The government has reconstituted the national shipping board (NSB) for a period of two years and appointed SN Kakkar as the chairman of the board. The term of the last NSB expired in April 1999, a release said on Monday. Kakkar, former additioal secretary and financial advisor in the ministry of finance, was also the chairman of the expired board.The board will have four members of parliament from the Lok Sabha and two members from the Rajya Sabha, the release added.The other members of the board include additional secretary and financial advisor and joint secretary (shipping) in the surface transport ministry.

Ministries to rework project schedule

The cabinet secretary has asked the ministries of power, coal and surface transport to rework realistic completion schedule of various projects delayed due to funds and other constraints. At a review meeting, cabinet secretary Prabhat Kumar asked these three ministries to look into reasons for slowimplementation of various projects due to fund constraints, technological, geological and other problems. At a meeting held recently to look into implementation of various on-going projects undertaken by central ministries and public sector undertakings, the secretary asked these ministries to "draw up a fresh completion schedule based on the ground realities," an official release said on Monday.