Jai Ram Thakur takes oath as Himachal CM (Lead)
Shimla, Jai Ram Thakur on Wednesday was sworn in as the Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister at a ceremony here attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP President Amit Shah, among others.
Governor Acharya Devvrat administered the oath of office and secrecy to Thakur, who will turn 53 on January 6. This will be his maiden term as Chief Minister.
The swearing-in ceremony at the historic Ridge saw the presence of Union Ministers Rajnath Singh, J.P. Nadda and Nitin Gadkari, besides the Chief Ministers of various BJP-ruled states in attendance, along with more than 30,000 party supporters from across the state, mostly dressed in traditional attire.
BJP veteran L.K. Advani was also present. Five-time legislator Thakur, who rose through the ranks and is known for his humble, clean and low-profile nature, took the oath in Hindi.
During the oath taking ceremony he did not wear the trademark maroon flap cap of the BJP, which the former two-time Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal usually wore. Dhumal was defeated in this election.
Thakur's family members, including his 80-year-old widowed mother, who belongs to a remote village in Mandi district, attended the ceremony.
"This is the victory of the common man," Thakur's wife Sadhna Thakur, who is doctor by profession, said before the oath taking ceremony.
The 12-member cabinet, comprising Thakur, has six former ministers and equal number of first-time ministers, a blend of experienced and new faces.
The others who took oath were former Cabinet Ministers Mohinder Singh, Kishan Kapoor, Sarveen Chaudhary and Anil Sharma, former Minister Ram Lal Markanday and new faces Suresh Bhardwaj, Vipin Singh Parmar, Virender Kanwar, Vikram Thakur, Gobind Thakur and Rajeev Sahjal.
Sarveen Chaudhary is the lone woman minister in the cabinet.
All the Ministers took the oath in Hindi, except Bhardwaj and Gobind Thakur, who took the oath in Sanskrit.
Senior legislators and former Cabinet Minister Rajeev Bindal, Narender Bragta and Ramesh Dhawala did not find place in the cabinet.
The BJP last week won a majority with 44 seats in the 68-member state assembly.
Outgoing Congress Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh and his erstwhile cabinet colleagues were conspicuously absent from the ceremony.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Indians in US rush to schedule preterm deliveries ahead of Trump’s birthright citizenship order
With the February 19 deadline for President Donald Trump’s executive order ending automatic birthright citizenship fast approaching, Indian parents in the United States are scrambling to arrange preterm deliveries. The new order challenges the long-standing interpretation of the 14th Amendment, which grants citizenship to all children born on U.S. soil, except for children of foreign diplomats.
The executive order impacts not only undocumented immigrants but also non-citizens legally residing in the U.S. on temporary visas, such as H-1B, L1, tourist, and student visas. Children born after February 19 to non-citizen parents will no longer qualify for automatic U.S. citizenship, disrupting long-term plans for thousands of families.
Indian-origin families, many of whom are awaiting green cards, are especially anxious. Some parents were counting on their children’s U.S. citizenship as a potential pathway to secure residency. Priya, an Indian woman expecting her baby in March, expressed her distress: “We’ve been waiting for green cards for six years. Our child being born here was the only way to secure stability. Now, we’re terrified of what’s to come.”
Maternity clinics and doctors are reporting an unusual spike in requests for preterm C-sections. Dr. SG Mukkala, an obstetrician in Texas, shared concerns over the health risks of preterm births, including underdeveloped lungs, feeding difficulties, and neurological complications. “I’ve spoken to 15-20 couples in the past two days, trying to explain the risks,” he said.
In New Jersey, Dr. SD Rama noted a surge in calls for early deliveries. “A seven-months pregnant woman came with her husband, asking to schedule a preterm birth, even though she isn’t due until March,” she revealed.
