Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh has reconstituted the Inter-State Council. In the reconstituted Council Shri Dinesh Trivedi former Minister for Railways has been replaced by the new Minister Shri Mukul Roy. He is one of the six Union Ministers nominated by the Prime Minister as Members of the Council. The others are Cabinet Ministers in-charge of Finance, Agriculture & Food Processing Industries, Home Affairs, Corporate Affairs, and Urban development.

The Inter State Council is chaired by the Prime Minister and has all the Chief Ministers of the States and UTs having legislatures, Lt. Governors/ Administrators of the Union Territories, and six Union Minister nominated by the Prime Minister.

Union Home Minister Shri P. Chidambaram launched the new website of the Inter State Council Secretariat on 14^th May 2012.

The new website developed in house by the Secretariat provides a wealth of information on the genesis, constitution, procedure and meetings of the Inter State Council and Zonal Councils, the evolution of Indian States and various issues of Centre State and Inter State Relations.

Shri P.G. Dhar Chakrabarti, Additional Secretary & Adviser, ISCS appraised the Hon'ble Minister about the role and functioning of the Inter State Council Secretariat. Various measures for activating the work of the Council Secretariat were also discussed.

The 10th meeting of the Northern Zonal Council scheduled to be held at the Sher-i-Kashmir International Convention Centre in Srinagar on 27 September 2011 has been deferred on the requests of some of the Chief Ministers due to their preoccupation with Assembly sessions and bye election in Punjab and Haryana.

The Tenth meeting of the Northern Zonal Council has been scheduled to be held in Chandigarh on June 2012. The meeting, earlier scheduled in Srinagar on 27 September 2011, had to be deferred on the requests of the Chief Ministers of Haryana and Punjab due to their preoccupation with Assembly sessions and subsequent State Assembly elections in Punjab. A number of issues of centre-State and inter-State relations are likely to be discussed in the meeting.

Five Zonal Councils for the Northern, Eastern, North-Eastern, Southern, Central and Western Zones of the country were constituted under section of the State Reorganisation Act 1956.

Union Home Minister is the Chairperson of all the Zonal Councils, while Vice-Chairpersonship rotates. Sardar Prakash Singh Badal Chief Minister of Punjab is the current Vice-Chairperson of the Northern Zonal Council.

The Zonal Councils are assisted by a Standing Committee of Chief Secretaries. The Chairmanship of the Standing Committees also rotates synchronizing with that of the Zonal Council.

The Inter-State Council Secretariat functions as the Secretariat of all the Zonal councils.

The Standing Committees of the Southern and Western Zonal Councils shall meet under the Chairmanship of Chief Secretary of Kerala and Goa respectively. While the Chief Secretaries of Southern States shall meet in Thiruvanathapuram on 25 May, Chief Secretaries of the Western States shall meet in Panjim on 29 June 2012. Important issues of national and regional importance shall be discussed during these two meetings. The meetings shall finalize the agenda items for discussion in the Zonal Councils soon thereafter.

Setting at rest the controversy over the safety of 116-year-old Mullaperiyar dam, the Empowered Committee, headed by the former Chief Justice of India Mr.A.S. Anand, has said it is structurally and hydrologically safe. In its report submitted to the Supreme Court on Wednesday, the committee is understood to have said: "The dam is seismically safe." Last year's earth tremors in that region "did not have any impact on the Mullaperiyar dam and the Idukki reservoir and there was no danger to the safety of the two dams." The committee's conclusion is expected to bring relief to both Kerala and Tamil Nadu after apprehensions were raised on the Mullaperiyar dam's safety following mild tremors in that region.