Prime Minister Narendra Modi raised issues of terror and the trial in Mumbai attack case in his first bilateral meeting with Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif in New Delhi on Tuesday (27 May). According to sources, Modi raised the issue of slow pace of trial in 26/11 terror case which was being held in Pakistan and as also India's core concern of terror with the visiting Pakistani leader. The two leaders also talked about ways to enhance cooperation in the field of trade during the meeting which was attended by External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, Foreign Secretary Sujatha Singh among others, they said. The two leaders had a firm handshake and posed for photographers before heading towards the meeting room for talks at the ceremonial Hyderabad House. Ahead of his meeting, Sharif had yesterday said he was carrying a message of peace and intends to pick up the threads with India's new leader Narendra Modi from where he and then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee left off in 1999. Both governments have a strong mandate and this could help in "turning a new page in our relations", the Pakistan Prime Minister had said. Sharif's visit is seen as significant by political observers here given that hardline elements in Pakistan have expressed their unhappiness over his responding to the invitation positively.Sharif will leave for Pakistan later in the day.(PTI)
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Shares in Larsen & Toubro Ltd fell as much as 3.5 per cent after the Economic Times newspaper reported India's biggest engineering firm, was going to trim its Rs 1700 crore (Rs 1.7 trillion) order book by about 10 per cent, without specifying how it got to the estimates."We have five projects where we feel that the developers have not been able to resolve issues with the government. We feel it is prudent to remove these orders from the order book since things have not moved for two years or more," L&T's director and the head of construction and infrastructure unit, SN Subrahmanyan, told the paper.A company spokesman declined to comment on the size of any potential write-off, but said L&T periodically assesses the health of its order book.(Reuters)
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Dr Vispi Mehta, senior gynaecologist of Orient Hospital, was on the phone with Tara. “Tara? All well?” “Mostly,” said Tara, more out of utter exhaustion. “My patient Saiba Williams has come back without her scan images, dikra! Soo thaiyoo? This is unlike you! Saiba needs that surgery done by this week, we need the images to save the baby trauma!” Dr Tara: Dr Mehta, I have been having the worst time of my life.....And Tara narrated her woes to Dr Mehta, her mentor during her post-graduation studies.Dr Mehta: This is very unfortunate! Whatever Company A is up to dikra, you cannot afford to jeopardise your work! Would you like to talk to Company B? I know Vatsal Parikh, MD of Company B and he will have his boys set up their BS-232 at your clinic in no time! We cannot have downtime, dear girl!Dr Tara: No, Dr Mehta. There should not be need for that. The service people at A have promised to set things right.Dr Mehta: We are doctors and we cannot hang on ceremony and pointless detail like brand loyalty. Every scan not done could put a life in danger. Tara and her husband Shiv had been up all night with the service team of Company A. Awasthi, the regional sales head, and Aman Yadav, the service engineer, had arrived at 5.30 p.m. on Sunday evening (her weekly holiday), to reinstal the software, a major exercise lasting over seven hours. But not without theatrics and drama.A quick recap: Company A had sold to Tara their older AA-SW13, which after much hardship continued to work even if whimsically while Awasthi had simply said that ‘it will settle with time’. A year into the SW13, Company A proposed that Tara upgrade to the SW15 (which would set her back by another Rs 25 lakh) with a buyback on the SW13. Tara upgraded only to enter a new phase of frustration. The SW15’s touchscreen failed to work, the printers malfunctioned and the machine hung right during a patient scan. Tara’s nightmare had begun a year ago with the purchase of A’s SW13, a Rs 63-lakh ultrasound machine. But like most people used to shoddy service, Tara too expected that the reputed SW13 would be smarter and hardier than its handlers and will quietly fall in line and start working. That did not happen. And Tara continued her calls to Awasthi and he continued to dodge her. One day, he suggested that she upgrade to the SW15 offering her good price offs on the SW15. An unsuspecting Tara, poorer by another Rs 25 lakh, discovered within minutes of the shoddy installation that the SW15 too had serious problems: the images froze or disappeared, the printers went unresponsive, and above all, the machine took to restarting right in the middle of a scan! Tara had called Awasthi several times but the man had pretended to be busy. Why was Awasthi dodging?Tara was a repeat customer and her problems with the machine were uncannily repeating and, most gallingly, Company A’s behaviour was also repeating! Worse, Tara had repeatedly reported the problems since the SW15 had begun to give trouble. But Awasthi had simply rolled over and