Budget 2018-19

  Mandavia gets Health portfolio; Scindia gets aviation; Puri gets additional charge of petroleum 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. Battling the optics of Covid-19 mismanagement – the crisis faced by migrants that drew the ire of the judiciary; the oxygen and hospital bed shortages; and the extend...

  The exercise will decide the electoral fate of over 3,700 candidates who are in the race to win the 243 seats of the state assembly Bihar Elections 2020:  Counting of votes got under way Tuesday morning for the three-phase Bihar assembly elections that may herald a new era in state politics, with exit polls predicting a victory for the RJD-led Grand Alliance. The exercise will decide the electoral fate of over 3,700 candidates who are in the race to win the 243 seats of the state assembly. Counting started at 8 am at 55 centres spread across 38 districts amid tight security and precautions to avoid the spread of COVID-19 pandemic during the process. Over 57 per cent of about 7.30 crore electors have exercised their franchise in what is the first major election in the country since the onset of the pandemic. Votes are also being simultaneously counted for the Valmiki Nagar Lok Sabha by-poll, which was necessitated by the death of JD(U) MP Baidyanath Mahto. Officials said the ...