Cabinet reshuffle: New team will meet challenges ahead, Manmohan says

October 28, 2012

New Delhi, October 28: Battling perceptions of policy paralysis, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Sunday effected a major reshuffle of his council of ministers and expressed confidence that the new team would be able to meet the challenges ahead.

"It is a combination of youth, experience and relevance to the portfolios that have been entrusted to the ministers," Singh told reporters soon after the new ministers were sworn in at a brief ceremony at the Rashtrapati Bhawan.

Singh was asked about the message he sought to give through the reshuffle.

Asked about the road ahead for the government, the Prime Minister said, "The road ahead is full of challenges. But this is a team, which I hope will be able to meet those challenges."

Singh said that this would probably be the last reshuffle of the council of ministers before the 2014 general elections.

The Prime Minister also ruled out early elections and said polls would be held on time.

Asked about the ministers who were dropped from the Cabinet, Singh said that their services were required in the party.

"Well, the party also needs strengthening. Men and women of experience can be equally productive in strengthening the party," he said.

Ambika Soni, Mukul Wasnik, SM Krishna, Subodhkant Sahay, Mahadeo Singh Khandela and Vincent Pala were among those who resigned from the council of ministers ahead of the exercise.

The Prime Minister himself is also in-charge of the ministries/departments not specifically allocated to the charge of any minister namely ministry of personnel, public grievances and pensions; ministry of planning; department of atomic energy and department of space.

Manmohan Singh's team as it looks now:

CABINET MINISTERS

Sharad Pawar: Minister of agriculture and minister of food processing industries

AK Antony: Minister of defence

P Chidambaram: Minister of finance

Sushil Kumar Shinde: Minister of home affairs

Salman Khursheed: Minister of external affairs

Ghulam Nabi Azad: Minister of health and family welfare

M Veerappa Moily: Minister of petroleum and natural gas

Farooq Abdullah: Minister of new and renewable energy

S Jaipal Reddy: Science and technology and earth sciences

Kamal Nath: Minister of urban development & parliamentary affairs

Ajit Singh: Minister of civil aviation

Vayalar Ravi: Minister of overseas indian affairs

Mallikarjun Kharge: Minister of labour and employment

Kapil Sibal: Minister of communications and information technology

Anand Sharma Minister of Commerce and Industry Minister of Textiles

CP Joshi: Minister of road transport and highways

Kumari Selja: Minister of social justice and empowerment

GK Vasan: Minister of shipping

Pawan K Bansal: Minister of railways

MK Alagiri: Minister of chemicals and fertilizers

Praful Patel: Minister of heavy industries and public enterprises

Shriprakash Jaiswal: Minister of coal

K Rahman Khan: Minister of minority affairs

V Kishore Chandra Deo: Minister of tribal affairs minister of panchayati raj

Beni Prasad Verma: Minister of steel

Jairam Ramesh: Minister of rural development

Dinsha Patel: Minister of mines

Ajay Maken: Minister of housing and urban poverty alleviation

MM Pallam Raju: Minister of human resource development

Ahswani Kumar: Minister of law and justice

Harish Rawat: Minister of water resources

Chandresh Kumari Katoch: Minister of culture

MINISTERS OF STATE WITH INDEPENDENT CHARGE

Manish Tewari: Minister of state (independent charge) of the ministry of information and broadcasting

Krishna Tirath: Minister of state (independent charge) of the ministry of women and child development

K Chiranjeevi: Minister of state (independent charge) of the ministry of tourism

KV Thomas: Minister of state (independent charge) of the ministry of consumer affairs, food and public distribution

Srikant Jena: Minister of state (independent charge) of the ministry of statistics and programme implementation and minister of state of the ministry of chemicals and fertilizers

Jayanthi Natrajan: Minister of state (independent charge) of the ministry of environment and forests

Paban Singh Ghatowar: Minister of state (independent charge) of the ministry of development of north eastern region and minister of state of the ministry of parliamentary affairs

Jyotiraditya Madhavrao Scindia: Minister of state (independent charge) of the ministry of power.

KH Muniappa: Minister of state (independent charge) of the ministry of micro, small and medium enterprises

Sachin Pilot: Minister of state (independent charge) of the ministry of corporate affairs

Jitendra Singh: Minister of state (independent charge) of the ministry of youth affairs and sports

Bharatsinh Solanki: Minister of state (independent charge) of the ministry of drinking water and sanitation

MINISTERS OF STATE:

E Ahamed: Minister of state in the ministry of external affairs

D Purandeswari: Minister of state in the ministry of commerce and industry

Jitin Prasada: Minister of state in the ministry of defence and human resource development

S Jagathrakshakan: Minister of state in the ministry of new and renewable energy

KC Venugopal: Minister of state in the ministry of civil aviation

Rajeev Shukla: Minister of state in the ministry of parliamentary affairs and planning

Mullappally Ramachandran: Minister of state in the ministry of home affairs

V Narayanasamy: Minister of state in the ministry of personnel, public grievances and pensions minister of state in the prime minister's office

RPN Singh: Minister of state in the ministry of home

Panabaka Lakshmi: Minister of state in the ministry of textiles.

