Page 7 - Union Cabinet

Piyush Goyal returns as Union minister in new avatar as 1st time LS member

Piyush Goyal, who handled key ministries, including Commerce and Industry, in the second Modi government, won his debut Lok Sabha poll from the Mumbai North constituency with an impressive vote margin. Goyal, 59, who has been a Rajya Sabha member since 2010, eloquently articulated the government's position on different occasions during debates on various issues in the Upper House of Parliament. Before the polls, Goyal hit out at the opposition leaders for labelling him an outsider, and said he was born in Mumbai, studied in the H R College and Government Law College, started his Chartered Accountancy practice in Lalbaug and worked as an investment banker on Nepean Sea Road. "There can be nobody more Mumbaikar than me," Goyal, who hails from an illustrious political family, told PTI last month. On Sunday, he again became the Union cabinet minister, this time as a Lok Sabha member. In the recently-concluded Lok Sabha polls, Goyal won against Congress candidate Bhushan Patil from the

Being twice CM to Union minister, Kumaraswamy demonstrates political acumen

Two-time chief minister and five-time MLA JD(S) leader H D Kumaraswamy has once again demonstrated his political acumen by bagging a seat in the union council of ministers, despite his party joining the BJP-led NDA just last year. Since the time of its founding in 1999, the JD(S) has never formed a government on its own in Karnataka, but has been in power twice in coalition with both national parties despite being a junior partner -- for 20 months with the BJP from February 2006 and for 14 months with the Congress after the May 2018 assembly polls. Kumaraswamy was chief minister on both occasions. The son of JD(S) patriarch and former prime minister H D Deve Gowda has now managed to secure a cabinet berth by allying with the BJP, at a time when his party was fighting the "battle for survival". The 64-year-old Vokkaliga leader has made no secret of his desire to become agriculture minister. By winning the Mandya Lok Sabha seat, the former CM has not only managed to regain the JD(S)'

JP Nadda returns to Union cabinet after stint as BJP national president

After leading the BJP as its national president for more than four years, JP Nadda returned to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's council of ministers on Sunday. The 63-year old took oath as a Cabinet minister, becoming the sole representative from Himachal Pradesh in the BJP-led government. It is not yet known which ministry will be assigned to him. He served as Union health minister in Modi's first term from November 9, 2014, to May 30, 2019. Nadda, who holds a degree in law, started his political journey with the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), the students' wing of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). He became president of the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM), the BJP's youth wing, in 1991. He held various key positions in the BJP, headed its election campaign in a host of states -- from Bihar to Uttar Pradesh, Kerala, Maharashtra and Punjab. He also served as a minister in BJP's governments in his home state of Himachal Pradesh. He was elected to the Rajya Sabha

Four-time MP CM, Shivraj Singh Chouhan enters Union cabinet for 1st time

Proving wrong his detractors' claim of being sidelined after denial of CM's post for fifth time last year, BJP leader Shivraj Singh Chouhan won Madhya Pradesh's Vidisha Lok Sabha seat for the sixth time by a record margin of 8.21 lakh votes. The former four-time MP chief minister, popularly known as "mama" (maternal uncle) and "paon-paon wale bhaiya" (foot soldier), assiduously worked on his 'soil of the soil' image and identified himself with the socio-economic concerns of farmers, villagers, women and children in the state. During his more than 18-year-tenure as the CM, barring 15 months of Congress rule (in 2018), Chouhan transformed himself from being a shy, simple and vulnerable politician to a wily leader with a mass appeal and unparallel hard work. Having the image of a soft-spoken man coupled with simplicity, the 65-year-old leader led the BJP's campaign in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls in the state, presenting himself as one among the people, promising further development and n

Ajit Pawar's NCP faction excluded from Cabinet in Modi government 3.0

Ajit Pawar's NCP was offered one MoS Independent Charge post by the BJP government, which party leader Praful Patel called a 'demotion'

'Win, defeat part of politics': Modi tells outgoing cabinet in final meet

Narendra Modi chaired the final meeting of the outgoing union cabinet on Wednesday, a day after Lok Sabha election 2024 results were announced

How are Modi's ministers doing in the 2024 Lok Sabha election results?

Amit Shah, Smriti Irani, Anurag Thakur, Rajeev Chandrasekhar are among the ministers contesting these Lok Sabha 2024 elections. This is what trends indicate for their seats

'Govt pushing ACC battery storage scheme, budget hiked 6x in few years'

The budget for the advanced chemistry cell sector has gone up 6x in the last few years, reflecting the government's continuous focus to boost the country's energy storage ecosystem, a senior official said. The National Programme on Advanced Chemistry Cell (ACC) battery storage was approved by the Union Cabinet on May 12, 2021 with budgetary outlay of Rs 18,100 crore. The scheme is aimed at strengthening the ecosystem for electric mobility and battery storage in the country. The scheme envisages to enhance India's manufacturing capabilities of ACCs by setting up of giga scale ACC and battery manufacturing facilities in India with emphasis on maximum domestic value addition. Addressing at the India Energy Storage Week 2024 (IESW 2024) curtain raiser even, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Heavy Industries Vijay Mittal said, "Ministry of Heavy Industries and the Government of India have provided a 6x growth in the budget." He said initially a budget of Rs 1,118 crore was provided. With .

