Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad said Khan emerged as the consensus candidate following talks with the leaders of all parties, including those part of the opposition National Democratic Alliance.
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.
He will now preside over the proceedings of the first two days of the House when new members take oath.
Incidentally, Mufti did not show up for the dinner meet called by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Thursday night. Dr Singh and Azad had dinner. The two were together for over an hour.
Azad, who is away in Uttrakhand, ordered an inquiry and directed the director-general to suspend and arrest four cops involved.
Chaos is expected to return to Parliament on Wednesday with the Opposition prepped to target Education Minister Smriti Irani in both Houses.
In Leh and Kargil, the army shifted 1000 people to safer areas in the past 24 hours.
Senior leader P Chidambaram whose Rajya Sabha tenure is ending from Maharashtra is under consideration from Tamil Nadu as the Congress is all set to get the support of alliance partner the DMK. The G-23 leaders, including Ghulam Nabi Azad, Anand Sharma and Vivek Tankha, are also said to be in contention.
Ghulam Nabi Azad and Anand Sharma succeed in convincing Rahul Gandhi of zero returns in blocking Parliament.
'What led to the present crisis was an action taken by my government in good faith. Nobody realised then that things would come to such a stage. I feel that had it not been for the coming elections in the state, the cabinet decision (to allot land to the Amarnath shrine board) would not have been even noticed. It was the timing of the decision that resulted in a bad situation,' says Azad.
Jammu and Kashmir Governor N N Vohra told Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad that the Amarnath Shrine Board would not pursue the transfer of land.
A car bomb ripped through Srinagar, killing six.
Baigh was inducted into the Jammu and Kashmir cabinet led by Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad more than a year after he was unceremoniously removed by his party.
As it transpired at a meeting chaired by Jammau and Kashmir Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad to take stock of the cancellation of flights, the visibility criterion for landing at the Srinagar airport has been raised by the civil aviation authorities from 1.5 km to 2.2 km recently.
The sports tournament for MPs was conducted in New Delhi.
The prime minister was accompanied by Union Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Ghulam Nabi Azad, Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed.
Govt to harness Delhi's private hospitals to cover 3 lakh Delhiites falling under the poverty line.
In a relief to hundreds of small industrial unit owners and their employees, the Centre on Wednesday decided not to relocate industries from areas with more than 70 per cent of manufacturing activity in the national capital.\n\n\n\n
The Congress leader also lamented the exclusion of current Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge from the committee
The government is looking for new sources for financing housing and infrastructure facilities requiring an investment of Rs 400,000 crore (Rs 4,000 billion), which cannot be met by way of budgetary allocation.
Over 1,500 people from India and Pakistan, separated from their family members, crossed the border by road through the Kaman crossing post in Jammu and Kashmir in the last one and half years.
Released on Friday after his detention under the stringent Public Safety Act (PSA) was revoked, former chief minister Farooq Abdullah drove from his residence to nearby Hari Nivas where his son, also a former chief minister, has been held first under preventive custody since February 5 under the PSA. The two warmly embraced.
The Congress emphasised that there can be no talks with Pakistan at the 'moment' when it is 'waging a war of words'.
The Congress' assertion came amid a slew of BJP barbs and criticism from former Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad stating that the party should undertake "Congress jodo" before its "Bharat Jodo" march.
Congress president Sonia Gandhi has convened a meeting of party general secretaries and state in-charges on March 26 to discuss organisational elections, the party's membership drive and the current political situation besides planning agitational programmes.
'We demand immediate release of all public representatives of mainstream political parties and innocent citizens,' the resolution said.
Issues such as seat sharing and being part of the DMK led government were not a priority now and that the main goal was to ensure that DMK comes to power.
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.
Sarma said the defamation case will be filed after Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Guwahati on April 14.
One of the G-23 leaders also pointed out that "we are not political tourists" and said the party leadership has to be conscious of "rumour-mongers and naradmunis".
Rahul feels collective decisions taken with his mother and sister helped the party in the December assembly elections. Hence, he wants to follow the same strategy for the Lok Sabha election, too.
Days before the deadly terror attack in Pahalgam, intelligence agencies had flagged the potential targeting of tourists especially those staying in hotels on the outskirts of Srinagar in the foothills of the Zabarwan range, officials in the know said Saturday.
Swamy gave notice in the Rajya Sabha for moving Breach of Privilege Motion against Leader of Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad over his remarks related to the AgustaWestland issue.
To a question whether his party will not forge a coalition with any political party, Azad said, "If any political party is willing to accompany the Congress, and the Congress feels that it can fight the BJP, then it will be definitely accommodated."
Congress said it will comply with all formalities to get the status of the Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha even as the party has been kept on tenterhooks on the issue ahead of Budget Session beginning on Monday.
The diplomatic exercise aimed at presenting India's stance against Pakistan on terror comes in the wake of Operation Sindoor -- the Indian offensive against terror camps in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir following the April 22 terror attack in Pahalgam in which 26 people, mostly tourists, were killed.
The delegation demands the immediate dismissal of Minister of State for Home Ajay Kumar Mishra over the Lakhimpur Kheri violence.
'We repent our decision today as we feel we betrayed our (Congress) party, while the DAP betrayed us'
In an apparent message to the G23, Congress chief Sonia Gandhi on Saturday said she is a full-time, hands-on party president and there is no need for leaders to speak to her through the media.
