Nirmala Sitharaman Launches Commerce & Industry Ministry’s Twitter Handle

In conformity with drive to ensure transparent and responsive government, Minister of State (Independent Charge) Commerce & Industry Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman launched @CimGOI - the official Twitter handle of the Ministry of Commerce & Industry, Government of India. 

“Following the government’s commitment to engage with people directly, we will harness the technology. I will communicate the initiatives and programmes of my Ministry through this handle,” said Smt. Sitharaman. She further added that the Twitter handle of the Ministry will let the people know about the important developments taking place. 

Smt. Harsimrat Kaur Badal Takes Over as Food Processing Industries Minister

Smt. Harsimrat Kaur Badal today took over as the Union Minister for Food Processing Industries. 

Smt. Badal represents Bathinda constituency in Punjab in the newly constituted 16th Lok Sabha. 

This is Smt. Badal’s second term as Member of Parliament. She has been member of many parliamentary committees. She has also been active in movements to save girl child and women empowerment. 

Speaking to media after taking over as Minister, She said, “My mission will be to find new and innovative ways to reduce the post harvest losses by facilitating efficient storage & transportation as well as finding ways to increase the shelf life of food products while at the same time ensuring that these processed food products are available to the consumers across the country at reasonable prices. 

“I would welcome all ideas from farmers, industry, consumers and other stake holders to put our country at par with the top countries in the area of food processing. My prime interest remains to increase the income of farmers while at the same time ensuring the process to remain affordable for all consumers. 

“The farmers of this country, especially the farmers of my home state, Punjab, have been at the forefront in providing Food Security to the nation. Now, their incomes are stagnant. The time has come to give boost to the income of our farmers through innovative value additions to the farm produce.” 

Facts At A Glance: Odisha ( State Assembly Elections)

Date of Poll- 10^th April 2014

S. No.	Item	Number of Assembly  Constituencies going on poll- 70
1.	Total Electors	Male –      6933068 Female –  6605744 Others -       578 ------------------------------  Total  -  13539390
2	No. of Assembly Constituencies	General :      36  SC :             11 ST:               23
3	Total number of Candidates	668
4	Assembly Constituencies  having more than 16 candidates	PC No. 81 Narla 20 Candidates
5	Assembly Constituencies  having more than 32 candidates	NIL
6	Total Number of Female candidates	48
7	No. and Name of the Assembly Constituency with maximum No. of  Candidates	PC No. 81 Narla 20 Candidates
8	No. & Name of the Assembly Constituency with  minimum number of Candidates	PC No. 14 Bonai (ST), PC No. 74 Jharigam (ST) and PC No. 123 Bhanjannagar 5 Candidates each
9	Party-wise list of candidates:	BJP	70
		BSP	58
		CPI	11
		CPM	8
		INC	70
		NCP	04
		Registered Political Parties BJD (other then recognised National and State)	70
		Independents	127
		Others	250
		Total	668
10	Largest Assembly constituency Electorate wise	Patnagarh
11	Smallest Assembly constituency Electorate wise	Baliguda
12	Number of General, Expenditure, Police & Awareness Observers  deployed	General Observers -         30 Expenditure Observers  -  20 Awareness Observers-      05
13	No. of Polling Personnel deployed ( approx)	1.10 lakhs
14	No. of  Polling Stations	17223
15.	Number of EVMs to be used in the elections	Control Units -    38000 Ballot Units -      47000