Current Affairs - 4 June 2017

General Affairs 

India to get new tiger hubs, rise in big cat population expected

• 

  For many tiger lovers wandering across India's 50-odd national parks to get a glimpse of the majestic big cats without success, there is good news. Next opening of the park gates may bring to you a louder roar of the felines.

  If the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA), the apex body formulating policies for the conservation of big cats, is to be believed, then the next tiger census due in 2018 is set to show a "significant rise". The last census done in 2014 put the tiger number at 2,226 and this is set to touch 2,600 or more by the 2018 tigers census, says NTCA chief Dr Debabrata Swain. "Going by the estimated annual growth of 6-7 per cent of tigers being added to current population and the same being corroborated by the ongoing field census by our experts and scientists on ground, about 2,650 tigers could be a reality in 2018," says Dr Swain, who is also the additional director general of Project Tiger.

  A top NTCA insider explained the encouraging trend. "We conduct the phase 4 exercise towards the end of every census done once in four years, the last was done in 2014. We have fairly good scientific and tech-enabled evidence gathered from the ongoing study, which started in October 2016, showing a possible significant rise in tiger population and there are certain reserves showing proof of 'sizeable big cats population' by next census due in 2018.

  The official, requesting anonymity, told Mail Today, "While the Nagarhole, Bandipore and Biligiri Rangaswamy Tiger (BRT) reserves in Karnataka throw ample evidence of many being added to current numbers, some significant rise is expected from Manas in Assam and Pench in Madhya Pradesh. While Pench, which had about 40 tigers at last count will show up 50-odd and in Manas, where it was about 13-14, will show at least 22 to 23, or more by then.''

  Maharashtra, for instance, which counted about 190 tigers last will cross 220 in the next census. The NTCA study to complete the census is still on and that is why the estimates at Corbett, Kanha and Bandhavgarh, all very popular in the itinerary of tiger lovers, cannot be made. However, NTCA members say that these reserves will also see rise in numbers as Ranthambhore and Kaziranga.

  The tiger numbers will also get a boost with NTCA moving ahead with repeating the success of Panna and Sariska national parks in at least four national parks - Buxa in West Bengal, Mukundra Hills in Rajasthan, western Part of Rajasthan in Rajaji National Park and Satkosia in Odisha. "We left female and male tigers in the ratio of 3:2 and 5:3 in Sariska and Panna and today we have 14 tigers in Sariska and about 42 in Panna. Both these tiger reserves have shown 'zero' in the census. Now we are going ahead with Buxa in West Bengal first, for which the plan is ready and we will get 2 males and 3 females from Assam's Orang reserve, which has currently the highest density of tigers. We have also finalised for the western part of Rajaji Park, where we also plan to leave tigers in same ratio to breed and add more big cats there. We have about 25 to 30 tigers in the eastern side of Rajaji, but their movement gets obstructed due to Haridwar city in between and disturbances caused by railway line cutting through the two sides," the NTCA officer said.

  The plan is also to breed tigers in Naxal-infested Palamu Tiger Reserve in Jharkhand where currently there are only two tigers left.

  However, more big cats also mean more human-tiger conflicts and the latter's killing by villagers and poachers. "Indian tiger reserves cannot hold beyond 3,000 tigers, there have been 59 deaths this year alone and nearly 122 deaths in 2016. Only a few die a natural death, we need to think in future for our big cats," Dr Swain concluded.

EC EVM Challenge: Aam Aadmi Party calls exercise a sham after NCP, CPI(M) do not take part

• 

  The much hyped Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) hackathon challenge of the Election Commission of India (ECI) turned out to be a damp squib. Both CPIM and NCP, the two political parties which had accepted the challenge and turned up at ECI office, did not attempt to hack the EVMs.

  The Aam Aadmi Party which had challenged the authenticity of the EVMs but turned down ECI offer to participate in the challenge called the entire exercise a sham. In its letter addressed to the CEC, the party said,' AAP believes that the June 3 EC demonstration and EVM challenge is a pure eye wash which cannot prove anything technical and thus, achieves nothing. 'To prove its point, AAP will conductor its own EVM challenge of its own prototype under the same conditions as EC has proposed.'

