All you need to know about the nine new faces in Modi Cabinet

Former IFS officer and Indian diplomat Hardeep Puri, ex-Mumbai Police chief Satyapal Singh and retired IAS officer Alphons Kannanthanam will be inducted into the Union Council of Ministers tomorrow as part of a major revamp by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Apart from this trio, the other new entrants in the rejigged cabinet are BJP MPs Ashwini Kumar Choubey (Bihar), Virendra Kumar (Madhya Pradesh), Shiv Pratap Shukla (Uttar Pradesh), Gajendra Singh Shekhawat(Rajasthan), Anant Kumar Hegde (Karnataka) and Raj Kumar Singh (Bihar).

Here are the short profiles of the new ministers, according to the sources New Indian Express spoke to.

Shiv Pratap Shukla

Shri Shiv Pratap Shukla is a Rajya Sabha MP from Uttar Pradesh. He is a Member of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Rural Development. He was elected a Member of the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly for four consecutive times in 1989, 1991, 1993 and 1996, apart from serving served as a Cabinet Minister in the state government for eight years. He is known for his work in Rural Development, Education and Prison reform during his tenure.

A Law Graduate with an LLB degree from Gorakhpur University, Shukla started off early in politics as a student leader in the 1970s.

He was imprisoned for 19 months under the Maintenance of Internal Security Act (MISA) during the Emergency.

Ashwini Kumar Choubey

Shri Ashwini Kumar Choubey is a Lok Sabha MP from Bihar's Buxar. He is a member of the Parliamentary Committee on Estimates and Standing Committee on Energy. He is also a Member of Central Silk Board. Ashwini has been elected for five consecutive terms to the Bihar Legislative Assembly and has held important portfolios including Health, Urban Development and Public Health Engineering as a Cabinet Minister of the Bihar government for eight years.

Starting early in politics as the President of the Student's Union of Patna University, Choubey was an active part of the JP movement in the 1970s. He was taken into custody during the Emergency under MISA. He is also credited to have raised the slogan "Ghar - Ghar me ho Shouchalaya ka Nirman, Tabhi hoga Ladli Bitiya ka Kanyadaan", and has helped construct 11,000 toilets for Mahadalit families.

Having faced the disastrous Kedarnath floods with his family in 2013, Choubey has authored a book Kedarnath Trasadi on the tragedy.

A BSc (Hons) in Zoology, he has a special interest in Yoga.

Virendra Kumar (SC)

Shri Virendra Kumar is a Lok Sabha MP from Tikamgah, Madhya Pradesh. He has had a distinguished career in Public Service as a six-term Lok Sabha MP. He is the Chairperson of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Labour, and has been Chairman of the Joint Committee on Office of Profit and a Member of National Social Security Board.

During his multiple stints in Parliament, Virendra Kumar has amongst others been a Member of the Parliamentary Committees on Labour and Welfare, Welfare of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, Privileges, Petroleum and Natural Gas.

He had actively participated in the JP movement of the 1970s, and went to jails for 16 months under MISA during the Emergency. He had initiated a movement for solving the problems faced by students and opened a library for their assistance.

Coming from the Scheduled Caste community, Virendra has dedicated his life to its service. He has been engaging youth in removing the barriers of caste and class and works for building orphanages, schools for divyang and old age homes.

Highly qualified academically, Virendra Kumar is armed with an MA in Economics and a PhD in Child Labour.

Anantkumar Hegde

Shri Anantkumar Hegde is a Lok Sabha MP from Uttara Kannada, Karnataka. He is a Member of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on External Affairs and Human Resource Development. Having been elected as an MP for the first time at the young age of 28 years, Anantkumar is now a fifth term Lok Sabha MP.

During his multiple stints in Parliament, he has been a member of multiple Parliamentary Standing Committees including the likes of Finance, Home Affairs, Human Resource Development, Commerce, Agriculture and External Affairs.

He has also been a member of the Spices Board of India for four terms.

With a deep focus on rural India, Hegde is the Founder President of Kadamba, an NGO working in the field of rural development, rural health, SHGs, rural marketing and other rural welfare programmes.

He is a practitioner of Tae-kwon-do, a Korean Martial Art.

