'E Ahamed will be sorely missed as a decent and wise man who made the best use of his political career and personal abilities for the good of the nation,' remembers Ambassador T P Sreenivasan.
The 78-year-old Ahamed died at 2:15 am at RML hospital where he was admitted on Tuesday and put on artificial life support.
Within minutes of assuming charge as Minister of State for Railways on Friday, E Ahamed announced a special train from Delhi to Kerala, his home state, saying people there have been complaining of poor rail connectivity and non availability of seats.
A senior opposition member in Rajya Sabha on Friday sought a probe into the manner in which the death of former Union Minister E Ahamed was "handled", alleging he had died soon after being rushed to the hospital but his demise was announced much later.
Ahmed was taken ill during the President's address to the joint sitting of both Houses.
The opposition party also said that it would like to remind the BJP that Hindu Mahasabha president Syama Prasad Mookerjee aligned with Jinnah's Muslim League to form the government in Bengal during the British rule.
'Oommen Chandy always had time for his people and valued their voices.' 'There was no rest for him as long as the betterment of his fellow citizens was at stake.' Ambassador Venu Rajamony, who knew the former Kerala chief minister for half a century, salutes a beloved leader who worked tirelessly for the welfare of its people.
Chinese Premier Li Keqiang on Sunday began talks with his Indian counterpart Manmohan Singh on all crucial bilateral issues within hours of his arrival in New Delhi when he affirmed that his visit will "inject new vigour" into bilateral ties and strengthen mutual trust.
Minister of State for External Affairs E Ahamed has shot off a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and United Progressive Alliance Chairperson Sonia Gandhi demanding a high-level probe into alleged bias against prisoners belonging to the minority community in Maharashtra jails.
Deeply concerned about the hardships and sufferings of the people of Syria as a result of unabated violence there, India will be pledging about Rs 14 crore towards humanitarian assistance in a United Nations conference which will be held in Kuwait on Wednesday.
India has taken up with China the matter of Beijing's support to Indian insurgent groups. Replying to a question in the Rajya Sabha, Minister of State for External Affairs E Ahamed said, "The government has taken up the matter of Chinese support to Indian insurgent groups with the Chinese side through diplomatic channel."
China "illegally" refers to Arunachal Pradesh as south Tibet and claims around 90,000 sq km of Indian territory there, Rajya Sabha was informed on Thursday. "China disputes the international boundary between India and China in the eastern sector and claims approximately 90,000 sq km of Indian territory in the state of Arunachal Pradesh," Minister of State for External Affairs E Ahamed said in a written reply.
The government is aware that China is developing infrastructure in the border regions across India and a constant watch is kept on developments having a bearing on national security, the External Affairs Ministry told the Rajya Sabha on Thursday.
Saudi Arabia has allotted a quota of 1.7 lakh pilgrims from India for Hajj this year, even as New Delhi made a formal request for an additional 10,000 slots.
As many as 74 Indian defence personnel, including 54 prisoners of wars, are believed to be in Pakistani jails since 1971 but the neighbouring country has not acknowledged it so far, the government said.
Replying to a question, Minister of State for External Affairs E Ahamed said most of the suicides have reportedly taken place on account of personal and family reasons.
Stepping up their campaign on the Mullaperiyar issue, Union Ministers from Kerala on Monday met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, seeking his intervention in ensuring the saftey of the 116-year-old dam. Union Ministers Vayalar Ravi, K V Thomas, K C Venugopal,Mullapally Ramachandran and E Ahamed met Dr Singh with a demand to rein in Tamil Nadu's insistence on increasing the water level in the reservoir for enhancing water supply to the state.
In its first political contact with the new regime after the ouster of long-time President Hosni Mubarak, India has conveyed its full support to Egypt and its people during the historic power transition process in Cairo. New Delhi's backing for the transitional government was conveyed by Minister of State for External Affairs E Ahamed during his talks with Egyptian Prime Minister Essam Sharaf, his deputy Yehiah Al Aziz El Gamal and Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa.
In the absence of Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee in the Rajya Sabha, a Bahujan Samaj Party member described her junior E Ahammed as a "duplicate minister" on Friday.
The Railways ordered an inquiry, on Friday, into the train derailment near Jaipur that left six persons dead. Commissioner of Railway Safety, Western Circle, Prashant Kumar is inquiring into the mishap, railway sources said.
Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee has ensured that her two junior ministers have an equal amount of work and equal responsibilities. She has entrusted them with seven states each. While Minister of State E Ahamed will look after Bihar, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Chhattisgarh, Uttarakhand, Assam and Jharkhand, the other MoS K H Muniayappa has been allocated Karnataka, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana and Madhya Pradesh.
External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee has decided to skip the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation Foreign Ministerial meeting in Colombo on Friday and in his absence his deputy E Ahamed would represent India at the meet.
The appointments were carried out in the Group D category.
Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge on Wednesday criticised the government for proceeding with the presentation of the Union Budget after the death of E Ahamed, accusing it if delaying announcement of the news so that it could present the Budget without any hiccups
India has urged Palestinians to unite to realise their goal of an independent state amidst the growing wedge between rival Hamas and Fatah factions.
Ahmadinejad, who is the first Iranian Head of State to undertake a visit New Delhi in five years, was received warmly by Minister of State for External Affairs E Ahamed at the Indira Gandhi International Airport. Ahmadinejad, who arrived in New Delhi from Sri Lanka, will hold talks with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on a wide range of issues during his five-hour visit.
India on Tuesday raised the Mumbai terror attack at the United Nations and demanded that the world body ban Pakistan-based Jamaat-ud-Dawa, the front organization of Lashkar-e-Toiba(LeT) blamed for the carnage, and other such organisations and impose effective sanctions against them.
The Kuwait embassy in New Delhi and the consulate in Mumbai stopped stamping work visas for Indians from December 20 after Indian authorities introduced new employment conditions to protect its nationals working abroad which were rejected by Kuwait.
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad arrived in New Delhi on Tuesday on his first visit to India during which the two countries will discuss ways to enhance ties and sign two agreements, including one on avoidance of double taxation.
The name of another missing person from Punjab is not known yet. Two other Indians, Dharmarajan and Mohammad Abdul Rahim, both of Andhra Pradesh, were injured in the storm.
Centre is likely to make a decision on allowing foreing airlines to operate out of Kozhikode soon.
Indian Minister of State for External Affairs E Ahamed on Tuesday met Bangladesh Foreign Minister M Morshed Khan to discuss bilateral and South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation matters.
India said it attaches a high priority to its multifaceted relations with the Arab nations.
With efforts intensifying to generate a new momentum in the stalled Middle East talks, a four-member delegation led by Minister of State for External Affairs E Ahamed will be participating at the summit.
The kidnapping of Suryanarayana is the third incident in the last four months wherein an Indian has been targeted in the war-torn country.
India Tuesday pledged an additional assistance worth $50 million to Afghanistan, raising the total amount of aid provided to the war-ravaged country to $600 million.
The government has been keeping the international community informed of the developments in this regard on a continuous basis.
Two other Indians, Dharmarajan and Mohd Abdul Rahim, both of Andhra Pradesh, were injured in the storm, Ahamed said.
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