  'CPIM which was represented by a team of three people including IT experts told the technical experts committee that they were more interested in knowing  the whole EVM process and did not want to participate in the challenge,' said Dr Nasim Zaidi, Chief Election Commissioner while interacting with the media. 'The Commission arranged a detailed demonstration for them and all their queries were answered,' he further added.

  "The CEC claimed that the CPIM representatives expressed complete satisfaction over the process and even suggested that  exercises to create awareness about EVMs should be undertaken, the ECI has welcomed it.'

  NCP AND THEIR EVM CONCERNS

  Dr. Zaidi said that the NCP representatives told the technical committee that they also didn't want to participate in the challenge and only wanted to be a part of an academic exercise. NCP had written a letter to the ECI seeking details of the memory chip and battery numbers in advance. 'We told them that this was not possible as the EVMs were in a sealed condition and could not be opened in their absence,' he said.

  NCP had doubt about the EVMs which were used during the local bodies polls in Maharashtra. 'The commission told the NCP team that the municipal polls used EVMS from the state election commission and not theirs,' said Dr Zaidi. 'NCP team has been provided with all the information they had sought and doors for them to come back and take the challenge is open,' he a further added.

  However, NCP leader Vandana Chavan later told India Today that the entire exercise was an eye wash. 'We were under the impression that the EVM challenge would give us an opportunity for an academic exercise to satisfy our queries, however not providing us the required information and change the protocol for the choice of EVMs has created an unfair situation,' said the Rajya Sabha MP. NCP has suggested that the entire process of elections right from manufacturing to polling to the counting must be done in a transparent manner and political parties must be informed regarding the same.

  
  

  ECI had sourced 14 EVMs from the three states which went to polls recently. EVMs were sourced from Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Punjab from 12 constituencies. Both the political parties were allotted five hours to hack the EVMs.

Congress goofs up, publishes incorrect map of Kashmir in booklet on Modi government

• 

  In a major goof up, the Uttar Pradesh Congress today released a booklet in Lucknow in which Kashmir has been labeled as Indian-occupied Kashmir. The booklet, which targets the BJP-led NDA government as it completes three years and highlights its failures, was released by Ghulam Nabi Azad  and Raj Babbar.

  The 11th page of the 16-page booklet talks of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and carries a map of the project. The map, seen by India Today, carries the label 'India-occupied Kashmir' for the area of Kashmir.

  Text appearing alongside the map says that the $54 billion CPEC will pass through Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir to connects Gwadar Port in the Arabian sea to China. In a bid to target the BJP, Congress wonders if the project raises questions over India's claim on PoK?

  At the press conference, Ghulam Nabi Azad raised issues of national security being jeopardized by the BJP and spoke about a spurt in terror-related violence in the country.

  The Congress also targeted the BJP saying that the ruling party has been lax in securing India's borders and that the defence preparedness of India has been compromised under the Narendra Modi government. Azad also indicated that the state of Jammu and Kashmir is in turmoil and that Naxalism has been rearing its ugly head and their attacks have become more spectacular in nature.

  Meanwhile, Congress leader Ajay Maken said it was a "printing error" but admitted that it was his party's responsibility to ensure that such a mistake was not allowed.

Narendra Modi in Paris: Climate deal shared legacy of world, article of faith for India

• 

  Prime Minister Narendra Modi has unequivocally reiterated India's commitment to Paris Agreement on climate change that was signed by 195 countries in December, 2015.

  Addressing a joint press conference with President of France Emmanuel Macron in Paris today, Narendra Modi said, "Paris Agreement is a shared legacy of the world. It will benefit the future generations as well."

  "For Indians, it (Paris Agreement) is an article of faith," Prime Minister Narendra Modi said.

  Narendra Modi's statement assumes significance in the view of the statement by US President Donald Trump announcing pulling out of the climate deal earlier this week.

  Before the joint presser Narendra Modi held bilateral talks with Emmanuel Macron. During his talks, Narendra Modi extended invitation to Emmanuel Macron to visit India. Macron accepted his invitation to visit the country.

