NEW DELHI: Focussing on his agenda of good governance, performance and last mile delivery, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday effected third expansion and reshuffle of  his Cabinet, elevating four ministers and inducting nine new faces which included four former bureaucrats.
The allocation of portfolio witnessed Nirmala Sitharaman being elevated to the Cabinet rank and stepping in the South Block as the first full-time woman Defence Minister. After Urban Development Minister Mr. M. Venkaiah Naidu’s election as the Vice-President, the need was felt to give Southern States a prominent place in the Cabinet. Ms. Sitharaman who is from Tamil Nadu and her husband hails from Andhra Pradesh was eminently suited to fill the slot, indicating that maintaining regional balance was also a key factor.  
Along with Home Minister Rajnath Singh, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, and External Affairs Minister Ms. Sushma Swaraj, Ms. Sitharaman will be a member of the powerful Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) which is headed by the Prime Minister. Mr. Jaitley was holding additional charge of Defence Ministry since Manohar Parrikar returned to Goa as chief minister earlier in March after the assembly polls in the coastal state.
Apart from Ms. Sitharaman, Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, Dharmendra Pradhan, and Piyush Goyal, who were all holding independent charge as state ministers, were elevated to the Cabinet rank on the basis of their peformance, taking the total number to 27 Cabinet ministers of which six are women, the highest in any Union Cabinet. There are 11 Ministers of State with independent charge and 37 Ministers of State.
The new ministers who were sworn in by President Ram Nath Kovind at a ceremony in the Rashtrapati Bhavan include Virendra Kumar, Anant Kumar Hegde and Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, former IAS officers Alphons Kannanthanam and R K Singh, former Indian Foreign Service officer and diplomat Hardeep Puri and former Mumbai Police Commissioner Satyapal Singh. Both Mr. Puri and Mr. Alphons are not members of any House and they are likely to enter the Rajya Sabha within next six months. While Mr. R K Singh, a former Home Secretary represents Arrah in the Lok Sabha, Mr. Satyapal Singh had defeated Mr. Ajit Singh to enter the Lok Sabha from Baghpat constituency.

Ashwini Kumar Choubey, a Lok Sabha member from Bihar, and Shiv Pratap Shukla from Uttar Pradesh are the two other new faces. Indications are that Mr. Modi may go for another expansion of his Cabinet as the BJP’s allies have not found place in today’s reshuffle.
Six Cabinet ministers had quit a couple of days before the reshuffle, making way for the new faces. The former ministers are likely to be given key responsibilities in the party work.
Induction of Mr. Alphons from Kerala and Mr. Puri, a Sikh, in the Cabinet and elevation of Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi as Minority Affairs Minister is a subtle message to the religious minorities from the BJP as the party is keen to make its presence felt in the Southern States, particularly Kerala, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.
Official sources said that induction of technocrats and former bureaucrats in the Union Cabinet was nothing new as the Congress had Dr. Manmohan Singh, a former Reserve Bank of India governor, as the Prime Minister and K. R. Narayanan, a former IFS officer as Science and Technology minister who rose to become Vice-President and later the President. Sources said that former bureaucrats bring their rich administrative experience and can be of significant help in implementation of the government’s schemes in an effective and time-bound manner.
While Dharmendra Pradesh who deftly and efficiently handled Oil and Petroleum Ministry now also gets the charge of Skill Development, Suresh Prabhu was shifted from Railways to Commerce and his place was taken by Piyush Goyal who was also elevated to the Cabinet rank. Mr. Goyal is credited with sterling performance in the Power ministry who implemented with zeal the Prime Minister’s pet programme of rural electrification.
Mr. Modi also kept in mind three States where assembly polls are to be held next year – Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka. The exercise saw induction of  Gajendra Singh Shekhawat , Virendra Kumar and Anant Hegde in the Cabinet from these States. 

CABINET MINISTERS

1. Shri Raj Nath Singh – Minister of Home Affairs.

2. Smt. Sushma Swaraj – Minister of External Affairs.

3. Shri Arun Jaitley – Minister of Finance; and Minister of Corporate Affairs.

4. Shri Nitin Jairam Gadkari – Minister of Road Transport and Highways; Minister of Shipping; and Minister of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation.

