Joshi, an MP from Dharwad Lok Sabha constituency, played a crucial role in the conduct of the recent Parliament session amid the pandemic in his capacity as the Parliamentary Affairs Minister.
Among all Joshi's other portfolios -- he is also minister for coal and mines -- it is parliamentary affairs that is politically the most crucial. But to make a success of his job, he may have to hone his people skills a bit more, reports Aditi Phadnis.
With the recent arrest of two Bharatiya Janata Party activists who had taken part in the Ayodhya agitation back in 1992 snowballing into a controversy, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Tuesday said a criminal is always a criminal unless acquitted by a court of law.
Fakira Dingaleshwar Swami of Shirahatti Fakkireshwar Math, a prominent Veerashaiva Lingayat seer, on Monday said he has decided to contest as an independent candidate from Dharwad segment in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls.
A bill to allow the private sector to mine six atomic minerals, including lithium, and deep-seated minerals like gold and silver was approved by the Lok Sabha on Friday.
Five Parliamentarians from Karnataka including Janata Dal-Secular leader and former chief minister H D Kumaraswamy, Bharatiya Janata Party leaders Nirmala Sitharaman and Pralhad Joshi, who were part of the previous Cabinet, on Sunday took oath in the new National Democratic Alliance Council of Ministers headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Bommai on Saturday made it clear that he is not travelling to any foreign country and that there is no question of any new chief minister in Karnataka.
A special court in Bengaluru has sentenced Congress MLA Sateesh Krishna Sail to seven years imprisonment and imposed hefty fines for theft and illegal export of seized iron ore from Belekeri port during 2009-10.
In a step towards diversifying its resource base and securing green energy minerals, India is poised to launch its first-ever offshore mineral auction in the first quarter of 2024, announced Union Minister of Mines Pralhad Joshi during the launch event of the National Geoscience Data Repository portal. The government plans to hold auctions in March, offering 10-15 blocks for bidding. Meanwhile, the ministry of mines is currently developing rules and regulations for offshore mining.
Coal production by Coal India (CIL) has grown slower than the captive mines, awarded over the last six years. During 2020-22, production from the captive mines jumped by 38.5 per cent while CIL saw a tepid growth of 3.4 per cent, according to government data. In terms of dispatch to the power sector, captive mines have raced ahead, witnessing a growth of 72 per cent compared to 15 per cent for CIL. For the current fiscal year, CIL's production is expected to be around 565 million tonnes.
Shettar said he has not lost his hopes and would wait till the evening.
In a significant move to enhance its strategic resource security, India has officially released its first-ever critical minerals list, identifying 30 key critical minerals crucial to the nation's economic growth and technological development. This pioneering step aims at reducing import dependence, enhancing supply-chain resilience, and supporting the country's net-zero objectives. Union Minister Parliamentary Affairs, Coal and Mines Pralhad Joshi, while releasing the Critical Minerals for India report in New Delhi on Wednesday, said, "India is readying for an Atmanirbhar Bharat."
The proposed auction has business-friendly terms and conditions, including reduced upfront amount, adjustment of upfront amount against royalty and liberal efficiency parameters to encourage flexibility to operationalise the coal mines. Besides, 100 per cent FDI through automatic route has been allowed.
With Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday inducting four new faces from Karnataka into his ministry, and chemicals and fertilisers minister D V Sadanda Gowda resigning ahead of the reshuffle, the state's representation in the Union council of ministers now stands at six.
Parliament officials said Birla was upset at the behaviour of both the Opposition and Treasury benches during the passage of bills in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday.
The Lok Sabha witnessed a display of linguistic diversity on Monday, with the newly-elected MPs taking their oaths in English and Indian languages, including Sanskrit, Hindi, Dogri, Bengali, Assamese and Odia.
Six bills, including the one to amend the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, were introduced in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday amid protests by opposition members over the violence in Manipur.
After extricating five bodies from an abandoned coal mine in Jharkhand's Dhanbad district, government authorities and the Eastern Coalfields limited Wednesday called off the rescue operation, while locals and leaders of political parties claimed more people were still trapped under the debris.
