Cabinet Reshuffle

Cabinet extension of narendra modi 3 september 2017

Question- In relation to the expansion of the Union Cabinet on September 3, 2017, consider the following statements-
(i) 4 Cabinet and 9 Minister of State in the Union Cabinet were included.
(ii) Piyush Goyal becomes the new railway minister of the country.
(iii) Nitin Gadkari becomes the new defense minister of the country.
(iv) Dharmendra Pradhan became the new Commerce and Industry Minister of the country.
Which of the above statements is / are correct?
(a) Only (i) and (iii)
(b) Only (i) and (ii)
(c) Only (i), (ii), (iii) and (iv)
(d) Only (ii) and (iv)
Answer: (b)
Related Facts:

  • On September 3, 2017; the Union Cabinet was expanded and reshuffled.
  • 4 ministers were promoted to cabinet ministers and 9 new state ministers inducted to the ministry.
  • President Ramnath Kovind administered oath of office and secrecy to all these new ministers in a function organized at Rashtrapati Bhavan.
  • The 4 ministers who were promoted tp cabinet rank are Dharmendra Pradhan, Piyush Goyal, Nirmala Sitharaman and Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi.
  • Nirmala Sitharaman, who was previously the Minister of State (Independent Charge) in the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, has been given the charge of Defence Ministry.
  • Significantly, after 35 years, the country has got the female defense minister.
  • Prior to this, Indira Gandhi had held additional charge of the defence ministry while being the Prime Minister.
  • Apart from this, Piyush Goyal has been given the charge of Minister of Railways (with additional charge of the Coal Ministry), Dharmendra Pradhan has been given charge of Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas (with additional charge of Skill Development) and Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi has been given charge of Minority Affairs Ministery.
  • Out of the 9 newly appointed State Ministers, three ministers have been given independent charge.
  • Hardeep Singh Puri became Minister of State for Housing and Urban Development (Independent Charge), Rajkumar Singh became Minister of State for Power (Independent Charge) and Minister of State for New and Renewable Energy (Independent Charge), and Alphons Kannanthanam has been appointed as Minister of State (independent charge) and Electronics and Tourism Minister of State for Information Technology.
  • Apart from this, Rajendra Singh Shekhawat is now the Minister of State for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Dr. Satyapal Singh, Minister of State for Human Resource Development and Minister of State for Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Protection, Shiv Pratap Shukla, Minister of State for Finance, Dr. Virendra Kumar Minister of State in the Ministry of Child Development and Ministry of Minority Affairs, Ashwini Kumar Choubey Minister of State Health and Family Welfare and Ananth Kumar Hegde was made Minister of State for skills development and entrepreneurship.
  • A change has also been made in the departments of some of the Senior Ministers as-
    1. Suresh Prabhu-Ministry of Commerce & Industry
    2. Uma Bharti- Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation
    3. Nitin Gadkari- Additional charge of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Protection Ministry
    4. Giriraj Singh-Minister of State in the Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (Independent Charge)).
    5. Col. Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore – Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports and Minister of State in the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.
  • After this expansion, now the strength of the Union council of ministers is 76.
  • Of these, 27 are Cabinet Ministers, 11 are Minister of State (Independent Charge) and 37 are Ministers of State.

Reference:
https://twitter.com/narendramodi/status/904220665267445760
http://pib.nic.in/newsite/PrintHindiRelease.aspx?relid=66900
http://pib.nic.in/newsite/printrelease.aspx?relid=170476
https://khabar.ndtv.com/news/india/live-narendra-modi-cabinet-reshuffle-satpal-anant-hardev-singh-rk-singh-1745370