Team Manmohan takes charge

The first task before Mukherjee,who was also in charge of the Finance Minister in the previous government,would be to present the budget for 2009-10 and spell out policies and priorities of the new UPA government.

64-year-old Chidambaram is one among the 19 Cabinet ministers who were sworn-in on May 22,along with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

Chidambaram,a Harvard educated lawyer,was shifted to the Home Ministry from the Finance Ministry by the Prime Minister in the wake of the Mumbai terror attack last year which led to the resignation of Shivraj Patil from the post.

He has earned the reputation of being a good economic administrator capped by his image as a tough taskmaster during his short stint as the Home Minister.

Chidambaram has been focusing on reorganising the intelligence network,tightening the provisions in the anti-terror laws and amending the CISF Act.

Pawar takes charge as Agriculture Minister

NCP-supremo Sharad Pawar on Monday took charge as Minister of Agriculture,Consumer Affairs,Food and Public Distribution,beginning his tenure for the second time.

Pawar convened a meeting of senior officials and took stock of the situation in the agriculture,which would require a fresh impetus in the face of increasing debt burden on farmers despite loan waivers.

He takes over the reigns of the agriculture affairs when the country has harvested a bumper foodgrain production and the central pool are overflowing with wheat and rice.

India is estimated to have harvested a record over 99 million tonnes of rice in 2008-09 season. Wheat output is pegged at 77.63 million tonnes,which is slightly less than last year’s record 78.57 million tonnes.

On the back of bumper production and higher support price,the Centre has procured record wheat and rice in the ongoing season.

From a situation when India had to go in for imports in 2006,lifting ban on exports of wheat and non-basmati rice could be Pawar’s first major administrative decision in the coming days in his second tenure at Krishi Bhavan.