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Cabinet reshuffle: New team will meet challenges ahead, Manmohan says

[email protected] (PTI)
October 28, 2012

singh

New Delhi, October 28: Battling perceptions of policy paralysis, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Sunday effected a major reshuffle of his council of ministers and expressed confidence that the new team would be able to meet the challenges ahead.

"It is a combination of youth, experience and relevance to the portfolios that have been entrusted to the ministers," Singh told reporters soon after the new ministers were sworn in at a brief ceremony at the Rashtrapati Bhawan.

Singh was asked about the message he sought to give through the reshuffle.

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Asked about the road ahead for the government, the Prime Minister said, "The road ahead is full of challenges. But this is a team, which I hope will be able to meet those challenges."

Singh said that this would probably be the last reshuffle of the council of ministers before the 2014 general elections.

The Prime Minister also ruled out early elections and said polls would be held on time.

Asked about the ministers who were dropped from the Cabinet, Singh said that their services were required in the party.

"Well, the party also needs strengthening. Men and women of experience can be equally productive in strengthening the party," he said.

Ambika Soni, Mukul Wasnik, SM Krishna, Subodhkant Sahay, Mahadeo Singh Khandela and Vincent Pala were among those who resigned from the council of ministers ahead of the exercise.

The Prime Minister himself is also in-charge of the ministries/departments not specifically allocated to the charge of any minister namely ministry of personnel, public grievances and pensions; ministry of planning; department of atomic energy and department of space.

Manmohan Singh's team as it looks now:

CABINET MINISTERS

Sharad Pawar: Minister of agriculture and minister of food processing industries

AK Antony: Minister of defence

P Chidambaram: Minister of finance

Sushil Kumar Shinde: Minister of home affairs

Salman Khursheed: Minister of external affairs

Ghulam Nabi Azad: Minister of health and family welfare

M Veerappa Moily: Minister of petroleum and natural gas

Farooq Abdullah: Minister of new and renewable energy

S Jaipal Reddy: Science and technology and earth sciences

Kamal Nath: Minister of urban development & parliamentary affairs

Ajit Singh: Minister of civil aviation

Vayalar Ravi: Minister of overseas indian affairs

Mallikarjun Kharge: Minister of labour and employment

Kapil Sibal: Minister of communications and information technology

Anand Sharma Minister of Commerce and Industry Minister of Textiles

CP Joshi: Minister of road transport and highways

Kumari Selja: Minister of social justice and empowerment

GK Vasan: Minister of shipping

Pawan K Bansal: Minister of railways

MK Alagiri: Minister of chemicals and fertilizers

Praful Patel: Minister of heavy industries and public enterprises

Shriprakash Jaiswal: Minister of coal

K Rahman Khan: Minister of minority affairs

V Kishore Chandra Deo: Minister of tribal affairs minister of panchayati raj

Beni Prasad Verma: Minister of steel

Jairam Ramesh: Minister of rural development

Dinsha Patel: Minister of mines

Ajay Maken: Minister of housing and urban poverty alleviation

MM Pallam Raju: Minister of human resource development

Ahswani Kumar: Minister of law and justice

Harish Rawat: Minister of water resources

Chandresh Kumari Katoch: Minister of culture

MINISTERS OF STATE WITH INDEPENDENT CHARGE

Manish Tewari: Minister of state (independent charge) of the ministry of information and broadcasting

Krishna Tirath: Minister of state (independent charge) of the ministry of women and child development

K Chiranjeevi: Minister of state (independent charge) of the ministry of tourism

KV Thomas: Minister of state (independent charge) of the ministry of consumer affairs, food and public distribution

Srikant Jena: Minister of state (independent charge) of the ministry of statistics and programme implementation and minister of state of the ministry of chemicals and fertilizers

Jayanthi Natrajan: Minister of state (independent charge) of the ministry of environment and forests

Paban Singh Ghatowar: Minister of state (independent charge) of the ministry of development of north eastern region and minister of state of the ministry of parliamentary affairs

Jyotiraditya Madhavrao Scindia: Minister of state (independent charge) of the ministry of power.

KH Muniappa: Minister of state (independent charge) of the ministry of micro, small and medium enterprises

Sachin Pilot: Minister of state (independent charge) of the ministry of corporate affairs

Jitendra Singh: Minister of state (independent charge) of the ministry of youth affairs and sports

Bharatsinh Solanki: Minister of state (independent charge) of the ministry of drinking water and sanitation

MINISTERS OF STATE:

E Ahamed: Minister of state in the ministry of external affairs

D Purandeswari: Minister of state in the ministry of commerce and industry

Jitin Prasada: Minister of state in the ministry of defence and human resource development

S Jagathrakshakan: Minister of state in the ministry of new and renewable energy

KC Venugopal: Minister of state in the ministry of civil aviation

Rajeev Shukla: Minister of state in the ministry of parliamentary affairs and planning

Mullappally Ramachandran: Minister of state in the ministry of home affairs

V Narayanasamy: Minister of state in the ministry of personnel, public grievances and pensions minister of state in the prime minister's office

RPN Singh: Minister of state in the ministry of home

Panabaka Lakshmi: Minister of state in the ministry of textiles.