India offers policy stability, transparency and consultative process of governance to incubate investment, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Thursday as she invited investments in prospecting energy resources in the country. Stressing that there is a need for investments in coal, she said, "We need greater investments also to help in gasification of coal. I invite all of you to energetically participate in the (sixth round of commercial mines) auction processes which have been launched today and keep your options also further extended for greater extraction of minerals in India." During this 'Amrit Kaal', India needs all the basic minerals as the country is in the process of rapid growth, she added.
The government is open to discussions on all issues, the prime minister told journalists in Parliament complex ahead of the beginning of the session.
Among the new entrants to the Union cabinet, former Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has been given the agriculture and rural development portfolios, Bharatiya Janata Party president J P Nadda the health portfolio and former Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar the power portfolio.
While there are some new faces in the cabinet, leaders such as BJP president JP Nadda and Jual Oram have returned as ministers.
The central government is expected to complete the auction of the 5.9-million tonne (mt) lithium reserves discovered in the Reasi district of the northern Union Territory (UT) of Jammu & Kashmir (J&K) by the end of this calendar year, Union Mines Secretary Vivek Bharadwaj said on the sidelines of the launch of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Ficci) report on 'New-Age Energy Minerals' on Tuesday. "Auction will be over by the end of this year," said Bharadwaj, adding, "We have already recommended a transaction advisor to the J&K government for the auction of lithium reserves." However, the exact timeline for an auction will be decided by J&K authorities, Union mines minister Pralhad Joshi said in Parliament last month.
Key infrastructure sectors -- from railways to power, and from coal to petroleum -- will not only be part of the achievements but promises too, as the BJP fights to get a third term at the Centre.
The monsoon session of Parliament which saw many disruptions since it began on July 20 over the Manipur violence issue, is set to become more turbulent with the government likely to introduce a bill in the Lok Sabha to replace the Delhi services ordinance.
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Prahlad Joshi has said that 31 bills will be taken up in the monsoon session. Among these include the Digital Personal Data Protection Bill, 2023.
Here is the complete list of ministers in Modi 3.0 and their portfolios:
Over 65 Union ministers are likely to take oath, going by the visual of the meeting Modi held with his likely council of ministers.
Moitra brought two birthday caps in the House to press her argument that the businessman being most talked about had "topi-pehnau-ed" the government.
'We wanted the PM to speak, and he just refused to -- now we have the opportunity, not just in the Lok Sabha, but also in the Rajya Sabha, to lay the government on the mat.'
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.
Launching the auction of mines for commercial mining, that is expected to garner Rs 33,000 crore of capital investment in the country over next five to seven years, Modi said it not only marks the beginning of unlocking of the country's coal sector from the "lockdown of decades", but aims at making India the largest exporter of coal.
The Prime Minister's Office on Tuesday reviewed the coal supply and power generation scenario as the government looks at ways to defuse the energy crisis being faced by several states.
'The day I took charge, the PM told me you do the following -- stop imports, talk to all stakeholders and involve them to make mining more industry-friendly without affecting the environment.'
India's jugalbandhi with coal and clean energy is coming unstuck, neither achieving adequate renewable generation nor ensuring sufficient coal-fired power in the quest to become a $5-trillion economy. Six months have elapsed since Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced an ambitious climate agenda for India at COP26 at Glasgow. The net zero emissions target by 2070 is a distant one, but there are nearer-term plans to meet 50 per cent of energy demand with renewables by 2030 by increasing capacity to 450 Gw. A cursory look at the balance sheet of India's climate progress since November reveals ponderous progress towards meeting the renewables target even as the country is scrambling to expand coal-fired generation in the face of a power crisis.
The ruling Trinamool Congress in West Bengal on Wednesday accused Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar, who is on a visit to New Delhi, of violating constitutional norms and asked him not to return to the state.
Yediyurappa termed these two years as 'trial by fire', pointing out that he had to run the administration without a cabinet in the initial days, followed by devastating floods and the challenge of COVID-19 management, among other issues.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will retain DoPT, Atomic Energy as well as all important policy issues and portfolios not allocated.
He dropped those perceived to be non-performers or whose integrity came into question, and also where it was felt they needed to learn a lesson or two in humility.
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