China's Wen Xia Yu wins Miss World 2012 title

China's Yu Wenxia has been crowned the 2012 Miss World.

This is the second time Miss China has been awarded the title. The last time was in 2007 when Zhang Zilin took the honor.

The first runner-up is Sophie Elizabeth Moulds of Wales and the second runner-up is Jessica Michelle Kahawaty of Australia.

The 23-year-old Yu is a music student who says she wants to become a music teacher.

 This is the first time for the Inner Mongolian city of Ordos to host the international beauty pageant.

The city is one of the richest regions in China thanks to its abundant natural resources. It hopes the world event will raise its profile for economic development and tourism.

Sanya, another Chinese city, has hosted the contest several times.

India's Vanya Mishra made it to the top seven spot but failed to progress further. She, however, did bag the titles of Miss Social Media and Miss Beauty with a Purpose.

In the semi-finals, the contestants were asked to perform on the music of their country and Vanya chose to dance on "Dil cheez kya hai" from 1981 film "Umrao Jaan", which landed her a spot in the top seven finalists.

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Tulsi Gabbard set to become first Hindu in US Congress

Washington: Honolulu City Councilwoman Tulsi Gabbard has a great chance to become the first Hindu member of the US House of Representatives in 2013 with her primary victory in a safe Democratic seat.

Though a practicing Hindu and a strict vegetarian, Gabbard is not of Indian origin. Her father Mike Gabbard, who is a state senator, is from American Samoa. Her mother Carol Porter Gabbard, a white American, is a practicing Hindu. Her father is a Catholic.

Gabbard, 31, won the Democratic Party nomination in Hawaii's 2nd Congressional District Sunday with a decisive 55 percent vote in the primary with closest rival former Honolulu Mayor Mufi Hannemann getting 34 percent.


Four other candidates divided the remainder of the vote. Democratic Representative Mazie Hirono left the seat open when she decided to run for the Senate.

Born in 1981 in Leloaloa, American Samoa, she the fourth of five Gabbard children. When she was two, the family moved to Hawai'i, also the birthplace of President Barack Obama.

Dalip Singh Saund, the first Indian-American to be elected to the US in 1956, was a Sikh. Current Louisiana governor Bobby Jindal who became the second in 2004 had converted to Christianity while in high school.

Though not of Indian origin, Gabbard promises to be a representative for all the Indians in the US.

"Based on my strong affinity for India and Indian culture, as well as my warm love for the country and its people, I will always make myself available to hear the concerns of the Indian Diaspora and do my best to be of assistance," she said.

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Council of Ministers

 

Cabinet Ministers

Serial Number	Portfolio	Name of Minister
1.	Prime Minister Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions Ministry of Planning Department of Atomic Energy Department of Space	Dr. Manmohan Singh
2.	Minister of Finance	Shri Palaniappan Chidambaram
3.	Minister of Agriculture Minister of Food Processing Industries	Shri Sharad Chandra Govindrao Pawar
4.	Minister of Defence	Shri A.K. Antony
5.	Minister of Home Affairs	Shri Sushil Kumar Sambhajirao Shinde
6.	Minister of External Affairs	Shri S.M. Krishna
7.	Minister of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Minister of Science and Technology Minister of Earth Sciences	Shri Vilasrao Dagadojirao Deshmukh
8.	Minister of Health and Family Welfare	Shri Ghulam Nabi Azad
9.	Minister of Power Minister of Corporate Affairs	Dr.(Shri) M. Veerappa Moily
10.	Minister of New and Renewable Energy	Dr. Farooq Abdullah
11.	Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas	Shri Jaipal Sudini Reddy
12.	Minister of Urban Development	Shri Kamal Nath
13.	Minister of Overseas Indian Affairs	Shri Vayalar Ravi
14.	Minister of Civil Aviation	Shri Ajit Singh
15.	Minister of Information and Broadcasting	Smt. Ambika Soni
16.	Minister of Labour and Employment	Shri Mallikarjun Kharge
17.	Minister of Human Resource Development Minister of Communications and Information Technology	Shri Kapil Sibal
18.	Minister of Commerce Industry and Minister of Textiles	Shri Anand Sharma
19.	Minister of Road Transport and Highways	Shri C. P. Joshi
20.	Minister of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation Minister of Culture	Kumari Selja
21.	Minister of Tourism	Shri Subodh Kant Sahai
22.	Minister of Shipping	Shri G.K. Vasan
23.	Minister of Parliamentary Affairs Minister of Water Resources	Shri Pawan Kumar Bansal
24.	Minister of Social Justice and Empowerment	Shri Mukul Balkrishna Wasnik
25.	Minister of Chemicals and Fertilizers	Shri M. K. Alagiri
26.	Minister of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises	Shri Praful Manoharbhai Patel
27.	Minister of Coal	Shri Sriprakash Jaiswal
28.	Minister of Law and Justice Minister of Minority Affairs	Shri Salman Khurshid
29.	Minister of Tribal Affairs Minister of Panchayati Raj	Shri V. Kishore Chandra Deo
30.	Minister of Steel	Shri Beni Prasad Verma
31.	Minister of Railways	Shri Mukul Roy
32.	Minister of Rural Development Minister of Drinking Water and Sanitation	Shri Jairam Ramesh

