cornering other leaders in the saffron party.

Old and loyal members are bound to get upset,” Ghosh said.

Khan’s estranged wife and TMC leader Sujata Mondal said he had warned the MP against joining the BJP long ago.

“He should understand that a party like the BJP will back elements like Adhikari. I had realised this long back,” she added.

Seven more women join Modi’s council of ministers

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New Delhi: Seven more women members, including Meenakashi Lekhi, Shobha Karandlaje and Anupriya Singh Patel, joined the council of ministers of Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday, taking the overall female strength to 11 which is one of the highest.

As many as 15 new cabinet ministers and 28 ministers of state were sworn in, taking the strength of the council of ministers to 78.

The seven women who took oath as ministers of state were Shobha Karandlaje, Darshana Vikram Jardosh, Lekhi, Annpurna Devi, Pratima Bhoumik, Dr Bharati Pravin Pawar and Apna Dal’s Anupriya Singh Patel.

Among them, three are first-time MPs while Patel is making a comeback to the council of ministers as she was the Union Minister of State for Health under Prime Minister Modi earlier.

Nirmala Sitharaman, Smriti Irani (both Cabinet ministers), Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti and Renuka Singh Saruta are already part of the Union council of ministers.

Debashree Chaudhuri, Minister of State for Women and Child Development, resigned this morning.

There were nine women in the first Modi government from 2014-19, including six in the cabinet.

Karandlaje, 54, is a Lok Sabha member from Udupi Chikmagalur in Karnataka and is serving her second term in the Lower House.

She has previously served as a cabinet minister in the Karnataka government, holding a range of portfolios like Food and Civil Supplies, Power, Rural Development and Panchayati Raj System.



Jardosh, 60, is a Lok Sabha member from Surat in Gujarat. She is serving her third term as an MP.

She has also been a Corporator of Surat Municipal Corporation and a member of the Gujarat Social Welfare Board.

Lekhi, 54, is a Lok Sabha member from New Delhi and is serving her second term as an MP. She is a Supreme Court lawyer and social worker.

Devi, 51, is a first-time Lok Sabha MP from Kodarma in Jharkhand. She has also been a four-time MLA from Jharkhand and Bihar and has served as a cabinet minister in the Jharkhand government.

She also served as Minister of State for Mines and Geology in the Bihar government at the young age of 30.

Bhoumik, 52, is a first-time Lok Sabha MP for Tripura West in Tripura. She comes from a humble background, and practices farming.

Pawar, 42, is also a first-time Lok Sabha member for Dindori in Maharashtra. She served as a member of Nashik Zila Parishad and worked for eradicating malnutrition and providing clean drinking water. Before joining politics, she was a medical practitioner.

Patel, 40, is a two-time Lok Sabha member from Mirzapur in Uttar Pradesh.

As many as 43 ministers took oath in a major cabinet expansion-cum-reshuffle exercise on Wednesday evening. These included, BJP’s Sarbananda Sonowal, Jyotiraditya Scindia, Ajay Bhatt, Bhupender Yadav, Shantanu Thakur and Kapil Patil, and LJP’s Pashupati Paras.

Modi Cabinet reshuffle: Jyotiraditya Scindia takes oath as Cabinet minister

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New Delhi: Effecting a big reset, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday brought in Sarbananda Sonowal, Narayan Rane and Jyotiraditya Scindia as Cabinet ministers while dropping as many as 12 ministers including Health Minister Harsh Vardhan, IT and Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad and I&B Minister Prakash Javadekar.

As many as 15 Cabinet ministers, including some new faces, were sworn-in at the swearing in ceremony held in the Darbar Hall of the Rashtrapati Bhawan. While 13 members took oath in Hindi, two took in English.

Rane, 69, a Rajya Sabha MP and a former Maharashtra chief minister, was the first to take oath.

After Rane, Sonowal, former Assam chief minister, took oath in English. The 58-year-old leader has earlier served as Union Minister of State (Independent charge) for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship; and Sports and Youth Affairs under Prime Minister Modi.

Congress-turned-BJP leader Jyotiraditya Scindia, a Rajya Sabha MP from Madhya Pradesh, also took oath as a Cabinet minister. The 50-year-old leader has been Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Power and Union Minister of State for Commerce & Communications in the earlier UPA government.