  MODI-MACRON MEET: THINGS TO KNOW

  1. Narendra Modi said, "Paris Agreement reflects our duty towards protecting the Earth and our natural resources."
  2. "We have natural resources because our previous generations protected these resources. We must do the same for our future," PM Modi explained why Paris Agreement is crucial to world's sustainable existence.
  3. PM Narendra Modi said, "India and France enjoy deep-rooted ties. Our nations have been working together for a very long time, bilaterally and multilaterally."
  4. "Be it trade and technology, innovation and investment, energy, education and enterprise, we want to give a boost to India-France ties," PM Modi said."We want to improve the cultural relations between India and France. Several Indians fought in the first two world wars for world peace," Modi said.
  5. PM Modi also acknowledged Frances role in taking India along on an important alternate energy collaboration. "I appreciate the positivity of President Emmanuel Macron towards the International Solar Alliance," PM Modi said.
  6. The two leaders also discussed the threat that terrorism is posing to the world. "Terrorism is one of the biggest challenges the world is facing today," Modi said.
  7. Echoing the sentiment expressed by PM Modi, President Macron said, "I would like India to stand behind France against terrorism. France stands by India against terrorism."
  8. "I would like to increase cooperation in culture and cinema, said President Macron, adding, "I Would like more Indian students to come to France."

Maharashtra: Farmers split on decision to continue strike

• 

  Leaders of agitating farmers met with Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis for four long hours to discuss their demands, and at the conclusion of the meeting decided they would call their strike off, however, no sooner had they made the decision when a rift broke out among the farmers.

  Maharashtra Kisansabha today decided to extend its full support to protesting farmers of Nasik, Kolhapur, Nagar, Satara, Solapur, Osmanabad and Pune.

  Holding a press conference, Kisansabha said that CM Fadnavis has not waived the loan of any small land owning farmer, but instead has just established a committee to study the issue and will submit the report later on October 31.

  "When on paper not a single demand was accepted by CM then on what basis they called off the strike?" questioned Ajit Navle, president of Maharashtra Kisansabha.

  Kisansabha, which was also present during the meeting with Fadnavis, condemned the negotiations that were made and said that farmers are still on strike with only one faction, which appeared with Fadnavis for the press conference, had called off the strike.

  As of now Kisansabha is supporting all the farmers association which are against the decision to call off the strike. Leaders like Raju Shetty, Raghunathdada Patil have supported Kisansabha and will be joining hands with them for farmers decision.

  "There is no clarity on the decision that was taken in the meeting with Fadnavis. He said he is for the loan waiver but didn't approve it immediately. He said the loan waiver will be for small land owning farmers but then what about big land holdings farmers?" Ajit Navle said.

  "This decision will have big impact on farmers of Marathwada and Vidarbha as they don't fall in the category of small land owning farmers. This shows how the government has played word game with the farmers," he added.

  In Nasik today, farmers held a meeting and decided that they will continue the strike till the time the government accepts all their demands.

Business Affairs 

Gold to be taxed at 3% under GST, Council okays transition & return rules

• 

  Footwear below Rs 500 will be taxed at 5 per cent under the Goods and Services Tax, while the rest would be in the 18 per cent bracket once the new regime is rolled out from July 1.

  Gold, on the other hand, will be taxed at 3 per cent and biscuits at 18 per cent.

  The GST Council, chaired by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and comprising his state counterparts, today decided on tax rates for six goods including footwear, textiles, biscuits and gold.

  Sources said the footwear costing below Rs 500 will be taxed at 5 per cent while that above Rs 500 will attract 18 per cent levy. Currently, footwear priced from Rs 500-1,000 attracts 6 per cent excise duty. Besides, states also levy VAT.

  Sources said items like readymade garments are likely to be taxed at 12 per cent, while cotton textiles and cotton yarn will be in the 5 per cent category.

  Bidis are likely to be taxed at the highest rate of 28 per cent, they said.

  The GST Council has already fitted over 1,200 goods and 500 services in the tax bracket of 5, 12, 18 and 28 per cent last month.