5. Shri Suresh Prabhu – Minister of Commerce and Industry.

6. Shri D.V. Sadananda Gowda – Minister of Statistics and Programme Implementation.

7. Sushri Uma Bharati – Minister of Drinking Water and Sanitation.

8. Shri Ramvilas Paswan – Minister of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution.

9. Smt. Maneka Sanjay Gandhi – Minister of Women and Child Development.10. Shri Ananthkumar – Minister of Chemicals and Fertilizers; and Minister of Parliamentary Affairs.

11. Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad Minister of Law and Justice; and Minister of Electronics and Information Technology.

12. Shri Jagat Prakash Nadda Minister of Health and Family Welfare.

13. Shri Ashok Gajapathi Raju Pusapati Minister of Civil Aviation.

14. Shri Anant Geete Minister of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises.

15. Smt. Harsimrat Kaur Badal Minister of Food Processing Industries.

16. Shri Narendra Singh Tomar Minister of Rural Development; Minister of Panchayati Raj; and Minister of Mines.

17. Shri Chaudhary Birender Singh Minister of Steel.

18. Shri Jual Oram Minister of Tribal Affairs.

19. Shri Radha Mohan Singh Minister of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare.

20. Shri Thaawar Chand Gehlot Minister of Social Justice and Empowerment.

21. Smt. Smriti Zubin Irani Minister of Textiles; and Minister of Information and Broadcasting.

22. Dr. Harsh Vardhan Minister of Science and Technology; Minister of Earth Sciences; and Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change.

23. Shri Prakash Javadekar Minister of Human Resource Development.

24. Shri Dharmendra Pradhan Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas; and Minister of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship.

25. Shri Piyush Goyal Minister of Railways; and Minister of Coal.

26. Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman Minister of Defence.

27. Shri Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi Minister of Minority Affairs.

MINISTERS OF STATE (INDEPENDENT CHARGE)

1. Rao Inderjit Singh – Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Planning; and Minister of State in the Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers.

2. Shri Santosh Kumar Gangwar – Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Labour and Employment.

3. Shri Shripad Yesso Naik – Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy (AYUSH).

4. Dr. Jitendra Singh – Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region; Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s Office; Minister of State in the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions; Minister of State in the Department of Atomic Energy; and Minister of State in the Department of Space.

5. Dr. Mahesh Sharma – Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Culture; and Minister of State in the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change.

6. Shri Giriraj Singh – Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises.

7. Shri Manoj Sinha – Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Communications; and Minister of State in the Ministry of Railways.

8. Col. Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore – Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports; and Minister of State in the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.

9. Shri Raj Kumar Singh – Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Power; and Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy.

10. Shri Hardeep Singh Puri – Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs.

11. Shri Alphons Kannanthanam – Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Tourism; and Minister of State in the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology.

MINISTERS OF STATE

1. Shri Vijay Goel Minister of State in the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs; and Minister of State in the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation.

2. Shri Radhakrishnan P. Minister of State in the Ministry of Finance; and Minister of State in the Ministry of Shipping.

3. Shri S.S. Ahluwalia Minister of State in the Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation.

4. Shri Ramesh Chandappa Jigajinagi Minister of State in the Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation.

5. Shri Ramdas Athawale Minister of State in the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment.

6. Shri Vishnu Deo Sai Minister of State in the Ministry of Steel.

7. Shri Ram Kripal Yadav Minister of State in the Ministry of Rural Development.

8. Shri Hansraj Gangaram Ahir Minister of State in the Ministry of Home Affairs.

9. Shri Haribhai Parthibhai Chaudhary Minister of State in the Ministry of Mines; and Minister of State in the Ministry of Coal.

10. Shri Rajen Gohain Minister of State in the Ministry of Railways.

11. General (Retd.) V. K. Singh Minister of State in the Ministry of External Affairs.

12. Shri Parshottam Rupala Minister of State in the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare; and Minister of State in the Ministry of Panchayati Raj.

