The Congress on Saturday re-elected Sonia Gandhi as the chairperson of Congress Parliamentary Party (CPP). The meeting was attended by the 52 newly-elected Lok Sabha members of the Congress along with its Rajya Sabha members at the central hall of Parliament. This was the first official meeting that Congress prez Rahul Gandhi attended after party's CWC meet.
The team, which includes seven mountaineers from the UK, US and Australia besides a liaison officer from the Indian Institute of Mountaineering, left Munsiyari on May 13 to scale the 7434-metre peak and was scheduled to return to the base camp on Friday. The district administration has sent a rescue team in search of them after they failed to return to the base camp.
Singh was allotted the Defence ministry after taking oath as a Union Minister on Thursday. He will take over from his predecessor Nirmala Sitharaman who has been allotted the Finance ministry. During the first term of Modi government, Rajnath had handled the Home ministry.
Almost half of India has been put on heatwave alert, with severe heat waves expected in parts of north and west India in the next couple of days (till June 2).Almost half of India has been put on heatwave alert, with severe heat waves expected in parts of north and west India in the next couple of days (till June 2).
The home portfolio for Amit Shah seems to have been carefully chosen. The crucial ministry is responsible for all intelligence, counter-terrorism agencies and overall internal security. Shah' management skills will be put to test while dealing with non-BJP chief ministers as law and order is a state subject. In that sense of exposure, the home ministry seems to be better suited for Shah.
The government on Friday released the list of portfolios of the new Union cabinet with Nirmala Sitharaman being named finance minister and Rajnath Singh defence minister. Here is the full list of the Union council of ministers with portfolios:
In Modi's new Cabinet, one-third of the total ministers are debutants, including BJP president Amit Shah and former foreign secretary S Jaishankar
On Thursday, a senior US State Department official told reporters that New Delhi's decision to buy S-400 air defence system was significant, disagreeing with the view that it "isn't a big deal". The official said that India's decision will have serious implications on defence ties. S-400 is known as Russia's most advanced long-range surface-to-air missile defence system.
On Thursday, at PM Narendra Modi's swearing-in ceremony, the much-anticipated revelation of 'Team Modi 2.0' was finally made. Among the 58 members announced, key highlights included Amit Shah's ministerial debut and Suresh Prabhu's exit. Addition of former foreign secretary S Jaishankar was a big surprise while Sushma Swaraj was the shock omission.
The draft NRC, which was published on July 30 last year, contained names of 2.89 crore people but excluded 40.07 lakh people. Those excluded from the draft NRC were permitted to file claims for inclusion of their names. People were also allowed to file objections to inclusion of names in the NRC.
Special judge O P Saini extended the protection after the Enforcement Directorate (ED) sought three weeks’ time to argue on their anticipatory bail plea. Solicitor general Tushar Mehta, appearing for the ED and the CBI, submitted that some key information pertaining to the case is awaited from foreign countries such as Singapore.
Infighting in the AIADMK cost the party a berth in the Narendra Modi government and possibly an opportunity to gain some heft after a disastrous defeat in the Lok Sabha elections.
Among three women ministers of state, Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti has been inducted into the council of ministers for the second time. She had served as minister of state for food processing in the last term. The other two women assigned MoS rank — Renuka Singh Saruta and Debasree Chaudhuri — are both first time MPs. Chaudhuri won from Raiganj constituency in West Bengal and Saruta from Sarguja in Chhattisgarh.
Among bigger states, Andhra Pradesh is the only one which could not get any ministerial berth. Twenty-two of the total 29 states have got one or more ministerial berths. Besides Andhra Pradesh, the other six states which could not get ministerial representation are smaller states from the north-east - Sikkim, Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland, Tripura and Meghalaya.
Nine Brahmin leaders have found a place in the Union cabinet, including Nitin Gadkari. Three Thakur leaders also made it, including Rajnath Singh, Jodhpur MP Gajendra Singh Thakur and Morena MP Narendra Singh Tomar. Dharmendra Pradhan remains a prominent OBC face in the cabinet, besides Modi himself. Six belonged to the Scheduled Castes and four to the Scheduled Tribes.
BJP president Amit Shah and former foreign secretary S Jaishankar were the two top big debutants in the 25-member Modi Cabinet, with Giriraj Singh and Gajendra Singh Shekhawat being elevated from junior ministers. While Singh was minister of state with independent charge of the micro, small and medium enterprises ministry, Shekhawat was junior minister for agriculture.