  The Council at its 15th meeting today took up for discussion the remaining goods for taxation.

  It approved the transition and return rules earlier in the day.

  GST, to be rolled out from July 1, will unify 16 different taxes and make India a single market.

GST Council clears pending rules, states agree to July 1 rollout

• 

  The GST Council today cleared the pending rules, including transition provisions and returns, with all the states agreeing to July 1 roll out of the Goods and Services Tax.

  "We were discussing the rules and (they) have been completed. Transition rules have been cleared and everybody has agreed for July 1 roll out," Kerala Finance Minister Thomas Isaac told reporters here.

  The GST Council had last month fitted over 1,200 goods and 500 services in the tax brackets of 5, 12, 18 and 28 per cent.

  Finance Minister Arun Jaitley chaired the 15th meeting of the GST Council which is scheduled to decide on tax rate of 6 items including gold, textiles and footwear.

  Isaac's statement of all states agreeing to the July 1 rollout assumes significance as West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had said that her state will not roll out the new indirect tax regime in its present form.

  Bengal Finance Minister Amit Mitra is however attending today's meeting.

  Banerjee had said yesterday that her government would not support the new GST system in its present form and that her government would write to Jaitley for making changes to make it suitable for all the sections of the society.

  "We will not support the GST in its present form. In its present form, it doesn't suit every section, especially the unorganised sector. They (Centre) have to rectify it... We have to continue with our fight to bring down the tax rates on certain products.

  "Unless the rates are reduced, they will adversely impact the state's economy and employment," she had said.

  As for the transition rules approved by Council, the industry had been demanding some relaxation of the provision of deemed credit.

  The draft transition law provided that once GST is implemented a company can claim credit of up to 40 per cent of their Central GST dues for excise duty paid on stock held by businesses prior to the rollout.

  Several dealers are choosing to wait and watch rather than buy and hold on to inventories. They have lobbied with the government seeking an increase in the credit limit.

UK govt begins charging visa applicants for email enquiries

• 

  The UK government has begun charging visa applicants for making email enquiries about their application from this week.

  The 5.48-pound charge will be levied per email as part of the UK Home Office outsourcing its customer enquiries service for visa applications to a private firm, Sitel UK.

  "The new contract will see a number of changes for customers. These changes help the government reduce costs and ensure those who benefit directly from the UK immigration system make an appropriate contribution," a government statement said.

  "You will need to pay using a credit or debit card for contacting us by email. The charge includes the first email enquiry you send and any follow-up emails to and from the contact centre relating to the same enquiry. The way you pay to use the telephone service will remain the same using a credit or debit card," it said.

  The changes, which came into effect yesterday, apply to all applicants making an email enquiry about their visa application from outside the UK.

  The other changes include a change in the phone numbers and opening hours and the number of languages available have also been cut down to eight, including English.

  The other language options now offered will include Hindi, Mandarin, Cantonese, Arabic, French, Russian and Spanish.

  The UK Home Office said the languages no longer on the list had made up only four per cent of the total volume of correspondence received.

  The move has been criticised for its potential impact on the UK's tourism industry, with visitors preferring destinations with easier visa options.

  "Britain should be trying to attract more tourists and highly-skilled workers, these new rules make it less likely they will apply," said Susan Kramer, the Liberal Democrat Shadow Business Secretary.

  "The Conservatives manifesto pledge to reduce immigration to the tens of thousands is at best delusional but at worst experts have warned that trying to achieve it could cost us 6 billion pounds. (British Prime Minister) Theresa May is putting party politics ahead of the country's well being and she should be ashamed," she said.

  The ruling Conservative Party has made clamping down on migrants from outside the European Union (EU) a manifesto pledge in the June 8 general election.

  The party's plans include tightening rules for skilled workers, with the so-called 'Skills Charge' of 1,000 pounds per worker set to double.

  Non-EU migrants will also be made to pay more for using the state-run National Health Service (NHS) under a Tory-led government.

  The changes are likely to hit Indians the hardest as they comprise one of the largest number of skilled workers granted visas to live and work in the UK.

