17 new faces in Modi Govt; Javedekar elevated to cabinet rank

July 5, 2016

New Delhi, Jul 5: 17 new faces including BJP leaders S S Ahluwalia, and M J Akbar and allies Anupriya Patel of Apna Dal and Ramdas Athawale of RPI were today inducted along with two old hands Vijay Goel and Faggan Kulaste into the Modi government in expansion and reshuffle in which five were dropped and Environment Minister Prakash Javedekar was elevated to the Cabinet.

Javedekar

The second exercise by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in little more than two years since he took over in May 2014 saw a number a dalit and OBC leaders being given ministerial positions done apparently with an eye on assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand next year and Gujarat later.

Javadekar, who held independent charge of Environment, was the lone minister to be promoted to the cabinet rank while all new inductees took oath as Ministers of State. Earlier, there was speculation that Power Minister Piyush Goel and Commerce Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will be elevated to the Cabinet.

Ajay Tamta (Uttarakhand), Arjun Ram Meghwal (Rajasthan), Krishna Raj (UP), Athawale (Maharashtra), Ramesh C Jigajinagi (Karnataka) were among the dalit MPs administered the oath of Office and Secrecy by President Pranab Mukherjee at a ceremony in Rashtrapati Bhawan attended by Vice-President Hamid Ansari, Modi, his cabinet colleagues, BJP President Amit Shah and leaders allied parties among others. No Congress leader was present.

Others who were inducted included P P Chaudhary, C R Chaudhary (Rajasthan), A M Dave, Faggan Singh Kulaste (Madhya Pradesh), Mahendra Nath Pandey (UP), Purshotam Rupala, J Bhabhor and Mansukhbhai Mandaviya (Gujarat), Rajen Gohain (Assam) and S R Bhamre (Maharashtra).

Akbar was elected recently to Rajya Sabha from Madhya Pradesh while Goel represents Rajasthan in the Upper House. Ahluwalia was elected to Lok Sabha from Darjling while Anupriya Patel was elected from Mirzapur in UP.

Those dropped from the ministry are Nihalchand, Ram Shankar Katheria, Sanwar Lal Jat, Manuskhbhai D Vasava and M K Kundariya. All barring Goel and Faggan Kulaste are new faces while a few have been ministers in BJP-ruled state governments.

After the dropping of five ministers, today's expansion took the total strength of the Council of Ministers to 78, four below the Constitutional bar of 82. The Council of Ministers can have a maximum of 15 per cent of the total strength of the Lok Sabha, which has 542 members.

Official sources said the exercise was aimed at infusing more "experience, expertise and energy" into the government.

The choices also underscore BJP's attempts to strengthen its vote base among dalits and other backward castes, party sources said, adding that states, where it has done well in the Lok Sabha polls and also where it faces state polls, have also now got ample representation. The saffron party has been trying to woo the weaker sections ahead of the crucial UP polls.

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News Network
February 26,2020

Mumbai, Feb 26: Observing that the violence in Delhi is akin to a "horror film" depicting the grim reality of the 1984 anti-Sikh riots, the Shiv Sena on Wednesday said the "bloodbath" has brought disrepute to the national capital like never before while US President Donald Trump was in India with the "message of love".

The editorial in party mouthpiece 'Saamana' lamented that Trump was welcomed in Delhi while there was bloodbath on the streets.

It further said that the violence could potentially spread the message that the Central government has failed to maintain the law and order situation in Delhi.

"Violence has erupted in Delhi. People are on the streets equipped with canes, swords, revolvers, blood is being spilled on the roads. Some horror film-like situation is being witnessed in Delhi, which depicts the grim reality of the 1984 riots," the Sena said.

It further said the BJP was still blaming the Congress for the deaths of hundreds of Sikhs in the violence that was erupted after assassination of then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.

It needs to be unravelled who is responsible for the current riots in Delhi, the Sena said while referring to the "language of threats and warning used by some BJP leaders".

"The national capital was burning at a time when Prime Minister Narendra Modi and visiting US President Trump were holding talks.

"It does not augur well that Trump was welcomed in Delhi with the horror film of violence, bloodbath on the streets, screams of people, and tear gases. Trump saheb came to Delhi with a message of love, but what unfolded before him? 'Namaste' in Ahmedabad and violence in Delhi. Never before Delhi was defamed like this," the editorial said.

