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INDIA 2024 India News Politics

11 in council of ministers are 12th pass, 57 graduate or above

An additional 10 ministers have professional graduate degrees, indicating specialized education in fields such as law, engineering or medicine…reports Asian Lite News

Eleven out of 71 ministers in the new council of ministers have declared their educational qualification to be 12th standard while 57 ministers have declared having an educational qualification of graduate or above, according to a new report by poll rights body ADR.       

A recent report by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) provides a comprehensive analysis of the educational qualifications of the Indian ministers, revealing a diverse range of academic backgrounds among the country’s political leadership.

The report, which scrutinized 71 ministers, highlights significant trends in educational attainment. The analysis shows that 15 per cent of the ministers, accounting for 11 out of the 71, have declared their highest educational qualification as 12th standard.

In contrast, a substantial majority of the ministers have attained higher education.

The report revealed that 80 per cent of the ministers, totaling 57, have qualifications of a graduate level or above. This group is further broken down into several categories, reflecting various levels of advanced education.

Specifically, 14 ministers have declared themselves as graduates, holding a basic university degree.

An additional 10 ministers have professional graduate degrees, indicating specialized education in fields such as law, engineering or medicine.

The largest subgroup among the highly educated ministers consists of those with postgraduate degrees at 26.

Furthermore, seven ministers have achieved the highest level of academic attainment by earning doctorate degrees.

Apart from these, there are three ministers who are diploma holders. These ministers have completed specialized programmes that provide vocational or technical training.

First session of 18th Lok Sabha to being from June 24

The first session of the 18th Lok Sabha will be held from June 24 and conclude on July 3 for oath/affirmation of newly elected Members, Union Minister of Parliamentary Affairs Kiren Rijiju said on Wednesday.

The 264th Session of Rajya Sabha will also commence on June 27 and conclude on July 3, the minister said.

“First Session of 18th Lok Sabha is being summoned from 24.6.24 to 3.7.24 for oath/affirmation of newly elected Members, Election of Speaker, President’s Address and discussion thereon. 264th Session of Rajya Sabha will commence on 27.6.24 and conclude on 3.7.24.”

President Droupadi Murmu will address a joint sitting of the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha on June 27

The last session of the 17th Lok Sabha (Budget session) was held between January 31 and February 10, 2024.

Lok Sabha had 274 sittings in which 202 Bills were introduced and 222 bills were passed. Rajya Sabha had 271 sittings, in which 31 Bills were introduced and 220 bills were passed. In total 221 Bills were passed by both the Houses and became Acts, during the term of the 17th Lok Sabha.

During the 17th Lok Sabha one of the most important business transacted was the abrogation of certain provisions from Article 370 and Presidential Orders thereunder for ensuring equal opportunities to all sections of Society in Jammu & Kashmir particularly with the restoration of applicability of the provisions of the Constitution of India and all socio-economic legislations thereby ensuring rule of law and equity. Further for ensuring better administration and for curbing terrorism, the State of Jammu & Kashmir was reorganized with the formation of two Union Territories – Jammu &Kashmir and Ladakh.

Also, three landmark Bills relating to the criminal justice system to ensure victim-centric justice namely the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 and the Bharatiya Sakshya Bill, 2023 replacing the Indian Penal Code, 1860, the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 and the Indian Evidence Act, 1872 were passed by both the Houses of Parliament. (ANI)

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INDIA 2024 India News

Major ministries unchanged in Modi 3.0

The broad signal of continuity with change is reinforced by the fact that the BJP has kept key portfolios including Education, Railways, Road Transport and Highways, Agriculture, Housing, Rural Development, Petroleum and Natural Gas…reports Asian Lite News

Continuing the work done in the second term with a refresh rather than a reboot – this is the key signal from Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Council of Ministers as their portfolios were announced Monday evening, a day after the NDA government took oath for the third term.

Given the political imperatives of a coalition in which the BJP, short of a majority, needs allies, the Council may have been expanded to 72 but the portfolio allocation reflected continuity in critical areas where progress is cumulative – with no change in the Cabinet Cabinet on Security.

