Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s third reshuffle of his Council of Ministers on February 3, 2017, showed ‘delivery’ and ‘performance’ over considerations of caste and politics.
Nine new ministers of state made it to the Union Cabinet, while four existing ministers – Nirmala Sitharaman, Piyush Gopal, Dharmendra Pradhan and Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi – were promoted to cabinet rank as part of the PM’s “Operation 2019” team for New India. Nirmala is the first woman to become the Defence Minister.
GST this indirect tax was introduced in India on 1 July, 2017, and was applicable throughout the country, replacing multiple cascading taxes levied by central and state governments. It was introduced as The Constitution (One Hundred and First Amendment) Act 2017, following the passage of Constitution 122nd Amendment Act Bill.
The GST is governed by a GST Council, chaired by the finance minister.
Manushi Chhillar was crowned Miss World 2017 in China. She’s the sixth Indian woman to win the crown. Born in Rohtak, she is pursuing a medical degree from a medical college in Sonipat.
She was made brand ambassador for Anaemia Free Haryana, and her ‘Beauty with a Purpose campaign Project Shakti’ was given government support of Rs 18 crore, by Harayana CM.
Padmavati, was a 13th-14th century Indian queen. She is mentioned in Padmavat, an epic fictionalised poem by Malik Muhammad Jayasi. Film director Sanjay Leela Bhansali made a film titled Padmavati, with Deepika Padukone as the queen. The love scenes between Alauddin and Padmini in the film sparked protests from a Rajput caste organisation. The film’s release has been delayed.
On 22 August 2017, the Indian Supreme Court deemed instant triple talaq (talaq-e-biddah) unconstitutional. This form of Islamic divorce has been used by Muslims in India, and allows any Muslim man to legally divorce his wife by stating the word talaq (Arabic word for divorce) three times in oral, written, or more recently electronic form. Three of the five judges in the panel concurred that the practice of triple talaq is unconstitutional.
