Corporate Affairs Minister M Veerappa Moily, who has been given additional responsibility of Power Ministry, also took charge from Shinde against the backdrop of severe electricity crisis with power outages being witnessed in most parts of the country successively during the last two days.
Getting down to business immediately, Moily assured the nation that the massive power outage due to transmission grid failure will not recur and that he has called a meeting of Chief Ministers of some of the affected states on August 6 to discuss problems that may be there.
Chidambaram, who was moved from the Home Ministry, took over as the Finance Minister at a time when the country's economy is facing immense difficulties.
Before taking charge of the Finance Ministry, Chidambaram went to his previous Home Ministry for a short while this morning.
Returning to Finance Ministry after three-and-a-half years, he will have to address challenges like inflation, decline in the value of rupee and scare among foreign investors due to some recent decisions.
Shinde, while taking charge of new portfolio, promised to work closely with the states in dealing with internal security challenges and contentious issues like setting up of NCTC.
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Shinde, whose elevation from Power Ministry to Home Ministry was announced on a day the country faced its worst electricity crisis, said he would try to plug the gaps that exist in the relations between the Centre and the states.
He said his predecessor Chidambaram had done good work and plugged these gaps to a certain extent and he would continue on that path. (MORE)