Kathmandu, July 26: Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba has expanded the Council of Ministers the second time today.
The newly appointed ministers are Yagya Bahadur Thapa (Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs), Sanjay Gautam (Irrigation), Ram Krishna Yadav (Agricultural Development), Rajendra Kumar KC (Youth and Sports), Bhimsendas Pradhan (Defence), Ambika Banset (Cooperatives and Poverty Alleviation), Mohan Bahadur Basnet (Information and Communications), Bir Bahadur Balayar (Physical Infrastructure and Transport), Min Bahadur Bishwokarma (Commerce) and Mahendra Yadav(Water Supply and Sanitation) from the Nepali Congress.
Similarly, Girirajmani Pokharel ( Health), Tek Bahadur Basnet (General Administration), Shiva Kumar Mandal (Supplies), Mahendra Bahadur Shahi (Energy), Asha Koirala (Women, Children and Social Welfare) and Santa Kumar Tharu (Livestock Development) from the CPN (Maoist Centre), and Jitendra Dev (Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation) and Gopal Dahit (Land Reform and Management) from the Nepal Loktantrik Forum and Mithila Chaudhary (Population and Environment) from the CPN (United) are also inducted as ministers.
The Prime Minister has kept the portfolios of the Ministry of Industry, the Ministry of Forest, the Ministry of Science and the Ministry of Peace and Reconstruction to himself.
President Bidya Devi Bhandari administered the oath of office and secrecy to the newly-appointed ministers at a special ceremony held at the Office of the President at Shital Niwas today. Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba was present on the occasion.