BS Manthan: Finding common ground in ideologically divided farm sector

India's farm sector needs a thorough relook as the country marches towards the cherished goal of a developed nation by 2047, which the panel discussions promise to deliver

Pashupati Paras resigns from Union cabinet, accuses BJP of injustice

Union minister Pashupati Kumar Paras resigned on Tuesday and accused the BJP of doing "injustice" with his Rashtriya Lok Janshakti Party by not including it in the seat-sharing deal with allies for the Lok Sabha polls in Bihar. Paras's announcement came at a press conference a day after the BJP-led NDA announced its seat-sharing pact and gave five seats to the Chirag Paswan-led LJP (Ram Vilas). Paras made brief remarks at the press conference about his resignation and did not elaborate about his future plans. The only ally in the Union Cabinet headed by Modi, he called the prime minister a big leader. The RLJP president said he was thankful to Modi before expressing his displeasure over the treatment meted out to him. He said he had served the National Democratic Alliance with honesty and loyalty but received injustice.

Cabinet approves inter-governmental agreement between India-UAE on IMEC

The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved an inter-governmental framework agreement between India and the United Arab Emirates on cooperation for the India-Middle East Europe Economic Corridor. The aim of the inter-governmental framework agreement (IGFA) is to enhance the bilateral ties and further strengthen the relations between the two countries in ports, maritime and logistics sectors, an official statement said. IGFA includes areas of cooperation with the objective of exploring the further potential of future joint investment and collaboration with respect to the development of the India-Middle East Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC). The agreement contains a detailed framework for cooperation between the two countries. The cooperation will be based on a set of mutually agreed-upon principles, guidelines and agreements, consistent with the relevant rules and regulations of the countries' jurisdiction.

Govt approves India-Bhutan pact on energy efficiency, conservation

The Union Cabinet on Wednesday gave ex post facto approval to an initial pact between India and Bhutan on cooperation in the field of energy efficiency and conservation measures. The MoU was signed between the Bureau of Energy Efficiency, Ministry of Power, Government of India, and the Department of Energy, Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources, Government of Bhutan, an official statement said. According to the statement, the Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi approved the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between India and Bhutan on extending cooperation in the field of Energy Efficiency and Energy Conservation Measures. As part of the MoU, India aims to assist Bhutan to enhance energy efficiency in the household sector by promoting star labelling programme developed by the Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE), the statement said. India aims to support Bhutan in its endeavour to develop and implement the standards and labelling scheme, it ...

Delhi metro: Govt approves Inderlok-Indraprastha, Lajpat Nagar-Saket links

At an estimated cost of Rs 8,399 crore, these two new metro lines will add a network covering more than 20km for commuters and is anticipated to be complete by March 2026

Cabinet approves Rs 75,021 crore rooftop solar scheme for 10 mn households

The Cabinet approved the PM-Surya Ghar Muft Bijli Yojana on Thursday, aiming to install rooftop solar panels in one crore households at a total cost of Rs. 75,021 crore

Cabinet approves royalty rates for mining of 12 critical minerals

This completes the exercise of the rationalisation of royalty rates for all 24 critical and strategic minerals

U'khand CM Dhami lauds approval of PM Surya Ghar Free Electricity scheme

The major highlights of the scheme include Central Financial Assistance (CFA) for Residential Rooftop Solar

Govt amends to MMDR Act for royalty on 12 critical, strategic minerals

The Union Cabinet on Thursday approved the amendment in the MMDR Act to specify the royalty rate on 12 critical and strategic minerals, an official statement said. A decision in this regard was taken at a meeting of the Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Ministry of Mines said in a statement. "The Union Cabinet... approved the amendment of Second Schedule to the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, 1957 (MMDR Act) for specifying rate of royalty in respect of 12 critical and strategic minerals," the statement said. The 12 critical and strategic minerals are beryllium, cadmium, cobalt, gallium, indium, rhenium, selenium, tantalum, tellurium, titanium, tungsten, and vanadium, it said. This completes the exercise of the rationalisation of royalty rates for all 24 critical and strategic minerals, the Ministry said. The government notified the royalty rate of four critical minerals, namely glauconite, potash, molybdenum and platinum group of miner

Farm community gives a mixed response to increase in FRP of sugarcane

The farm community in western Uttar Pradesh has given a mixed response to the government's decision to increase Fair and Remunerative Price (FRP) of sugarcane to Rs 340 per quintal. The Union Cabinet on Wednesday decided to hike the minimum price that mills have to pay to sugarcane growers by Rs 25 to Rs 340 per quintal for the 2024-25 season starting October. This is the highest FRP for sugarcane announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government since coming to power in 2014. Dismayed over the decision, Baghpat District President of Bharatiya Kisan Union (Bhanu) Pratap Singh Gurjar said the government has forgotten its own promise. "Prime Minister Narendra Modi had himself promised to give MSP of Rs 450 per quintal to cane during a public rally in Meerut in 2014 elections," he claimed. "We (farmers) are also consumers. The government should also remember this. We also have to buy petrol, diesel, fertilizer, seeds etc. All these things are becoming expensive. MSP on sugarca

Govt modifies National Livestock Mission, includes various activities

The government on Wednesday modified the National Livestock Mission by including various activities and providing 50 per cent capital subsidy to individuals and organisations for establishing horse, donkey, mule, and camel entrepreneurship. The Centre will provide Rs 10 crore for the establishment of semen station and nucleus breeding farm for horse, donkey, and camel under the modified National Livestock Mission. The Union Cabinet approved inclusion of additional activities in National Livestock Mission (NLM), Union Minister Anurag Thakur told reporters here. Under the modified NLM, establishment of entrepreneurship for horse, donkey, mule, and camel with 50 per cent capital subsidy up to Rs 50 lakh will be provided to the individuals, farmer producer organisations, self-help groups, and Section 8 companies. Also, the state government will be assisted for breed conservation of horses, donkeys, and camels. Also, the state government will be assisted for fodder cultivation in ...

Budget 2024 LIVE: India Inc awaits FM's Budget for growth boosting measures

Union Budget 2024 Live Updates: The Interim Budget 2024 is set to be presented on February 1. Catch all the budget-related live updates here