India, which has been polio-free for over a year now, was on Saturday taken off the list of polio endemic countries by the World Health Organisation. This announcement was made by Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad at the polio summit 2012 in Delhi in the presence of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. There were only four countries in the WHO endemic list, including Pakistan, Nigeria and Afghanistan.
The Congress Core Committee met in New Delhi on Friday to deliberate on the delicate Telangana issue on which party leader Ghulam Nabi Azad submitted a report amid indications that a decision on it will take some more time. Amid mounting pressure from pro-Telangana groups whose agitation for a separate state continued for the 18th day on Friday, Congress' top brass, including Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and party chief Sonia Gandhi, met in Delhi.
Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad on Friday met Congress President Sonia Gandhi and is understood to have submitted a report on his consultations with party lawmakers from Andhra Pradesh on the Telangana issue, amid mounting pressure for an "early decision" on the statehood demand.
'An old party like the Congress cannot rely solely on the prescriptions of a 'Doctor' whose motives and intentions are still unknown and that he does not look attached towards any party or ideology,' point out Sunil Gatade and Venkatesh Kesari.
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.
The Bharatiya Janata Party leader passed away on Tuesday night after a massive cardiac arrest.
The deadlock over seat sharing between the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and the Congress for the Tamil Nadu polls came to an end on Tuesday.
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.
PDP leaders were asked to go out of the House after they attempted to tear the constitution.
These ministers are meeting select group of editors and senior reporters every week to put forward their viewpoints. The wooing of journalists at the ministerial level is unprecedented and shows the defensive mood prevailing within the government.
Congress lawmakers from Telangana region on Monday protested before party leader Ghulam Nabi Azad against the Andhra Pradesh assembly speaker's move to reject resignations of MLAs over the statehood demand.
Union Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad's alleged comments regarding homosexuality at a conference on Monday have incited a huge backlash. Do you share his opinions? Take our poll and let us know!
An all-party meeting on the Telangana issue in the near future appears unlikely with the Congress on Tuesday saying that such an exercise needs to be preceded by talks with the people of different regions of Andhra Pradesh and political parties.
Congress leader Jitin Prasada, one of the 23 leaders who wrote to party chief Sonia Gandhi seeking organisational changes, said the letter was written with the sole purpose of suggesting how to reinvigorate and revitalise the party.
Gandhi had said, "For the first 15 years, I was an MP in the north. I had got used to a different type of politics. For me, coming to Kerala was very refreshing as suddenly I found that people are interested in issues and not just superficially but going into detail in issues."
Congress suggestion of a Gorkhaland model of autonomy, has only further angered Telangana activists, who are unwilling to settle for anything short of a separate state.
"We want Mahatma Gandhi's India, return of our identity and honour which was given to us by the Indian Constitution and I am sure they have to return it with interest as well," PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti said.
Delegation to insist on flexibility in aiding low-cost access to HIV treatment.
P Chidambaram was conspicuous by his absence on the dais at the second day of the plenary.
Madhu Goud Yaskhi, a Congress MP from the Telangana region, is an avowed advocate of a separate state. The NRI-lawyer-turned-politician who won a second term in 2009 from Nizamabad, spoke to Neerja Chowdhury candidly on where matters stood and what could be the way forward.
Should Kanimozhi be spared from imprisonment in the 2G spectrum scam because she is a woman, as Sonia Gandhi implied on Tuesday? Sheela Bhatt presents the counter-argument
After a meeting with Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam chief M Karunanidhi, Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad on Tuesday said the arrest of Kanimozhi in the 2G spectrum case would not have any impact on the ties between the two parties but insisted that the government would not interfere in the case.
The MLAs in the letter said they feel threatened, and requested the police to stop any Congress leader from meeting them.
Leader of Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad attacked the government for creating fear, alleging that it was just renaming the earlier policies without delivering their benefits to the poor and the needy.
"We have decided to send officials from both sides to sit on table either in New Delhi or Moscow to remove the bottlenecks, including clinical trials of new drugs," Azad told the Indian media after meeting his Russian counterpart Tatiana Golikova.
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.
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.
External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj briefed them about the operation that destroyed Jaish-e-Mohammed's terror training camp in Balakot in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi became emotional in Parliament on Tuesday while talking about Congress veteran Ghulam Nabi Azad during farewell to retiring members of the Rajya Sabha.
Gandhi, who had taken over as the new Congress chief last year from his mother Sonia Gandhi, was designated the sixth row seat during the 2018 Republic Day celebrations
The decision was taken a meeting held by Congress chief Sonia Gandhi with Mukherjee, Chidambaram and other senior leaders like A K Antony, Ghulam Nabi Azad, Prithviraj Chavan and Saifuddin Soz, party sources said
Ajit Singh represented a bridge between a constituency that represented a more traditional era in politics and a modern, forward-looking, India, remembers Aditi Phadnis.
"Today, we stand united in solidarity with our security forces in fighting terrorism and in defending the unity and integrity of India."
Congress on Monday warned its leaders in Tamil Nadu that action would be taken against them if they make statements in public against the alliance with the state's ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam.
The government has unleashed hectic behind the scene activity and is lobbying with non-Bharatiya Janata Party parties to break the logjam in Parliament and divide the Opposition ranks, in a bid to ensure there is no repetition of the winter session of Parliament where not a single item of business could be transacted.
Only vegetarian dishes were served at the official dinner held at a state-run five-star hotel.
Birla, 57, has been MLA from Rajasthan thrice and MP twice.
Samajwadi Party leader Azam Khan, who rejoined the party recently, has stoked a controversy when he questioned whether Kashmir was part of India after he said there is only one Muslim minister in the Union cabinet who is not from this country but who is from Kashmir.
India and the US have agreed to set up four working groups to advance cooperation and establish common goals between two countries in health sector.
The black bands were worn as a mark of protest against the alleged attack on the Constitution of India with the passage of the amended citizenship act by the government, leaders said.
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