New MoD Sitharaman will have 20 months to galvanise 'Make in India'

She'll assume charge Tuesday, when outgoing defence minister Jaitley returns from Japan visit

The government, facing criticism over the absence of a full-time defence minister since March, when Manohar Parrikar moved back to Goa, has promoted the erstwhile minister for commerce and industry, Nirmala Sitharaman, to head the ministry of defence (MoD) as a full Cabinet minister.

Sitharaman will assume charge of the MoD on Tuesday, when the outgoing defence minister, Arun Jaitley, returns from an official visit to Japan.

She will be India’s first woman defence minister after Indira Gandhi, who served twice in that post – briefly for a few months in 1975, and then again from 1980-82. The apex Cabinet