Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who took charge of the office for a third term in a row on Monday, gave ministerial portfolios to his council, with several of his party members retaining important ministries in his first coalition government.
There had been speculation that Mr Modi's Bharitya Janata Party may lose such portfolios in the coalition government after it failed to achieve a clear majority at the polls, but the party has retained the most important ministries.
Amit Shah has retained the Ministry of Home Affairs, while Rajnath Singh will remain at the Defence Ministry for a second time as part of the new government.
Subrahmanyam Jaishankar and Nirmala Sitharaman will continue as Minister of External Affairs and Minister of Finance respectively.
Nitin Gadkari retained the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways.
Dharmendra Pradhan will continue as Minister of Education, and Bhupendra Yadav remains in charge of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change of India.
BJP party president Jagat Prakash Nadda has been assigned to the Ministry of Health, replacing Mansukh Mandaviya, who becomes Minister of Labour and Employment in the cabinet.
Mr Modi, 73, was sworn in as the Prime Minister on Sunday for a third consecutive term after his BJP-led National Democratic Alliance won the recently held parliamentary elections to Lok Sabha, the lower house, with 293 seats of the 543 seats.
He first gained power in 2014, when the BJP swept the board. It won with a bigger mandate in 2019. This term begins with him at the head of a coalition government.
On Sunday, he led the swearing-in of 71 members of his council, including seven ministers, but no Muslims. India is home to 210 million Muslims – its largest religious minority.
While the BJP did not win an absolute majority this year, Mr Modi formed the government with regional allies within the NDA, mainly the Telugu Desam Party from southern Andhra Pradesh and Janata Dal (United) from the eastern state of Bihar.
The TDP won 16 seats, while the JD(U) won 12. The parties, touted as kingmakers, had asked for prominent positions for their leaders in the cabinet.
They have also demanded the position of the Lok Sabha speaker and are still talking to the BJP.
The speaker is a constitutional and ceremonial head of the lower house of the Parliament and the post usually goes to the ruling alliance, while the deputy speaker’s post is by convention held by a member of the opposition.
Mr Modi has appointed Ram Nath Thakur of JD(U) as the junior agriculture and farmers welfare minister, while the TDP's Ram Mohan Naidu has been appointed as Civil Aviation Minister.
The Prime Minister began his third term by signing into law a farmer’s welfare scheme that provides a tranche of a cash payments to 93 million farmers.
Two-thirds of India's 1.4 billion people draw their livelihood from agriculture, which accounts for nearly a fifth of the country's gross domestic product.
Rahul Gandhi, Mr Modi's chief rival, was nominated on Saturday to lead India's opposition in parliament, after he defied pre-election forecasts to help the Congress party nearly double its seats.
No date has been set for the opening of parliament, but Indian media have reported the new session is expected to begin next week, when the speaker will be elected.
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Fight card
Preliminaries:
Nouredine Samir (UAE) v Sheroz Kholmirzav (UZB); Lucas Porst (SWE) v Ellis Barboza (GBR); Mouhmad Amine Alharar (MAR) v Mohammed Mardi (UAE); Ibrahim Bilal (UAE) v Spyro Besiri (GRE); Aslamjan Ortikov (UZB) v Joshua Ridgwell (GBR)
Main card:
Carlos Prates (BRA) v Dmitry Valent (BLR); Bobirjon Tagiev (UZB) v Valentin Thibaut (FRA); Arthur Meyer (FRA) v Hicham Moujtahid (BEL); Ines Es Salehy (BEL) v Myriame Djedidi (FRA); Craig Coakley (IRE) v Deniz Demirkapu (TUR); Artem Avanesov (ARM) v Badreddine Attif (MAR); Abdulvosid Buranov (RUS) v Akram Hamidi (FRA)
Title card:
Intercontinental Lightweight: Ilyass Habibali (UAE) v Angel Marquez (ESP)
Intercontinental Middleweight: Amine El Moatassime (UAE) v Francesco Iadanza (ITA)
Asian Featherweight: Zakaria El Jamari (UAE) v Phillip Delarmino (PHI)
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How will Gen Alpha invest?
