Kathmandu, March 31 (RSS):President Ramchandra Paudel has administered the oath of office and secrecy to the newly-appointed Deputy Prime Minister and ministers at a special ceremony organized at the Office of the President, Sheetal Niwas, today. Vice President Ramsahay Prasad Yadav, Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’, Speaker Dev Raj Ghimire, National Assembly Chairman Ganesh Prasad Timilsina, Acting Chief Justice Hari Krishna Karki, heads of constitutional bodies and senior journalists were present on the occasion. Prime Minister Dahal expanded the Council of Ministers today. PM Dahal expanded the Cabinet by incorporating the Nepali Congress, the CPN (Unified Socialist), the Janata Samajbadi Party, Lokatantrik Samajbadi Party and Nagarik Unmukti Party. Among those administered the oath of office and secrecy today are Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defence Purna Bahadur Khadka, Finance Minister Dr Prakash Sharan Mahat, Minister for Industry, Commerce and Supplies Ramesh Rijal and Minister for Urban Development Sita Gurung from the Nepali Congress. Similarly, Shakti Bahadur Basnet of the CPN (Maoist Centre) took oath as the Minister for Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation. Beduram Bhusal and Prakash Jwala from the CPN (Unified Socialist) were also sworn in as the Minister for Agriculture and Livestock Development and Physical Infrastructure and Transport respectively. Ashok Rai of the Janata Samajbadi Party Nepal has taken oath of office and secrecy as the Minister for Education, Science and Technology, Sharat Singh Bhandari of the Loktantrik Samajbadi Party as the Minister for Labour, Employment and Social Security. Likewise, Chairperson of Nagarik Unmukti Party Ranjita Shrestha Chaudhary was sworn in as the Minister for Land Management, Cooperatives and Poverty Alleviation while Mahindra Raya Yadav of Nepal Samajbadi Party as the Minister for Women, Children and Senior Citizens. —