Bhupender Yadav's entry to the Modi government as a Cabinet minister is seen as his just reward after serving as a party office-bearer for the longest term among all current occupants.
The Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) parties, led by the Congress, staged a walkout from both Houses of Parliament on Wednesday, in protest against all states except two being 'ignored' in the budget, an allegation termed 'outrageous' by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharamanm, who said all the states never found a mention in any of the previous budgets, including those presented by the Congress.
With speculations rife about a Union Cabinet reshuffle, the Congress has discussed the issue with Dravida Munnettra Kazhagam, the largest ally of the United Progressive Alliance after the exit of the Trinamool Congress. Union Minister V Narayansamy called on DMK chief M Karunanidhi in Chennai on Tuesday, but the latter is learnt to have turned down the offer for the induction of his party MPs in the Manmohan Singh-led Cabinet, party sources said.
Rediff.com has in its possession the full Cabinet Note that was given to the members of the Cabinet ahead of the crucial meeting on Friday evening.
The BJP-led Mahayuti alliance, which secured a landslide victory in the recent Maharashtra assembly elections, is set to form the new government in the state. Outgoing Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, his deputies Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar met Union Home Minister Amit Shah to finalize a power-sharing agreement. The alliance partners, BJP, Shiv Sena and NCP, will decide on ministerial berths at the meeting with Shah. Political circles are abuzz about the social equations in Maharashtra influencing the choice of the next Chief Minister.
The Union Cabinet was understood to have decided in principle to dissolve the Medical Council of India whose chief Ketan Desai has been arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation on graft charges.
JMM has called for observing 'black day' in Ranchi following the sentencing of Shibu Soren.
The decision, which comes ahead of the state assembly elections, underscores the cow's spiritual, scientific, and historical significance in Indian society, an official said. It highlights the integral role that cows have played in India's cultural landscape for centuries, he added.
After being elected president of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) in 1999, Najma Heptulla rang up the then Congress chief Sonia Gandhi from Berlin to convey the news but had to hold the phone line for an hour as a staff told her that 'madam is busy'.
In a significant move, Government will bring in a bill in Parliament's Budget Session to make registration of marriages compulsory under a law for mandatory recording of births and deaths, notwithstanding one's religious affiliation, thereby providing legal protection especially in cases of inter-religious matrimony.
Tolerant Muslims can be counted on fingers. I think their number is not even in the thousands, the Union minister of state for law and justice said.
Signalling both change and continuity, India's new government, headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi for a third consecutive term, got into work gear on Tuesday with cabinet ministers and ministers of state filing into their respective offices to assume charge.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will chair the first meeting of the expanded Cabinet which will be followed by a meeting of Council of Ministers on Monday.
For Yogi Adityanath the successful management of the fair is a crucial part of building 'Brand UP' and making the state a $1 trillion economy.
The Chief Minister has been under intense pressure for some time now, over expansion and rejig of the Cabinet not taking place, to make way for the fresh faces, ahead of Assembly elections by April-May next year.
In big bang reforms, the Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved a relief package for the telecom sector that includes a four-year moratorium on payment of statutory dues by telecom companies as well as allowing 100 per cent foreign investment through the automatic route. Briefing reporters on the decisions taken by the Cabinet, Telecom Minister Ashwini Vaishnav said nine structural reforms for the telecom sector were approved. The definition of AGR, which had been a major reason for the stress in the sector, has been rationalised by excluding non-telecom revenue of telecom companies.
The final rites of renowned industrialist and philanthropist Ratan Tata were performed with full state honours at a central Mumbai crematorium on Thursday evening. The Mumbai police paid tribute to Tata with a gun salute.
The Union Cabinet also decided to promulgate an ordinance -- The Jammu and Kashmir Reservation (Amendment) Ordinance, 2019 -- to give reservation benefits to the people living along the International Border in Jammu and Kashmir, who often face shelling from across the border.
Announcing the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs decision, Finance Minister P Chidambaram said a Special Purpose Vehicle would be set up for the project.
The Union Cabinet Thursday approved the Contempt of Courts Amendment Bill, 2004, which seeks to liberalise the law by introducing "truth" as a defence in contempt proceedings.
As weather patterns grow more unpredictable due to climate crisis, India is taking a giant leap with "Mission Mausam" to improve weather understanding and forecasting through expanded observation networks, better modeling and advanced tools like AI and machine learning.
Several opposition parties have claimed that the mandate of 2024 Lok Sabha elections was against the ruling haratiya Janata Party, even though it was able to form the government with support of other parties.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has once again ducked the question of who is No. 2 in the Union Cabinet in the working arrangements he made during his 4-day Iran visit.
With President Pranab Mukherjee accepting the resignations of seven Cabinet ministers late on Saturday evening, the reshuffle is expected to see the induction of at least 12 ministers, most of them being younger in age. There will be a conscious effort to ensure that Cabinet has a younger profile
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs on Wednesday approved seven multi-tracking projects of Indian Railways at an estimated cost of around Rs 32,500 crore, Union minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said. The proposed projects, which will be fully funded by the Centre, will help increase the existing line capacity, smoothen train operations, reduce congestion and facilitate ease of travelling and transportation. The projects covering 35 districts in nine states -- Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Odisha, Jharkhand and West Bengal -- will increase the existing network of Indian Railways by 2,339 km and provide employment of an estimated 7.06 crore man-days to the people of the states.
Seven women, including two in the Cabinet role, have been inducted into the new council of ministers in the 18th Lok Sabha.
This was one of the 43 cases the state Cabinet decided to withdraw at its meeting on Thursday following a petition by the Anjuman-e-Islam to the Home Minister G Parameshwara, official sources said.
JD-U leaders contend that R C P Singh may have misled the BJP leadership into believing that Nitish Kumar was ready for a smaller share in power at the Centre.
Key United Progressive Alliance ally Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam on Sunday said it would not nominate any party representative to the Union ministry to fill vacancies in case of a Cabinet reshuffle.
National Conference leader Omar Abdullah was sworn in as the chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir on Wednesday, the first elected government in the Union Territory since 2019 when Article 370 was abrogated.
While leaders alleged wrongful rendition of the Tamil anthem and BJP said mother Tamil has taught the Dy CM a 'lesson', Udhayanidhi dismissed such claims and asserted the microphone did not function properly and that it was a technical fault.
Modi said the newly-sworn in government took four major decisions related to farmers' and traders welfare in the first meeting of the Union Cabinet.
'Mrs Gandhi had nothing to do in the day-to-day working of Dr Singh's government.' 'People say Mrs Gandhi's office used to give orders, which is nonsense.'
The Congress on Monday said it welcomed the reported move as the party has been raising the demand for long.
Most of the 40 MLAs in the Shinde camp don't have enough legislative experience to conduct business in the House and so the first ministry expansion needed induction of veterans.
Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Saturday ruled out his resignation, following the Governor granting sanction to prosecute him, in connection with the Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA) site allotment 'scam', and said he had done no wrong to step down.
However, it would not be given to Income Tax payees and to those who do not avail of Haj committee accommodation.
Congress President and Leader of the Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge on Wednesday questioned Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman over the Union Budget and claimed that the plates of all states except Bihar and Andhra Pradesh were empty in the budget allocation.
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