Team Manmohan gets going
Pranab returns to Finance, Krishna in South Block
New Delhi, May 23
The Prime Minister on Saturday allocated key portfolios to six cabinet ministers after presiding over the first cabinet meeting at his residence. There were no surprises as Pranab Mukherjee expectedly was named the Finance Minister, P Chidambaram retained the Home portfolio and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar named minister for Agriculture, Food and Civil Supplies, Consumer Affairs and Public Distribution.

Know Your Ministers

From left: Mamata Banerjee, S M Krishna and Pranab Mukherjee in New Delhi on Saturday.

Cabinet berth for NC unlikely
New Delhi, May 23
With the race for cabinet berths getting tighter and the list of claimants refusing to shrink, it appears that the National Conference (NC) might get left out altogether. While the party has not given up staking its claim on a ministry, top Congress sources indicate a possibility of a no-go for the NC in the new cabinet.

Lok Sabha session from June 1
New Delhi, May 23
The newly elected UPA government will convene the first session of the 15th Lok Sabha from June 1 to 9. As expected, the week-long session will be devoted to the oath of affirmation to members of Parliament, election of the Speaker, address of the President to both the Houses of parliament on June 4 and discussions on the motion of thanks to the Presidential address.

Khanduri gets a fresh lease of life
New Delhi, May 23
Uttarakhand Chief Minister Bhuvan Chand Khanduri has got a fresh lease of life at least till May 28, when the bye election to his rival and former Chief Minister of the state Bhagat Singh Koshiyari’s Assembly constituency Kapkot is being held.

MHA orders demotion of ITBP DIG
Chandigarh, May 23
In an unusual case, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has passed orders to demote a deputy inspector general (DGP) serving with the Indo-Tibetan Border Police Force (ITBP) and instead promoted another officer who was held guilty for corruption.

Fresh offensive in Swat; 17 militants killed
Islamabad, May 23
Pakistani security forces entered Mingora, the Swat Valley’s main city, on Saturday and killed at least 17 Taliban militants as a new phase of their offensive against the militants began, the military said.

No entry for displaced in Karachi

Madhav elected Nepal’s PM
Kathmandu, May 23
Veteran Communist leader Madhav Kumar Nepal was today elected unopposed as the Prime Minister of Nepal, bringing to an end the nearly three-week long political crisis in the country. The 56-year-old CPN-UML leader, who claims to have the support of 351 lawmakers in the 601-member Constituent Assembly, was the only candidate to have fileded nomination for the top post.