13. Shri Krishan Pal Minister of State in the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment.

14. Shri Jaswantsinh Sumanbhai Bhabhor Minister of State in the Ministry of Tribal Affairs.

15. Shri Shiv Pratap Shukla Minister of State in the Ministry of Finance.

16. Shri Ashwini Kumar Choubey Minister of State in the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

17. Shri Sudarshan Bhagat Minister of State in the Ministry of Tribal Affairs.

18. Shri Upendra Kushwaha Minister of State in the Ministry of Human Resource Development.

19. Shri Kiren Rijiju Minister of State in the Ministry of Home Affairs.

 20. Dr. Virendra Kumar Minister of State in the Ministry of Women and Child Development; and Minister of State in the Ministry of Minority Affairs.

21. Shri Anantkumar Hegde Minister of State in the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship.

22. Shri M. J. Akbar Minister of State in the Ministry of External Affairs.

23. Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti Minister of State in the Ministry of Food Processing Industries.

24. Shri Y. S. Chowdary Minister of State in the Ministry of Science and Technology; and Minister of State in the Ministry of Earth Sciences.

25. Shri Jayant Sinha Minister of State in the Ministry of Civil Aviation.

26. Shri Babul Supriyo Minister of State in the Ministry of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises.

27. Shri Vijay Sampla Minister of State in the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment.28. Shri Arjun Ram Meghwal Minister of State in the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs; and  Minister of State in the Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation.

29. Shri Ajay Tamta Minister of State in the Ministry of Textiles.

30. Smt. Krishna Raj Minister of State in the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare.

31. Shri Mansukh  L. Mandaviya Minister of State in the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways; Minister of State in the Ministry of Shipping; and Minister of State in the Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers.

32. Smt. Anupriya Patel Minister of State in the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

33. Shri C.R. Chaudhary Minister of State in the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution; and Minister of State in the Ministry of Commerce and Industry.

34. Shri P.P. Chaudhary Minister of State in the Ministry of Law and Justice; and Minister of State in the Ministry of Corporate Affairs.

35. Dr. Subhash Ramrao Bhamre Minister of State in the Ministry of Defence.

36. Shri Gajendra Singh Shekhawat Minister of State in the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare.37. Dr. Satya Pal Singh Minister of State in the Ministry of Human Resource Development; and Minister of State in the Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation.

Narendra Modi government failing to achieve the much touted goals from demonetisation. The RBI annual report for 2016-17 is bound to be disappointing for the government. 

The Reserve Bank of India has been bold in acknowledging that the Narendra Modi government has not been able to achieve the much touted goals in the wake of demonetisation launched with much fanfare on November eighth last year. 

This measure was seen as a war aimed at weeding out at least Rupees three lakh crores of black money stashed away in the country along with containing terrorist financing. The RBI annual report for 2016-17 is bound to have been highly disappointing for the government. 

The GDP has dipped from 7.9 per cent to 5.7 per cent in the last five quarters. The silence from the government in this regard needs no elaboration as demonetisation caused a lot of pain and hardship to the people at large. What is worse is that more than a hundred people died all over the country waiting in serpentine queues to withdraw their money from the ATMs. 

And the damage caused to the economy thanks to demonetisation is now coming to the fore. The Congress as the main opposition party blamed the Modi government for not having wider consultations about demonetisation before implementing it. 

Discriminating observers believe demonetisation was unleashed at a time when the economy was beginning to contract. The country’s economy continues to decelerate and the reasons for the slowdown are many. 

The uncertainty connected with the July one adoption of the GST adversely affected economic activity. There is still doubt whether demand for industrial output is going to attain any meaningful strength.  

Union Finance minister Arun Jaitley has expressed concern about slower than expected expansion while acknowledging that the challenge before the government is to work out both policy and investment measures to boost momentum. 

The risks of fiscal loosening are manifold when state governments have announced farm loan waivers which can push up interest rates and block fresh lending. The perception gaining ground is that the much trumpeted demonetisation has proved to be a damp squib in the wake of the RBI’s fresh disclosure of the drop in GDP in the 13th quarter of Modi’s term. 

