The second leg of the budget session is of 23 days and all 14 days so far have been wasted.
He said, "I had to chase state chief ministers rather than them asking."
The election is scheduled for February 13. Their names have reportedly been cleared by the coalition government of the NC and the Congress.
Morning assembly meetings in schools should be dispensed with under new guidelines being issued by the Health Ministry soon to contain the spread of swine flu which also make it mandatory for class teachers to check each student for symptoms of the viral disease.
Sources said Union Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad made a presentation on the swine flu situation in the country before the Cabinet following which the issue was discussed in great detail.
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.
As deaths due to swine flu continued to rise, Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad on Monday discussed with Cabinet Secretary K M Chandrasekhar the situation arising out of the spread of the viral disease.The meeting, also attended by Health Secretary Naresh Dayal, came soon after two more deaths due to swine flu were reported in the country, and discussed the measures to contain further spread of the disease.
Azad had earlier in the day come under attack from the Reeda's family, which accused him of being insensitive towards her and demanded an apology from him.
The Congress high command held long discussions with former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Ghulam Nabi Azad and state congress chief Saifuddin Soz, but no decision was taken during the meeting whether to support the National Conference to form new government headed by Omar Abdullah.
The Congress has a lot to consider before taking a decision on which party to align with in Jammu and Kashmir, PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti says.
All India Congress Committee General Secretary Prithviraj Chavan, former Chief Minster Ghulam Nabi Azad, former Union Minister Saiffudin Soz, along with Union Ministers Pranab Mukherjee and A K Antony are likely to take part in the deliberations. Congress sources said the election results clearly indicate that National Conference will be in a position to form the government with support of Congress and from some independents.
Fate of 271 candidates including two former chief ministers -- Mufti Mohammad Sayeed and Ghulam Nabi Azad -- would be sealed on Wednesday, as 16 constituencies of Jammu and Kashmir go to polls in the sixth round of the seven-phase assembly elections.As many as 20,000 additional security forces personnel and nearly 10,000 local policemen have been deployed at 1,268 polling stations set up in the 16 assembly seats spread over five districts.
The civil secretariat re-opened in Srinagar amidst an employees strike and tight security arrangements on Monday.
The Jammu and Kashmir government wants the army's sophisticated ammunition depots in the valley relocated to safer, uninhabited areas
Trinamool Congress's Lok Sabha MP Dinesh Trivedi would get the award for 2016 and Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha and Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad would get it for 2015, the Lok Sabha secretariat said in a statement.
Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad has cautioned ministers and legislators of his party not to issue statements pertaining to political alliances in the forthcoming state assembly elections. In a statement, Azad said, "Nobody has been authorised to speak on this issue." Azad said that he would "take serious note against those making such statements".
Congress members of Parliament led by Rahul Gandhi on Monday staged a protest outside Parliament House demanding removal of Union Minister V K Singh for his "dog" remarks.
All senior state bureaucrats accompanying Jammu & Kashmir Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad on the state aircraft will henceforth be subjected to personal and luggage frisking as part of the sped up drill regarding Azad's security.
Asked about the organisational changes made by Gandhi and the subsequent reported statements by some leaders who had written to her over party reforms, Congress' chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said he had not seen a single statement by any Congress leader on the issue and cannot comment on that.
'It was disappointing on two counts. One is on the leadership issue and second is how the Congress must win elections.'
Special Security Guard of the state police, which is in-charge of security of the chief minister and other important personalities including National Conference chief Omar Abdullah, have been asked to undergo a rigorous training to be imparted either by elite National Security Guard or any other professional agency.
Succumbing to pressure from Lone's son and legislator Shoaib, who was supported by opposition National Conference, Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad finally announced in the house that the CBI had been asked to probe the killing.
The setback promises to have far-reaching ramifications within and outside the party as it is likely to fuel voices that have challenged the Gandhi family's leadership and also those who have been a votary of a non-Congress front to take on the Bharatiya Janata Party.
Union Water Resources Minister Saifuddin Soz and former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad are both set to enter the Rajya Sabha from Jammu and Kashmir. Congress president Sonia Gandhi cleared their names and both the Congress leaders would be filing their nomination papers on Tuesday.
The decision to revoke the order was taken by the state cabinet which met in Srinagar under the chairmanship of Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad.
A day after the Jammu and Kashmir government took over yatra arrangements after the Shri Amarnath Shrine Board withdrew its request for the forest land, Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad on Monday appealed to people to resume normal activities and let peace prevail while asking politicians and other groups not to rake up an already settled issue of land transfer. The Chief Minister urged politicians and leaders of various groups not to put the people to inconvenience & trouble.
Rejecting the appeal of Governor N N Vohra and Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad, the protesters poured on the streets and thorough fares of the city early Saturday morning, demanding revocation of order under which 39.88 hectares of forest land were transferred to the Amarnath board last month. However, the police action proved futile as the protesters, after dispersing temporarily, reassembled to continue their agitation, they said.
Even though he doesn't say it in enough words, Minister of State for Health Dinesh Trivedi wants people to take the H1N1 pandemic in their stride and not go by the coverage in electronic media.
A 26-year-old teacher became the first swine flu fatality in Bengaluru while an infant and two women died in worst-hit Pune on Thursday, taking the nationwide death toll to 21 even as Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said panic should not created and the government is doing its best.
As the number of swine flu deaths in the country touched 10, the Centre on Tuesday asked state governments to gear up their act to face the threat of the virus and dispatched Central teams to all states and Union Territories to help them coordinate the preparedness.
Confirming the first swine flu death in Gujarat, State Health Secretary Ravi Saxena said Praveen Patel, an NRI, died of swine flu at city civil hospital at around 1.30 am.
Assuring people that the government is determined to control the spread of swine flu in the country, the government on Friday said within a couple of days it will review and decide on the open sale of Tamiflu (Oseltamivir), the drug used for treatment of the disease.
Even as the central Hajj committee raised Jammu and Kashmir's quota by another 1500 seats, the state government is still short of another 7000 to accommodate this years 13330 Hajj aspirants for 2007. The central Hajj committee on Tuesday responded to Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad's request for enhancement of the annual Hajj quota for the state.
Defence Minister A K Antony will head a seven-member high-level group constituted by Congress chief Sonia to give suggestions to revive the party against the backdrop of series of debacles including in Karnataka and Gujarat Assembly elections.
'...for three hours to the seven or eight of us who spoke at the meeting.' 'Talking together and allowing us to express our thoughts on these important issues is a good beginning.'
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.
Interview with former JK chief minister Ghulam Nabi Azad. Azad feels all his good work as the chief minister was wiped clean by the emotional and divisive politics unleashed by the father-daughter duo of Mufti Mohd Sayeed and Mehbooba Mufti.
Patil, who is visiting the state for the first time after she assumed office as President, went to a bunker located at 9,600 ft altitude and interacted with army officers and jawans. "I am so delighted to visit this very important and strategic post. I simply admire courage and morale of the jawans who are keeping vigil on the border day and night in such a hazardous area and climatic conditions," Patil wrote in visitors book at Tangdhar.
A single bench comprising Justice Hakim Imtiyaz Hussain quashing the detention of Abdul Rashid said the order of the detention was not sustainable. Release the detenue forthwith if he is not involved in any other case, the court directed the state government.
With cases of swine flu on the rise in the country, Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad said on Wednesday that the number of testing laboratories has been increased from two to 18 and hoped that India will be able to develop the vaccine ahead of other nations. "We can now get the testing facility in 18 laboratories instead of two," Azad said in response to a calling attention motion on the matter in Rajya Sabha