Narendra Modi was sworn in as prime minister for a second term on Thursday at the head of a 25-member cabinet in which he enlisted Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president and close confidant Amit Shah, dropped several key members of the outgoing government and attempted to accommodate most partners in the ruling coalition, but failed to convince key ally Nitish Kumar to join his new ministerial council.

Also read: Amit Shah gets home ministry, Rajnath Singh defence in PM Modi’s new cabinet

The new cabinet held its first meeting in the evening today and the allocation of portfolios has also been done.

Catch the highlights here:

8:18 pm IST Union minister Narendra Tomar rubbishes away claims that allowance for farmers is ‘too less’. The Union minister urged state governments to send consolidated lists of farmers who are eligible for the allowance.





8:13 pm IST ‘Budget to be presented on July 5, economic survey to be released on July 4th’: Union minister Prakash Javadekar Union minister announces pension for small and medium enterprises, who do not come under GST and have a turnover of lower than Rs 1.5 crore, says Union minister Prakash Javadekar. He says, more than 5 crore farmers will benefit, and unorganised sector workers to shall reap the benefits of this farmer.





7:57 pm IST Union minister Prakash Javadekar addresses the media after cabinet meet Union Minister Javadekar announces Centre’s plan for vaccination of livestock and at animal husbandry based small and medium enterprises. He further adds that State Governments have to send a consolidated list and Centre shall take care of release of funds.





7:53 pm IST Union minister for Agriculture Narendra Singh Tomar addresses the media Minister for Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Narendra Singh Tomar confirms pension for farmers above 65 years of age.





7:29 pm IST Union Ministers leave after first cabinet meeting ends. Cabinet briefing to be held at Shastri Bhawan shortly. Union ministers Amit Shah, Piyush Goyal and Rajnath Singh leave after cabinet meeting. Delhi: Union Ministers Rajnath Singh, Amit Shah, Dharmendra Pradhan and Piyush Goyal leave after #UnionCabinet meeting. pic.twitter.com/2mM2KXHPRo — ANI (@ANI) May 31, 2019 Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman leaves after cabinet meeting Delhi: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman leaves after #UnionCabinet meeting. pic.twitter.com/VTck5MKi2m — ANI (@ANI) May 31, 2019





7:01 pm IST Ravi Shankar Prasad, Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, and Giriraj Singh greet each other after first cabinet meeting Union ministers Ravi Shankar Prasad, Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, and Giriraj Singh share a light moment after first cabinet meeting. First cabinet briefing to follow soon. Delhi: Visuals of Union Ministers Ravi Shankar Prasad, Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi and Giriraj Singh after Cabinet meeting. #UnionCabinet pic.twitter.com/KgVydlK8UQ — ANI (@ANI) May 31, 2019





5:57 pm IST PM Modi’s cabinet takes its first decision after cabinet meeting PM’s scholarship scheme goes through major changes. Wards of police personnel who were martyred in terror or Maoist attacks will receive enhanced scholarships. Our Government’s first decision dedicated to those who protect India!



Major changes approved in PM’s Scholarship Scheme under the National Defence Fund including enhanced scholarships for wards of police personnel martyred in terror or Maoist attacks. https://t.co/Vm90BD77hm pic.twitter.com/iXhFNlBCIc — Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) May 31, 2019





5:31 pm IST Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrives for the cabinet meeting Other ministers have also arrived for the first cabinet meet after PM Narendra Modi’s successful re-election. Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrives for the #UnionCabinet meeting. pic.twitter.com/PGFJ3VS8ge — ANI (@ANI) May 31, 2019 Minister of Finance Nirmala Sitharaman has also arrived for the first cabinet meet. Delhi: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and MoS PMO Dr Jitendra Singh arrive for the #UnionCabinet meeting. pic.twitter.com/KSnfkLPaV7 — ANI (@ANI) May 31, 2019





4:35 pm IST Dr. Jitendra Singh takes charge as Minister of State, Prime Minister’s Office He was previously assigned with the Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region from 2014-2019 Delhi: Dr. Jitendra Singh takes charge as the Minister of State, Prime Minister's Office. #UnionCabinet pic.twitter.com/5FDIQ0YaPe — ANI (@ANI) May 31, 2019





4:03 pm IST PM Modi gets ministry of personnel, public grievances and pensions and department of atomic energy In the new cabinet, Narendra Modi is the Prime Minister and also in-charge of Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions, Department of Atomic Energy, Department of Space; and all important policy issues; and all other portfolios not allocated to any minister.





3:35 pm IST Dharmendra Pradhan takes charge Union minister Dharmendra Pradhan today took charge of petroleum and natural gas ministry and steel ministry.





3:32 pm IST Gajendra Singh Shekhawat takes charge as minister for Jal Shakti Gajendra Singh Shekhawat has taken charge as the minister for Jal Shakti, at Shram Shakti Bhavan, in New Delhi.





3:22 pm IST Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank takes charge Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank took charge as Human Resource Development minister. Prahlad Singh Patel, minister of state (Independent Charge) of the ministry of culture, will assume office on Monday.





3:12 pm IST Nirmala Sitharaman takes charge as finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman has taken charge as finance minister in PM Modi’s new cabinet.