Raj Kumar Singh

Shri Raj Kumar Singh is a Lok Sabha MP from Bihar's Arrah. He is a Member of the Parliamentary Standing Committees on Health and Family Welfare, Personnel, Pensions and Public Grievances and Law & Justice. He is also a former IAS officer of the 1975 batch, Bihar cadre. He rose up the ranks to become the Home Secretary of India.

In an illustrious career before, he served in multiple important roles of responsibility including Defence Production Secretary and Joint Secretary Home; as well as heading Home, Industries, Public Works and Agriculture amongst other departments in the Bihar Government.

He is known for his contributions to schemes for Police Modernization and Prison Modernization, and laying down a framework for Disaster Management.

A well-read man, Singh studied English Literature at St. Stephens College, New Delhi, and got a Bachelors Degree in Law thereafter. He also went on to study at the RVB Delft University in Netherlands.

Hardeep Singh Puri

Shri Hardeep Puri is a decorated former IFS officer of the 1974 batch, known for his experience and expertise in foreign policy and national security. He is the President and Chairman of Research and Information System for Developing Countries (RIS) think tank and was the Vice President of International Peace Institute, New York.

Hardeep’s distinguished four-decade career in diplomacy spanning the multilateral arena, including critical roles of Ambassador and Permanent Representative of India to the United Nations, Ambassador to Brazil and the United Kingdom and Permanent Representative of India to Geneva.

As Head of the Indian Delegation to the UN Security Council, Puri had served as Chairman of the Counter-Terrorism Committee of the UN as well as President of the United Nations Security Council.

An alumnus of The Hindu College, Delhi University, Hardeep was a student leader and active during the JP movement. He briefly taught at St. Stephens College before joining the IFS.

Gajendra Singh Shekhawat
 
Shri Gajendra Singh Shekhawat is a Lok Sabha MP from Jodhpur, Rajasthan. He is a Member of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance and Chairperson of the Fellowship Committee. As a technology-savvy, progressive farmer; Shekhawat is a role model for the rural community.
Known for his simple life style, he is one of the most followed political leaders on Quora globally (a popular Q&A blogging site). His popularity on social media exemplifies his connection with the youth of today.

A sports enthusiast, Shekhawat has participated at National and All India Inter University level in Basket Ball. He currently is a Member of the All India Council of Sports and the President of Basketball India Players Association.

He has an MPhil & MA in Philosophy from Jai Narain Vyas University, Jodhpur.

Satya Pal Singh
 
Shri Satya Pal Singh is a Lok Sabha MP from Baghpat, Uttar Pradesh. He is a Member of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Home Affairs and Chairperson of the Joint Committee on Offices of Profit. Singh is a distinguished former IPS officer of the 1980 batch, Maharashtra cadre, and has been recognized with medals like the Antrik Suraksha Sewa Padak by Government of India in 2008 and a Special Service Medal for extraordinary work in the Naxalite areas of Andhra Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh in 1990. He has been the Commissioner of Police of Mumbai, Pune and Nagpur – and is credited for breaking the backbone of organised crime syndicates in Mumbai in the 1990s.

Satya Pal Singh has written best-selling books, including on topics like tribal conflict resolution and Naxalism. He is a scholar of Vedic studies and Sanskrit, and regularly delivers lectures on spirituality, religious harmony and corruption.

Born in Basauli village in Baghpat, Singh has a MSc and MPhil in Chemistry, MBA in Strategic Management from Australia, MA in Public Administration as well as a PhD in Naxalism.

Alphons Kannanthanam

Shri Alphons Kannanthanam is a distinguished former IAS officer of the 1979 batch, Kerala cadre. He is also a practicing advocate. Kannanthanam became famous as Delhi's Demolition Man when he was Commissioner of the Delhi Development Authority, having cleared DDA areas of encroachment removing around 15,000 illegal buildings. This got him listed in Time Magazine's list of 100 Young Global Leaders in 1994.

Born in a non-electrified Manimala village in Kottayam district to a World War 2 veteran, he pioneered the literacy movement in India as District Collector of Kottayam by making it the first 100% literate town in India in 1989.

Alphons set up Janshakti, an NGO in 1994, to get citizens to believe in their ability to make government accountable to people.

Kannanthanam retired from the IAS, to get elected as an Independent Member of Legislative Assembly for Kanjirappally in Kerala from 2006 to 2011.

He is a Member of the Committee to prepare the final draft of the National Education Policy 2017.

Alphons Kannanthanam has authored a bestselling book “Making A Difference”