Mark Chahwan, co-founder and chief executive of robo-advisory firm Sarwa, forecasts that Generation Alpha (born between 2010 and 2024) will start investing in their teenage years and therefore benefit from compound interest.
“Technology and education should be the main drivers to make this happen, whether it’s investing in a few clicks or their schools/parents stepping up their personal finance education skills,” he adds.
Mr Chahwan says younger generations have a higher capacity to take on risk, but for some their appetite can be more cautious because they are investing for the first time. “Schools still do not teach personal finance and stock market investing, so a lot of the learning journey can feel daunting and intimidating,” he says.
He advises millennials to not always start with an aggressive portfolio even if they can afford to take risks. “We always advise to work your way up to your risk capacity, that way you experience volatility and get used to it. Given the higher risk capacity for the younger generations, stocks are a favourite,” says Mr Chahwan.
Highlighting the role technology has played in encouraging millennials and Gen Z to invest, he says: “They were often excluded, but with lower account minimums ... a customer with $1,000 [Dh3,672] in their account has their money working for them just as hard as the portfolio of a high get-worth individual.”
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Engine: 2.0-litre 4-cyl, 48V hybrid
Transmission: eight-speed automatic
Power: 325bhp
Torque: 450Nm
Price: Dh359,000
On sale: now
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Analysis
Maros Sefcovic is juggling multiple international trade agreement files, but his message was clear when he spoke to The National on Wednesday.
The EU-UAE bilateral trade deal will be finalised soon, he said. It is in everyone’s interests to do so. Both sides want to move quickly and are in alignment. He said the UAE is a very important partner for the EU. It’s full speed ahead - and with some lofty ambitions - on the road to a free trade agreement.
We also talked about US-EU tariffs. He answered that both sides need to talk more and more often, but he is prepared to defend Europe's position and said diplomacy should be a guiding principle through the current moment.
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The specs
Engine: Four electric motors, one at each wheel
Power: 579hp
Torque: 859Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Price: From Dh825,900
On sale: Now
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if you go
The flights
Emirates flies to Delhi with fares starting from around Dh760 return, while Etihad fares cost about Dh783 return. From Delhi, there are connecting flights to Lucknow.
Where to stay
It is advisable to stay in Lucknow and make a day trip to Kannauj. A stay at the Lebua Lucknow hotel, a traditional Lucknowi mansion, is recommended. Prices start from Dh300 per night (excluding taxes).
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What is the Supreme Petroleum Council?
The Abu Dhabi Supreme Petroleum Council was established in 1988 and is the highest governing body in Abu Dhabi’s oil and gas industry. The council formulates, oversees and executes the emirate’s petroleum-related policies. It also approves the allocation of capital spending across state-owned Adnoc’s upstream, downstream and midstream operations and functions as the company’s board of directors. The SPC’s mandate is also required for auctioning oil and gas concessions in Abu Dhabi and for awarding blocks to international oil companies. The council is chaired by Sheikh Khalifa, the President and Ruler of Abu Dhabi while Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed, Abu Dhabi’s Crown Prince and Deputy Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, is the vice chairman.
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The specs
Engine: 8.0-litre, quad-turbo 16-cylinder
Transmission: 7-speed auto
0-100kmh 2.3 seconds
0-200kmh 5.5 seconds
0-300kmh 11.6 seconds
Power: 1500hp
Torque: 1600Nm
Price: Dh13,400,000
On sale: now
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The internal combustion engine is facing a watershed moment – major manufacturer Volvo is to stop producing petroleum-powered vehicles by 2021 and countries in Europe, including the UK, have vowed to ban their sale before 2040. The National takes a look at the story of one of the most successful technologies of the last 100 years and how it has impacted life in the UAE.
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About Karol Nawrocki
• Supports military aid for Ukraine, unlike other eurosceptic leaders, but he will oppose its membership in western alliances.
• A nationalist, his campaign slogan was Poland First. "Let's help others, but let's take care of our own citizens first," he said on social media in April.
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• Met Donald Trump at the White House and received his backing.
