Political needs of the Congress largely drove the reshuffle of ministers
Having staged a successful revolt against the latter's son Chirag Paswan, the Lok Sabha MP from Hajipur in Bihar now seems poised to come into his own.
In yet another jolt for the Trinamool Congress dispensation, West Bengal forest minister Rajib Banerjee quit the Mamata Banerjee cabinet, joining the growing list of dissenters who have put the ruling camp in a tight spot ahead of the assembly elections.
On one hand, South Indian states have been complaining about denial of a proportionate portion of the sharable funds from the Centre, based on population. On the other hand, they stand to lose Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha seats that again are based on population, points out N Sathiya Moorthy.
Governor Acharya Devvrat administered the oath to 10 cabinet ministers and 14 ministers of state, including five ministers of state with independent charge.
India urged Canada to disallow activities of groups promoting extremism, prevent attacks on places of worship of religious and racial minorities, and enhance measures to address hate crimes and hate speech.
Six years after the rollout of the biggest indirect tax reform in India, Goods and Services Tax (GST) revenue of Rs 1.5 lakh crore every month has become a new normal and tax officers are focusing on dealing with fraudsters who are adopting newer modus operandi to game the system, causing loss to the exchequer. To apprehend black sheep, who operate as syndicates and create fake entities on the basis of forged documents to claim input tax credit (ITC), tax officers have started using data analytics, artifical intelligence and machine learning aiming to curb evasion, which was over Rs 3 lakh crore since inception of GST. It was over Rs 1 lakh crore in 2022-23. Thinktank Global Trade Research Initiative (GTRI) said the most critical pending GST reform is upgradation of GST Network to prevent fake supplies and fraudulent claims of Input Tax Credit (ITC).
The minister will review the COVID-19 situation at 11:30 am on Wednesday 'considering the international scenario', they said.
The bid to extend the tenure of the present chief secretary is the latest bone of contention between the Arvind Kejriwal government and Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena, who have been involved in a series of run-ins over various issues.
A plea has been filed in the Supreme Court seeking directions to the Election Commission and the government for holding early assembly polls in Jammu and Kashmir.
At 79, Zoramthanga is working to rebuild his image as the people's CM.
The opposition Left and the Congress will not participate in the oath-taking ceremony to protest against post-poll violence in the northeastern state.
Former United Progressive Alliance ally Trinanmool Congress on Sunday said West Bengal was "thoroughly deprived" in the reshuffle of the Union council of ministers as none was made a Cabinet minister and the three Congress leaders made ministers of state were there only to "needle" TC.
The stage is set now for a major revamp of the Union Council of Ministers on Sunday with the likely induction of at least ten new faces and promotion of some ministers of state, besides a rejig in the Cabinet, in which Anand Sharma may get the external affairs portfolio.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday made a fresh push for reforms in global institutions, including the United Nations, asserting that the world's 'new realities' should be reflected in 'new global structure' as it is nature's law that those who don't change with times lose their relevance.
Two Union ministers and two senior Uttar Pradesh Congress legislators got together and roughed up a handful of Samajwadi Party activists who attempted to stage a black flag demonstration against Congress General Secretary Rahul Gandhi on his arrival in Allahabad on Monday afternoon.
The Union Council of Ministers is likely to undergo a substantive reshuffle which could see the possible induction of Rahul Gandhi into the Cabinet along with some other new faces and the exit of a few ministers.
The reshuffle had politics at its heart, so the biggest complement of new ministers, both Cabinet rank and below, came from UP, which will see assembly elections in a few months.
The push given to rooftop solar installation in the Interim Budget ties in with its high rate of adoption in Tier-II and -III cities of India. If original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) in the automobile industry, government, and the solar sector are to be believed, in cities of Rajasthan, Gujarat, and Kerala, 45-50 per cent of electric-vehicle (EV) users are employing rooftop power to charge their vehicles. This is compared to the national average of 25 per cent, say industry sources.
