Nirmala Sitharaman will be the first woman Defence Minister of the country. Indira Gandhi had held the department when she was Prime Minister. Smrithi gets I & B.
Arun Jaitley gives up Defence and will retain the Finance Ministry. He will however attend an international meeting of Defence Ministers in Japan, for which he leaves tonight.
The 58-year-old Ms Sitharaman will now be part of the top 5 or the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS), which also includes the Prime Minister, Home Minister Rajnath Singh, Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj and Finance Minster Arun Jaitley.
Suresh Prabhu, who exits as Rail Minister, will be the new Commerce Minister, the department held by Ms Sitharaman. Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan and Minority Affairs Minister Muqtar Abbas Naqvi are expected to continue in their departments as Cabinet ministers.
Narendra singh MOS Mines. Rajkumar MOS (Ind) Power. Shiv Pratap MOS finance. Hardik Singh MOS Urban development. Gadkari gets water resources.
