Prime minister to head cabinet panel on infrastructure

October 1st, 2009 NEW DELHI - Information and Broadcasting Minister Ambika Soni Thursday cancelled a scheduled media briefing after a cabinet meeting in view of the model code of conduct in force due to the forthcoming state assembly elections. The briefing was cancelled at the last minute due to the model code of conduct, sources said.

September 17th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The cabinet Thursday approved a proposal to avail Japanese assistance to create the western arm of a dedicated freight corridor costing Rs.26,124 crore. In the first phase, Japan will provide a soft loan of Rs.17,700 crore to cover the Rewari-Vadodara section, Information and Broadcasting Minister Ambika Soni told reporters here after a cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

September 16th, 2009 Lineup of Japan's new CabinetThe Cabinet line-up announced Wednesday by newly elected Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama: National Strategy Minister and Deputy Prime Minister: Naoto Kan Chief Cabinet Secretary: Hirofumi Hirano Foreign Minister: Katsuya Okada Defense Minister: Toshimi Kitazawa Finance Minister: Hirohisa Fujii Economy, Trade and Industry Minister: Masayuki Naoshima Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Minister: Hirotaka Akamatsu Justice Minister: Keiko Chiba Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Minister: Tatsuo Kawabata Health, Labor and Welfare Minister: Akira Nagatsuma Land, Infrastructure and Transport Minister, also in charge of Okinawa and Northern Territories: Seiji Maehara Postal and Financial Minister: Shizuka Kamei (People's New Party) Internal Affairs and Communications Minister: Kazuhiro Haraguchi Environment Minister: Sakihito Ozawa National Public Safety Commission Chairman: Hiroshi Nakai Administrative Reform Minister: Yoshito Sengoku Population, Consumer Affairs, Gender Equality and Food Safety Minister: Mizuho Fukushima (Social Democratic Party)

August 27th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The Union Cabinet on Thursday approved fifty percent reservation for women in panchayats all across the country. "The Cabinet has approved the amendment of Article 243 (d) of the Constitution to reserve 50 per cent of the total number of seats in panchayats filled by direct election for women," said Information and Broadcasting Minister Ambika Soni here after a Cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

July 11th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The Cabinet Committee on Infrastructure (CCI) has been constituted under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh.

June 25th, 2009 NEW DELHI - A committee looking into the defence personnel's demand for pay review Thursday made a presentation before Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, an official release said. "The committee of secretaries headed by the cabinet secretary (K.M.

June 5th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Montek Singh Ahluwalia is back at Planning Commission as its deputy chairman along with three new members - economists Saumitra Chaudhuri and Mihir Shah, and honorary vice chancellor of Pune University Narendra Jadhav. Human rights activist Syeda Hameed, economist Abhijit Sen, and former cabinet secretary B.K.

May 28th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Minister of State in the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) Prithviraj Chavan's hands will be full with the most number of portfolios, while two ministers have been promoted to cabinet level. Besides being MoS in the PMO, Chavan is MoS (independent charge) for personnel, public grievances and pensions, a portfolio which Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had kept with himself in the previous government.

May 27th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Promising enhanced spending on infrastructure projects, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee Wednesday said all such ongoing projects will be revisited, and recalibrated when required, to achieve the desired results. "My government will have to focus on implementing and strengthening the infrastructure investments," the finance minister said in his maiden press conference after taking oath as senior-most minister in Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's cabinet last week.

May 27th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Having a degree in law can apparently improve one's chances of getting a ministerial berth as nearly half of the cabinet members have studied the subject. Of the 33 cabinet ministers named by Wednesday, 15 hold a degree in law.

May 26th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The expansion of the Union Cabinet is likely to be delayed by a day or more reportedly because of Trinamool Congress (TMC) chief Mamata Banerjee demanding a seventh ministerial berth. Some reports said the cabinet expansion could take place on Thursday and would include the nominees of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) and the Trinamool.

May 23rd, 2009 NEW DELHI - The morning after taking oath for his second consecutive term, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Saturday called a meeting of the new cabinet at his residence here. The meeting is basically to decide the dates for parliament sessions and when to present the budget, said an official at the Prime Minister's Office (PMO).

May 23rd, 2009 NEW DELHI - Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Saturday began his first full working day in office in his second five-year term at the head of a Congress-led coalition government. He presided over a cabinet meeting at his residence, a day after he and 19 cabinet colleagues took the oath of office and secrecy.

May 23rd, 2009 NEW DELHI - Pakistan "must take credible action" to dismantle the infrastructure of terrorism on its soil if it wants to resume dialogue with India, new External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna said here Saturday.

May 18th, 2009 NEW DELHI - President Pratibha Patil Monday dissolved the 14th Lok Sabha on the recommendation of the outgoing cabinet headed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. In an official communique released by the Rashtrapathi Bhavan, the president signed an order dissolving the Lok Sabha thus paving the way for the formation of the next government.