Trump had begun his February 24-25 India visit from Ahmedabad in Gujarat.

Seventeen people have died so far and over hundred were injured in the violence that has gripped several parts of north east Delhi over the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) since Sunday.

Attacking the Central government over reports that the violence was timed with Trump's visit, Sena said, "the Union Home Ministry has alleged that a conspiracy was hatched to defame India internationally by triggering the violence during Trump's visit to the national capital.

"The Home Ministry not knowing about the conspiracy behind the violence over the CAA is detrimental to national security. There is no problem in controlling the riots with the same courage with which Article 370 and 35A were scrapped," the editorial said.

It further said the anti-CAA protest at Shaheen Bagh in Delhi was yet to be called off yet despite the Supreme Court appointing mediators.

"It is being said that the violence sparked off after some BJP leaders talked the language of threats and warning. So, did someone want the peaceful agitation (at Shaheen Bagh) to acquire the present form of riots? (They) could have waited for at least Trump to leave the country," the Sena said.

The Uddhav Thackeray-led party also questioned the timing of the riots, which are occurring days after the results of the Delhi assembly polls.

"It is mysterious that the violence broke out days after the BJP lost the Delhi assembly elections. The BJP lost and now this is the condition of Delhi," the Sena said.

The Uddhav Thackeray-led party, a former ally of the BJP, now shares power in Maharashtra with the NCP and the Congress.

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coastaldigest.com news network
August 7,2020

 

Kozhikode: An Air India Express flight from Dubai with 190 people on board overshot the Kozhikode tabletop runway on landing there today. The Boeing 737 “fell off” the runway into the valley, broke into two causing death and devastation. 

According to reports, around 20 people were dead including two pilots.

An Air India spokesperson said: “Air India Express flight IX 1344 operated by Boeing 737 aircraft from Dubai to Calicut overshot the runway at Kozhikode at 7.41 pm Friday. No fire reported at the time of landing. There are 174 passengers, 10 infants, two pilots and five cabin crew on board. Rescue operations are on and passengers are being taken to hospital for medical care. We will soon share the update in this regard.”

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) is probing this accident. “Prima facie, the aircraft landed beyond the touchdown point and fell into a valley. It has broken into two. We suspect some casualties. More information is awaited,” said a senior DGCA official.

Taking to twitter, defence minister Rajnath Singh wrote: “Devastating news from Kozhikode, Kerala. I am deeply anguished by the loss of lives due to an accident carrying several passengers on Air India flight. In this hour of grief, my thoughts are with the bereaved families. I pray for the speedy recovery of the injured.”

Foreign minister S Jaishankar tweeted: “Deeply distressed to hear about the Air India Express tragedy at Kozhikode. Prayers are with the bereaved families and those injured. We are ascertaining further details.”

While, senior BJP leader from Kerala K J Alphons tweeted: “Second tragedy of the day in Kerala: Air India Express skids off the run way at Kozhikode, front portion splits , pilot dies and lots of passengers injured . All passengers evacuated. Very lucky the aircraft didn’t catch fire.”

More details are awaited.

Watch video | Air India flight from Dubai skids off runway in Kerala, splits into two pic.twitter.com/qgGxEEG2e3

— coastaldigest.com (@coastaldigest) August 7, 2020

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News Network
May 28,2020

Bhopal, May 28: A Bhopal-based high net worth individual hired a 180-seater A320 plane of a private carrier to ferry four family members to New Delhi, in a bid to avoid crowd at the airport and in flight amid the COVID-19 outbreak, officials said on Thursday.

The person, who is a liquor baron, chartered the aircraft to send to Delhi his daughter, her two children and their maid, who were stuck in Bhopal since the last two months due to the coronavirus-induced lockdown, sources said.

The plane arrived here from Delhi on Monday with crew only and flew back with just four passengers for whom it was specially hired, they said.

"The A320 180-seater plane arrived here on May 25 to carry four members of a family, probably due to the coronavirus scare. It was chartered by someone and there was no medical emergency, an airline official said, refusing to divulge any further details.

Bhopals Rajabhoj Airport Director Anil Vikram could not be contacted for comments.

According to aviation experts, the cost of hiring an Airbus-320 is about Rs 20 lakh.

Domestic commercial flight services resumed from Monday, after a nearly two-month break due to the coronavirus-enforced lockdown.

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