played dead. Was Company A simply revealing its mental construct or was it hiding something? This was Shiv’s question.So, this Saturday — her busiest day — when the machine hung even as a patient was being scanned,Tara realised the road had ended. That was when she had no recourse but to stop work and wait all day for Awasthi to return her call. Matters had reached such a state not because Tara had not complained in time. She had logged in each and every problem as it occurred. She had recorded all her complaints on the toll-free number. She had then escalated her complaints to the regional service head, Yadunandan Bisht, and even spoken with the regional head, Sameer Sequeira, who had originally sold her the machine. But nothing got fixed. Finally, Tara moved all appointments to Sunday, and called Awasthi and Aman in turns, but to no avail. That was when Shiv left a menacing message for Awasthi promising to put up the SW15 on Pinterest with this caveat: Don’t trust this machine. Within minutes the duo arrived and spent all Saturday evening until midnight reloading the printer drivers, test running and checking. The change was not significant, but did print some reports. A relieved Awasthi left, promising to bring in more help early next morning (Sunday). Tara arrived at her clinic on Sunday morning, soon after that chat with Dr Mehta. She waited. And waited. Saturday’s patients who returned on Sunday had to be sent back yet again. Finally, at 3 p.m, Shiv who had had enough, called Awasthi, “How much longer do we have to wait?” Awasthi: Sir, we have a case to attend before your’s today; as soon as we finish that we will come to you.Shiv: But you were supposed to come in first thing this morning; our complaint has been lying unaddressed since yesterday morning! How does your ‘other call’ today take priority over us?Awasthi: No, sir, it’s not like that, we are just finishing and will come. Just one more hour, I promise you.Shiv: You know what, I don’t trust you anymore. Can you give me your India Customer Service Head’s contact numbers and e-mail IDs? And before you think of lying to me, understand I know how to get it off LinkedIn.Awasthi: Ok, ok, I will get Mr Tambe’s number....Shiv took all of ten minutes to write to Prashant Tambe the all-India customer service director. Describing in bullet points the three problems the machine had, right from the week of installation of the new AB-SW15 machine, he underscored feeling let down and abandoned by a brand they trusted. Also that they had been logging in their complaints and didn’t know why there had been no redressal so far. All this for a machine that was brand new, top-of-the-line, expensive, and within warranty. Finally that the clinic work had stopped since two days and they had no idea when they could restart. Shiv copied Aman, Awasthi, and Bisht, the regional service head on the mail as all of them had been aware of the situation at Tara’s clinic.Seven minutes later Shiv got a one liner back from Tambe’s BlackBerry, “We have received your mail, requesting national service head Sunil Chelaram (copied here) to look into your matter.”Half an hour later, Chelaram called from Bangalore and said he would ask Bisht to get personally involved. Then, Bisht called. Rather hot under the collar, he said mournfully to Tara, “Madam, if you had such a problem, what was the need to go anywhere else – we would have certainly helped you.” Tara: (putting her phone on speaker) I think that is why I called your teams seven times in the past four weeks, that my problems were not being attended to. There are more than a dozen of my service requests pending. Maybe we could take a look at the complaints log together? Bisht: No problem Ma’am, I will come and see you tomorrow, Monday morning at 9 a.m.Shiv: Tomorrow, Mr Bisht? Your team has kept us up all night,...Read Analysis: Vineet Kapoor and Debabrata Mukherjee break-page-breakTara: My patients have been coming back and forth since Friday. ‘Patients’ means they are in need of medical assistance. They know no Sunday or holiday. I did think Mr Chelaram intended for us to get the help we need, today. But if your best is tomorrow, then...In 30 minutes, Aman and Awasthi arrived and after some checks declared they would have to reinstall the entire machine core software. Shiv and Tara were intrigued. Why core software? But Aman gave an estimate of 3-4 hours for the job, in reply! The next thing he did was plug in his headphones and call someone in headquarters who spoke with him for almost an hour while he made notes. For the whole hour, he understood what he had to do and how. It was after that that he actually got started. As he worked, he kept speaking to his HQ and it was clear he was doing this for the first time. Shiv was amazed by the irresponsibility — Company A’s service engineer was here to reinstall the core software, learning on the job! Wow, the blinding power of an MNC brand! Around 2 a.m. on Monday, Aman finished the software reinstallation and restarted the machine. Bleary eyed and tired, Aman showed Tara that the machine was starting and the printers were receiving inputs. On the touchscreen issue, he said he would discuss with Bisht in the morning.When Bisht arrived at 9 a.m. Tara had to explain everything one step at a time — the problems as if ‘surprised’ him. It was as if he had never seen the call logs, never spoken with Tara about these. Aman had nothing to say. Shiv chose to be present, having taken a half day’s leave from work. One would have thought at this stage, Company A — if it honestly believed that the SW15 was as amazing as they had made it out to be — should have been fair, taken back the faulty machine and supplied a new one, thus saving face and importantly patients’ time. But the story goes on...Bisht, uniquely, suggested that Tara should ‘observe the machine’ to see if it hung again. Tara choked in disbelief. Next, Bisht also blamed the Dustin Dempa printers for the patchy printing. But Tara said, “Many other Ultrasonologists use exactly this printer brand and model.”He had no answer, but even suggested she use a different photo paper, “Maybe this brand is the problem, who knows?” Shiv groaned audibly and deliberately, “No, not that again, please. We have already tried three brands of photopaper, including the most premium brand. We have also bought a new brand of printers as suggested by Aman. What else may we change, let’s think, the clinic?”So that was the end of that line of reasoning from Bisht.Something was not adding up. Increasingly Tara and Shiv both felt the problem was different. Even fundamental.Glad that the machine was responding, the printers printing, an exhausted Tara bid Bisht goodbye and set about printing Saturday’s backlog. That was also when Chelaram called to check status. Tara told him that the touchscreen issue had not been addressed even by Bisht. Chelaram promised to get that fixed immediately .Shiv was also scathing in his comments about Aman and Bisht. “There is a lot of shooting in the dark. Neither has a logic to his suggestions. Only diversions. Very disappointing, really! ended Shiv. Three days later Company A sent a new touchscreen, with another service engineer, Brijender, who replaced the old errant one. Now the SW15 began working perfectly. Tara had a moment of déjà vu. “This is exactly like the faulty keyboard on the old machine and how Paul Anand waved his magic wand. Looks like this organisation’s customer support is completely personality-led, and complaint logs, etc., have no meaning for them. I don’t think they use the logs to study trends and understand...”Brijender was different. The machine hung twice in that week, but he was quicker to reach than Aman.Until, the machine hung twice on one day. Tara was devastated. “What is going on?!” she lamented. Read Analysis: Vineet Kapoor and Debabrata MukherjeeWhy was the machine software still hanging? This time, Brijender painstakingly collected the data and keystroke logs just preceding each hanging incident (which was recorded in the machine’s memory). He sent it to the HQ, and in two days, he came back and said something that shook the ground under Shiv and Tara’s feet.Brijender: See, the version of the machine software on the SW15 is due for change.... some bugs are being fixed... so, you may as well wait for the new version?Shiv was sure he heard wrong. “What do you mean?” he asked.Brijender: Aisa hai, you know that the SW15 has a new software and a faster processor? Now, the software that was reloaded on your machine on Sunday night was the recently debugged and documented new version. The global tech team has been working on it since six months. The difficulties that you and some others have been facing were fed to the global tech team in Virginia where the software is being debugged and a new version is being developed. The new version will solve the machine’s hanging problem, which has also now got documented for implementing the fix.... It will be available in two weeks...You will have to wait, ok?”Shiv felt an unusual sense of anger. “So, was this some kind of experimental software,” he asked.Brijender: I won’t say that....Shiv pressed on keenly, “In computer parlance, this is called a Beta version. Was this what we were subjected to so far?”Brijender’s silence was both eloquent and embarrassed as it was evasive. Tara picked up Shiv’s phone and found the call from Tambe in Bangalore and dialled it. Introducing herself she said, “This SW15? It is a life saving equipment, Mr Tambe, but your organisation sold it to me like it was a juicer. Do you realise these are equipment that determine life decisions for ill patients? And all this nonsense about debugging and version change, etc., you do not think is downright unethical, worse when you wilfully conceal it from me the doctor ? You Mr Tambe knew all along that you were using me as a guinea pig to test your software. You put my patients’ lives at risk?This is breach of customer faith, Mr Tambe! This is breach of your fiduciary relationship with me because I trusted you to know what healthcare is about. I am hopping mad now Tambe. You have betrayed unsuspecting patients!” casestudymeera@gmail.com (This story was published in BW | Businessworld Issue Dated 16-06-2014)
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The 30-share BSE Sensex has closely mirrored political developments. Its movement on election results day has always been keenly watched. Read on to see the connect...Click here to view graphic Compiled by Shailesh Menon; Graphic by Prashant Chaudhary(This story was published in BW | Businessworld Issue Dated 16-06-2014)