Lok Sabha MP from Tikamgarh in Madhya Pradesh Virendra Kumar, Rajya Sabha MP from Odisha Ashwini Vaishnaw, Rajya Sabha MP from Bihar and JD(U) leader R C P Singh, Lok Sabha MP from Bihar’s Hajipur Pashupati Kumar Paras, were also sworn-in as Cabinet ministers.

Kiren Rijiju, R K Singh, Hardeep Singh Puri, Mansukh Mandaviya, Parshottam Rupala, G Kishan Reddy and Anurag Thakur were elevated to the Cabinet level.

Bhupendra Yadav, who has been serving in the BJP organisation as a general secretary, was also sworn-in as a Cabinet minister.

Earlier, four senior Union ministers — Prasad, Javadekar, Vardhan, Pokhriyal — were among 12 ministers who resigned on Wednesday ahead of the cabinet reshuffle.

Besides these four, Chemicals and Fertilisers Minister D V Sadananda Gowda, Labour Minister Santosh Gangwar, Minister of State for Education Sanjay Dhotre, Minister of State for Women and Child Development Debasree Chaudhuri, Minister of State for Jal Shakti Rattan Lal Kataria and Minister of State for Environment Babul Supriyo also resigned.

Prasad and Javadekar had also been the face of Cabinet briefings, announcing key Cabinet decisions on several occasions in the past few years.

This is the first reshuffle in the Council of Ministers by Prime Minister Modi since he assumed charge for a second term in May 2019.

With this reset, Modi has brought in young faces and has also given representation to various social groups and regions in the reshuffle.

Ravi Shankar Prasad, Javadekar, Harsh Vardhan, Ramesh Pokhriyal and 8 other ministers quit

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New Delhi: Four senior Union ministers, Ravi Shankar Prasad, Prakash Javadekar, Harsh Vardhan, Ramesh Pokhriyal “Nishank”, were among 12 ministers who resigned on Wednesday ahead of the cabinet reshuffle in the evening.

Besides these four, Chemicals and Fertilisers Minister D V Sadananda Gowda, Labour Minister Santosh Gangwar, Minister of State for Education Sanjay Dhotre, Minister of State for Women and Child Development Debasree Chaudhuri, Minister of State for Jal Shakti Rattan Lal Kataria and Minister of State for Environment Babul Supriyo also resigned.

Social Justice and Empowerment Minister Thaawarchand Gehlot had resigned after he was made Governor of Karnataka on Tuesday.

President Ram Nath Kovind has accepted the resignations of 12 Union ministers, a Rashtrapati Bhavan Spokesperson said.

In all, six Cabinet Ministers, one Minister of State (Independent Charge) and five Ministers of State have resigned.

Law and IT minister Prasad’s resignation comes amid a row between micro-blogging platform Twitter and the government over various issues, including compliance with the new IT rules.

The resignations come after Prasad and I&B minister Javadekar announced sweeping regulations for social media firms like Facebook and Twitter, OTT players as well as digital media.

Health Minister Harsh Vardhan, whose handling of the COVID-19 crisis had drawn flak from the opposition parties, resigned from the Union Council of Ministers, official sources said.

Vardhan, a doctor himself, had been in charge of the health ministry as well as the science and technology ministry as the COVID pandemic broke and then India worked to develop vaccines.

However, his various comments in the middle of the crisis were slammed by many as insensitive and ignorant of the ground reality, even as he strongly defended the government’s handling of the situation.

Vardhan had also hit out at the Opposition for its criticism of the government on the handling of the pandemic, often accusing former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi of politicising the pandemic crisis.

He had also replied to former prime minister Manmohan Singh’s letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and accused the Congress of spreading vaccine hesitancy.

Pokhriyal, who tested positive for COVID-19 on April 21, was admitted to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) here in June again after developing post-COVID complications.

He has resigned from his post citing health reasons, sources said. The former Uttarakhand chief minister had taken charge as the HRD Minister in May 2019.

Dhotre, who represents the Akola Lok Sabha constituency in Maharashtra, was made the MoS for Education, Communications and Electronics and Information Technology in May 2019.

Chaudhuri submitted her resignation in the morning, one of her close aides said. She was elected to the Lok Sabha from West Bengal’s Raiganj constituency in the 2019 general elections.

Asked whether he has resigned from the post of Labour Minister, Gangwar answered in the affirmative. “Yes, I have resigned.

His resignation comes weeks after Gangwar had complained to Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath about the situation in his Bareilly constituency, saying officials don’t take calls and government health centres send back patients for ”referrals” from the district hospital.