Rajnath Singh was retained as Defence Minister, so was Amit Shah as Home Minister, Nirmala Sitharaman as Finance Minister and S Jaishankar as External Affairs Minister. Shah also retained the Ministry of Cooperation while Sitharaman will continue to have Corporate Affairs portfolio with her besides Finance.

This also put to rest speculation on whether coalition compulsions would have a role to play in the composition of the CCS.

Keeping the CCS unchanged, Modi leveraged the experience and domain expertise of former Chief Ministers he inducted into his Cabinet. Former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, credited for the transformation in the state’s agriculture sector, got charge at the national level where he is expected to bring fresh impetus to the Centre’s efforts to address agrarian challenges and stalled reforms after the repeal of the farm laws.

Two-term CM of Haryana Manohar Lal Khattar has been given Housing and Urban Affairs – which will be in charge of the Smart City flagship program — and Power. H D Kumaraswamy, another two-term CM, will handle Heavy Industries and Steel, two key infrastructure sectors.

The broad signal of continuity with change is reinforced by the fact that the BJP has kept key portfolios including Education, Railways, Road Transport and Highways besides Agriculture, Housing and Urban Affairs, Rural Development, Petroleum and Natural Gas.

Indeed, as many as 15 ministers from the previous term have retained their portfolios including Rao Inderjit Singh (Statistics, Planning); Jitendra Singh (Science & Technology, Earth Sciences, MoS in the PMO; Personnel; Atomic Energy and Space); Arjun Ram Meghwal (Law and MoS Parliamentary Affairs).

Under Nitin Gadkari’s watch, the BJP government had made significant strides in expansion of highways and road network and Gadkari has been retained as Road Transport and Highways minister.

National president of BJP J P Nadda now handles Health as well as Chemicals and Fertilisers – the two ministries that will play a key role in expansion of the flagship Ayushman Bharat scheme and the Jan Aushadhi Scheme.

Modi, who stressed on continuity and stability in his internal meetings, according to a source, flagged the need to ensure minimum disruption in sectors where reforms are work in progress.

Piyush Goyal, who won his maiden Lok Sabha election from Mumbai North, will continue to handle Commerce and Industry. The Education Ministry, another significant portfolio in need of a sharper skills-based focus, remains with Dharmendra Pradhan, who secured an impressive electoral victory from Odisha where the party is set to form a government on its own for the first time after winning the state polls.

There is no change in the portfolios of Bhupender Yadav who was given Environment, Forest and Climate Change again. Former diplomat Hardeep Singh Puri has retained Petroleum and Natural Gas with Housing and Urban Affairs going to Khattar.

The BJP retained another key infrastructure ministry, Ports, Shipping and Waterways, which stayed with Sarbananda Sonowal. Similarly, the BJP has kept Railways. Ashwini Vaishnaw has been given that portfolio along with Information and Broadcasting and Electronics and Information Technology.

The portfolios of some Ministers have been switched. Giriraj Singh has been moved to Textiles from Rural Development and Panchayati Raj; Jyotiraditya Scindia to Communications from Civil Aviation; Mansukh Mandaviya to Labour and Employment and Youth Affairs Sports from Health; G Kishan Reddy to Coal and Mines from Culture and Tourism.

C R Paatil, president of Gujarat BJP unit, has been given charge of Jal Shakti ministry. His predecessor, Gajendra Shekhawat, is now the minister of Culture and Tourism. Modi has given the charge of Parliamentary affairs, a crucial role given the demands of coalition politics, to Kiren Rijiju. Women and Child Development, handled by Smriti Irani in the previous government, has gone to Annapurna Devi, an emerging leader from poll-bound Jharkhand. Virendra Kumar retained Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment;

Pralhad Joshi, who was in charge of Parliamentary Affairs and Coal and Mines, has been given Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution; and New and Renewable Energy Ministries. Tribal Affairs has gone to Jual Oram, who held the same portfolio in Modi’s first term.

Accommodating allies, whom he needs for stability in the government, Modi has allocated the key Civil Aviation portfolio to young TDP minister K Ram Mohan Naidu. Incidentally, the TDP had got Civil Aviation in 2014 as well when the Chandrababu Naidu-led party was a member of the ruling NDA.