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Oman is considering buying a 10-15 per cent stake in Petronet LNG's proposed plant on India's east coast, the Gulf nation's oil minister Mohammed bin Hamad Al Rumhy said on Wednesday (02 April)."We have not decided on (the) stake. It will be a small (stake) - maybe 10-15 per cent," Rumhy said, adding the two sides had been engaged in talks for the past two months.Petronet, which supplies liquefied natural gas (LNG), aims to build a 5 million tonne a year LNG terminal at Gangavaram, on the east coast, by 2016.The visiting minister also said the energy-hungry nation aims to get 1 billion cubic feet of gas per day from Iran from 2017/18, under a long-term agreement, if the plan materialises.(Reuters)
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In a restructuring of his Cabinet, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday (27 May) combined 17 related ministries into seven different groups, including some infrastructure departments, in an apparent bid to ensure synergy and better results.First the Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs, created in UPA-II, has been brought together with External Affairs Ministry under Sushma Swaraj while Corporate Affairs has been brought back to Finance under Arun Jaitley.In infrastructure sector, the Prime Minister has combined Road Transport and Highways and Shipping in the ministry to be headed by Nitin Gadkari, who had made a name for himself by adopting an innovative approach in expanding road transport network and bridges in Maharashtra when he was a minister there in BJP-Shiv Sena Government.Another important infrastructure combination is bringing together Power, Coal and New and Renewable Energy under the independent charge of Minister of State Piyush Goyal. These used to be separate ministries with Cabinet ministers incharge in the UPA governments. Related ministries of Urban Development, Housing and Poverty Alleviation have been placed under the charge of M Venkaiah Naidu, while Rural Development, Panchayat Raj and Drinking Water and Sanitation have been grouped together under the charge of Gopinath Munde.In another minor combination of ministries, Goa's Shripad Naik has been charge of Culture and Tourism as Minister of State with independent charge.However, this is not the first time that ministries have been brought together for the purpose of efficiency and homogeneity.Late Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi brought together infrastructure department of Railways, Shipping and Civil Aviation under one combined ministry of Transport headed by the late Bansi Lal. He had three Ministers of States to help him.Gandhi also clubbed education, culture and women and child development under the Ministry of Human Resources Development under late P V Narasimha Rao. The HRD ministry was created for the first time then.Former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee during his tenure had brought Information Technology and Communication under one umbrella while his successor Manmohan Singh had brought together Surface Transport and Shipping.(Agencies)
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Manufacturing in Asia and Europe finished the first quarter on a weaker note but activity in the United States remained relatively steady, suggesting severe winter weather in North America had only a modest effect on US factories.Factories across Europe eased back on the throttle in March while China's vast manufacturing industry contracted for a third straight month, surveys showed, fueling expectations policymakers may be forced to act in coming months.The performance in the US contrasts with the lackluster data elsewhere and arguably gives US monetary authorities more room to reduce stimulus than their central banking counterparts abroad, who are trying to prop up growth.US markets judged the news as positive. Stocks added to gains to push the S&P 500 to a new intraday record, and the dollar edged higher."It is consistent with an economy making progress but one growing between 2 and 2.5 per cent," said Richard Franulovich, senior currency strategist at Westpac Banking Corp in New York."That's respectable but not as much as the Fed would like."The two US surveys, one from Markit and one from the Institute for Supply Management, contradicted each other in spots, but both overall figures were solidly above 50, indicating ongoing growth.The weak performance of China's massive manufacturing sector remains a primary concern for the global economy. The final Markit/HSBC PMI gauge of factory activity fell to an eight-month low of 48.0 in March, and has remained below the 50 level since January.The official survey, which is geared towards bigger, state-owned firms, showed a marginal increase to 50.3 from 50.2, but economists warned that given seasonal patterns it too could be taken as a sign of weakness rather than improvement in the world's second-biggest economy."Overall, both March PMI readings further underpin the weak start to the year experienced by the Chinese economy. They also increase the pressure on the Chinese authorities to stimulate the economy," said Nikolaus Keis, an economist at UniCredit.Investors are betting China will try to arrest the loss of momentum after what