KJ Surya Prakash Reddy: Minister of state in the ministry of railways

Ranee Narah: Minister of state in the ministry of tribal affairs

Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury: Minister of state in the ministry of railways

AH Khan Choudhury: Minister of state in the ministry of health and family welfare

Sarvey Sathyanarayana: Minister of state in the ministry of road transport and highways

Ninong Ering: Minister of state in the ministry of minority affairs

Deepa Dasmunsi: Minister of state in the ministry of culture

Porika Balram Naik: Minister of state in the ministry of social justice and empowerment

Shri Kruparani Killi: Minister f state in the ministry of communications and information technology

Lalchand Kataria: Minister of state in the ministry of defence

Namo Narain Meena: Minister of state in the ministry of finance

SS Palanimanickam: Minister of state in the ministry of finance

Preneet Kaur: Minister of state in the ministry of external affairs

Sisir Adhikari: Minister of state in the ministry of rural development

D Napoleon: Minister of state in the ministry of social justice and empowerment

S Gandhiselvan: Minister of state in the ministry of health and family welfare

Tusharbhai Chaudhary: Minister of state in the ministry of road transport and highways

Prateek Prakashbapu Patil: Minister of state in the ministry of coal

Pradeep Jain: Minister of state in the ministry of rural development

Charan Das Mahant: Minister of state in the ministry of agriculture minister of state in the ministry of food processing industries

Milind Deora: Minister of state in the ministry of communications and information technology

Shashi Tharoor: Minister of state in the ministry of human resource development

Kodikunnil Suresh: Minister of state in the ministry of labour and employment

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Chaos continues as IndiGo cancels more flights including 73 from Bengaluru airport

News Network

December 4,2025

Domestic carrier IndiGo has cancelled over 180 flights from three major airports — Mumbai, Delhi and Bengaluru — on Thursday, December 4, as the airline struggles to secure the required crew to operate its flights in the wake of new flight-duty and rest-period norms for pilots.

While the number of cancellations at Mumbai airport stands at 86 (41 arrivals and 45 departures) for the day, at Bengaluru, 73 flights have been cancelled, including 41 arrivals, according to a PTI report that quoted sources.

"IndiGo cancelled over 180 flights on Thursday at three airports-Mumbai, Delhi and Bengaluru," the source told the news agency.

Besides, it had cancelled as many as 33 flights at Delhi airport for Thursday, the source said, adding, "The number of cancellations is expected to be higher by the end of the day."

The Gurugram-based airline's On-Time Performance (OTP) nosedived to 19.7 per cent at six key airports — Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Bengaluru and Hyderabad — on December 3, as it struggled to get the required crew to operate its services, down from almost half of December 2, when it was 35 per cent.

"IndiGo has been facing acute crew shortage since the implementation of the second phase of the FDTL (Flight Duty Time Limitations) norms, leading to cancellations and huge delays in its operations across the airports," a source had told PTI on Wednesday.

Chaos continued at several major airports for the third day on Thursday because of the cancellations.

A spokesperson for the Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) in Bengaluru said that 73 IndiGo flights had been cancelled on Thursday.

At least 150 flights were cancelled and dozens of others delayed on Wednesday, airport sources said, leaving thousands of travellers stranded, according to news agency Reuters.

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has said it is investigating IndiGo flight disruptions and has asked the airline to submit the reasons for the current situation, as well as its plans to reduce flight cancellations and delays.

It may be mentioned here that the pilots' body, Federation of Indian Pilots (FIP), has alleged that IndiGo, despite getting a two-year preparatory window before the full implementation of new flight duty and rest period norms for cockpit crew, "inexplicably" adopted a "hiring freeze".

The FIP said it has urged the safety regulator, the DGCA, not to approve airlines' seasonal flight schedules unless they have adequate staff to operate their services "safely and reliably" in accordance with the New Flight Duty Time Limitations (FDTL) norms.

In a letter to the DGCA late on Wednesday, the FIP urged the DGCA to consider re-evaluating and reallocating slots to other airlines, which have the capacity to operate them without disruption during the peak holiday and fog season if IndiGo continues to "fail in delivering on its commitments to passengers due to its own avoidable staffing shortages."

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Indian Air Force’s Tejas fighter jet crashes during Dubai air show

News Network

November 21,2025

An Indian Air Force (IAF) Tejas fighter jet crashed on Friday, November 21, afternoon during its aerial demonstration at the Dubai Air Show, plunging to the ground at around 2:10 pm local time while performing a manoeuvre before thousands of spectators.

The IAF confirmed the incident, stating that a Tejas aircraft participating in the show had crashed and that further details were being gathered. An Air Force spokesperson said more information would be shared after initial assessments.

The crash sent thick black smoke billowing into the sky near the airport, causing panic among visitors, including families and children who had gathered to watch the display. Authorities have not yet confirmed whether the pilot managed to eject before the aircraft went down. Emergency response teams rushed to the scene, and officials have not released information on casualties or damage so far.

The Tejas is a 4.5-generation, multi-role fighter aircraft developed indigenously by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL). Designed for versatility, it is capable of offensive air support, close combat, ground attack missions and maritime operations. The aircraft family includes single-seat fighters and twin-seat trainers for both the Air Force and Navy.

HAL describes the latest version, the LCA Mk1A, as the most advanced in the series, featuring an AESA radar, an upgraded electronic warfare suite with radar-warning and self-protection jamming, smart multifunction displays, a digital map generator, a combined interrogator–transponder system and a modern radio altimeter. These enhancements significantly improve the aircraft’s combat capability and survivability.

Further updates from IAF and UAE authorities are awaited.

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