This will be the first reshuffle in the Council of Ministers by Prime Minister Narendra Modi since he assumed charge for a second term in May 2019.

Modi is expected to bring in young faces and give representation to various social groups and regions in the reshuffle, sources said after ministerial probables met the Prime Minister at his residence.

Those who met Modi included the BJP’s Narayan Rane, Sarbananda Sonowal, Jyotiraditya Scindia, Ajay Bhatt, Bhupender Yadav, Shobha Karandlaje, Sunita Duggal, Meenakshi Lekhi, Bharati Pawar, Shantanu Thakur and Kapil Patil, the JD-U’s R C P Singh, the LJP’s Pashupati Paras and the Apna Dal’s Anupriya Patel.

Some ministers of state, including G Kishan Reddy, Parshottam Rupala and Anurag Thakur, were also there, and they may be elevated, the sources said.

How Yousuf Khan became Dilip Kumar

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New Delhi: Legend, thespian, tragedy king, god of acting Dilip Kumar was given several monikers in his illustrious career but how he acquired his screen name is a story unto itself.

He was born Mohammed Yousuf Khan but Devika Rani, who was head of the Bombay Talkies where he joined as an actor, wasn’t too happy with the name. Dilip Kumar, she thought, would be in tune with his “romantic image” which he was bound to acquire and would also have a “secular appeal”.

Dilip Kumar Death: नहीं रहे दिलीप कुमार, ट्रेजडी किंग का सफर हुआ खत्म - Veteran actor dilip kumar died at the age of dilip kumar death news - Latest News & Updates

Kumar, who died in a Mumbai hospital on Wednesday at the age of 98, narrates in detail how he went from being Yousuf Khan to Dilip Kumar in his autobiography “The Substance and the Shadow”.

“One morning, as I entered the studio I was given the message that Devika Rani wanted to see me in her office. I wondered what it could be. I was certain it couldn’t be for expressing any displeasure because she was always courteous and pleasant whenever she met me and enquired how I was doing. So what could it be?” Kumar writes.

When he walked into Rani’s office, she was seated at her desk, smiled warmly and asked him to sit down.

Devika Rani began the conversation with the usual courtesy of asking him whether he would care for some tea made specially for her from leaves she had purchased from an English store in the city, he recounts in great detail.

According to the autobiography, she soon came to the point and said quite matter-of-factly, “Yousuf, I was thinking about your launch soon as an actor and I felt it would not be a bad idea if you adopted a screen name”.

“You know, a name you would be known by and which will be very appropriate for your audience to relate to and one that will be in tune with the romantic image you are bound to acquire through your screen presence. I thought Dilip Kumar was a nice name,” she is quoted as saying.

She told him the name just “popped up” in her mind when she was thinking about a suitable name for him.

“How does it sound to you?” she asked.

“I was speechless for a moment, being totally unprepared for the new identity she was proposing to me. I said it sounded nice but asked her whether it was really necessary,” Kumar says in the book.

“She gave her sweet smile and told me that it would be prudent to do so. She added that it was after considerable thought that she came to the conclusion of giving me a screen name.”

Rani told Kumar that she foresaw a long and successful career for him in films and it made good sense to have a screen identity that would “stand up by itself and have a secular appeal”.

Kumar was quick to appreciate her concern, but added that he needed to think about it a bit.

She responded, “Fine… come back to me with your thoughts.

“We are now ready to begin preparations for your debut. So we must hurry up.”

The actor recalls spending the rest of the day, going about his routine, but with the name ‘Dilip Kumar’ ringing in his mind’s inner recesses.

S. Mukherjee, who was effectively the second in command at Bombay Talkies after Devika Rani, noticed that the actor was rather contemplative that afternoon.

After lunch, when work started on the shooting stage, Mukherjee asked him if there was something disturbing him and if he could share with him.

“I told S. Mukherjee Sahab about the suggestion that had come from Devika Rani. He reflected for a second and, looking me straight in the eye, said: ‘I think she has a point. It will be in your interest to take the name she has suggested for the screen. It is a very nice name, though I will always know you by the name Yousuf like all your brothers and sisters and your parents,” says Kumar in the autobiography.

Kumar said he was touched by what Mukherjee said and it was a validation that cleared his thoughts then and there.

The rest as they say is history. Dilip Kumar went on to debut with ‘Jwar Bhata’ in 1944, becoming one of the biggest names in Indian cinema history.

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