  According to the most recent UK Home Office figures, Indian nationals accounted for 53,863 of a total of 93,566, with US nationals the next largest nationality at 9,255.

  Indian tourists also rank high among visitor numbers to the UK, attracting 432.56 million pounds into the economy in 2016.

RBI chief Urjit Patel meets Arun Jaitley before monetary policy review

• 

  Ahead of the next monetary policy review, Reserve Bank Governor Urjit Patel today called on Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and believed to have discussed various macro-economic issues.

  RBI Governor usually meets Finance Minister before the monetary policy review.

  The six-member Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the RBI headed by Patel will meet on June 6 and 7 for the Second Bi- monthly Monetary Policy Statement for 2017-18.

  The resolution of the MPC will be placed on the website in the afternoon of June 7, the central bank said in a statement.

  Before meeting Jaitley, Patel had a meeting with Economic Affairs Secretary Tapan Ray.

  The MPC will be meeting in the backdrop of India's economic growth slowing to 7.1 per cent in 2016-17.

  Trade and industry is keenly awaiting the MPC decisions on interest rate.

  On April 6, the Reserve Bank had left its benchmark lending rate unchanged at 6.25 per cent for the third monetary policy review in a row citing upside risk to inflation.

Leonardo DiCaprio slams Donald Trump over Paris Climate Pact exit, says it's time to fight back

• 

  Noted Hollywood actor and environmental activist Leonardo DiCaprio slammed President Donald Trump for his 'careless decision' to withdraw the United States from the Paris Agreement saying the future on this planet is now more at risk than ever before.
  
  In a long Facebook post, DiCaprio termed the US President's action as 'discouraging' and ask the world to challenge those who do not believe in scientific facts or empirical truths.
   
  Here's DiCaprio's Full Text
   
  Today, the future livability of our planet was threatened by President Trump's careless decision to withdraw the United States from the Paris Agreement. Our future on this planet is now more at risk than ever before. For Americans and those in the world community looking for strong leadership on climate issues, this action is deeply discouraging. Now, more than ever, we must be determined to solve climate change, and to challenge those leaders who do not believe in scientific facts or empirical truths. It is time for all of us to stand up, organize, fight back, and channel our energy into grassroots political action."
  
  US President Trump on Thursday withdrew from the historic Paris climate agreement saying the deal was 'poorly' negotiated and signed out of 'desperation'. Paris agreement was signed in 2015 to fight rising global temperature by cutting down carbon emission.
  
  The United States under this accord had pledged to cut greenhouse emissions 26 to 28 per cent by 2025 and agreed to pay 3 billion dollar in aid for other poor and developing countries by 2020. However, President Trump felt that the Paris accord was 'unfair' and this would put the United States to a very big 'economic disadvantage'.
  
  Moments after Trump announced his decision, several global leaders came out in support of landmark Paris accord and commit to protect the planet 'with or without America'.
  
  Donald Trump, however, said that his administration would renegotiate either to re-enter the Paris accord or to have a new agreement "on terms that are fair to the United States, its businesses, its workers, its people, its taxpayers." To which, France President Emmanuel Macron said: "We will not renegotiate a less ambitious accord. There is no way."
   
  Here is how some global leaders have reacted so far:
   
  Prime Minister Narendra Modi
  Prime Minister Modi said India is committed to protect the climate, irrespective of the Paris agreement. "Paris or no Paris, our commitment to preserving the climate is for the sake of future generations," he said. "we must leave for our future generations a climate wherein they can breathe clean air and have a healthy life," the Prime Minister added. Underlining India's commitment to protect nature, Prime Minister Modi said:"For the last 5000 years, even when I was not born, it has been the tradition in India to protect the environment. India is a responsible nation with regard to climate change...We can milk the nature... Exploitation of nature is not acceptable to us."
   
  Former US President Barack Obama
  Former President Barack Obama expressed regret over Trump's decision and told the New York Times: "The nations that remain in the Paris agreement will be the nations that reap the benefits in jobs and industries created. Even in the absence of American leadership; even as this administration joins a small handful of nations that reject the future; I'm confident that our states, cities, and businesses will step up and do even more to lead the way, and help protect for future generations the one planet we've got."
   
  UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres
  UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres was disappointed over President Trump's decision to withdraw from the Paris Accord and said: "The decision by the United States to withdraw from the Paris Agreement on climate change is a major disappointment for global efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and promote international security." "The Secretary-General remains confident that all other parties to the Paris agreement will continue to demonstrate vision and leadership, along with very many cities, states and businesses in the United States and around the world by working for the low-carbon, resilient economic growth that will create quality jobs and markets for 21st century economic prosperity," the statement by the UN Chief said.
   
  French President Emmanuel Macron
  Macron called Trump's decision not to honor the Paris agreement a 'mistake' and ruled out of any renegotiation. "I tell you firmly tonight: We will not renegotiate a less ambitious accord. There is no way," Macron said. "France believes in you (the US), the world believes in you, but don't be mistaken on climate; there is no plan B because there is no planet B," Macron further said.

General Awareness

List of Cabinet Ministers with their Portfolio and Constituency – Updated on May 2017

• 1. Prime Minister Narendra Modi –  Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions, Department of Atomic Energy, Department of Space, All important policy issues and All other portfolios not allocated to any Minister.
     PM Modi’s Constituency: Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh
     Cabinet Ministers:

     S.No	Cabinet Ministers	Portfolio	Constituency
     1	Shri Raj Nath Singh	Home Affairs	Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh
     2	Smt. Sushma Swaraj	External Affairs	Vidisha , Madhya Pradesh
     3	Shri Arun Jaitley	Finance	Gujarat Rajaya Sabha
     		Corporate Affairs
     4	Shri M. Venkaiah Naidu	Urban Development	Rajasthan Rajya Sabha
     		Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation
     		Information & Broadcasting
     5	Shri Nitin Jairam Gadkari	Road Transport and Highways	Nagpur, Maharashtra
     		Shipping
     6	Shri Arun Jaitley	Defence	Gujarat, Rajya Sabha
     7	Shri Suresh Prabhu	Railways	Andhra Pradesh, Rajya Sabha
     8	Shri D. V. Sadananda Gowda	Statistics & Programme Implementation	Bangalore North, Karnataka
     9	Sushri Uma Bharati	Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation	Jhansi, Uttar Pradesh
     11	Shri Ramvilas Paswan	Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution	Hajipuri, Bihar
     12	Shri Kalraj Mishra	Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises	Deoria, Uttar Pradesh
     13	Smt. Maneka Sanjay Gandhi	Women and Child Development	Pilibhit , Uttar Pradesh
     14	Shri Ananthkumar	Chemicals and Fertilizers	Bangalore South, Karnataka
     		Parliamentary Affairs
     15	Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad	Law & Justice	Bihar – Rajya Sabha
     		Electronics & Information Technology
     16	Shri Jagat Prakash Nadda	Health and Family Welfare	Himachal Pradesh, Rajya Sabha
     17	Shri Ashok Gajapathi Raju Pusapati	Civil Aviation	Vizianagaram , Andhra Pradesh
     18	Shri Anant Geete	Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises	Raigad , Maharashtra
     19	Smt. Harsimrat Kaur Badal	Food Processing Industries	Bathinda , Punjab
     20	Shri Narendra Singh Tomar	Rural Development	Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh
     		Panchayati Raj
     		Drinking Water and Sanitation
     21	Shri Chaudhary Birender Singh	Steel	Haryana, Rajya Sabha
     22	Shri Jual Oram	Tribal Affairs	Sundargarh, Odisha
     23	Shri Radha Mohan Singh	Agriculture & Farmers Welfare	Purvi Champaran , Bihar
     24	Shri Thawar Chand Gehlot	Social Justice and Empowerment	Madhya Pradesh, Rajya Sabha
     25	Smt. Smriti Zubin Irani	Textiles	Gujarat, Rajya Sabha
     26	Dr. Harsh Vardhan	Science and Technology	Chandni Chowk, Delhi
     		Earth Sciences
     27	Shri Prakash Javadekar	Human Resource Development	Madhya Pradesh, Rajya Sabha

