New Delhi: Under fire from all quarters over raging inflation and with an eye on the states going for elections later this year, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Sunday reshuffled and expanded the council of ministers. Seven new ministers of state (MoS) took oath while six existing junior ministers resigned earlier in the day.
Sunday Shake-Up (Graphic)
Among the inductees are the former chief election commissioner M. S. Gill, All India Congress Committee general secretary V. Narayanasamy, Rashtriya Janata Dal’s (RJD) Raghunath Jha, Rajya Sabha member from the Congress party Santosh Bagrodia as well as Rameshwar Oraon, Jyotiraditya Scindia and Jitin Prasada of the Congress. Gill is the only one who has been given an independent charge, that of sports and youth affairs.
The outgoing ministers are Suresh Pachouri (personnel, public grievances and pensions, and for parliamentary affairs), Dasari Narayan Rao (coal), T. Subbarami Reddy (mines), Akhilesh Das (steel), Manikrao Gavit (home) and M.V. Rajasekharan (planning). President Pratibha Patil accepted the resignations with immediate effect.
The portfolios are: Narayanasamy (parliamentary affairs and planning), Bagrodia (coal), Jha (heavy industries and public enterprises), Oraon (tribal affairs), Scindia (communications and IT) and Prasada (steel).
There has also been a reshuffle in the portfolios of some existing ministers. B.K. Handique, who was the MoS for chemicals and fertilizers, has also been given the ministry of mines. Prithviraj Chavan, the MoS in the Prime Minister’s Office, has been given additional charge of the ministry of personnel, public grievances and pension. Shakeel Ahmed will now be the MoS for home. Kanti Singh, MoS for heavy industries and public enterprises, will be the MoS of tourism and culture. Jairam Ramesh, the MoS for commerce and Industry, will also be the MoS for power. P.R. Dasmunsi sheds the parliamentary affairs portfolio, while Vayalar Ravi gets that charge in addition to the charge of a cabinet minister for overseas Indians affairs. Mani Shankar Aiyar, the cabinet minister for panchayati raj and development of the North-East, has been stripped of the sports and youth affairs portfolio.
-K.P. Narayana Kumar & Udit Misra
‘PTI’ contributed to this story.
G-8 ministers reaffirm commitment to Africa
Tokyo: The world’s richest nations agreed on Sunday that industrially advanced countries must increase development aid to Africa and other impoverished regions despite economic slumps at home. The agreement came on the close of two days of talks between the ministers of the Group of Eight (G-8) industrialized nations and emerging donor nations such as Brazil, China and India in Tokyo. “We confirmed the importance of economic growth in developing countries,” said Japan’s foreign minister Masahiko Komura. He said the ministers reaffirmed the need for G-8 countries to strengthen aid to needy areas, while striving to improve their own economies.
-AP