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.
"The situation has become irretrievable", Azad, 73, said in his parting shot to Sonia Gandhi, whose trusted confidante he remained right from the time of Sitaram Kesri's unceremonious exit as the party's chief in 2000.
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
Strengthening the party's communication strategy to improve public engagement is foremost on the Congress agenda after Rahul Gandhi had stressed that they "have to go back to the people" at the Udaipur meeting.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Rajya Sabha Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu also made a fervent appeal to the leaders of various parties at an all-party meeting to ensure smooth and effective functioning of the House during the Budget Session.
A day after a stormy Congress Working Committee meeting, Sibal made the remarks in a cryptic tweet.
Some senior Congress leaders, including Kapil Sibal and Shashi Tharoor, met at their senior colleague Ghulam Nabi Azad's house in New Delhi on Monday evening after the Congress Working Committee debated their letter to the party's interim chief Sonia Gandhi seeking urgent organisational reforms.
The meeting of Congress's highest decision-making body is expected to be at a very 'high voltage' as Sonia's resignation will not be accepted by the CWC members.
The Congress will hold a chintan shivir immediately after the Budget session of Parliament and the CWC will meet again before that, he told reporters
Rahul Gandhi was stunned on hearing the senior leader's angry outburst, but soon relented and asked Mukul Wasnik to announce Karthi's name from Sivaganga.
The Act integrates multiplicity of provisions under various food related laws. It will among other things regulate food safety standards and uniform licensing in the country.
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.
After some recent events that turned against the party, including the Congress' G-23 Group asking for a revamp in the party, Congress leader and MP Manish Tiwari has been included in the star campaigners list of Congress for Assam and West Bengal Assembly polls.
Construction delays, inclement weather, red tape if these were not enough reasons to worry Indian Olympic Association chief Suresh Kalmadi in the run up to the Commonwealth Games, then a possible dengue outbreak in New Delhi is sure to break him down to tears.
The victim, a 14-year-old girl, was admitted to a hospital last month with symptoms of sore throat, runny nose and headaches, a government statement said.
Justifying his demand for the policy during the CMs' meet in New Delhi, Abdullah said: "A pragmatic policy to this effect is the need of the hour. The state government had proposed it after taking into consideration all pros and cons so that it is not misused at any level". He said the Centre and the state governments should work out the policy in a manner without hampering the national interests at any level but pave way for the militants to return to normal life.
As the prime minister asked the Group of Ministers on Bhopal tragedy to meet immediately, Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad, who is a member of the GoM, said on Monday that the panel can probe under what circumstances the industrial disaster took place and how the punishment for the culprits was reduced.
Having cracked the whip on the scam-tainted Medical Council of India, Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad has urged the panel of doctors, which has replaced the body, to take transparent and corruption-free decisions. In a letter to Dr S K Sarin, chairperson of the new board, Azad said the government appointed the board of governors to exercise the powers and perform the functions of the MCI after due deliberations.
The Bharatiya Janata Party leader passed away on Tuesday night after a massive cardiac arrest.
PDP leaders were asked to go out of the House after they attempted to tear the constitution.
The Congress alleged that the money-laundering law has been weaponised to target and humiliate people, and urged the Supreme Court to decide soon on the matter concerning the National Herald-Associated Journals Limited case.
Arguing that it was very difficult to post MBBS doctors in rural areas, Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad on Wednesday said the proposed Bachelor of Rural Health course was targeted at areas where only nurses and midwives were available and no doctor was willing to go.
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.
TMC sources said their leaders Derek O' Brien and Sudip Bandyopadhyay are unlikely to attend the interaction.
With swine flu cases across India rising sharply, the Union Health Ministry on Saturday issued fresh guidelines specifying screening and testing module for patients, to contain the disease in the country. As per guidelines, all individuals seeking consultation for flu-like symptoms would be screened at healthcare facilities -- both government and private -- or examined by a doctor and will be categorised broadly under three categories A, B and C depending on their health.
The government on Friday assured Parliament that the spread of swine flu was under control due to continuous efforts of doctors and was limited to only a few individuals. "We have managed to limit such cases to a few individuals, considering the size of our population and country," Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad told Rajya Sabha during Question Hour. Seeking to allay fears of the common man about the disease, he said, "There are guidelines and constant reviews."
"Since home minister has called a meeting of the chief ministers on internal security on Januray 6, I hope to take over before that so that I could represent J&K as the chief minister. But we have few formalities. The governor's rule has to be revoked before that," Omar Abdullah said.
The three-member panel of Law Minister M Veerappa Moily, Home Minister P Chidambaram and Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad met in New Delhi on Tuesday evening and "critically analysed" the pros and cons of the Delhi High Court judgement legalising gay sex.
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 MLAs in the letter said they feel threatened, and requested the police to stop any Congress leader from meeting them.
If young couples watch the assorted mindless programming on telly till well past midnight, Health Minister Azad believes they will drop off to sleep instead of indulging in sexual hank-panky.
"Today, we stand united in solidarity with our security forces in fighting terrorism and in defending the unity and integrity of India."
Government on Tuesday said an indigenous Indian vaccine for H1N1 would be ready by the beginning of April, even as it demanded an inquiry into the 'panic' created by international bodies on the scale of the epidemic.
Home Minister P Chidambaram along with his cabinet colleagues Law Minister Veerappa Moily and Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad held a meeting on Friday to analyse the Delhi High Court's judgement decriminalising same gender sex.
Pranab Mukherjee Gulam Nabi Azad and Ahmed Patel will liaise on behalf of Congress President Sonia Gandhi, while Gujarat Chief Miniser Narendra Modi, Jaswant Singh, S Gurumurthy and Cho Ramaswamy are the pointsmen for Bharatiya Janata Party prime ministerial candidate L K Advani.