Ministers of State with Independent Charge

Serial Number	Portfolio	Name of Minister
1.	Ministry of Mines	Shri Dinsha J. Patel
2.	Ministry of Women and Child Development	Smt. Krishna Tirath
3.	Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports	Shri Ajay Maken
4.	Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution	Prof. Kuruppassery Varkey Thomas
5.	Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers	Shri Srikant Kumar Jena
6.	Ministry of Environment and Forests	Smt. Jayanthi Natarajan
7.	Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs	Shri Paban Singh Ghatowar

Ministers of State

Serial Number	Portfolio	Name of Minister
1.	Ministry of External Affairs Ministry of Human Resource Development	Shri E. Ahamed
2.	Ministry of Home Affairs	Shri Ramachandran Mullappally
3.	Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions Prime Minister Office	Shri V. Narayanasamy
4.	Ministry of Commerce and Industry	Shri Jyotiraditya Madhavrao Scindia
5.	Ministry of Human Resource Development	Smt. Daggubati Purandeswari
6.	Ministry of Railways	Shri K.H. Muniyappa
7.	Ministry of Textiles	Smt. Lakshmi Panabaka
8.	Ministry of Finance	Shri Namo Narain Meena
9.	Ministry of Defence	Shri M. Mangapati Pallam Raju
10.	Ministry of Urban Development	Shri Saugata Roy
11.	Ministry of Finance	Shri S.S. Palanimanickam
12.	Ministry of Road Transport and Highways	Shri Jitin Prasada
13.	Ministry of External Affairs	Smt. Preneet Kaur
14.	Ministry of Agriculture Ministry of Food Processing Industries Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs	Shri Harish Rawat
15.	Ministry of Railways	Shri Bharatsinh Madhavsinh Solanki
16.	Ministry of Tribal Affairs	Shri Mahadeo Singh Khandela
17.	Ministry of Rural Development	Shri Sisir Kumar Adhikari
18.	Ministry of Tourism	Shri Sultan Ahmed
19.	Ministry of Information and Broadcasting	Shri Choudhury Mohan Jatua
20.	Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment	Shri D. Napoleon
21.	Ministry of Information and Broadcasting	Shri S. Jagathrakshakan
22.	Ministry of Health and Family Welfare	Shri S. Gandhiselvan
23.	Ministry of Road Transport and Highways	Shri Tushar Amarsinh Chaudhary
24.	Ministry of Communications and Information Technology	Shri Sachin Pilot
25.	Ministry of Coal	Shri Pratik Prakashbapu Patil
26.	Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas Ministry of Corporate Affairs	Shri Ratanjit Pratap Narain Singh
27.	Ministry of Water Resources Ministry of Minority Affairs	Shri Vincent H Pala
28.	Ministry of Rural Development	Shri Pradeep Kumar Jain Aditya
29.	Ministry of Rural Development	Ms. Agatha Sangma
30.	Ministry of Planning Ministry of Science and Technology Ministry of Earth Sciences	Shri Ashwani Kumar
31.	Ministry of Power	Shri K. C. Venugopal
32.	Ministry of Health and Family Welfare	Shri Sudip Bandyopadhyay
33.	Ministry of Agriculture and Ministry of Food Processing Industries Ministry of Food Processing Industries	Shri Charan Das Mahant
34.	Ministry of Home Affairs	Shri Jitendra Singh
35.	Ministry of Communications and Information Technology	Shri Milind Murli Deora
36.	Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs	Shukla Shri Rajeev

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