6 new ministers take oath, 2 promoted

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina yesterday expanded her Council of Ministers inducting six new faces in it.

She also promoted two members of the Council, axed portfolio of one and changed another's.

President Shahabuddin Ahmed administered the oath of office to the new ministers at a simple ceremony at the Darbar Hall of the Bangabhaban at 6.45 pm. The Prime Minister and her Cabinet colleagues were present on the occasion.

The new faces in the council of ministers and their portfolios are : Engineer Mosharraf Hossain, Minister for Civil Aviation and Tourism; Mofazzal Hossain Choudhury Maya, Minister of State for Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives; Prof. Rafiqul Islam, Minister of State for Energy, Power and Mineral Resources; AKM Jahangir Hossain, Minister of State for Textiles and Saber Hossain Choudhury, Deputy Minister for Shipping.

Kalparanjan Chakma has been appointed a cabinet minister but is yet to be any portfolio.

Minister of State for Labour and Manpower M A Mannan has been made a cabinet minister with the same portfolio while Deputy Minister Prof. Zinnatunnessa Talukdar has been made state minister with her previous portfolio - Primary and Mass Education.

State Minister Dr Mohiuddin Khan Alamgir has been stripped of his Civil Aviation and Tourism portfolio. He continues to hold charge of the Ministry of Planning.

In another change, Dhirendra Devnath Shambhu, who was at Deputy Minister for Shipping, has been made Deputy Minister for Food.

Saber Hossain Choudhury, born on September 10, 1961, is the youngest member of the Council of Ministers.

This the second time, Sheikh Hasina has expanded her Council of Ministers since it was formed in June, 1996.