A plea has been filed in the Supreme Court seeking a direction to the Lok Sabha secretariat for inauguration of the new Parliament building by President Droupadi Murmu.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Moscow sees the prospect of making the Security Council more democratic, exclusively, through broadening the representation of countries from Africa, Asia and Latin America.
India and Pakistan haven't played a bilateral series since 2012/13, after that series the bilateral cricket ties between India and Pakistan have been suspended due to the heightened diplomatic tensions between the two neighbours.
The reshuffle may take place before Modi departs for China to attend the BRICS summit.
Fighting shy of affecting a complete overhaul of the union council of ministers where many ministers are holding dual charges, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress President Sonia Gandhi confined themselves to a mere change of portfolios before the monsoon session of Parliament begins on August 8. Renu Mittal reports.
Lok Sabha proceedings on Tuesday began in the new Parliament building, located adjacent to the old one, starting a new chapter in the parliamentary history of India.
Chaudhary also said that 66 per cent of government-sponsored health insurance schemes in the country are being run by the central government. "When the COVID-19 pandemic started, a decision was made for sale of all medicines at the GST rate between 5 and 12 per cent and the GST rate for COVID-19 related medicines and instruments has been reduced to five per cent," he said during the Question Hour.
Showing respect to the Indian flag, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday immediately picked up the tricolour placed on stage at a BRICS meeting here to mark the standing place of every leader so as not to step on it.
In a letter to Rajasthan Governor Kalraj Mishra, senior Congress leaders and former law ministers Ashwani Kumar, Kapil Sibal and Salman Khurshid said the Governor's office, as envisaged under the country's constitutional scheme, is above and beyond the constraints and compulsions of partisan politics, 'so that its holder can act freely and fairly to uphold the Constitution'.
Environmental activist and educator Sonam Wangchuk accused the BJP of reneging on its promise of including Ladakh under the sixth schedule.
With Trinamool Congress walking out of the United Progressive Alliance, a reshuffle-cum-expansion of the Union Council of Ministers is likely to be effected this week.
The ruling Mizo National Front led by Zoramthanga is looking for a second straight term in the 2023 assembly polls.
...Is a cultural swaraj under way, wonders Ajit Balakrishnan.
Bharatiya Janata Party leaders Sarbananda Sonowal, Jyotiraditya Scindia and Narayan Rane, all of whom are being seen as probables for induction as ministers in the Modi government, arrived in the national capital on Tuesday amid indications that the Union Council of Ministers is likely to be expanded on Wednesday.
Chief Ministers of a number of states including those from Gujarat, Bihar, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal on Saturday skipped the meeting of the prime minister-led National Integration Council in New Delhi.
Controversial Jairam Ramesh was on Tuesday elevated to Cabinet status and shifted from the high-profile Environment Ministry and Veerappa Moily replaced by Salman Khursheed as Law Minister in a substantive reshuffle of the Union Council of Ministers, in which several ministers continued to hold additional charge of some key portfolios.
Parliament was adjourned for the day on Wednesday due to uproar by the Opposition members over Lakhimpur Kheri killings in Lok Sabha and the suspension of 12 members in Rajya Sabha.
Congress President Sonia Gandhi on Saturday met Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh giving further momentum to the talk of an imminent cabinet reshuffle possible early next week.
"Have just got the good news that due to the hard work of our teams and your cooperation, a consensus has been reached on New Delhi G20 Leaders Summit Declaration," Modi said while addressing the second session of the Summit at the Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi.
The Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways has released a draft to amend the Indian Ports Act, 1908, which aims to bring in sweeping reforms in the sector by bringing non-major ports into the national fold, creating a new mechanism for resolution of disputes, and empowering maritime state development council (MSDC). The draft bill will see comments from stakeholders before being tabled in Parliament. "The Indian Ports Act, 1908 is more than 110 years old. It has become imperative that the Act is revamped to reflect the present-day frameworks, incorporate India's international obligations, address emerging environmental concerns, and aid the consultative development of the ports sector in the national interest," the shipping ministry said.