has shaped up to be its worst quarter in five years.Last week, Premier Li Keqiang said Beijing had the necessary policies in place and would push ahead with infrastructure investment, after recent weak economic data and mounting signs of financial risks clouded the nation's outlook."The PMIs have given a steer on the Chinese economy for a while and it is looking like the People's Bank of China will take some action," said Philip Shaw at Investec.Strong US GrowthMarkit's final reading on US factory growth in March fell to 55.5 from 57.1 in February, while ISM's survey rose to 53.7 in March from 53.2 in February.Markit noted a slight dip in new orders and output growth, while ISM said its new orders subindex rose marginally. More concerning was the drop in the ISM employment subindex to 51.1, the weakest since June 2013, from 52.3.Other markets across the Americas posted improved figures. The pace of growth in Canada picked up in March thanks to rising new orders, with the RBC Canadian Manufacturing PMI rising to 53.3 from 52.9 in February.Brazil's manufacturing activity expanded for the fourth straight month in March, with the HSBC PMI rising to 50.6 in March from 50.4 in February, even as new order growth slowed.Output again rose across the board in the euro zone, suggesting its recovery is becoming entrenched, but Markit's Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) also revealed that factories were once more cutting prices.The bloc's final manufacturing PMI came in at 53.0, matching an earlier flash reading but below February's 53.2, while the output price sub-index dropped below the 50 mark that separates growth from contraction for the first time since August.Euro zone inflation fell to just 0.5 per cent last month, its lowest since November 2009 and well below the European Central Bank's target of just below 2 per cent.The ECB is expected to keep monetary policy unchanged on Thursday despite calls for it to act to support growth. Olli Rehn, the EU's top economic official, added to that pressure on Tuesday, saying prolonged low inflation would make it harder to correct imbalances in the euro zone.Growth in British manufacturing unexpectedly eased to its slowest pace in eight months and prices paid by factories tumbled, giving the Bank of England scant reason to adjust its loose policy stance.Sentiment Weak In JapanIn Japan, the closely watched central bank tankan survey showed business sentiment barely improved in the three months to March and was set to sour this quarter following an increase in sales tax that took effect on Tuesday. The tax hike was put in place to shore up government revenues and help lift Japan out of years of deflationary stagnation.Big manufacturers and non-manufacturers in Japan expect conditions to worsen in the three months ahead, keeping alive expectations the Bank of Japan will boost its massive monetary stimulus to sustain recovery in the world's No. 3 economy.Japan's Markit/JMMA Manufacturing PMI pulled back further from January's eight-year high as heavy snow in some areas curbed production.Factory PMI surveys for Asia's third and fifth-largest economies India and Indonesia also came in softer, with India's index still in growth territory, but Indonesia's hitting a seven-month low.However, South Korea, Asia's fourth-largest economy and one of its leading manufacturing and export powerhouses, managed to buck the trend as its HSBC/Markit manufacturing gauge rose.(Reuters)
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Asian Development Bank (ADB) has been a long-term infrastructure development partner of India’s. The Manila-based bank has lent a cumulative $31.5 billion to the country so far. In an interview with BW’s Joe C. Mathew, M. Teresa Kho, country director, ADB, shares what she believes should be the priorities of the new government in reviving the infrastructure sectorWhat should the next government do to address the myriad problems that slow down India’s infrastructure development?If we look at the infrastructure sector, about a third of the projected $1 trillion investment under the 12th Five-Year Plan is targeted at energy and another third at transport (roads, railways, ports, airports and mass rapid transit systems). Addressing infrastructure deficit in these sections is critical to a growth that is high, inclusive and sustainable. The new government should note that while investment in infrastructure has increased in recent years, sectoral progress has been uneven. While telecom and airports have been successful in attracting investment for infrastructure, others such as roads, railways and ports have lagged due to a variety of implementation problems. Improving availability of long-term finance, implementing policy and regulatory reforms, and improving infrastructure project design and project management capacities can only help speed up infrastructure development.How can we tackle the lack of funding for the sector?India needs to address infrastructure financing by dramatically expanding the sources and the volume of financing. Developing a deep corporate debt market is a solution. Innovative mechanisms such as ‘take-out’ financing, partial credit guarantees and infrastructure debt funds have been introduced, but they need to be mainstreamed. The 12th plan estimates that about 