2:27 pm IST Mahendra Nath Pandey is minister of skill development and entrepreneurship Mahendra Nath Pandey has been appointed as the minister of skill development and entrepreneurship in the new cabinet. Pandey, who served as a Union minister of state (MoS) in the Ministry of Human Resource Development between 2016 and 2017, was given the responsibility of the BJP’s Uttar Pradesh unit in 2017 after the party’s massive win in the assembly elections.





2:21 pm IST Pralhad Joshi to head three ministries Pralhad Joshi will take charge as minister of parliamentary affairs; minister of coal; and minister of mines in the new cabinet.





2:14 pm IST Arvind Sawant gets minister of heavy industries and public enterprise In PM’s new cabinet, Arvind Ganpat Sawant has been appointed as the minister of heavy industries and public enterprise.





2:00 pm IST Harsh Vardhan is health minister Harsh Vardhan has been appointed as the health minister in the new cabinet. In the recently concluded general elections, Vardhan defeated Congress candidate Jai Prakash Agarwal by a margin of 2,28,145 votes. In 2014, he had won the Chandni Chowk Lok Sabha seat defeating Congress’ Kapil Sibal, who was then the Union Minister of Law and Justice.





1:55 pm IST Prakash Javadekar to head two ministries In the new NDA government, Prakash Javadekar will take charge as minister of environment, forest and climate change; and minister of information and broadcasting.





1:52 pm IST Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’ to head HRD ministry In PM Modi’s new cabinet Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’ will be taking charge of Human Resource Development ministry, while Narendra Singh Tomar will be minister of agriculture and farmers welfare; minister of Rural development; and minister of panchayati raj.





1:48 pm IST Harsimrat Kaur Badal retains ministry of food processing industries Harsimrat Kaur Badal has been assigned as the in-charge of ministry of food processing industries. Wife of Shiromani Akali Dal chief Sukhbir Badal and daughter-in-law of five-time Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, she retained the Bathinda Lok Sabha seat for a third consecutive term.





1:45 pm IST Ravi Shankar Prasad to head three ministries Ravi Shankar Prasad has been appointed as minister of law and justice; minister of communications; and minister of electronics and information technology. Made a minister in the Modi government when it came to power in 2014, he held various key portfolios including communications, information technology, and law and justice.





1:40 pm IST Dharmendra Pradhan is minister of petroleum and natural gas; and minister of steel Dharmendra Pradhan has been appointed as minister of petroleum and natural Gas; and minister of steel in PM Narendra Modi’s new cabinet Pradhan, who held important portfolios like Petroleum and Natural Gas and Skill Development in the previous NDA government, was the prominent face of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in just concluded Lok Sabha and Assembly polls in Odisha.





1:35 pm IST Piyush Goyal to head commerce ministry In PM Modi’s new cabinet, Piyush Goyal will head the Commerce ministry apart from Railways, the communiqué said.





1:32 pm IST Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi retains ministry of minority affairs As portfolio of PM Modi’s new cabinet has been announced, Rajya Sabha member Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi amd Union minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi has been assigned charge of ministry of minority affairs. He was elected to the Lok Sabha in 1998, and subsequently given the post of Minister of State of Information and Broadcasting in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government. He was given additional charge of the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs from 2001 to 2003. From 2003 to 2008, Naqvi served as a member of Haj Committee, and from March 2003 to February 2004, as Chairman of the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) on the Functioning of Wakf Boards. He became Minister of State for Minority Affairs and Parliamentary Affairs on May 26, 2014 in Narendra Modi government. Later in July 2016, he got independent charge of the Ministry of Minority Affairs.





1:20 pm IST Ramvilas Paswan appointed minister of consumer affairs, food and public distribution In PM Modi’s new cabinet, Ramvilas Paswan has been given charge of minister of consumer affairs, food and public distribution. Paswan has been a Union Minister since the mid-90s except for brief spells. He was the Union Minister for Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution in the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi from 2014.





1:18 pm IST Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank gets education ministry Former Uttarakhand chief minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank has been appointed education minister in place of Prakash Javadekar who gets Environment as well as Information and Broadcasting.





1:16 pm IST Sadananda Gowda appointed minister of chemicals and fertilizers D.V. Sadananda Gowda has been appointed as Minister of Chemicals and Fertilizers. he was the statistics and programme implementation minister in the previous cabinet.





1:11 pm IST Nitin Gadkari retains road transport ministry In PM Modi’s new cabinet, Nitin Gadkari has retained the road transport ministry, Smriti Irani who had made a mark in the Lok Sabha elections by defeating Rahul Gandhi in the Congress bastion of Amethi has been given Women and Child Development, Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank the education minister and Prakash Javdekar the minister for Information and Broadcasting.





1:03 pm IST S Jaishankar is new external affairs minister The portfolios for PM Modi’s cabinet were announced on Friday. S Jaishankar has been announced as the new external affairs minister. S Jaishankar is widely acknowledged as the surprise entry in PM Modi’s team. He was part of a troika with Modi and National Security Adviser Ajit Doval that shaped foreign policy in the early years of the previous Modi government.



