Meira Kumar made history in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday when she was unanimously elected its Speaker and thus became the first woman to occupy one of the high Constitutional posts.

Anand Sharma was tonight made the new Commerce and Industry Minister as Prime Minister Manmohan Singh expanded his Council of Ministers inducting 59 more and giving portfolios of HRD to Kapil Sibal, Law to Veerappa Moily and Road Transport and Highways to Kamal Nath.

Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee today expressed the hope that government would be able to present the budget in due time to avoid uncertainties.

Shortly after being entrusted with the External Affairs portfolio, S M Krishna today said Pakistan should take necessary steps to dismantle the terror infrastructure there which he said was a "stumbling block".

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao and French President Nicolas Sarkozy today today congratulated Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on his assumption of office for the second term and conveyed their interest to push forward bilateral strategic ties.

BJP today said a 'surge in favour of the UPA government' and sympathy for Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for being prevented by the Left parties from carrying out his plans, had led to voters choosing stability and rejecting the NDA, Third and Fourth Fronts.

As he assumed office for the second time, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today hoped Pakistan would cooperate with India on the issue of terrorism but ruled out any immediate plans of talks with the Pakistani leadership.

Rahul Gandhi has not agreed to join the Union Cabinet so far but Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today said he has not given up hope of persuading the young leader to do so.

Reaching out to DMK which is sulking over allocation of portfolios, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today hoped that the Tamil Nadu ally will "see reason" and reconsider its decision of not joining the government in the next few days by accepting the "reasonable" offer.

Six Cabinet Ministers of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's new team are 'non-believers'.

With focus on stability, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has largely relied on experience and ability in the 19 Cabinet ministers who were sworn-in today by bringing in former Karnataka Chief Minister S M Krishna and retaining trouble-shooter Pranab Mukherjee.

Manmohan Singh was today sworn-in as Prime Minister for a second consecutive term, and as the head of a 20-member team in the first instalment of government formation truncated by the deadlock over portfolios for DMK members.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has assured Farooq Abdullah that he will be inducted into the Cabinet when the first expansion takes place, J&K chief Minister Omar Abdullah said on Friday.

DMK supremo and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunandhi told reporters before leaving for Chennai with other party leaders this morning that the party has decided to give outside support.

Government formation tonight got into trouble with key ally DMK refusing to join the ministry after talks with Congress on portfolio allocation were deadlocked on the eve of swearing in of Manmohan Singh as Prime Minister for a second consecutive term.

The Bahujan Samaj Party, which fielded the highest number of candidates -- 503 -- among all political parties, could win only in 21 constituencies, that too none beyond Uttar Pradesh. This marked a success rate of just 4.17 percent.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today deferred a meeting with President Pratibha Patil as pulls and pressures continued on government formation with Trinamool Congress and DMK, two major pre-poll constituents of the UPA, demanding plum portfolios and more ministries.

Congratulating Manmohan Singh for his second term as the Prime Minister of India, US President Barack Obama on Wednesday said Singh is a very wise leader whom he respects and is looking forward to visit New Delhi at an early date.

DMK chief and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi has his task cut out. He has to push for key cabinet positions for his family and balance political equations within his dravidian party.

The Congress is playing its allies with a firm hand. Negotiations with the allies for cabinet berths have now entered a crucial phase.

Manmohan Singh was on Wednesday appointed Prime Minister for a second consecutive term, for which he will be sworn-in on May 22, after the UPA coalition staked its claim to form the government with the backing of 322 MPs.

With the TDP biting the dust in the Lok Sabha polls mainly due to its stance on the Telangana issue, Chandrababu Naidu's party Wednesday said it needs to do a re-think on the separate statehood issue.

The CPI-M on Tuesday virtually admitted that the Third Front experiment was a failure, saying that the alliances forged on the eve of the elections were not seen by the people as a "credible and viable alternative".

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Tuesday sought to give a push to the economic reforms saying India could not afford to lag behind the rising economies of the East.

The UPA Tuesday received unexpected bonus in the shape of support from both Mayawati's BSP and Mulayam Singh Yadav's Samajwadi Party, enabling the coalition to cross the 300-mark in the new Lok Sabha.