Modi’s tall claims at the time of demonetisation have been belied. At the same time the government believes it is nobody’s case that black money has been totally eliminated. While there is no cause for euphoria on the outcome of demonetisation, there are some positive aspects. 

These pertain to almost 99 per cent of the black money having come into the banking system. All those who held their wealth in the form of currency earlier can no longer escape the tax net. Another positive aspect is the increasing shift to digital transactions. 

There has been a small percentage of increase in the number of counterfeit notes that have been detected. As those having counterfeit notes are unlikely to surrender them to banks for being caught, it is not possible to know the percentage of those dealing in such notes. 

The chief statistician T C A Anant put the issue in perspective observing it is impossible to isolate the impact of any one measure of demonetisation as its ramifications are still unfolding on the economic activity. Resolving the banks bad debt problem is a pre-requisite for a generalised revival in private investment. 

Global experience shows that a cleaning up can be prolonged and painful involving loss of jobs and output. The government will be tested when it comes to reviving demand and investment.

(The views are personal.)

Nine new Ministers of state were inducted in the Union Council of Ministers today. Four Ministers of state were elevated to the cabinet rank. 

They are Minister of state for Commerce and Industries Nirmala Sitharaman, Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas Dharmendra Pradhan, Minister of State For Power, Coal, New and Renewable Energy and Mines, Piyush Goyal and Minister of State for Minority Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi. President Ram Nath Kovind administered the oath of office and secrecy to them at Rashtrapati Bhavan. 

New Ministers include former IFS officer Hardeep Puri, former Mumbai Police chief Satyapal Singh and former IAS officer Alphons Kannanthanam. Lok Sabha MP’s from Madhya Pradesh Virendra Kumar, from Karnataka Anant Kumar Hegde, from Rajasthan Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, from Bihar Ashwini Kumar Choubey and Raj Kumar Singh. Rajya Sabha MP from Uttar Pradesh Shiv Pratap Shukla also takes oath today. The portfolios of the Ministers will be announced later.

Former IAF Chief S P Tyagi was today charge sheeted by the CBI in a Delhi Court along with nine others in connection with a bribery case in the 3,500 crore rupees AgustaWestland VVIP chopper deal.

72-year old Tyagi is the first chief of the Indian Air Force to be charge sheeted in a corruption or a criminal case by the CBI. Besides him, the agency has also charge sheeted retired Air Marshal J S Gujral along with eight others, including five foreign nationals.

The court has fixed September 6 to peruse the charge sheet in which the Anglo-Italian company, AgustaWestland, is also one of the accused. 

Others named in the charge sheet are Tyagi’s cousin Sanjeev alias Julie, advocate Gautam Khaitan, alleged European middlemen Carlo Gerosa, Michel James, Guido Haschke, former AgustaWestland CEO Bruno Spagnolini and former Finmeccanica Chairman Giuseppe Orsi.

Tyagi, who had retired in 2007, his cousin Sanjeev and Khaitan were arrested on December 9 last year by CBI in the case. These accused are currently on bail. This is the first charge sheet in the case by the CBI which came three years after it registered an FIR in 2013.

NEW DELHI: While stressing that terrorism remains an important global concern, India on Friday said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s intervention in the coming BRICS summit may touch upon the scourge of terrorism.

Replying to questions at a media briefing on the Prime Minister’s visit to China from September 3 to 5 to attend the IXth BRICS summit to be held in Xiamen in China’s Fujian province, External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said that it would be for the Prime Minister to raise any issue in his intervention.

The host China advised that India’s concerns over Pakistan’s support to terror were not an appropriate topic to be discussed at the BRICS summit. The spokesperson said that he could not be preempt what the Prime Minister would say at plenary and other sessions of the summit.  He added that India’s stand against terror was “very clear’’ and the issue has been raised by the country’s top leaders at various global and regional forums.

On the prospects of a meeting between Mr. Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping, the spokesperson pointed out that it is a common practice to arrange such meetings on the sidelines of multilateral forums.He added that details and timings of bilateral meetings of the Prime Minister with other leaders on the sidelines of the BRICS summit were being worked out.

