Jaitley is back as finance minister

President Ram Nath Kovind, as advised by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has directed that the finance and corporate affairs portfolios be assigned to Union minister Arun Jaitley, a Rashtrapati Bhavan spokesperson said on Friday. 

Jaitley, who left for New York on January 13 after being reportedly diagnosed with soft tissue cancer, returned home last week after undergoing medical treatment. 

On January 23, the charge of the finance ministry and corporate affairs was given to Goyal on a temporary basis. 

Jaitley attended a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security to discuss the Pulwama attack in which at least 37 CRPF personnel were killed. 

Jaitley had stopped attending office at the beginning of April last year due to his kidney ailment and was back in North Block -- the seat of finance ministry -- on August 23, 2018. Even then, Goyal had manned the ministry for about 100 days. 

In September 2014, Jaitley underwent a bariatric surgery to treat weight gain that he suffered because of a long-standing diabetic condition.