Cabinet Reshuffle LIVE: Anurag Thakur takes charge as new I&B minisiter

Modi Cabinet Reshuffle LIVE: Union Home Minister Amit Shah is now the new head of the newly formed Ministry of Cooperation. Stay tuned for LIVE updates

7:00 PM

Cabinet briefing LIVE: APMCs will not be done away with, says Tomar

6:54 PM

Cabinet briefing LIVE: Govt allocates Rs 1 trillion under Atmanirbhar Bharat to Farmers Infrastructure Fund

6:50 PM

Cabinet briefing LIVE: Govt amends Coconut Board Act to increase Coconut farming

5:43 PM

Union Cabinet meeting underway in virtual format

4:36 PM

Lekhi, Rajkumar Ranjan Singh take charge as MoS in MEA; Jaishankar now has 3 deputies

Two new ministers of state, Meenakashi Lekhi and Rajkumar Ranjan Singh assumed charge in the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Thursday, a day after they were inducted into the union council of ministers as part of a massive reshuffle.

 

With the induction of Lekhi and Singh as MoS in the MEA, the number of deputies to External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has increased to three. V Muraleedharan, an MP from Kerala, has already been serving as a deputy to Jaishankar.

 

Both Lekhi and Singh were welcomed at the headquarters of the MEA by Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla.

 

Jaishankar, who is on a three-day visit to Moscow took to Twitter to welcome the two ministers to the MEA. (PTI)

4:01 PM

Meenakshi Lekhi takes charge as Minister of State for External Affairs.

3:33 PM

Bhupender Yadav plants a sapling and takes charge as the Minister of Environment & Labour

3:26 PM

Newly-appointed Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan joined PM Modi's interaction with IITs

3:05 PM

Dr Rajkumar Ranjan Singh takes charge as the MoS in the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA)

3:01 PM

Cabinet reshuffle LIVE: Law of land should be abided by everyone, says Ashwini Vaishnaw on Twitter row

2:20 PM

Cabinet reshuffle LIVE: Ashwini Vaishnaw assumes the charge of Minister of Communications

2:06 PM

Cabinet reshuffle LIVE updates: G Kishan Reddy takes charge as Union Minister for Culture

1:52 PM

Cabinet reshuffle LIVE updates: Ajay Bhatt takes charge as MoS for Tourism

1:29 PM

Subhas Sarkar takes charge as Minister of State for Education

Subhas Sarkar takes charge as Minister of State for Education

1:27 PM

Hardeep Singh Puri takes charge as the Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas

1:18 PM

Rajeev Chandrasekhar takes charge as the MoS in the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology

12:51 PM

Anurag Thakur calls on Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and thanks her for her support and guidance

Minister of Information and Broadcasting & Youth Affairs and Sports Anurag Thakur called on Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and thanked her for her support and guidance at the Ministry of Finance & Corporate Affairs. 

 

Thakur was an MoS in the Ministry.

12:46 PM

PM relies more on ex-bureaucrats than BJP cadres, says Manish Tewari after Cabinet reshuffle

Congress leader Manish Tewari on Thursday said that the Union Cabinet reshuffle has again underscored the excessive reliance of PM Modi on ex-bureaucrats instead of BJP cadres.

 

He added that he was surprised that Rajiv Pratap Rudy, Sudhanshu Trivedi, Rakesh Sinha, and Syed Shahnawaz Hussain were ignored.

 

"Cabinet Reshuffle again underscores excessive reliance of @PMOIndia on Ex bureaucrats as opposed to BJP cadres. @HardeepSPuri, @OfficeOfRKSingh @AshwiniVaishnaw are examples. Surprised that @RajivPratapRudy, @SudhanshuTrived @RakeshSinha01 @ShahnawazBJPBJP/RSS cadres ignored," tweeted Tewari.

 

As many as 43 leaders took oath on Wednesday in the first Union Cabinet reshuffle and expansion after Prime Minister Modi returned to power for a second term in May 2019.

12:14 PM

Kiren Rijiju takes charge as the Minister of Law and Justice

It is a huge responsibility for me to function as a Minister for Law & Justice. Fulfilling public expectations will be my priority. We will always try to be transparent: Newly-appointed Union Minister for Law and Justice Kiren Rijiju

12:04 PM

Nirmala Sitharaman shares a photo of women ministers who were sworn-in on Wednesday

11:31 AM

Cabinet Reshuffle LIVE: Dr Bharati Pravin Pawar takes charge as the MoS in MoHFW

11:27 AM

Cabinet Reshuffle LIVE: Mansukh Mandaviya takes charge as the Minister of Health and Family Welfare

10:13 AM

Ravi Shankar Prasad: The minister who took on big tech over compliance

On Wednesday evening, after the President accepted his resignation, the former Electronics and Information Technology minister Ravi Shankar Prasad changed his Twitter bio to "Member of Parliament from Patna Sahib Lok Sabha, Bihar. BJP worker".

 

Prasad has had a long stint—seven years—in his role as the IT minister for the country, in a government focused heavily on technology and digitalisation.

 

Programmes like Digital India, the Performance-Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme for electronics manufacturing, Common Service Centres, the Business Process Outsourcing scheme have been big focus areas for Prasad. Read on...

10:11 AM

Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank: Confusion over board exams may've led to his exit

The second wave of Covid-19 claimed many lives and is seen as the lowest point of the government’s handling of the pandemic. It has now claimed the portfolios of at least four ministers: two in the Ministry of Health and two in Education.

 

Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank cited health reasons for resigning from the council of ministers. However, it was a 360 degree review of the performance of the education ministry undertaken by PM Narendra Modi in June that appears to have convinced him of the need to replace the team. MoS Sanjay Dhotre was also asked to resign. Read on...

10:05 AM

Cabinet Reshuffle LIVE: Ashwini Vaishnaw takes charge as the minister of Railways

Ashwini Vaishnaw takes charge as the minister of Railways

8:51 AM

Modi Cabinet 2.0, with 77 ministers, is all about politics and governance

In the most comprehensive reshuffle of his council of ministers in his seven-year tenure, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday sacked many senior colleagues, elevated some, and infused the government with new, young faces. A new ministry of cooperation was also created. In all, 43 ministers were sworn in, taking the strength of the council of ministers to 77.

 

The reshuffle had politics at its heart, but the inclusion of several technocrats and former bureaucrats suggested that governance and efficiency were the immediate priorities after the devastation left behind by the Covid-19 pandemic. The government seemed to have accepted responsibility for lapses, but signalled the intention to move ahead aggressively. Read on...

8:39 AM

PM Modi congratulates newly appointed ministers

12:15 AM

Bhupender Yadav sworn-in as Union Minister for Environment, and Climate Change, Labour and Employment

12:08 AM

Cabinet Reshuffle LIVE: LJP leader Pashupati Kumar Paras gets the Ministry of Food Processing

Lok Sabha MP from Bihar's Hajipur Pashupati Kumar Paras is embroiled in a feud with nephew Chirag Paswan over the control of Ram Vilas Paswan-founded Lok Janshakti Party. He was sworn in as a Cabinet minister today at the Rashtrapati Bhavan. 

12:03 AM

Cabinet Reshuffle LIVE: Narayan Rane gets Ministry of micro, small and medium enterprises