OTTAWA (TIP): Punjab-origin Canadian politician Anita Anand was on Tuesday, October 26, appointed country’s new Defense Minister in a Cabinet reshuffle by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, over a month after his Liberal Party returned power in the snap polls and amid calls for major military reforms. Anand, 54, will replace long-time Defense Minister Indian-origin Harjit Singh Sajjan, whose handling of the military sexual misconduct crisis has been under criticism. Sajjan has been appointed Minister of International Development Agency, a report in a daily said.

Anand is the second woman in Canada to be appointed Defense Minister.

Brampton West’s Kamal Khera, another Punjabi, has been named Minister of Seniors.

Bardish Chaggar, another Indo-Canadian minister, has been dropped from the new Cabinet.