Chirag Paswan, who represents the five-member LJP (Ram Vilas), got Food Processing, a ministry his father and Bihar veteran late Ram Vilas Paswan had held. Former president of 12-member JDU Rajiv Ranjan Lalan Singh has got Panchayati Raj and Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying.

The ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME), a sector that plays a crucial role in powering small businesses and job creation, has gone to one-member party HAM’s Jitan Ram Majhi.

Shiv Sena’s Jadhav Prataprao Ganpatrao, who is a Minister of State with independent charge has been given the Ministry of Ayush and MoS charge in the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

Similarly, RLD’s Jayant Chaudhary — another MoS (independent charge) — has been given Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship and MoS charge in the Ministry of Education.

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2 more UK ministers resign in fresh blow to Boris

The |Prime Minister Boris Johnson leaves Number 10 for prime Minister's Questions. 10 Downing Street. Picture by Tim Hammond / No 10 Downing Street

The resignations have added to the pressure on the Prime Minister following the departure of his health and finance ministers…reports Asian Lite News

In a fresh blow to UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who recently survived a leadership challenge, three more have resigned from his government on Wednesday, media reports said.

Education ministers Will Quince and Robin Walker and ministerial aide Laura Trott on Wednesday, BBC reported.

Will Quince said he had “no choice but to tender my resignation” while Laura Trott said she was quitting over a loss of “trust” in the government.

The resignations have added to the pressure on the Prime Minister following the departure of his health and finance ministers.

Two of Boris Johnson’s top ministers — Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak and Health Secretary Sajid Javid — quit the government on Tuesday.

“I have spoken to the Prime Minister to tender my resignation as Secretary of State for Health & Social Care. It has been an enormous privilege to serve in this role, but I regret that I can no longer continue in good conscience,” Javid had said in a tweet.

Javid said he can no longer serve in Boris Johnson’s government in “good conscience” as he has “lost confidence” in the Prime Minister.

Setting out his decision to quit in a letter, he wrote: “I am instinctively a team player but the British people also rightly expect integrity from their Government. The tone you set as a leader, and the values you represent, reflect on your colleagues, your party and ultimately the country. Conservatives at their best are seen as hard-headed decision makers, guided by strong values. We may not have always been popular, but we have been competent in acting in the national interest.

“Sadly, in the current circumstances, the public are concluding that we are now neither. The vote of confidence last month showed that a large number of our colleagues agree. It was a moment for humility, grip and a new direction. I regret to say, however, that it is clear to me that this situation will not change under your leadership – and you have therefore lost my confidence too.”

Soon after, Sunak also put in his paper, saying “we’re fundamentally too different”.

In his letter, he said “the public rightly expect the government to be conducted properly, competently and seriously. I believe these standards are worth fighting for and that is why I am resigning.”

Noting that “our country is facing immense challenges”, he said: “I publicly believe the public are ready to hear that truth. Our people know that if something is too good to be true then it’s not true. They need to know that whilst there is a path to a better future, it is not an easy one.

“In preparation for our proposed joint speech on the economy next week, it has become clear to me that our approaches are fundamentally too different.”

“I am sad to be leaving government but I have reluctantly come to the conclusion that we cannot continue like this,” he added.

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Modi chairs meeting of council of ministers

In the last round of the meeting, an open house session was held in which many ministers also presented their suggestions to the Prime Minister on the issue of improving the functioning of the government…reports Asian Lite News.

A meeting of the Council of Ministers was held on Tuesday under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. In this crucial meeting, Modi reviewed the progress report of many projects.

According to sources, in Tuesday’s meeting, Union Commerce, Consumer and Food and Supplies Minister Piyush Goyal and Union Jal Shakti Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat provided information about various projects and also came up with a presentation in the meeting regarding their implementation. The Prime Minister also gave several instructions regarding these projects.

In the last round of the meeting, an open house session was held in which many ministers also presented their suggestions to the Prime Minister on the issue of improving the functioning of the government.

