Modi Cambinet: Amit Shah gets Home and Nirmala Sitharaman gets Finance in Modi’s new cabinet list

  • The new Council of Ministers has 24 cabinet ministers, 9 ministers of state with independent in charge, and 24 ministers of state.
  • Rajnath Singh was appointed as Minister of Defence and Nitin Gadkari got the Minister of Road Transport and Highways; and Minister of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises.
  • Prime Minister Narendra Modi will also be in charge of the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions, Department of Atomic Energy, Department of Space, all important policy matters and other portfolios not allocated to any minister.

Rahul Gandhi meets NCP’s Sharad Pawar as rumours of merger intensifies

  • Several reports have suggested that Indian National Congress and Nationalist Congress Party are in talks to merge in the parliament so that they can have necessary numbers to become the opposition leader.
  • However, NCP chief denied these rumours and said the meet is to discuss the result of Lok Sabha election and to discuss Maharashtra Assembly elections.
  • The two parties had formed a coalition in Maharashtra for the 2019 Lok Sabha election and managed to win just 5 seats out of a total 48 seats in the state.

Calcultta High Court grants a month long protection to former Kolkata police chief in Saradha Scam

  • Rajeev Kumar had moved to the high court seeking to quash CBI summons for questioning him related to Saradha scam.
  • The high court gave him protection from an arrest but put conditions of not leaving the city and allowing CBI to visit his home every day at 4.00 pm.
  • CBI wanted a custodial interrogation of the former police chief regarding the Saradha chit fund scam.