Amid rise in swine flu deaths, Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad has asked Chief Ministers to take urgent measures to tackle spread of the dreaded virus in the country.
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.
Several Congress ministers have reportedly said that they want to be relieved of their ministerial berths. These include Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh, Law Minister Salman Khurshid, Overseas Affairs Minister Vayalar Ravi and Health and Family Welfare Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad.
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 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.
Amid reports that decision on the contentious Telangana issue will be taken this month, Congress on Monday said it was not against creation of smaller states including Telangana, but admitted it was a difficult matter to resolve and time consuming too.
Imtiyaz told the troops that he had been instructed to lob it when Azad would visit the town in the afternoon, the official said.
The nation on Saturday remembered former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi on her 94th birth anniversary with President Pratibha Patil and Vice President Hamid Ansari among prominent personalities who paid rich tributes to the leader.
Karra, who became the J&K Congress chief last Friday replacing Vikar Rasool Wani, said a call is already there for all secular parties who are opposed to the "hegemonic attitude" of the BJP to unite.
He said the state had suffered heavily on all fronts due to militancy.
Amid pressure from various quarters for an early decision on the creation of a separate state of Telangana, the government on Saturday said more consultations with various parties are needed on the contentious statehood demand and the exercise would take "some time" to end. Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad and political secretary to Congress president Ahmed Patel discussed the situation in Telangana region in Andhra Pradesh.
Hyderabad remained tense on Sunday in anticipation of an announcement by the Centre on the creation of a separate state of Telangana by Sunday evening. Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde is expected to meet party chief Sonia Gandhi and other senior leaders before making a final announcement on Telangana by Sunday evening.
To chart the Congress's future course, its chief Sonia Gandhi on Tuesday formed three groups -- on political affairs for guidance on key issues, task force-2024 to implement the Udaipur 'Nav Sankalp' declaration, and another to coordinate the October 2 'harat Jodo Yatra.
The team, comprising Vayalar Ravi, Pranab Mukherjee and Ghulam Nabi Azad, is right now meeting party legislators at Sahyadri Guesthouse at Malabar Hills.
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.
Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad has defended his decision to allow the pro-Pakistani hardline separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani to perform Haj saying the piligrimage is necessary for all Muslims.
The decision of Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen to withdraw support from the Andhra Pradesh government has spurred hectic behind the scene activity in the ruling Congress party.
Sonia and Rahul Gandhi meeting their party's stalwart of many decades -- President Pranab Mukherjee -- is not unusual, but the timing of their visits is, notes Sheela Bhatt
The Telangana Joint Action Committee which was to complete their protest march at 7 pm on Sunday decided to stay put on Necklace Road in Hyderabad until there was a decision on separate statehood.
Under attack from both the Opposition and its Left allies, the government has agreed for a discussion on the Nanavati Commission Report on the 1984 anti-Sikh riots in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday.
Sources close to the CM told Business Standard that Azad had suggested to the party's Central leaders that since he was not keen to be projected as the party's chief ministerial candidate for the next year's elections, he should be replaced at the earliest.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday assured at the all-party meeting that the government is ready to discuss all issues.
Impressed with India's successful effort in polio eradication, Pakistan is keen to emulate the model to achieve polio-free status even as it allayed fears of exporting the virus to the Indian side.
Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, Defence Minister A K Antony, Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad and Law Minister Veerappa Moily will oversee the smooth transition of power in Andhra Pradesh.
Expressing his ignorance about allegations that Justice (retd) A K Ganguly was framed for his 2G verdict, Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad on Monday said Union Cabinet has done whatever done in his matter.
Ghulam Nabi Azad 'has asked me to convey the decision to the NDA leaders. We will take a decision on it tomorrow at the NDA parliamentary party meeting', BJP leader V K Malhotra said.
It was not immediately clear whether the separatist groups, including Hurriyat Conference, would participate in the third round.
Ahead of the all-party delegation's visit to Kashmir Valley next week, Congress President Sonia Gandhi held deliberations with senior party leaders on the strategy for the troubled state.
With many claimants for the chief minister's post in Uttarakhand, the ball was on Saturday back in the court of All India Congress Committee chief Sonia Gandhi to take a call, as the party observers wrapped up their consultations with Congress and independent Members of Legislative Assembly on the leadership issue. Congress general secretaries Ghulam Nabi Azad and Chaudhary Birendra Singh, in-charge of the affairs in the state, held separate talks with each of the MLAs.
The Congress leader also lamented the exclusion of current Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge from the committee
Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani on Thursday reciprocated the good wishes conveyed to him by senior Indian leaders and hoped that the stalled dialogue between the two countries would be resumed soon.
Ratcheting up pressure, Congress ministers and MPs from Telangana on Wednedsay asked the party high command not to further delay the formation of a separate state even as the party indicted that the consultation process at the national level will begin soon.
The Jammu and Kashmir government wants the army's sophisticated ammunition depots in the valley relocated to safer, uninhabited areas
Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad, who is on a four-day visit to China, met his counterpart Chen Zhu in Beijing and sought his intervention to expedite clearance for Indian pharmaceutical companies.
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