Thirty-six new ministers joined the government and four high-profile ministers quit today in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's mega cabinet reboot to offset criticism as the country emerges from a fierce second wave of Covid ahead of key elections. PM Modi now has 77 ministers, nearly half of them new. Anurag Thakur and Hardeep Puri are among 15 new cabinet ministers; Bollywood legend Dilip Kumar has died in Mumbai's Hinduja Hospital. He was 98. Dilip Kumar was taken to hospital last Wednesday after complaining of breathlessness – it was the second time he had been hospitalised in the same month; Dilip Kumar was buried with state honours at the Juhu Cemetery in Mumbai's Santacruz on Wednesday evening.
