THE WEEK
THAT WAS
India Abroad
January 28, 2011
Dr Singh shuffles minister Dr Singh shuffles minister From left, Minister of State for Power K C Venugopal, Water Resources and Minority Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid, Minister of State for Planning and Parliamentary Affairs, Science and Technology, and Earth Sciences Ashwani Kumar, President Pratibha Patil, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Coal Minister Sriprakash Jaiswal, Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises Minister Praful Patel and Steel Minister Beni Prasad Verma after the swearing-in ceremony in New Delhi, January 19
Prime Minister Manmohan
Singh shuffled his ministers
last week. Prominent
changes are as follows:
Nationalist Congress Party
leader Praful Patel and
Congress leaders Sriprakash
Jaiswal and Salman
Khurshid were promoted as
Cabinet ministers. Patel, who
was minister of state (inde-
pendent charge) for civil avi-
ation, was appointed the
heavy industries and public
enterprises minister. Jaiswal
was appointed the coal min-
ister. Khurshid was appoint-
ed the water resources minis-
ter. He was earlier the minis-
ter of state for corporate
affairs. NCP chief Sharad Pawar lost the consumer
affairs and food and civil supplies ministry, but retained
agriculture. He also got the food-processing ministry.
Congress leader S Jaipal Reddy, who earlier held the
urban development ministry, became the minister for
petroleum and natural gas. Kamal Nath, who earlier
B MATHUR/REUTERS
held the surface transport ministry, is the new urban
development minister. Vayalar Ravi, who is the minister
for overseas Indian affairs, also got additional charge of
civil aviation. Murli Deora, who was earlier the petrole-
um minister, is now in charge of corporate affairs.
Demolish illegal building on army land:
Environment minister
Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh last week recommended the demolition of the tainted 31-storied Adarsh
Housing Society building in Colaba, Mumbai, for flouting India’s Coastal Regulation Zone rules. Ramesh said ‘the
unauthorized structure should be removed and the area
restored to its original condition’ within three months. He
suggested three options for the housing society: Demolish
the entire structure, or raze the floors that are illegal, or let
the building be taken over for a public cause. The building
had come under a cloud as largescale irregularities in allotment of flats came to light and it was revealed that the
building did not have environmental clearance. It was also
seen as a security threat. Apartments, which were meant
for Kargil war widows, were allotted to top politicians,
bureaucrats and armed forces officers.
Muslim cleric faces flak for praising Modi
Ghulam Mohammed Vastanvi, the first Gujarati rector of
the Islamic seminary Darul Uloom Deoband in Uttar
Pradesh, last week said Gujarati Muslims were not discriminated against and that all communities prosper in the
state. He called the 2002 Gujarat riots a blemish for India
and asked the community to move on. Several prominent
Muslim personalities demanded that Vastanvi should be
immediately sacked.
Accused of beating wife, Indian envoy in
London recalled
SIVARAM V/REU TERS
Devotees with their tongues pierced take part in a procession as part of the Thaipusam festival in Kochi, January 20. Thousands
participate in the annual festival where devotees subject themselves to painful rituals in a demonstration of faith and self-punishment
The third ranking diplomat at the Indian high commission in London, Anil Verma, was last week transferred to
India after being accused of assaulting his wife. Verma, a
1986 batch IAS officer of the West Bengal cadre, found
himself in trouble when neighbors found his wife covered
in blood, December 11. When the police arrived, Verma, 45,
economic minister in the mission, claimed diplomatic
immunity and escaped action. His wife, Paromita, who is
