Ashwini Vaishnaw new Minister for Information and Broadcasting

Ashwini Vaishnaw has been appointed as the Minister for Information and Broadcasting in the Modi cabinet, succeeding Anurag Thakur, an MP from Himachal Pradesh. I Murugan has also been appointed as a new minister in the I&B ministry.

Vaishnaw is currently a MP representing Odisha in the Rajya Sabha. A politician and former IAS officer, Vaishnaw served as the 39th Minister of Railways, the 55th Communications Minister, and the 2nd Electronics & Information Technology Minister in the Government of India from 2022 to 2024. He has been a Rajya Sabha member from Odisha since 2019 and is affiliated with the BJP.

Vaishnaw joined the IAS in the Odisha cadre in 1994 and has worked extensively across various parts of Odisha, including serving as the District Collector of Balasore and Cuttack districts. During the 1999 super cyclone, he played a crucial role in collecting real-time data on the cyclone's timing and location, which helped the Government of Odisha implement safety measures for the affected population. He worked in Odisha until 2003, when he was appointed as deputy secretary in the office of former Prime Minister AB Vajpayee. In this role, he contributed to developing the public-private partnership framework for infrastructure projects. After the BJP-led NDA lost the 2004 election, Vaishnaw continued to serve as Vajpayee's private secretary.