Vayalar Ravi to handle critically ill Deshmukh's portfolio

With Union Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh critically ill, Overseas Indian Affairs Minister Vayalar Ravi has been given additional charge of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Ministry.

Deshmukh, who is Science and Technology Minister, was given additional charge of the Ministry immediately after Virbhadra Singh resigned in the wake of a Himachal Pradesh court framing corruption charges against him in a 23-year-old case in June, this year.

Highly-placed sources said Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has asked Ravi to take care of the Ministry in Parliament.

The decision to give additional charge of the Ministry to the veteran Congress leader from Kerala came after the condition of Deshmukh, who is admitted in hospital in Chennai for liver-related ailment, became "critical".