Archives for May 2019

Former Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has been appointed as the new finance minister with former home minister Rajnath Singh getting the defence portfolio in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s new Cabinet. Amit Shah will be the new home minister.

Former foreign secretary S Jaishankar will helm the Ministry of External Affairs, a press statement from the Rashtrapati Bhavan said.

Former textile minister Smriti Irani who defeated Congress president Rahul Gandhi is the new Women and Child Development Minister.

Nitin Gadkari, Dharamendra Pradhan and Piyush Goyal retain the portfolios that they held in the the National Democratic Alliance’s (NDA) first term in office.

PM Modi has also introduced a new ministry called Jal Shakti ministry which will be headed by Jodhpur MP Gajendra Singh Shekhawat.

Here is the full list of Union Council of Ministers and their portfolios:

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is also in-charge of Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions; Department of Atomic Energy; Department of Space; and all important policy issues; and all other portfolios not allocated to any Minister.

Cabinet Ministers

1. Raj Nath Singh – Minister of Defence.

2. Amit Shah – Minister of Home Affairs.

3. Nitin Jairam Gadkari -Minister of Road Transport and Highways; and Minister of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises.

4. D.V. Sadananda Gowda Minister of Chemicals and Fertilizers.

5. Nirmala Sitharaman Minister of Finance; and Minister of Corporate Affairs.

6. Ramvilas Paswan Minister of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution.

7. Narendra Singh Tomar Minister of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare; Minister of Rural Development; and Minister of Panchayati Raj.

8. Ravi Shankar Prasad Minister of Law and Justice; Minister of Communications; and

Minister of Electronics and Information Technology.

9. Smt. Harsimrat Kaur Badal Minister of Food Processing Industries.

10. Shri Thaawar Chand Gehlot Minister of Social Justice and Empowerment.

11. Dr. Subrahmanyam Jaishankar Minister of External Affairs.

12. Shri Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’ Minister of Human Resource Development.

13. Shri Arjun Munda Minister of Tribal Affairs.

14. Smt. Smriti Zubin Irani Minister of Women and Child Development; and Minister of Textiles.

15. Dr. Harsh Vardhan Minister of Health and Family Welfare; Minister of Science and Technology; and Minister of Earth Sciences.

16. Shri Prakash Javadekar Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change; and Minister of Information and Broadcasting.

17. Shri Piyush Goyal Minister of Railways; and Minister of Commerce and Industry.

18. Shri Dharmendra Pradhan Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas; and Minister of Steel.

19. Shri Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi Minister of Minority Affairs.

20. Shri Pralhad Joshi Minister of Parliamentary Affairs; Minister of Coal; and Minister of Mines.

21. Dr. Mahendra Nath Pandey Minister of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship.

22. Shri Arvind Ganpat Sawant Minister of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprise.

23. Shri Giriraj Singh Minister of Animal Husbandry, Dairying and Fisheries.

24. Shri Gajendra Singh Shekhawat Minister of Jal Shakti.

Ministers of State (Independent Charge)

1. Shri Santosh Kumar Gangwar Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Labour and Employment.

2. Rao Inderjit Singh Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation; and

Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Planning.

3. Shri Shripad Yesso Naik Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy (AYUSH); and

Minister of State in the Ministry of Defence.

4. Dr. Jitendra Singh Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region; Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s Office;

Minister of State in the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions;

Minister of State in the Department of Atomic Energy; and

Minister of State in the Department of Space.

5. Shri Kiren Rijiju Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports; and

Minister of State in the Ministry of Minority Affairs.

6. Shri Prahalad Singh Patel Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Culture; and

Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Tourism.

7. Shri Raj Kumar Singh Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Power;

Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy; and

Minister of State in the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship.

8. Shri Hardeep Singh Puri Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs;

Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Civil Aviation; and

Minister of State in the Ministry of Commerce and Industry.

9. Shri Mansukh L. Mandaviya Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Shipping; and

Minister of State in the Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers.

Ministers of State

1. Shri Faggansingh Kulaste Minister of State in the Ministry of Steel.

2. Shri Ashwini Kumar Choubey Minister of State in the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

3. Shri Arjun Ram Meghwal Minister of State in the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs; and

Minister of State in the Ministry of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises.

4. General (Retd.) V. K. Singh Minister of State in the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways.

5. Shri Krishan Pal Minister of State in the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment.

6. Shri Danve Raosaheb Dadarao Minister of State in the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution.

7. Shri G. Kishan Reddy Minister of State in the Ministry of Home Affairs.

8. Shri Parshottam Rupala Minister of State in the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare.

9. Shri Ramdas Athawale Minister of State in the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment.

10. Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti Minister of State in the Ministry of Rural Development.