The BRICS nations represent 42 per cent of the world’s population, have a share of  23 per cent of the global GDP and 17 per cent share in the world trade. At the 9^th summit, Thailand, Mexico, Egypt, Guinea and Tajikistan will be present as guest or observer nations.

Mr. Modi will travel to Myanmar on September 5 for a three-day visit, his first bilateral visit to India’s neighbour in the North-East. He is visiting Myanmar at  the invitation of President U Htin Kyaw. The Prime Minister will hold discussions with State Counsellor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi on matters of mutual interest. Apart from his engagements in the capital city of Nay Pyi Taw, he will also visit Yangon and Bagan and address the Indian community in Myanmar. He will also review the progress of the ongoing projects in Myanmar which have been undertaken with India’s assistance. As the new government in Myanmar has laid stress on sectors like energy, power, communication and trade, it would be for India to hold discussions with the leaders in Myanmar to work out the modalities of offering assistance in projects. Myanmar has been an important partner in India’s Act East policy and is also a partner of BIMSTEC grouping.  

India’s four north-eastern states share 1,600 km-long border with Myanmar and both the countries have shared traditional ties of kinship.

Replying to questions, Sripriya Ranganathan, Joint Secretary (Bangladesh-Myanmar) said the issue of Rohingya refugees could also come up for discussion as their plight and situation in Rakhin state was of great concern to India. 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has asked tax administrators to fix clear targets to improve the country’s tax administration by 2022.

He said, the government is working towards creation of an environment which shatters the confidence of the corrupt, and instills confidence among the honest taxpayers.

Inaugurating the Rajasva Gyan Sangam at New Delhi today, Mr. Modi mentioned steps taken by the government including demonetization, and implementation of stringent laws against black money and benami property.

He said, human interface must be kept to a minimum in the tax administration’s dealings and asked for a push to e-assessment so that vested interests do not impede the due process of law.

Mentioning the benefits of the GST, Mr. Modi said, besides economic integration and transparency in the system, over 17 lakh new traders have been brought into the indirect tax system within two months.

He said, there is a need to work towards ensuring that all traders including even relatively smaller ones register with the GST system. He also expressed dismay at the huge pendency of tax-related cases in adjudication and appeal.

The Prime Minister said, big sums of money that is locked up in these cases, could have been used for the welfare of the poor. He also asked officers to come up with an action plan to eliminate pendency.

The politician-spiritual guru nexus which on occasions has led to mayhem with the state government abdicating its responsibility in maintaining law and order. Politicians should not allow the weakening of the state at any cost. 

The nexus between politicians and Babas or so called spiritual gurus is nothing new in this country because the latter wield considerable influence on their followers who blindly do their bidding undeterred by the consequences.  

The vote bank of Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh running into lakhs makes all the difference between winning and losing assembly elections particularly in Haryana and Punjab. This has attracted politicians in seeking the Guru’s favour. As a quid pro quo it entails protection and rendering favours to the Baba of Dera Sucha Sauda by the state government. 

It was no different when BJP won in Haryana for the first time during the assembly elections in October 2014 since the state was formed on November first, 1966. The help rendered by Baba in ensuring his vote bank favoured the BJP has been acknowledged by the top party leaders in no uncertain terms. 

At the same time Gurmeet Singh’s colourful gurudom has come crashing down having been sentenced for two decades — longer than life imprisonment — along with being slapped with a fine by the judge of the CBI special court earlier this week on August 28 for betraying the trust of two vulnerable women. 

He will shortly be arraigned for charges of murder. What brought his downfall pertained to politicians seeking to grant him immunity from crimes outside the Dera gates. This led to the make believe world of  the ‘premis’ or his followers come crashing. Compounding matters was the encouragement to the ‘Premis’ indulge in riotous frenzy. 

Without taking any risks or antagonising the Baba’s vote bank, politicians are known to overlook indiscretions by these self anointed gurus. In this instance the entire country witnessed the abject failure of the Manohar Lal Khattar government in containing the violence in the wake of Gurmeet Singh being found guilty by the special CBI court. 