As the Modi government prepared to resume power with increased majority and obviously improved political voice, Congress announced that it would not be on television debates for a month. AICC spokesman Randeep Surjewala tweeted, “Congress has decided to not send spokespersons on television debates for a month. All media channels/editors are requested to not place Congress representatives on their shows.”
There was speculation that Delhi BJP president Manoj Tiwari could also get a ministerial berth given the fact that the party won all seven seats under his leadership and he himself defeated former chief minister Sheila Dikshit by a huge margin of 3.66 lakh votes. Tiwari had also led BJP to win in the 2017 municipal elections at a time when not many within the party were expecting a favourable result.
Jaishankar’s appointment opens the door for lateral entry at the highest level of the government, as well as the entry of technocrats in ministerial roles. As foreign secretary, Jaishankar occupied the right-hand corner office on the first floor of MEA headquarters. If he takes over as minister, as is being widely speculated, he will remain on the first floor, but shift to the office in the other corner.
Ram Vilas Paswan told reporters that as soon as the portfolios are announced, ministers will share their plans with the media. "Under Prime Minister Narendra Modi's leadership we will give our best," the Lok Janshakti Party chief said. Anurag Thankur, who took oath as a minster of state, said he will serve the country "in the best of his capacity".
Uttar Pradesh, which sent the highest number of 64 MPs from the ruling alliance to the 17th Lok Sabha, on Thursday got the biggest representation in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Council of Ministers. Nine of the 57 ministers are from the state, excluding the PM who represents Varanasi, followed by seven from Maharashtra and six from Bihar.
Sushma Swaraj and Rajyavardhan Rathore are among the notable omissions in the BJP-led NDA's second innings. Another key BJP leader who did not make it to the Cabinet this time, is JP Nadda. He could be the next BJP president as incumbent Amit Shah has joined the government. Arun Jaitley had opted out of being in the government for health reasons.
Congress congratulated PM Narendra Modi and his team of cabinet ministers after they took oath as ministers in the NDA govt. "We wish them the best & look forward to working with them on the growth & development of India & all its citizens," the Congress tweeted. The tweet came shortly after Modi took oath as PM of India along with 57 other ministers.
BJP president Amit Shah, now a Cabinet minister as well, described as "historic" Prime Minister Narendra Modi's swearing-in for a second term and expressed confidence that India will continue to scale new heights under his able leadership.
Traditional Indian wear with hues of saffron and use of Hindi language for oath-taking were the overriding themes at the glittering swearing-in ceremony of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union ministers of the new NDA government. Among the ministers who were sworn-in, most of them chose to take oath in Hindi while the rest did it in English.
NDA's second term in office Thursday saw eastern Uttar Pradesh bagging the lion share of the ministerial berths with Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself leading the pack. Modi won from Varanasi while Rajnath Singh, a senior minister who joined the prime minister's team as number two in the Union Cabinet, represents Lucknow in the Lok Sabha.
BJP leader JP Nadda has emerged as the likely replacement for Amit Shah as the party president after he was left out of the Union Council of Ministers, which was sworn in on Thursday, according to BJP sources. With Shah joining the Cabinet of PM Narendra Modi, he may demit the office of BJP chief as part of the party's "one-person one-post" principle.
For his swearing-in as the 15th prime minister, Narendra Modi opted for a look similar to the 2014 ceremony. His trademark Modi jacket and taut churidaar were his picks for both the big days. For the 2014 ceremony, Modi wore a cream kurta and white churidaar paired with a beige coloured sleeveless 'bandh-gala' jacket. Cut to 2019, he made the same choice.
Kamal Nath government minister for law and public relations PC Sharma on Thursday claimed that television media gag on party spokespersons is “boycott of Godsewadis (followers of Nathuram Godse)”. Early on Thursday morning, a statement was issued by AICC communications department in-charge Randeep Surjewala which said, “The Indian National Congress has decided to not send spokespersons on television debates for a month
Vice Admiral Atul Kumar Jain took over as the Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief (FOC-in-C), Eastern Naval Command (ENC) from Vice Admiral Karambir Singh at an impressive ceremonial parade held at the the naval base at Visakhapatnam on Thursday.
The new cabinet of the NDA government will see several ministers who will be serving in the Union cabinet for the first time. BJP president Amit Shah is the most prominent faces among the list of first-time leaders who took the oath along with Narendra Modi. 
Top opposition figures, including Congress's Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal, NCP patriarch Sharad Pawar and Le...
