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.
Rahul Gandhi replied on Twitter, saying, 'Thank you for your greetings @narendramodi ji. I appreciate them.'
The People's Alliance for Gupkar Declaration (PAGD) on Monday said assembly elections should be held only after restoration of statehood to Jammu and Kashmir and asked the Bharatiya Janata Party-led central government to honour its commitment made on the floor of Parliament.
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.
'Priyanka did draw huge crowds and eventually all of those ended up voting for the Samajwadi Party.' 'The voters today are smart enough to vote for the party which they know is going to win or they know this party will come second, but no way will they vote for a party which will come third or fourth.'
'You need a leader whom India can identify with and I cannot think of any other leader except Sachin Pilot in the Congress party.'
"Azad saab (Ghulam Nabi Azad) had spoken on behalf of all of us that we don't accept this timeline -- we don't accept delimitation, election, statehood, we want delimitation, statehood and then election. If you want to hold polls, you'll have to restore statehood first," said Omar Abdullah.
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.
Ahmed Patel, K C Venugopal and Jairam Ramesh will be part of the Rajya Sabha Committee, which will also include Leader of Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad and party's deputy leader Anand Sharma. Azad and Sharma are signatories to the letter that demanded an overhaul of the Congress party and a new 'full-time and visible' party president.
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.
Several MPs came to the Upper House wearing masks and demanded curtailment of the ongoing Budget session, which is due to end on April 3, in view of the novel coronavirus scare, but the government seemed unwilling.
The meeting also includes some of Sonia Gandhi's close associates and is the first effort by the Congress leadership for a reproachment with those who raised questions over the leadership.
Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said the party stood united and together as a family and there are no dissensions pending after the announcement of elections to the party chief's post.
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.
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.
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.
In key organisational changes, the Congress on Wednesday appointed young face Anil Chaudhary as its Delhi unit chief and named D K Shivakumar, known to be the party's chief troubleshooter in crisis situations, as the head of the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee.
Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge on Wednesday criticised the government for proceeding with the presentation of the Union Budget after the death of E Ahamed, accusing it if delaying announcement of the news so that it could present the Budget without any hiccups
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.
The party also made it clear that no one will be permitted to undermine or weaken the party and its leadership. The CWC also resolved that inner-party issues cannot be deliberated through the media or in public fora and all such issues must be raised within the party 'in the interest of propriety and discipline'.
The minister also appealed to the people of Kashmir to hoist the national flag in their homes on August 15.
"PM Narendra Modi yesterday in his broadcast to the nation claimed that there is normalcy in Jammu and Kashmir and people are happy with the decision of abolition of article 370 and 35A.
The opposition parties did not yield, and the Chairman adjourned proceedings for the day
Congress president Sonia Gandhi will lead a delegation of Congress MPs to meet President Pranab Mukherjee, over developments in the Arunachal Pradesh assembly.
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.
If the Opposition has any chance at the prime minister's job, it can happen only if they all stop dropping names and work at the grassroots-level, state-wise, suggests N Sathiya Moorthy.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Saturday reviewed the situation in Jammu and Kashmir where violence is continuing over the Amarnath land row.
A suspension of the agitation over the Amarnath row is necessary to pave the way for a dialogue, senior Congress leader and former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad said on Wednesday.Azad said he was happy that all political parties echoed the view that the situation in the state was serious and there should be no room for communalisation of politics.He added that it is important for the current agitation to stop because "you cannot solve a problem."
With the dates for the forthcoming Lok Sabha polls announced, election fever has gripped Tamil Nadu with the two main political parties holding parleys with their allies on seat-sharing.
Congress on Monday kept the government guessing on the insurance bill asking it to take on board all stakeholders and favouring the select committee route even as it insisted that the measure is its own "baby" and it is a "misnomer" that the party is opposed to it.
According to the returning officer, former chief minister and NC president, Dr Farooq Abdullah polled 27 votes while as Mohammad Shafi Uri got 25 votes in the third and final round of elections, held through Single Transferable Vote System.
Jammu and Kashmir seems to be set for a stint of Governor's rule, the fourth since 1947, following the fall of Ghulam Nabi Azad-led 31-month-old coalition government. Adhering to the principle of constitutional consultative process, the Governor on Tuesday invited leaders of various political parties for confabulations.
The odds are apparently stacked against Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad when he seeks to prove his majority in the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly on Monday, but the confidence he exudes suggest that his government might just scrape through.
Sources said 14 persons were injured when militants tossed a grenade at a rally of the Bharatiya Janata Party in Bhaderwah town on Wednesday afternoon.