Smriti Irani removed from I&B Minister post as PM Modi reshuffles cabinet

News Network
May 15, 2018

New Delhi, May 15: After a string of controversies involving the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (I&B), Prime Minister Narendra Modi late on Monday evening divested Smriti Irani of the high-profile portfolio and elevated junior minister under her, Col. Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore. He is the new Minister of State with independent charge of the Ministry.

Change at the I&B is part of a mini-reshuffle in the Cabinet effected by the PM, who has assigned the vital Ministry of Finance to Railways Minister Piyush Goyal, who will be at the helm of the Ministry of Finance till Arun Jaitley fully recovers after his successful kidney transplant surgery on Monday.

Ms. Irani helmed the Ministry for fewer than 10 months. She had replaced Venkaiah Naidu who resigned after he was elected to the post of Vice-President of India. This is the second time that Ms. Irani has been divested of an important portfolio. She was appointed Minister for Human Resource and Development in May 2014. After a little over two years, she was replaced by Prakash Javedkar. She remained away from the limelight handling the relatively obscure Ministry of Textiles for over a year before getting I&B in July last year.

Ms. Irani’s stint at the I&B was controversial — from fighting with the Prasar Bharti Board to issuing a notification on “fake news”, which was eventually withdrawn at the behest of the PMO. The latest row involved the President of India regarding the National Film Awards ceremony.

“The government was fed up with constant controversies generated by her,” a top functionary in the government told The Hindu, adding that “the government felt embarrassed at every controversy she created.” After the awards function row, the Rashtrapati Bhavan conveyed to the PMO its unhappiness at the manner in which the office of the President was dragged into a controversy.

Earlier in April this year, Prime Minister Modi had directed that the press release on ‘fake news’ be withdrawn, and that the matter should be addressed only in the Press Council of India. The press release was issued by the I&B Ministry, which had amended guidelines and sought to punish journalists by cancelling their accreditation if found circulating fake news.

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News Network
May 24,2020

New Delhi, May 24: India witnessed the biggest ever spike of 6,767 positive cases in the last 24 hours, taking the total number of COVID-19 cases to 1,31,868, according to the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

As many as 147 deaths have been reported in the last 24 hours, taking the death toll to 3,867.
Out of the total number of cases, 73,560 are active and 54,440 have been cured/discharged and one migrated.

Maharashtra continues to remain the worst-affected state with 47,190 COVID-19 cases. It is followed by Tamil Nadu (15,512), Gujarat (13,664), and Delhi (12,910).

The nationwide lockdown imposed as a precautionary measure to contain the spread of COVID-19 has been extended till May 31.

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News Network
June 10,2020

Patna, Jun 10: A man in Bihar has willed half his property to two elephants after one of them foiled an attempt on his life by a pistol-totting criminal.

Akhtar Imam, chief manager of the Asian Elephant Rehabilitation and Wildlife Animal Trust (AERAWAT), said he has been looking after elephants since the age of 12.

"Once, there was an attempt of murder made against me. At that time the elephants saved me. When some miscreants armed with pistols tried to enter my room my elephant started trumpeting. It woke me up and I was able to shout and raise an alarm due to which the miscreants ran away," Imam said.

Imam says the two elephants, named Moti and Rani are like family for him and he cannot live without them.

However, the man claims that he fears threats to his life from his family members after he transferred his land to his two elephants. Imam's wife and sons have been living away from him for the last 10 years due to some dispute in the family.

He recounted that his son had allegedly filed a wrong case against him and also got him locked up. He eventually was let away after the charges levelled against him were proven wrong.

Imam said that his son Meraj had tried to sell the elephant to smugglers but was fortunately caught.

Imam says he has willed half of his property to his wife and his share of property worth Rs 5 crore to elephants said that if the jumbos die then the money would go to AERAWAT organisation.

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News Network
April 3,2020

New Delhi, Apr 3: Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind leader Mahmood Madani on Thursday said that misbehaviour with doctors cannot be tolerated as they are working to protect everyone.

"We can only spread awareness about coronavirus that its only cure is by taking precautions. The government shared the precautions that people should not take part in any gathering, be clean and maintain social distance. After the reports, it will clear that how it is spread in the country," Madani told news agency.

"People who are objecting to testing in Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Narayan Hospital are very wrong and they should follow the instructions.

Hospital authorities and administration should talk to them. Today doctors are our soldiers who protect us and wrong behaviour with doctors cannot be tolerated," he added.

He further said that Jamiat wrote to the PM Narendra Modi that they will provide a place for 10,000 people in different states. Our workers also distributed food to one lakh people, he added.

People who attended a religious prayer meeting from March 13-15 at Markaz in the Nizamuddin area of Delhi were sent to Lok Nayak Hospital for coronavirus test on March 30.

The Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Thursday said that there are 2,069 coronavirus positive cases in India, including 1,860 active cases, 156 cured/discharged/migrated people and 53 deaths.

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