Alphons Kannanthanam appointed as the new Minister of State (I/C) for Tourism

In  the big reshuffle of his Council of Ministers, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has appointed many new ministers, changed  the portfolios  of many ministers and  some of the ministers have been promoted to cabinet rank.  A retired 1979-batch IAS officer of  Kerala cadre and a member of the BJP’s National Executive, Alphons Kannanthanam has been appointed the new Minister of State (Independent charge) for Tourism, replacing Dr. Mahesh Sharma, who will continue to be minister of State (Independent charge) for Culture. Kannanthanam, who belongs to Kerala came into the limelight in the 1990s for his encroachment-clearing drive. He was then the commissioner of the Delhi Development Authority. Kannanthanam has been also appointed as the Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology . As he is not the member of any house of the Parliament, he will have to get elected to either house of the Parliament within six months as required by the Constitution.