11. Shri Babul Supriyo Minister of State in the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change.

12. Shri Sanjeev Kumar Balyan Minister of State in the Ministry of Animal Husbandry, Dairying and Fisheries.

13. Shri Dhotre Sanjay Shamrao Minister of State in the Ministry of Human Resource Development;

Minister of State in the Ministry of Communications; and

Minister of State in the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology.

14. Shri Anurag Singh Thakur Minister of State in the Ministry of Finance; and

Minister of State in the Ministry of Corporate Affairs.

15. Shri Angadi Suresh Channabasappa Minister of State in the Ministry of Railways.

16. Shri Nityanand Rai Minister of State in the Ministry of Home Affairs.

17. Shri Rattan Lal Kataria Minister of State in the Ministry of Jal Shakti; and Minister of State in the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment.

18. Shri V. Muraleedharan Minister of State in the Ministry of External Affairs; and Minister of State in the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs.

19. Smt. Renuka Singh Saruta Minister of State in the Ministry of Tribal Affairs.

20. Shri Som Parkash Minister of State in the Ministry of Commerce and Industry.

21. Shri Rameswar Teli Minister of State in the Ministry of Food Processing Industries.

22. Shri Pratap Chandra Sarangi Minister of State in the Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises; and Minister of State in the Ministry of Animal Husbandry, Dairying and Fisheries.

23. Shri Kailash Choudhary Minister of State in the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare.

24. Sushri Debasree Chaudhuri Minister of State in the Ministry of Women and Child Development.

Agencies

Wayanad, May 31 : AICC President Rahul.Gandhi urged Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan to take urgent steps in resolving the economic crisis of farmers that led to their suicides.

In a letter to Mr Pinarayi, Mr Gandhi said it was again the financial crisis faced by the farmers in general that has led to the suicide by V D Dinesh Kumar, a farmer in Panamaram, very recently.

The farmers commit suicide in fear of their piling debts.

But such unfortunate incidents happen in Kerala, even as the Government had proclaimed a morotorium on loan repayment, till December. There should be an enquiry into the cause that made Dinesh Kumar commit suicide, the Congress President said.

The Government should consider extending every possible way including financial support to Dinesh Kumar’s family, Mr Gandhi said, adding that he and his party will extend all support in ensuring the farmers a life with dignity.

Bengaluru, May 31 : Former Karnataka Minister and BJP MLA Renukacharya was on Friday remanded to Police custody by Special Court for Peoples Representatives in the City today.
The senior BJP leader was handed over to the Police custody as he had failed to appear before the Court despite being served with non bailable warrant against him in connection with violation of Model Code of Conduct case registered in Shivamogga Rural Police Station.
Renukacharya had come to the court to plea for recall of NBW against him.
However, the judge taking strong exception to his absence on the earlier occasions, asked Police to take him to custody.

Bengaluru, May 31 : Opposition leader in the Karnataka Legislative Assembly B S Yeddyurappa, who is also BJP State President, today said that the party Central leaders have instructed the State unit not to indulge in any activity, including ‘Operation Lotus’ to pull down the Congress-JDS Coalition government.
“We have been directed by the Central leaders not to initiate any step that leads to fall of this government. We will try in any way and as Opposition party we will point out mistakes. Let them undertake welfare measures including waive off farmers loan as announced,” he added.
Yeddyurappa alleged that CLP Chairman Siddaramaiah, who is also Coalition Government Coordination Committee Chairman, is playing tricks by making some of his party MLAs to be in contact with BJP and blame the party as indulged in ‘Operation Lotus’. “BJP senior leaders, after learning about his tacticks, has instructed to indulge in such step which brings bad name to the party at the national level,” he added.
“We are not power hungry. Now our government has come in the Centre and it is not upmost important to capture power in Karnataka. Let them function well,” he added.

Bengaluru, May 31 : The Coalition partners in Karnataka–Congress and JDS, who had an intensive parleys in the last couple of days over working out strategies to save the one-year-old government, have decided not to reshuffle the Cabinet but to fill the three existing vacancies in the cabinet, by inducting two Independent MLAs.

According to highly placed sources in the Congress, after two days of interaction by both the party leaders, it was decided not to disturb the present set up in the Cabinet, and go for filling up of the vacancies by inducting two independent MLAs, to the cabinet.