50 per cent of the proposed investments in infrastructure will come from the private sector. In the power sector, most of the new capacity that was added after 2009 is either stranded or running below capacity due to a lack of fuel. State distribution companies do not have the money to buy expensive power. What should the government do? Clearly, India needs a more diversified energy mix, so that generation is not dependent on a particular type of fuel. This would mean more focus on renewable energy initiatives in the long term. Also, it is equally important to restore financial viability of energy distribution companies. This includes addressing transmission and distribution (T&D) losses caused by inefficiencies in metering, billing, revenue collection and pilferage. The establishment of state regulatory commissions, unbundling of state electricity boards, strengthening T&D and increasing consumer metering are essential. How can we address the problem of connectivity?Development of corridors through multi-modal connectivity — intended to support manufacturing, urbanisation and deeper integration of India into global production networks — is the need of the hour. One should also look at improving sub-regional road connectivity and the efficiency of the international trade corridor by expanding roads in the north-eastern region, a key strategic thoroughfare integrating South and South-east Asia. In the transport sector, one needs to support development of ports, access roads in select economic corridors and mass transit systems in key urban centres. Should we prioritise some sectors for faster growth? What else can we do to propel growth?Transport and energy, along with the urban sector, are certainly key to reducing infrastructure deficit in India and propelling faster growth. Growing urbanisation in India presents a huge challenge going forward. The manner in which India manages its urbanisation process will have significant implications on growth and inclusion. The promotion of dynamic economic corridors between major urban cities holds much promise. However, timely implementation of infrastructure projects remains a big challenge. The government should strengthen the capabilities of the executing agencies, so they can efficiently plan and implement projects. Setting up well-staffed project management units within executing agencies, improving project management through best practices in contract management, monitoring of progress, introducing better accounting systems and audit requirements are important.What is the way forward for India in infrastructure development?India needs to multiply efforts to cut down infrastructure deficit and spur growth. Developing a robust infrastructure requires concerted and sustained efforts from both public and private sectors. Multilateral development agencies like ADB can pitch in by partnering with the government and the executing agencies to enhance capabilities in project planning and implementation. joe@businessworld.intwitter@joecmathew(This story was published in BW | Businessworld Issue Dated 16-06-2014)
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The rupee is trading at 59.70/71 versus Friday's close of 59.91/92 as bunched-up dollar inflows and record high domestic shares aid sentiment. The unit rose to as high as 59.60, its strongest since July 30.Traders say some support for the dollar is likely at around 59.70 levels on the back of importer demand.Trading in the rupee resumed after a two-day break due to a local holiday and annual closing of bank accounts.Traders say sentiment for the rupee is positive after the Reserve Bank of India kept rates on hold at its policy review while further tightening bank's access to cheap overnight funds.Gains in other Asian currencies also helping rupee sentiment.(Reuters)
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Till late on Monday (26 May) night there was no official word on the portfolios of the newly appointed Ministers of the Narendra Modi cabinet but the talk was that Rajnath Singh was being made the Home Minister while Arun Jaitley may be the Finance Minister with additional charge of Defence.Senior leader Sushma Swaraj is tipped to get External Affairs while Nitin Gadkari may be given charge of Surface Transport, Highways and Ports.Interestingly, Swaraj attended the dinner hosted by President Pranab Mukherjee to foreign leaders who had attended the swearing-in ceremony.Speculation was that another senior BJP leader M Venkaiah Naidu may be given Rural Development and Poverty Alleviation while Gopinath Munde may get Agriculture.Former Karnataka Chief Minister D V Sadananda Gowda is tipped to get Railways. Smriti Irani, who has been surprisingly inducted with a Cabinet rank, is talked about as the new HRD Minister.Ashok Gajapati Raju, who belongs to BJP's ally TDP, may get Civil Aviation portfolio. Akali Dal's Harsimrat Kaur Badal is being speculated to get Food Processing Industries Ministry while Shiv Sena's Anant Geete is tipped to get Heavy Industry Ministry.BJP's Ravi Shankar Prasad is likely to get Law and Telecom while his party colleague Prakash Javadekar could be the new Minister of State with Independent charge in Information and Broadcasting and Environment.(Agencies)
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