Since coming to power, the Prime Minister keeps holding meetings of the Council of Ministers in this way at regular intervals apart from the cabinet meetings. Only cabinet ministers are involved in cabinet meetings and they are called only if any matter related to the ministry of a minister is included in the agenda of the meeting. But the meeting of the Council of Ministers consists of ministers of all three levels (cabinet ministers, ministers of state – independent charge and ministers of state).

The meet is termed as ‘Chintan Shivir’ in which the junior and new ministers learn the style of work from senior and seasoned ministers and they also get the guidance of the Prime Minister.

This was the fourth time since the reshuffle of the Union Cabinet on July 7 when the Prime Minister had called a meeting of the Council of Ministers. In the last meeting, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya and Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan gave a presentation.

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Charities, former ministers slam planned aid cuts

More than 1,700 academics, charities and business leaders have signed a letter warning that aid cuts have led to feeding centers, health clinics shutting down in impoverished countries, reports Asian Lite News

Some of the world’s most impoverished countries, including Yemen and Afghanistan, could face devastating food shortages along with the closure of health and education facilities as a result of planned UK cuts to foreign aid spending, charities have warned.
Ahead of a potential vote in the House of Commons on Monday that will decide the fate of the aid changes, including a reduction in spending from 0.7 percent of national income to 0.5 percent, a coalition of high-profile charities such as Oxfam and ActionAid UK have warned in a letter that the cuts could have a “devastating” effect on Britain’s international credibility.
Last year, the top five recipients of Britain’s foreign aid were Pakistan, Ethiopia, Afghanistan, Yemen and Nigeria.

Save the Children, WWF UK and Cafod also signed the letter, which included more than 1,700 academics, charities and business leaders, warning that aid reductions already have led to feeding centers and health clinics shutting down in impoverished countries.
Water sanitation and health training programs were also affected, charities said.
“While other G7 countries have stepped up their aid budgets, the UK is the only one to have rowed back on its commitments,” the letter added, warning that the planned cuts amid the pandemic would represent a “double blow to the world’s poorest communities.”

A senior UN diplomat has also warned Prime Minister Boris Johnson that the proposal to slash overseas aid is “tarnishing faith in Britain’s trustworthiness at a crucial moment.”
Mark Lowcock, a former permanent secretary at the Department for International Development, added that Johnson’s overseeing of the policy shift revealed “a failure of kindness and empathy.”
He told The Observer newspaper: “At the moment, I’m particularly alarmed about a famine now affecting hundreds of thousands of people in Ethiopia, the biggest famine problem the world has seen for 10 years. Last year, the UK reported to the UN the provision of $108 million of humanitarian assistance to Ethiopia. This year, they have so far reported $6 million.”
He added: “It is very corrosive of trust, confidence and your reputation, and your relationships with people who matter to your own interests and prosperity. Every other country faces the same economic problems. But no one else in the G7 is responding in this way.”
Opposition groups and figures are demanding an immediate reversal to the planned cuts.

UNICEF

Some former senior Conservative ministers have also criticised the proposal.
Former culture secretary Karen Bradley said: “The prime minister’s personal priority for aid is girls’ education. But girls’ education has been cut by 25 percent, while UNICEF, the UN children’s fund, has had a cut of 60 percent. It just doesn’t make sense. You only get one chance at childhood.”
Caroline Nokes, former immigration minister, said: “The cuts to UK aid represent just 1 percent of what the chancellor is borrowing this year. But they mean funding for the UN’s reproductive health program has been cut by 85 percent.
“The UN says this aid would have helped prevent around 250,000 maternal and child deaths. This is literally an issue of life and death,” she added.

The Church of England has also warned that the cuts could have immediate consequences for war-torn Yemen.
Nick Baines, the bishop of Leeds, said: “Has anyone defended the cuts to Yemen? Arguing for girls’ education amounts to empty words when action denies honest intent. This is a shameful reneging on a promise, a denial of compassionate justice, and cries out for remedy.”
The charity coalition said that there is “no justifiable economic need” for the cuts, which the government has said will save almost £4 billion ($5.66 billion) per year.
However, Health Secretary Matt Hancock, a proponent of the aid changes, said: “The decisions that the government has taken around this are entirely reasonable. We face a once-in-300-year economic interruption.”

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