The change in leadership at the railway ministry comes at a time when the national transporter is grappling with low passenger earnings even as it is trying to increase freight loading and open up its doors to private investment. Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw took charge from Piyush Goyal who got the railway portfolio in 2017 after Prime Minister Narendra Modii dropped Suresh Prabhu from the Union Cabinet. Completing freight corridors, negotiating land for the bullet train, and speeding up monetisation plans would be some of the major focus areas for Vaishnaw.
The move will benefit 50 lakh (5 million) employees and 30 lakh (3 million) pensioners.
A court at Mahad in Maharashtra, while granting bail to Union Minister Narayan Rane, said his arrest over his controversial remarks against Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray was "justified", but his custodial interrogation was not necessary.
Fifteen Cabinet ministers and 28 Ministers of State were sworn-in by President Ram Nath Kovind at a ceremony at Rashtrapati Bhavan on Wednesday evening.
He later had tea served in 'kulhad' with minority affairs minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi and paid Rs 40 for two cups.
The GoM recommended that activities of all religious organisations should not be allowed till May 15 as a precautionary measure to check spread of coronavirus infection, the sources added.
Paswan, one of the most prominent Dalit leaders of the country who had been a part of several governments headed by rival parties, died on Thursday at the age of 74.
Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot is determined to implement the Eastern Rajasthan Canal Project despite the Centre's indifference.
Our last mile delivery stood out, she said, and promised that programmes will be accelerated and red tape will be reduced.
Addressing a press conference, Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge, leader of the Congress in the Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury and the party's chief whip in the Upper House Jairam Ramesh alleged that the government is throttling the voice of the Opposition leaders to prevent them from raising issues of public importance.
Shah said that the NPR will not affect the nationality status of any citizen of the country.
Here are some of the key farmer leaders who fronted the protests.
'As long as Rane is the point-person, the Sena will never revive its partnership with the BJP.'
Pressure mounted for the removal of Railway Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal on Thursday as more instances of impropriety tumbled out amidst talk of a reshuffle of the Union cabinet in which beleagured Law Minister Ashwani Kumar may be shifted to a different portfolio.
The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved 'Mission Karmayogi', dubbed as the biggest bureaucratic reform initiative, aimed at capacity building of government employees to make them more "creative, proactive, professional and technology-enabled". The core guiding principles of the competency-driven programme will be to support a transition from "rules based to roles based" HR management to prepare the Indian civil servant for the future, according to a government statement.
The Union cabinet on Wednesday approved the roll-out of the 'PM POSHAN in Schools' scheme that will provide hot cooked meal to students of elementary classes in government and government-aided schools across the country.
Expressing her anguish over the pain of farmers, Badal, leader of the ruling BJP's erstwhile ally, said, "It is strange that farmers are spending nights in open during the chilling winters and even then their demands are falling on deaf ears."
'The more you challenge her, the more powerful she gets'
This step by the Modi government is in the right direction and will go a long way in safeguarding the interests of socially and economically backward communities, asserts Professor T V Kattimani, Vice-Chancellor, Central Tribal University, Andhra Pradesh, Vizianagaram.
According to sources, the proposal is listed in the agenda of the meeting of the Union Cabinet scheduled for Friday.
Announcing the cabinet decision, Union minister Prakash Javadekar also said the President, the Vice President, Governors of states have also voluntarily decided to take a pay cut as a social responsibility.
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy convened an emergency meeting at 11.30 am on Friday with ministers, members of Parliament, members of Legislative Council and members of Legislative Assembly from coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema to discuss the developments following the Union Cabinet's approval of bifurcation of the state.
Two days after it was cleared by the Union Cabinet, an ordinance on sexual violence against women under which rape that leads to death of the victim can now attract death penalty was on Sunday promulgated by President Pranab Mukherjee.
Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar has held a series of meetings with MPs and Union ministers from Punjab and Haryana and surrounding states, and virtual interactions with state agricultural ministers of all BJP-led National Democratic Alliance ruled states where he briefed them about the merits of the two bills, the sources said.
The top court directed the Secretary of the Union water resources ministry to personally appear before it on May 14 with a draft of the Cauvery management scheme to implement its verdict on water sharing between four states including Tamil Nadu and Karnataka.
The proposal may provide relief to the tune of Rs 9,000 crore to service providers.
The government takes pragmatic steps on telecom.
A top Home Ministry official said no note has been prepared yet to be placed before tomorrow's scheduled meeting of the Cabinet to be chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
Existing vacant government-funded housing complexes will be converted into Affordable Rental Housing Complexes through concession agreements for 25 years.
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.
The Congress on Monday demanded an independent probe into the issue involving alleged phone tapping of prominent personalities including journalists in India using Israeli Pegasus spyware.
More than 300 verified mobile phone numbers, including of two serving ministers, over 40 journalists, three opposition leaders and one sitting judge besides scores of business persons and activists in India could have been targeted for hacking through an Israeli spyware sold only to government agencies, an international media consortium reported on Sunday.
President Pranab Mukherjee on Tuesday rejected in the Supreme Court the plea of former Lok Sabha Speaker P A Sangma that he was holding an office of profit on the day of filing nomination for President's election, saying he ceased to be the Leader of the Lower House as a result of his resignation from the Union Cabinet.
Nationalist Congress Party ministers on Thursday boycotted the meeting of Union Cabinet in New Delhi to show their unhappiness over party leader Sharad Pawar not being given the number two position in the government.
Minister of State for Railways, Kotla Jaya Surya Prakash Reddy, on Friday resigned from his post in protest against the Union Cabinet's decision to go ahead with the proposed bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh.
Seeking an interim stay of the high court's verdict, the plea filed through lawyer C K Sasi said that it has challenged the 'arbitrary and illegal action' of the Airports Authority of India in attempting to prefer a particular private concessionaire, Adani Enterprises Ltd, for the operation, management and development of Thiruvananthapuram International Airport.
According to the rules, former MPs have to vacate their respective bungalows within one month of dissolution of the previous Lok Sabha.
The ministry's year-end review is silent on the continued occupation by Chinese troops of territory that India has always claimed and patrolled.
The petition sought setting aside speaker's June 14 circular showing the name of Paras as leader of Jan Lokshakti Party in the Lok Sabha.
President Ram Nath Kovind signed the proclamation for imposition of central rule in the state, which plunged into a political crisis in June after the Mehbooba Mufti-led coalition government was reduced to minority following withdrawal of support by the 25-member Bharatiya Janata Party in the state.