KJ Surya Prakash Reddy: Minister of state in the ministry of railways

Ranee Narah: Minister of state in the ministry of tribal affairs

Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury: Minister of state in the ministry of railways

AH Khan Choudhury: Minister of state in the ministry of health and family welfare

Sarvey Sathyanarayana: Minister of state in the ministry of road transport and highways

Ninong Ering: Minister of state in the ministry of minority affairs

Deepa Dasmunsi: Minister of state in the ministry of culture

Porika Balram Naik: Minister of state in the ministry of social justice and empowerment

Shri Kruparani Killi: Minister f state in the ministry of communications and information technology

Lalchand Kataria: Minister of state in the ministry of defence

Namo Narain Meena: Minister of state in the ministry of finance

SS Palanimanickam: Minister of state in the ministry of finance

Preneet Kaur: Minister of state in the ministry of external affairs

Sisir Adhikari: Minister of state in the ministry of rural development

D Napoleon: Minister of state in the ministry of social justice and empowerment

S Gandhiselvan: Minister of state in the ministry of health and family welfare

Tusharbhai Chaudhary: Minister of state in the ministry of road transport and highways

Prateek Prakashbapu Patil: Minister of state in the ministry of coal

Pradeep Jain: Minister of state in the ministry of rural development

Charan Das Mahant: Minister of state in the ministry of agriculture minister of state in the ministry of food processing industries

Milind Deora: Minister of state in the ministry of communications and information technology

Shashi Tharoor: Minister of state in the ministry of human resource development

Kodikunnil Suresh: Minister of state in the ministry of labour and employment

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News Network
January 6,2020

Jan 6: India’s Finance Ministry has delivered a challenge to its revenue collectors: meet tax targets despite $20 billion of corporate tax cuts.

Through a video conference on Dec. 16, officials were exhorted to meet the direct tax mop-up target of 13.4 trillion rupees ($187 billion), a government official told reporters. Collection in the eight months to November grew at 5% from a year earlier, against the desired 17%.

The missive shows Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s urgent need to buoy public finances in a slowing economy where April-November tax collections were half the amount budgeted. Authorities withheld some payments to states and have capped ministries’ expenditure as the fiscal deficit ballooned beyond the target.

The government’s efforts to maintain its deficit goal goes against advice from some quarters, including central bank Governor Shaktikanta Das, who urged more spending to spur economic growth.

It’s uncertain though how much room Modi’s administration has to boost expenditure, given that it may already be borrowing as much as 540 billion rupees through state-run companies, a figure that isn’t reflected on the federal balance sheet. Uncertainty about public finances pushed up sovereign yields in November and December, compelling Das to announce unconventional policies to keep costs in check.

“This is not a time to conceal the fiscal deficit by off-budget borrowing or deferring payments,” said Indira Rajaraman, an economist and a former member of the Reserve Bank of India’s board. “If they were to stick to the target, that would be catastrophic because there is so much pump-priming that is needed right now.”

GDP grew 4.5% in the quarter ended September, the slowest pace in more than six years as both consumption and investments cooled in Asia’s third-largest economy. Only government spending supported the expansion, piling pressure on Modi to keep stimulating.

S&P Global Ratings warned in December it may downgrade India’s sovereign ratings if economic growth doesn’t recover. Government support seems to be waning now, with ministries asked to cap spending in the final quarter of the financial year at 25% of the amount budgeted rather than 33% allowed earlier. This new rule will hamstring sectors including agriculture, aviation and coal, where not even half of annual targets have been disbursed.

As the federal government runs short of money, it’s been delaying payouts to state administrations.

Private hospitals have threatened to suspend cash-less services to government employees over non-payment of dues, while a builder informed the stock exchange about delayed rental payments from no less than the tax office itself.

India is considering a litigation-settlement plan that will allow companies to exit lingering tax disputes by paying a portion of the money demanded by the government, the Economic Times newspaper reported Saturday.

The move will help improve the ease of doing business besides unlocking a part of the almost 8 trillion rupees ($111 billion) caught up in these disputes. The step, which is being considered as part of the annual budget, could also bridge India’s fiscal gap.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has refused to comment on the deficit goal before the official budget presentation due Feb. 1.

A deviation from target, if any, “will need to be balanced with a credible consolidation plan further-out,” said Radhika Rao, an economist at DBS Group Holdings Ltd. in Singapore.

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News Network
March 2,2020

New Delhi, Mar 2: The Supreme Court on Monday dismissed a curative petition filed by convict Pawan Kumar Gupta who was sentenced to death in the 2012 Nirbhaya gang rape and murder case.

A five-judge bench headed by Justice N V Ramana said that no case is made out for re-examining the conviction and the punishment of the convict.

Other members of the bench were justices Arun Mishra, R F Nariman, R Banumathi and Ashok Bhushan.

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News Network
April 5,2020

Alappuzha, Apr 5: Coming to the rescue of a toddler in need of crucial treatment for cancer, the Kerala health department scrambled its resources for transporting a toddler from here to Hyderabad on Sunday.

In a co-ordinated action, the department arranged for an ambulance and necessary travel permits for the nearly 16-hour 1,100 km inter-state journey that started at 7.15 am from Cherthala in this district with the entire cost to be borne by the state government.

Health Minister K K Shailaja on Saturday said all steps have been taken to facilitate the travel of the toddler and her family members to Hyderabad after local media reports highlighted the plight of the child.

The state Chief Secretary had discussed the matter with his counterparts of other states en route to ensure a smooth journey,the Health Ministry said.

"The travel permit and directions to other states through which the ambulance has to pass were issued from the police headquarters. All district police chiefs were given instructions from the headquarters to arrange for passage of the ambulance," it said in a release.

The journey started at 7.15 am and they are expected to reach Hyderabad at 11 pm.

"The state government will bear the expenses incurred for the journey. The ambulance will remain in Hyderabad and will return with the family," it said.

The first phase of treatment was done at the L V Prasad Hospital in Hyderabad and the family was supposed to travel again within 21 days for the next phase of treatment.

As the family could not undertake the journey in view of the nation-wide lockdown to check coronavirus scare, the state government swung into action to help the child.

The number of confirmed novel coronavirus cases in the country climbed to 3,374 on Sunday while the death toll rose to 77, according to Union Health Ministry data.

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