7 women in team Modi: Sushma, Najma, Uma, Maneka, Smriti, Badal, Nirmala

[email protected] (CD Network)
May 26, 2014

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New Delhi, May 26: Seven women took oath as ministers in the Narendra Modi government on Monday, and one of them is set to be a member of the all powerful Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS).

Sushma Swaraj (62), tipped to be the external affairs minister, would be a CCS member. The prime minister, and ministers of home, defence, finance and external affairs constitute the CCS.

Najma Heptulla (74), a Rajya Sabha member since 1980, is the eldest woman minister while actress-turned-politician Smriti Irani (38) is the youngest in the cabinet. Heptulla, BJP's Rajya Sabha MP from Madhya Pradesh, was also Modi's lone Muslim face.

Uma Bharti, a controversial Sanyasi (55), Maneka Gandhi (57) and Shiromani Akali Dal's Harsimrat Kaur Badal (47) are the other women cabinet ministers. Besides the six cabinet ministers, BJP's Nirmala Sitharaman (54) took oath as minister of state with independent charge.

Seetharaman, who is not an MP, has to secure either a Lok Sabha seat or a Rajya Sabha membership within six months to continue in office.

Harsimrat Kaur Badal (48), the Akali Dal MP from Bathinda, is the lone woman from an ally to be sworn-in as a cabinet minister.

In the outgoing Manmohan Singh government, there were just seven women out of 71 ministers and only two - Girija Vyas and Chandresh Katoch - were in the cabinet.

The number of women ministers may increase as Modi is expected to expand the cabinet soon.

If more women come in, it would be icing on the cake as the 16th Lok Sabha has the highest number of women members - 61 - in Lok Sabha history. The Rajya Sabha has 29 women members.

Youngest and Oldest

Both the youngest and the oldest members of the Narendra Modi Cabinet happen to be women: Smriti Irani and Najma Heptullah. While Irani is 38 years old, Heptullah is 74.

Incidentally, both of them are from the Rajya Sabha representing Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh respectively. Irani, who had unsuccessfully contested against Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi in Amethi, has been sworn-in as Union Cabinet Minister as is Najma. Heptullah was Deputy Chairperson of Rajya Sabha and had shifted to BJP from Congress. Heptullah, the lone Muslim face in the Modi Cabinet, was elected to the Upper House five times between 1986 and 2012.

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News Network
December 15,2025

Udupi, Dec 15: What was meant to be a post-pilgrimage gathering turned tragic in Padukere village of Brahmavar taluk, Udupi district, late Sunday night, when a clash among youths escalated into a fatal assault, leaving one man dead.

The victim has been identified as 30-year-old Santosh Mogaveera, a resident of Padukere.

According to preliminary information, the incident took place during a late-night drinking party involving a group of local youths who had recently returned after completing their pilgrimage to the Sabarimala shrine. An argument reportedly broke out among the group and soon escalated into a violent confrontation.

During the ensuing brawl, Santosh Mogaveera was allegedly assaulted and collapsed at the spot after sustaining serious injuries. He was rushed by local residents to a private hospital in Brahmavar, where doctors declared him dead.

On receiving information, senior police officials, including Brahmavar Circle Inspector Gopikrishna, Kota Police Sub-Inspector Praveen Kumar T, Station ASI Manthesh Jabagoudar, and head constables Pradeep and Ashok, visited the spot and conducted an inspection.

Police have taken four youths into custody in connection with the incident. A case has been registered at the Kota police station, and further investigation is underway to ascertain the exact sequence of events leading to the death.

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News Network
December 2,2025

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Bengaluru: 'Nati koli saaru' (country chicken curry) considered one of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah’s favourites along with steaming hot idlis was on the breakfast menu at Deputy CM D K Shivakumar’s residence on Tuesday, according to official sources.

The spread also included 'nati koli' fry, vada and pongal, among other items, they said.

In an apparent show of unity, Siddaramaiah visited Shivakumar’s residence for breakfast, just days after the two leaders shared a meal amid a simmering power tussle in the state Congress.

Siddaramaiah drove to the Deputy CM’s residence in Sadashivanagar, where he was received by Shivakumar and his brother D K Suresh, who is a former Congress MP.

Suresh and Kunigal MLA H D Ranganath, a relative of Shivakumar, joined them for breakfast, which featured a mix of vegetarian and non-vegetarian dishes.

Speaking to reporters later, Siddaramaiah said Shivakumar had invited him during his visit to the CM’s residence for breakfast on Saturday.

Asked about the difference between the two meals, the chief minister said, "At his (Shivakumar’s) house it was non-veg, while at my house it was veg. He is a vegetarian, I am a non-vegetarian. I had not prepared non-veg. I told DK to get chicken from the village as you won’t get the original in Bengaluru."

Shivakumar said he had initially invited Siddaramaiah to his residence, but the CM had suggested visiting his place first and reciprocating later. "It was a vegetarian breakfast at the CM’s house on Saturday," he noted.

"Today, I invited him (the CM) to my house. He enjoyed the breakfast, which had his Mysuru taste," Shivakumar added. At this point, Siddaramaiah remarked that Shivakumar’s wife is also from Mysuru.

Saturday’s breakfast at Siddaramaiah’s official residence, held as part of efforts by the Congress high command to ease tensions in the leadership dispute between the two, reportedly included idlis and sambar, according to official sources.

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News Network
December 5,2025

Mangaluru: In a significant step to curb online hate and intimidation, Mangaluru City Police have registered a suo motu case against multiple Instagram accounts accused of circulating alleged provocative and threatening content.

While monitoring social media activity on Tuesday, Kankanady Town PSI Anitha Nikkam identified the Instagram handle ‘team_targetttt_900’ for posting a hate message alongside images of lethal weapons. Another account, ‘team_nagara_900’, allegedly shared a threatening post targeting activist Bharath Kumdelu, tagging additional pages such as KARAVALI-OFFICIAL.

Several other accounts — including ‘immu_bhai.fan’, ‘target_boy_900’, ‘kings_of_manglore’, ‘team_target_boys.900’, ‘arshad_mangalore’, ‘target_ka19_ullal’, ‘team_target__’, ‘troll_tigersz_900’, ‘tr_group_900’, and ‘team_target_900’ — are also under scrutiny for spreading similar inflammatory material, police said.

Authorities have urged citizens, especially young social media users, to report suspicious pages and avoid engaging with groups that glorify violence or threaten individuals. Online hate can quickly escalate into real-world harm, and police stress that sharing or promoting such content can attract legal consequences.

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