People continued to gather in Panchkula for nearly a week before the judgement last Friday onSeptember 25 . The mayhem resulting in no less than 38 lives being lost not to speak of the burning of vehicles and damage to property. 

The opposition’s demand that Khattar be removed as chief minister having failed miserably in controlling the law and order situation for the third time in as many years in Haryana was rejected by the Prime Minister. 

Having miscalculated in the first instance, the state government had enough time on its hands to plan and make the necessary arrangements on the day of sentencing on May 28 so that things did not get out of hand. Shoot at sight orders were given to contain violence, if any. 

What is shocking is that dangerous implements including firearms were recovered from the convict’s followers coupled and lawlessness being carefully nurtured. 

In this case the BJP government was in direct breach of its duty in upholding the law. The Punjab and Haryana High Court was up front in the scathing criticism of the Khattar government. It accused the chief minister of deliberately allowing dera followers and “anti-socials” to gather in their thousands for no less than a week inspite of the court’s warning. 

The Court’s observations drew attention to the administration’s connivance in turning a blind eye to a criminal outfit in quasi religious garb. Of course the supporters of the Dera had gathered in greater numbers in Panchkula and Sirsa, the headquarters of the sect in Haryana. 

At the same time nothing remotely can explain the inadequacies of Haryana’s response to last Friday’s mayhem. Neighbouring Punjab and Delhi also witnessed violence but the preparedness of the law enforcers were of a higher order in both these areas.  

In the last decade the rise of Gurmeet Singh has been phenomenal. He became a saint, doctor, Insaan and what have you — focussing on the messages of peace and harmony while leading a degenerate life. His self promotion through movies and biography lists his felicity in more than two score arts and sports. 

Considering his reach in the constituencies of South Punjab and Haryana, the Shiromani Akali Dal, BJP and the Congress have patronised him. Groups of Premis (Dera’s followers) and Sikhs have clashed but he seemed above the law. He remained a power broker unto himself in Haryana and Punjab. 

Even though the so called spiritual leader had played the role of a kingmaker during the elections in the past, the authorities are now keen to attach Dera Sucha Sauda’s properties to pay for the damage caused by the Baba’s followers. 

It would also be appropriate to probe the Dera’s financial affairs. Gurmeet Singh might have paid the price but it is too little too late. Whatever the situation, politicians in power should not allow the weakening of the state at any cost.

(The Views are Personal.)

Minister of State Rajiv Pratap Rudy has reportedly resigned from his position at the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship. 

Uma Bharti and Nirmala Sitharaman have also offered to resign along with Rudy 

The development comes after BJP chief Amit Shah met Prime Minister Narendra Modi amid speculation of a cabinet reshuffle. A party leader played it down, saying Shah meets Modi regularly and also pointed out that the meeting comes a day ahead of the beginning of a three-day meeting of the RSS and its allied organisations in Vrindavan.

A rejig of the government has been due for months now, especially after vacancies and transformed alliances. The last cabinet reshuffle took place in July last year in which Modi inducted 19 new faces and elevated Minister of State for Environment Prakash Javadekar to cabinet rank. Five junior ministers were also dropped.

Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is all set to launch its navigation satellite IRNSS-1H this evening. 

The satellite will lift off at 7 PM from the second launch pad of the Satish Dhavan Space Centre at Sriharikotta, on board the rocket PSLV C39. The 29-hour countdown for the mission that began at 2 PM yesterday is progressing smoothly. 

The satellite IRNSS-1H is a part of the indigenous navigation system called ‘NavIC,’ that was initially planned to have a constellation of seven satellites. 

As the rubidium atomic clocks of the first satellite in the series called IRNSS-1A malfunctioned, the eighth one is being launched today to take up its mantle. 

NavIC system is equivalent to the GPS service, having footprint over the whole of India and about 1500 kilometers from its borders on all sides. It helps user agencies to plan and monitor their vehicular movement on the road and on the sea. 

It can alert fishermen while approaching international maritime boundaries and help public to locate precisely the addresses they require. ISRO says, telecom and power grid operations can also benefit immensely from the data of the NavIC system. 

Accurate survey of territories will be another area where it will provide valuable contributions.