Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren has distributed portfolios among the new ministers, keeping key departments such as Home, Personnel, and several others to himself. The Congress' Radhakrishna Kishore was given Finance, Commercial Tax, Planning and Development Department, and Parliamentary Affairs departments. JMM's Deepak Biruwa was allotted the departments of Revenue, Registration and Land Reforms (non-registration), and Transport. Chamra Linda, another JMM leader, was allotted the departments of Schedule Tribes, Scheduled Castes, Backward Classes (except Minority Welfare). RJD's Sanjay Prasad Yadav was given the departments of Industries, and Labour, Planning, Training and Skill Development. The Congress' Irfan Ansari got Health, Medical Education and Family Welfare, besides Food, Public Distribution and Consumer Affairs, and Disaster Management departments. The chief minister also kept to himself the departments of Cabinet Secretariat, Personnel, Administrative Reforms and Official Language, Road Construction, Building Construction, and those departments yet to be distributed to anyone. Among the other ministers, JMM's Ramdas Soren was given the School Education and Literacy, and Registration departments. Party colleague Hafizul Hasan was allotted the departments of Water Resources, and Minority Welfare Department. Panchayati Raj, Rural Works, and Rural Development departments were given to Congress MLA Deepika Pandey Singh. The CM gave Drinking Water and Sanitation, and Excise and Prohibition departments to JMM's Yogendra Prasad. JMM legislator Sudhivya Kumar became the minister for Urban Development and Housing, Higher and Technical Education, and Tourism, Art Culture, Sports and Youth Affairs departments. Shilpi Neha Tirkey of the Congress was allotted Agriculture, Animal Husbandry and Cooperative Department. A total of 11 MLAs took oath as ministers in the Hemant Soren government in Jharkhand on Thursday.
The move by the excise department has come in the wake of lifting of certain coronavirus-induced curbs, which included allowing reopening of liquor shops. As the demand for alcohol has increased in Maharashtra, there is a possibility of liquor smuggling by inter-state organised syndicates, the official said.
Rescue efforts to reach eight people trapped inside a partially collapsed tunnel in Telangana have been intensified with an increased deployment of personnel and equipment. Scientists from the National Geophysical Research Institute (NGRI) have located four of the trapped workers using Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR). The damaged conveyor belt is expected to be repaired by Monday, allowing for easier removal of debris. The Chief Minister is scheduled to visit the site and hold a review meeting with officials. The condition of the four located workers is said to be grim.
The Enforcement Directorate on Friday arrested the special secretary of the Chhattisgarh excise department in a money laundering case linked to the alleged Rs 2,000 crore liquor syndicate scam in the state.
Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar acknowledged that some ministers are unhappy with the portfolios assigned to them in the new cabinet, which includes a high number of ministers. Pawar said that the work on pending projects will begin soon after the ministers take charge of their respective ministries. The budget session of the Maharashtra legislature will commence on March 3.
The Kerala Police are investigating the mysterious deaths of an IRS officer, his sister, and their mother in Kochi. The officer, Maneesh Vijay, and his sister, Shalini Vijay, were found hanging inside their house, while their mother, Shakuntala Agarwal, was discovered dead on her bed. Police have not yet established a direct link between the deaths and a CBI case in which Shalini was summoned as an accused. Preliminary findings suggest the siblings died by suicide, but the cause of their mother's death is still under investigation. The family had been residing in the quarters for the past year and a half but reportedly kept to themselves, maintaining limited interaction with neighbours, police added.
The CBI has alleged that Gorantla's role in the formulation and implementation of the now-scrapped Delhi Excise Policy 2021-22 caused 'wrongful gain' to Hyderabad-based wholesale and retail licensees and their beneficial owners.
She has also demanded Rai's removal from the MLA's post. When contacted, Rai told media persons to themselves inquire into Thakur's allegations.
The Supreme Court of India has asked DMK leader V Senthil Balaji to choose between his ministerial post in Tamil Nadu and his freedom. The court expressed concern over Balaji's reinstatement as a minister despite being granted bail in a money laundering case related to the "cash-for-job" scam. The court fears that Balaji's presence as a minister could influence witnesses in the case. The court has given Balaji until April 28 to make a decision.
Shiv Sena's Dadaji Bhuse is the new school education minister while Uday Samant continues to be the industries minister.
The Enforcement Directorate on Monday raided the premises of former Chhattisgarh chief minister and senior Congress leader Bhupesh Baghel as part of a money laundering investigation against his son in the alleged liquor scam case and seized about Rs 30 lakh apart from some documents, official sources said.
Former Delhi deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia on Saturday reached his residence in New Delhi from Tihar Jail to meet his ailing wife after permission from a city court.
Former Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Friday vacated the 6, Flagstaff Road residence to move to his new address in the Lutyens' Zone.
