Prime Minister Narendra Modi has boosted the representation of backward castes, dalits, tribals and women in his Council of Ministers in a big shake-up of his government with a focus on politically crucial states, including the all-important Uttar Pradesh.
Union Ministers Smriti Irani and D V Sadananda Gowda have been dropped from Inter-State Council, official sources said on Wednesday.
Among the panels announced on Thursday is the Appointments Committee of Cabinet (ACC) to be headed by the prime minister with Shah as the other member.
A passenger on Guwahati-bound Rajdhani train found that the vegetarian dish he ordered contained pieces of bones.
No-frills carrier SpiceJet has put ten lakh seats on the block with base fares starting as low as Rs 999, which are lower than a 3-AC train ticket, for a one-way journey under a limited period offer.
With a view to reducing its dependence on conventional sources of energy, Railways is looking to harness solar power in a big way and is likely to include a plan for the same in its upcoming budget.
The 17 related ministries have been combined into seven different groups, including some infrastructure departments, in a bid to ensure synergy and better results.
Railways has decided to introduce semi high-speed trains in nine sectors which would run at speeds of up to 160 kmph.
Ahead of the Union Cabinet expansion on Wednesday, several Union Ministers, including Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan, Education Minister Dr Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank and Labour Minister Santosh Gangwar resigned from their posts.
The news of Shah joining the Cabinet came from Gujarat BJP chief Jitu Vaghani, who tweeted a congratulatory message. "Had a courtesy meeting with our mentor Amit Shah and gave my best wishes to him on his inclusion as a strong member of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi's council of ministers," he tweeted.
Ramesh's reply came when he was asked whether grants would be provided to Karnataka for the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act and Indira Awas Yojana as the state was now under the Congress rule.
The party desperate to retain power in the state will also prepare dossiers on opposition MLAs to assess the winability of prospective party nominees.
Seeking to clear the statute books of antiquated laws, Parliament on Thursday cleared a bill to repeal 36 redundant acts, including one which amends the marriage laws.
Such an exercise was earlier undertaken in 2001, when 357 such laws were repealed.
As many as 22 states and Union Territories have supported a Law Commission recommendation to bring a bill to prevent 'honour killings', but government has refused to fix a timeline to put in place a legal framework, saying a decision will be taken after due consultations.
Mourners in large numbers on Saturday paid their last respects to Jnanpith award winner and Kannada literary giant U R Ananthamurthy who was cremated with full state honours in Bangalore.
The 61-year old leader will take oath as the Chief Minister of Karnataka from Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot at the Raj Bhavan on Wednesday at 11 am.
Scouting for resources to meet its fund crunch, Railways is open to the idea of even 100 per cent FDI in its infrastructure development but would keep train operations out of its ambit.
The National Democratic Alliance government will not launch a witch-hunt against its political opponents including Robert Vadra, but the law would take its own course, Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Venkaiah Naidu said on Friday.
According to the draft, marriage laws will become more women-friendly with a slew of measures being proposed including providing for sufficient compensation for the wife and children from the husband's immovable property in case of a divorce.
The Modi-Shah duo are standing with B S Yediyurappa: But B L Santhosh refuses to be silenced.
'There is no shortage of any APIs (active pharmaceutical ingredients) in the country'
Karnataka-based IT professional Prabha Arun Kumar who was stabbed to death in Australia was on Sunday cremated amid poignant scenes at her native Amtoor.
12 people have reportedly been killed and 45injured when two speeding passenger trains collided near Gorakhpur in Uttar Pradesh late Tuasday night, a railway official said.
Railways will be transporting relief material free of charge to flood-ravaged Jammu and Kashmir and has taken a slew of measures including special trains and help desks for the stranded passengers.
To facilitate foreign direct investment (FDI) in high- speed rail projects, the government is likely to allow private sector entry in operations.
Yediyurappa is made of sterner stuff and is not going to yield so easily.
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.
The burial ceremony was performed in the presence of Sri Vijayendra Saraswathi, the junior pontiff of the Mutt and some close family relatives of the late seer.
At least four passengers were killed and another eight were injured when the Delhi-Dibrugarh Rajdhani Express derailed at Golden Ganj station near Chhapra on early Wednesday morning in a suspected sabotage by Maoists.
BJP won 100 wards out of 198, as the results were declared on Tuesday by the State Election Commission for the polls held on August 22.
The national transporter is also mulling a hike in passenger fares in the Rail Budget next year to tide over the loss in passenger sector
After the Congress and the Janata Dal-United discontent now appeared to be brewing within the Bharatiya Janata Party against state President B S Yeddyurappa over the appointment of party office bearers.
Talk that Anil Kumble, the former Indian captain, will contest the forthcoming Lok Sabha election from Karnataka has been making the rounds. Rediff.com's Vicky Nanjappa finds out if Kumble will indeed spin a political googly.
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.
Rajnath Singh, Nitin Gadkari, Nirmala Sitharaman, Piyush Goyal, Narendra Singh Tomar, Prakash Javadekar, Ravi Shankar Prasad, Dharmendra Pradhan and Smriti Irani are also likely to join the second Modi government after being its members in its first avatar.
The entire world is taking up the habit of 'namaste', Modi said.
Moving ahead with the economic reforms, the Cabinet tonight cleared the long-delayed proposal for raising FDI limit in defence to 49 per cent and fully opened up the railway infrastructure segment, like high-speed trains, for foreign investment.
Elections will also be held in 35 assembly constituencies in Odisha.
After political rivals, the Narendra Modi government has come under fire from Shiv Sena over the rail fare hike with its oldest ally terming the move as akin to the common man being run over by train.
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