PM's new team gets down to work

October 29, 2012

pmteam

New Delhi, October 29: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's new team got down to work Monday with new ministers taking charge and old ones relinquishing responsibilities after a mega revamp of the council of ministers that saw 15 new faces and many key ministries changing hands.

The major shake-up of the government Sunday, possibly the last before the 2014 general elections, saw Salman Khurshid taking over as India's new foreign minister, Pawan Kumar Bansal being made the new man to helm the railways ministry, M. Veerappa Moily being given petroleum and M.M. Pallam Raju being made human resource development minister.

S. Jaipal Reddy got science and technology and Kamal Nath got additional charge of parliamentary affairs besides urban development.

Amongst the ministers of state sworn in were Congress spokesperson Manish Tewari who got independent charge of information and broadcasting. Earlier with Ambika Soni, the ministry has been downgraded.

The exercise that sought to jettison perception of passivity in governance comes just ahead of two critical assembly elections in Himachal Pradesh and Gujarat.

"It is a combination of youth and experience," Manmohan Singh said Sunday after the ceremony at Rashtrapati Bhavan where President Pranab Mukherjee administered the oath of office.

"The road ahead is full of challenges," he said, expressing hope that this was the last such exercise before his UPA-II government heads for elections.

Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi did not join the government - leaving the field open for him to play a larger role in the party.

Seventeen new faces were inducted Sunday of which two ministers were of cabinet rank.

Of the seven new ministers sworn in with cabinet rank, two are debutants -- former Rajya Sabha deputy chairperson K. Rahman Khan and Congress MP Chandresh Kumari Katoch. The other five - Ajay Maken, M.M. Pallam Raju, Dinsha Patel, Harish Rawat and Ashwini Kumar - have been elevated to cabinet rank.

Fifteen ministers of state were also sworn in.

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News Network
July 10,2020

New Delhi, Jul 10: Nepal has banned all Indian news channels, except DD News, for alleged propaganda against the country.

Reports say that Nepal cable operators have stopped getting signals of Indian news channels.

Nepal government spokesperson Yuvaraj Khatiwada said: "We request all not to disseminate news that infringes sovereignty and self-respect of Nepalis. This includes the media of neighbouring countries. We might seek both political and legal remedies."

Earlier, Nepal has amended its map which show some Indian territory as part of it.

Nepal's parliament on June 13 adopted unanimously the Constitution Amendment Bill, paving the way for accommodating the updated political-administrative map, which includes Indian areas of Kalapani, Lipulekh and Limpiyadhura, in its symbol.

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News Network
March 12,2020

New Delhi, Mar 12: The Supreme Court told the Uttar Pradesh government on Thursday that as of now, there was no law that could back their action of putting up roadside posters of those accused of vandalism during anti-CAA protests in Lucknow.

An apex court bench refused to stay the March 9 Allahabad High Court order directing the Yogi Adityanath administration to remove the posters.

The top court, which grilled the Uttar Pradesh government for putting up such posters in public, described the plea as a matter that needed "further elaboration and consideration".

A vacation bench of justices U U Lalit and Aniruddha Bose said a "bench of sufficient strength" would consider next week the Uttar Pradesh government's appeal against the Allahabad High Court order directing the state administration to remove the posters of those accused of vandalism during anti-CAA protests.

It directed the apex court registry to put up the case file before Chief Justice of India (CJI) S A Bobde so that a "bench of sufficient strength can be constituted at the earliest to hear and consider" the case next week.

During the hearing, the bench told Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Uttar Pradesh government, that it was a matter of "great importance".

It asked Mehta whether the state government had the power to put up such posters.

The top court, however, said there was no doubt that action should be taken against rioters and they should be punished.

Mehta told the court that the posters were put up as a "deterrent" and the hoardings only said that these persons were liable to pay for their alleged acts during the violence.

Senior advocate A M Singhvi, appearing for former IPS officer S R Darapuri whose poster has also been affixed in Lucknow, told the bench that the state was duty-bound to show the authority of law backing its action.

He said the action of the Uttar Pradesh government amounted to a "mega blanket" approach of naming and shaming these persons without final adjudication and it was an open invitation to common men to lynch them as the posters also had their addresses and photographs.

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News Network
March 26,2020

Panaji, Mar 26: Three persons, all with travel history abroad, tested positive for coronavirus in Goa on Wednesday, health department officials said, as the tourist haven joined the states which have reported COVID-19 cases.

This is the first time the tourist state has reported coronavirus positive cases.

The Directorate of Health Services, in a late night press statement here, said three suspected cases of COVID-19 from Goa, whose test results were awaited, have turned out positive.

All three are male patients of ages 25, 29 and 55 years. They have travel history of returning to Goa from Spain, Australia and the USA, respectively, the officials said.

The condition of the trio, admitted in Goa Medical College and Hospital near here, is stable, the officials added.

Chief Minister Pramod Sawant said the state is providing the best healthcare facility to the diagnosed patients.

I have been informed by the state Directorate of Health services that three individuals have been tested positive for #COVID19 in Goa.

"We are providing the best healthcare facility to the diagnosed patients, he said.

Their condition is stable at present. e have also traced their contacts and are quarantining them, Sawant added.

Health Minister Vishwajit Rane said the government is taking all precautions and following guidelines related to the viral infection.

In view of the three positive coronavirus cases in Goa, we are following all guidelines laid down by the central government and taking all precautions with the support of chief minister Pramod Sawant, he said.

Our testing facility will be up and running in the next two days. Our team of doctors is doing its est to make sure we contain the spread of virus in the state, Rane added.

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