Piyush Goyal

Piyush Goyal is the Minister of State with Independent Charge for Power, Coal, New and Renewable Energy in the Government of India. He is currently a Member of Parliament (Rajya Sabha) and was earlier the National Treasurer of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). He headed the BJP's Information Communication Campaign Committee and oversaw the publicity and advertising campaign of the party including the social media outreach for the Indian General Elections 2014.

Personal life

He is the son of Late Shri Ved Prakash Goyal who had served as a Union Minister for shipping in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee cabinet and was also the treasurer of Bhartiya Janta Party for a long time.

He has had a strong academic record - all-India second rank holder Chartered Accountant and second rank holder in Law in Mumbai University. He has participated in Leadership Programs at Yale University (2011), Oxford University (2012) and Princeton University (2013) and is currently pursuing the Owner / President Management (OPM) Program at Harvard Business School. He did his schooling from Don Bosco High School, Matunga.

Union Council of Ministers of India

The Union Council of Ministers exercises executive authority in the Republic of India. It consists of senior ministers, called "Cabinet Ministers", and junior ministers, called "Ministers of State". It is led by the Prime Minister. A smaller executive body, called the Union Cabinet is the supreme decision-making body in India. Only the Prime Minister and ministers of the rank of "Cabinet Minister" are members of the Cabinet. The most senior civil servant in India, called the Cabinet Secretary, leads the Cabinet Secretariat, and provides administrative assistance to the Council of Ministers. Ministers of State are tasked with assisting Cabinet Ministers in their work.

Regulations

As a collective, the Council of Ministers is responsible to the lower house of the Indian Parliament, called the House of the People. According to the Constitution of India, the total number of ministers in the Council of Ministers must not exceed 15% of the total number of members of the House of the People. Ministers must be members of parliament. Any minister who is not a member of either the lower or upper houses of parliament for six consecutive months is automatically stripped of his or her ministerial post.

Narendra Modi ministry

The Narendra Modi ministry is the Council of Ministers that was formed after the general election which was held in nine phases from 7 April to 12 May in 2014. The results of the election were announced on 16 May 2014 and this led to the formation of the 16th Lok Sabha. The Council assumed office on 26 May 2014. Narendra Modi, the Prime Minister and head of the Council of Ministers, had stated that his cabinet would be compact, based on the guiding principle of "minimum government and maximum governance".

Modi's Council of Ministers consists of seven female ministers, of whom 6 hold the rank of Cabinet minister. This is the highest number of female Cabinet ministers in any Indian government in history. The only other government to appoint more than 1 female Cabinet minister, was the first UPA government from 2004 to 2009, which had 3 female Cabinet Ministers.

According to a Gallup poll, 63% of Indians approved of their country's leadership in 2014, with 23% disapproving. The figures in 2013 were 30% approval, and 48% disapproval.

Renewable energy

Renewable energy is generally defined as energy that is collected from resources which are naturally replenished on a human timescale, such as sunlight, wind, rain, tides, waves, and geothermal heat. Renewable energy often provides energy in four important areas: electricity generation, air and water heating/cooling, transportation, and rural (off-grid) energy services.

Based on REN21's 2014 report, renewables contributed 19 percent to humans' global energy consumption and 22 percent to their generation of electricity in 2012 and 2013, respectively. This energy consumption is divided as 9% coming from traditional biomass, 4.2% as heat energy (non-biomass), 3.8% hydro electricity and 2% is electricity from wind, solar, geothermal, and biomass. Worldwide investments in renewable technologies amounted to more than US$214 billion in 2013, with countries like China and the United States heavily investing in wind, hydro, solar and biofuels.

Minister of State

Minister of State is a title borne by politicians or officials in certain countries governed under a parliamentary system. In some countries a "Minister of State" is a junior minister, who is assigned to assist a specific cabinet minister. In other countries a "Minister of State" is a holder of a more senior position, such as a cabinet minister or even a head of government.

High government ranks

In several national traditions, the title "Minister of State" is reserved for government members of Cabinet rank, often a formal distinction within it, or even its chief.