India trying to complete Chabahar port by 2019: Gadkari

Vartha Bharati | 22-06-2018 | 16:31:00 IST

New Delhi, June 22: India is making efforts to operationalise the Chabahar port in Iran by 2019 which would make the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) region more accessible, Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari has said.

Gadkari, who is on a two-day visit to Tajikistan, was speaking after inaugurating the cultural centre at the Indian Embassy in Dushanbe on Thursday, according to a Shipping Ministry statement. 

India, Iran and Afghanistan signed a trilateral agreement in 2016 to jointly develop the Chabahar Port, opening a new strategic transit route between the three nations and other Central Asian countries, bypassing Pakistan.

But the recent withdrawal of US from the Iran nuclear deal and its decision to re-impose sanctions on the Gulf nation has put a question mark over the target to complete the project. 

Besides the port, India has other strategic interests in Iran including the International North South Transport Corridor that will link India with Central Asia and Europe. It is also the biggest customer of Iranian oil after China. 

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Time has come to implement Women's Reservation Act: PM Modi's letter to LS, RS floor leaders

12-04-2026 ¦ 12-04-2026 IST

Prime Minister Narendra Modi (PTI)

New Delhi (PTI): Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said that the time has come for the implementation of the Women's Reservation Act in its true spirit and the 2029 Lok Sabha elections and Assembly elections are conducted with the quota for women in place.

In a letter to the floor leaders of Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, ahead of the three-day special sittings of Parliament, Modi also asked all members to come together in one voice to pass the amendments to the women's reservation law, officially known as Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam.

"After extensive deliberations, we have reached the conclusion that the time has now come to implement the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam in its true spirit across the country.

"It is imperative that the 2029 Lok Sabha elections and Assembly elections are conducted with women's reservation in place," the Prime Minister said in his letter dated April 11.

The Budget Session of Parliament has been extended, and a special three-day sitting of the House has been convened on April 16 to 18.

The Women's Reservation Act will ensure an increase in the number of Lok Sabha seats to 816, of which 273 will be reserved for women.

The provision to provide 33 per cent reservation to women in the Lok Sabha and state assemblies was brought by amending the Constitution in 2023.

However, the women's quota would have come into effect only after the completion of the delimitation exercise on the basis of the 2027 Census. This meant the reservation would not have become enforceable before 2034 if the present law remains as is.

To implement it from the 2029 Lok Sabha elections, changes were needed in the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam; hence, the government is holding a special session to pass the amendments to the law.