     Ministers of State (Independent Charge)

     1	Shri Rao Inderjit Singh	Planning (Independent Charge) Urban Development Housing & Urban Poverty Alleviation
     2	Shri Bandaru Dattatreya	Labour and Employment (Independent Charge)
     3	Shri Rajiv Pratap Rudy	Skill Development & Entrepreneurship (Independent Charge)
     4	Shri Vijay Goel	Youth Affairs and Sports (Independent Charge) Water Resources, River Development & Ganga Rejuvenation
     5	Shri Shripad Yesso Naik	AAYUSH (Independent Charge)
     6	Shri Dharmendra Pradhan	Petroleum and Natural Gas (Independent Charge)
     7	Shri Piyush Goyal	Power (Independent Charge) Coal (Independent Charge) New and Renewable Energy (Independent Charge) Mines (Independent Charge)
     8	Dr. Jitendra Singh	Development of North Eastern Region (Independent Charge) Prime Minister’s Office Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions Department of Atomic Energy Department of Space
     9	Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman	Commerce and Industry (Independent Charge)
     10	Dr. Mahesh Sharma	Culture (Independent Charge) Tourism (Independent Charge)
     11	Shri Manoj Sinha	Communications (Independent Charge) Railways
     12	Dr. Harsh Vardhan	Environment, Forest and Climate Change (Additional Charge)
     13	Shri Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi	Minority Affairs (Independent Charge) Parliamentary Affairs

     Ministers of State:

     1	General(Retd.) V.K. Singh	External Affairs
     2	Shri Santosh Kumar Gangwar	Finance
     3	Shri Faggan Singh Kulaste	Health & Family Welfare
     4	Shri S.S. Ahluwalia	Agriculture & Farmers Welfare Parliamentary Affairs
     5	Shri Ramdas Athawale	Social Justice & Empowerment
     6	Shri Ram Kripal Yadav	Rural Development
     7	Shri Haribhai Parthbhai Chaudhary	Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises
     8	Shri Giriraj Singh	Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises
     9	Shri Hansraj Gangaram Ahir	Home Affairs
     10	Shri Ramesh Chandappa Jigajinagi	Drinking Water & Sanitation
     11	Shri Rajen Gohain	Railways
     12	Shri Parshottam Rupala	Agriculture & Farmers Welfare Panchayati Raj
     13	Shri M.J. Akbar	External Affairs
     14	Shri Upendra Kushwaha	Human Resources Development
     15	Shri Radhakrishnan P.	Road Transport & Highways Shipping
     16	Shri Kiren Rijiju	Home Affairs
     17	Shri Krishan Pal	Social Justice & Empowerment
     18	Shri Jasvantsinh Sumanbhai Bhabhor	Tribal Affairs
     19	Dr. Sanjeev Kumar Balyan	Water Resources, River Development & Ganga Rejuvenation
     20	Shri Vishnu Deo Sai	Steel
     21	Shri Sudarshan Bhagat	Agriculture and Farmers Welfare
     22	Shri Y.S. Chowdary	Science and Technology Earth Science
     23	Shri Jayant Sinha	Civil Aviation
     24	Col. Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore	Information & Broadcasting
     25	Shri Babul Supriyo	Heavy Industries Public Enterprises
     26	Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti	Food Processing Industries
     27	Shri Vijay Sampla	Social Justice & Empowerment
     28	Shri Arjun Ram Meghwal	Finance Corporate Affairs
     29	Dr. Mahendra Nath Pandey	Human Resource Development
     30	Shri Ajay Tamta	Textiles
     31	Smt. Krishna Raj	Women & Child Development
     32	Shri Mansukh L. Mandaviya	Road Transport & Highways, Shipping, Chemicals & Fertilizers
     33	Smt. Anupriya Patel	Health & Family Welfare
     34	Shri C.R. Chaudhary	Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution
     35	Shri P.P. Chaudhary	Law & Justice Electronics & Information Technology
     36	Dr. Subhash Ramrao Bhamre	Defence