The ED case of money laundering in the excise policy stems from a CBI FIR in which Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia and some bureaucrats have been named as accused. The excise policy has been rolled back now.
In more than one way, it's a setback for the DMK and Chief Minister Stalin in political terms. The electoral fall-out, if any, will have to wait until the next summer, only when assembly elections are due in the state, explains N Sathiya Moorthy.
Rajshekhar detailed his complaints in a report to the lieutenant governor's office, joint secretary in the Ministry of Home Affairs and the additional commissioner of police of Delhi's anti-corruption branch.
Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray has forwarded the resignation letter of Anil Deshmukh to Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari with a request that it may be accepted.
Reports had it that a US state department official had said that Washington "encouraged a fair, transparent and timely legal process for chief minister Kejriwal".
Goa Excise Commissioner Narayan Gad on Thursday disallowed a complaint demanding suspension of the excise licence of a restaurant which the Congress claimed was linked to Union minister Smriti Irani's family.
Aam Aadmi Party national convenor Arvind Kejriwal claimed on Wednesday that Delhi Chief Minister Atishi may be arrested in a 'fake' case by the central investigative agencies at the behest of the Bharatiya Janata Party.
Ravi Teja is among the over 10 Tollywood (Telugu film industry) personalities, including actors and directors, to be summoned by the ED.
No alcohol was served in bars, pubs, restaurants and hotels and none could be bought either as permits expired on July 31.
The initial probe into the murder of Bangladesh MP Anwarul Azim Anar revealed that one of his friends had paid around Rs 5 crore to kill the neighbouring country's parliamentarian, a senior police officer said here on Thursday.
Stating that the police had "reliable inputs" that Anwar "may have been murdered", Akhilesh Chaturvedi, IG, CID, said that the police were yet to recover the victim's body.
In a major goof-up, the Maharashtra government has appointed two senior officials to the top post in Excise Department, raising questions over coordination among various concerned departments.
The Baahubali star is among the over 10 Tollywood (Telugu film industry) personalities including actors and directors, to be summoned by the ED.
In a left-handed compliment to Delhi Chief Minister Atishi, Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena on Friday said she is 'a thousand times better' than her predecessor Arvind Kejriwal.
Steel makers in Punjab has termed the excise duty demand raised by the central excise department as unjustified and has sought intervention of the chairman of Central Board of Excise and Customs in the matter.
Chief Minister-designate Atishi will be sworn in along with her new Council of ministers during a ceremony at the Raj Niwas on Saturday afternoon that will see Aam Aadmi Party form the government in Delhi for the fourth time in a row.
India on Thursday said the United States State Department's recent remarks on the arrest of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal is 'unwarranted' and asserted the country is 'proud of its independent and robust democratic institutions' and committed to protect them from any form of undue external influences.
The Enforcement Directorate on Thursday arrested Aam Aadmi Party leader and former deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia on money laundering charges in connection with alleged irregularities in the Delhi excise policy, official sources said.
The Enforcement Directorate on Friday claimed before a Delhi court that Aam Aadmi Party leader and former deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia was involved in "large scale destruction of digital evidence to impede investigation" into the Delhi excise policy case and had changed and destroyed 14 phones.
Bangladesh MP Anwarul Azim Anar, who went missing in Kolkata on May 13, was found murdered and three people have been arrested, Bangladesh Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan said on Wednesday.
The Supreme Court of India expressed concern over the appointment of DMK leader V Senthil Balaji as a minister in the Tamil Nadu government despite pending money laundering cases against him. The court questioned the state government's decision, stating it is "terribly wrong" to appoint a person as a minister while facing legal proceedings. The matter has been adjourned to January 15, 2025.
Don't create an "atmosphere of fear", the Supreme Court Tuesday told the Enforcement Directorate (ED) after the Chhattisgarh government alleged the probe agency is "running amok" and is trying to implicate Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel in a money laundering case linked to the alleged Rs 2,000 crore liquor scam in the state.
Ministry of External Affairs officials summoned the Acting Deputy Chief of Mission Gloria Berbena at its office in South Block in Delhi and lodged a strong protest against a US State Department official's remarks on Kejriwal's arrest.
A day after the Aam Aadmi Party claimed that Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had lost 8.5 kg in prison, Tihar jail sources on Monday said he had only lost 2 kg and he was being regularly monitored by a medical board of AIIMS.
With the Income Tax department recovering over Rs 225 crore cash during a series of raids on an Odisha-based distillery group on charges of tax evasion, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday assured the people that the money looted from the public will be returned.
Officials said the agency may ask the chief minister about the policy formulation process especially of the "untraceable" file which was earlier slated to be put before the Council of Ministers.
An embarrassed Central Excise Department on Tuesday hastily withdrew notices sent to four Bharatiya Janata Party offices demanding service tax on prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi's rallies after angry reaction from the main opposition party which questioned the government's motive.