“The cabinet is likely to be expanded by inducting two Independent MLAs, in a day or two”, sources said.

Following severe drubbing in the just concluded Lok Sabha elections, in which the coalition partners had won only one seat each out of 28 Lok Sabha seats, series of meeting between the JD(S) and the Congress leaders were held in their bid to save the government.

Both the parties had also convened Legislature party meeting and pursued the respective party MLAs, not to rock the boat, as the Opposition BJP is allegedly making all its efforts to topple the state government.

The Senior party leaders, had come to the conclusion not to go for dropping any existing Ministers but to induct those who are sitting on the fence, to save the Government, after the incumbent ministers are not keen to make way for others, sources said.

The decision not to go for reshuffle of the cabinet, was taken up following lack of enthusiasm shown from the ministers to opt out from the cabinet, sources added.

New Delhi, May 31 : Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday paid homage to Mahatma Gandhi and country’s first Home Minister Sardar Vallabhai Patel.

“Remembering India’s greats. At the Prime Minister’s Office in South Block, Narendra Modi pays tributes to Mahatma Gandhi and Sardar Patel,” a PMO tweet said.

Mr Modi also presided over the first meeting of his Cabinet in the South Block office here.
Flanked by new Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on his right and new Home Minister Amit Shah on his left, Mr Modi was in a jovial mood while interacting with his ministerial colleagues.

The Cabinet meeting was attended among others by Ram Vilas Paswan, Harsimrat Kaur Badal and Arvind Sawant – all from NDA constituents.
Before the meeting began, on their arrival at the South Block, several Ministers posed for snaps before the awaiting camerapersons.

The new Women and Child Development Minister Smriti Irani, who humbled Congress president Rahul Gandhi in his family bastion Amethi, grinned more than once and also shook hands with the photo journalists.
In a first decision of the BJP-led NDA government since it took charge, Prime Minister himself announced that changes were approved in ‘PM’s Scholarship Scheme under the National Defence Fund’.

According to an official release, the major changes includes enhanced scholarships for wards of police personnel martyred in terror or Maoist attacks.

New Delhi, May 31 : Ms Nirmala Sitharaman will be the new Minister of Finance and Corporate Affairs in the Narendra Modi Government 2.0.

In all, six women got berths in the Modi Government.

In the previous government, Ms Sitharaman ? a Rajya Sabha member — has been serving as the Defence Minister since 2017. She also held the portfolio of Minister of State for Finance and Corporate Affairs in the past.

Earlier, there were speculations that BJP president Amit Shah might get the Finance portfolio after Arun Jaitley chose to stay out of the new government citing health reasons.

Besides, Smriti Irani will be the new Women and Child Development and Textiles Minister. She made the news after defeating Congress president Rahul Gandhi from his stronghold seat Amethi. Prior to this, she was a member of Rajya Sabha twice.
Ms Harsimrat Kaur Badal gets the same Ministry of Food Processing Industries, she was holding in the previous government. She is a member of BJP ally Shromani Akali Dal from Bathinda seat in Punjab.
Another woman who gets a berth in the Modi Government is Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti. She is Minister of State in the Ministry of Rural Development. Earlier, she was given the charge of Minister of State for Food Processing Industries in November 2014.

Ms Renuka Singh Saruta will be Minister of State in the Ministry of Tribal Affairs while Ms Debasree Chaudhuri will assist Ms Irani. She is junior minister for the the Women and Child Development.

New Delhi, May 31 : In a first decision of the BJP led NDA government on Friday after it took charge, changes were approved in PM’s Scholarship Scheme under the National Defence Fund.
According to an official release, the major changes includes enhanced scholarships for wards of police personnel martyred in terror or Maoist attacks.
In line with the Prime Minister’s vision for India’s safety, security and the well-being of those who protect the nation, the very first decision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi on assuming his office is approval to a major change in the ‘Prime Minister’s Scholarship Scheme’ under the National Defence Fund.
The Prime Minister has approved the changes under which the rates of scholarship have been increased from Rs 2000 per month to Rs 2500 per month for boys and from Rs 2250 per month to Rs 3000 per month for girls.

The ambit of the Scholarship Scheme is extended to the wards of State Police officials who are/were martyred during terror/naxal attacks.
The quota of new scholarships for wards of state police officials will be 500 in a year.
The Ministry of Home Affairs will be the nodal Ministry in this regard