A 26-year-old teacher became the first swine flu fatality in Bengaluru while an infant and two women died in worst-hit Pune on Thursday, taking the nationwide death toll to 21 even as Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said panic should not created and the government is doing its best.
As the number of swine flu deaths in the country touched 10, the Centre on Tuesday asked state governments to gear up their act to face the threat of the virus and dispatched Central teams to all states and Union Territories to help them coordinate the preparedness.
Confirming the first swine flu death in Gujarat, State Health Secretary Ravi Saxena said Praveen Patel, an NRI, died of swine flu at city civil hospital at around 1.30 am.
Assuring people that the government is determined to control the spread of swine flu in the country, the government on Friday said within a couple of days it will review and decide on the open sale of Tamiflu (Oseltamivir), the drug used for treatment of the disease.
Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Ghulam Nabi Azad has taken a dig at the media for highlighting trivial issues in their race for news and ignoring developmental issues in the state.
Kashmir's Grand Mufti Mufti Bashir-ud-Din, Saturday asked Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad to undertake penance for his recent utterances asking people to adopt Gandhian philosophy for worldly success. In an edict (Fatwa) issued by him, the Grand Mufti said that in case "he does not undergo penance for his utterance, his act would be considered as anti-Islam."
As many as 322 swine flu cases have been reported in the country so far, with 234 of them being treated and discharged compared to 200 deaths reported in the United States, Union Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad said on Wednesday.
With cases of swine flu on the rise in the country, Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad said on Wednesday that the number of testing laboratories has been increased from two to 18 and hoped that India will be able to develop the vaccine ahead of other nations. "We can now get the testing facility in 18 laboratories instead of two," Azad said in response to a calling attention motion on the matter in Rajya Sabha
Qazi had submitted his resignation on Tuesday after he was stripped of forest portfolio on Sunday.
Jammu and Kashmir chief minister, who was on the flight, ordered the marshal's arrest
"I am optimistic of some tangible movement forward on these crucial issues in the coming days," Mufti told PDP functionaries in Srinagar.
Governor N N Vohra issued a proclamation on Thursday evening, in exercise of powers conferred by Section 92 of the constitution of Jammu and Kashmir, and assumed, 'with immediate effect all the functions of the government of the state and all powers vested in or exercisable by anybody or authority in the state, other than the powers vested in or exercisable by the high court'.
Addressing the two-day summer session of the state legislature, Azad quoted extensively from figures to prove that stern action had been taken against those found guilty of rights abuses among the security personnel.
The protesters assembled outside Dogra Chowk in the heart of the city and tried to take out a march in violation of prohibitory orders when the police swung into action and restored to mild lathicharge before detaining several of them, the officials said.
The two main factions in Karnataka's Congress party -- one led by Siddaramaiah and the other by D K Shivakumar -- are both contenders for the chief ministership. Both groups have fought hard to get their choice of MLAs the party ticket, notes Aditi Phadnis.
United Progressive Allaince government has not closed its doors on divestment and the options are very much there, Union Urban Development and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad said on Wednesday.
After facing stiff opposition from senior Congress leaders from Jammu,BR Kundal, the former chief secretary of Jammu and Kashmir on Friday finally made it to the cabinet headed by Ghulam Nabi Azad.
Commissioning the FM and satellite uplink station, Azad called for further improvement to cover the shadow areas in the region where television and radio signals were not received due to geographical constraints. He said that radio was an effective medium of communication and the inauguration of FM station was a boon for the young generation as it was a craze with the youth all over the country.
These days, the chief minister said, various political parties and the separatist All Parties Hurriyat Conference leaders had been holding public meetings in the Valley.
The all parties' meeting was convened by Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad to arrive at a consensus with regard to the grant of citizenship rights to refugees who poured into the state from neighbouring Pakistan in 1947, 1965 and 1971.
Official sources said that the informal discussions also included fresh delimitation of assembly constituencies with the intended 25% increase over the existing seats in the Assembly.
The Jammu and Kashmir chief minister said organisations that missed the first roundtable, will be persuaded to attend the May round.
This was the second such plot foiled by security agencies in a month. Earlier, terrorists had planned to target Azad at Ramban in Jammu region but the three possible attackers were nabbed before they could act.
The former party donated Rs 54,000 between April 1, 2019, and March 31, 2020.
The Congress emphasised that there can be no talks with Pakistan at the 'moment' when it is 'waging a war of words'.
Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad in Jammu Friday once again categorically rejected the formula of Pakistani President General Pervez Musharraf of self-governance and demilitarisation of Jammu and Kashmir.
Azad, while condemning the brutal murder of five civilians by militants, said the incident is an eye opener and a lesson.
The Union Cabinet dropped the condition laid by previous government to exempt income tax payers from Haj subsidy.
This is the third time the party is boycotting a meeting, amid rumours that all is not well with the coalition.
This comes in the wake of the PDP demand for phased withdrawal of security forces from civilian areas of the state.
Addressing a public meeting at Uri, about 100 km from Srinagar in north Kashmir on Saturday, Azad said once peace was visible on the ground in the state, withdrawal of troops will automatically follow.
The chief minister said that the present situation was not ripe enough for withdrawal and any hasty step in this direction could be exploited by the militants that can result in loss of gains made over the years and can also lead to loss of lives.
Hours after the verdict was announced, Azad visited the dam site in the mountainous Doda district and met the engineers and workers who were jubilant at the verdict by the World Bank appointed arbitrator Prof Raymond Lafitte.
Calling upon all airlines to launch their services in Jammu and Kashmir, the Chief Minister said the potential of the state should not be measured in terms of its population, but according to its status as the world famous tourist destination.
Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad on Friday said he was ready for a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation into allegations of wanton forest destruction, wherein his brother has been named by a news channel.
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