Nirmal Om newsline

Libya rejects G8, open only to AU-The Libyan regime has rejected calls from a summit of G8 world powers for strongman Muammar Gaddafi to stand down and said any initiative to resolve the crisis would have to go through the African Union. "The G8 is an economic summit. We are not concerned by its decisions," said Libya's deputy foreign minister, Khaled Kaaim, after Russia joined NATO calls for Gaddafi's departure.Tripoli also rejects Russian mediation and will "not accept any mediation which marginalises the peace plan of the African Union," he said. "We are an African country. Any initiative outside the AU framework will be rejected." Kaaim said it had no confirmation of a change in Russia's position. "We have not been officially informed. We are in the process of contacting the Russian government to verify reports in the press," the official told a press conference.At the end of a two-day meeting in France, the leaders of Britai...

Minister for Information & Broadcasting, Smt. Ambika Soni announced the introduction of a new category of award for Doordarshan Annual Awards. The new category titled ‘Innovative Idea and its Innovative Television Adaptation’ would be introduced next year and would be judged by a Jury. Announcing the award, the Minister said the idea had to be innovative and the TV adaptation had to be ingenious. The Minister stated this at the Awards ceremony late last evening. Speaking on the occasion, Smt. Soni said the creative contribution of each person in Doordarshan was critical to create a platform for excellence in programming and presentation. Complementing the winners, the Minister said each one of them had ensured quality in their presentation despite gaps in facility and resources. The quality of such programming had created an impact in the minds of the masses, standing out in the rush for market driven programmes which dominated television sets today. The quality of programming in...

Farmers Gathering @ Gandhi Peace Foundation 24th May 2011 Friends we meet again, this time to discuss how the Farmers suffering be resolved in light of the turmoil we have seen in recent time from Greater Noida to Agra. As explained earlier, the root cause of the trouble lies in the flawed Land Acquisition Act which is of 1894 & is still not changed because it had helped the corrupt political class to get rich at their expense. Indeed it is this law which is singularly responsible for fostering so much political corruption in our politics. So what is the solution? The Land Acquisition Act has to be set aside. This should be non-negotiable. · Do not accept any amended law on the 70/30 formula as proposed by centre as land acquisition will never act in your interest. Go to Court if you can to get relief from this law. · Do not accept any increased compensation or annuity promises. What sounds good today will be worth nothing in a couple of years. Today UP is...

Sania Mirza has entered the second round of the women'singles in the French Open Tennis Championships. In her first round match in Paris today, 74th ranked Sania defeated Kristina Barrois of Germany in straight sets 6-3, 6-3. The Germany player is ranked 15 rungs above the Indian. Sania now faces the winner of the match between 12th seed Polish Agnieszka Radwanska and Patricia Mayr-Achleither of Austria.

Indicted by a Court of Inquiry (CoI) in Sukna land scam, former Military Secretary (MS) Lt Gen Avadesh Prakash will face four charges in the General Court Martial (GCM) which will begin next month in Leimakhong in Manipur.Lt General Prakash has been charged with attempt to defraud, unbecoming conduct and abuse of military position while trying to favour his realtor friend Dilip Agarwal for building an educational institute on a piece of land adjacent to the Sukna Military station in West Bengal, sources said in New Delhi. The GCM would be headed by Director General (DG) Perspective Planning, Lt Gen Phillip Campose and would include other similar ranking officers as well.Depending on the outcome of court martial, Prakash could be punished with severe reprimand or stripping of ranks and medals or could lose his pension.Ever since the CoI indicted him Prakash has been attached to the Kolkata-based Eastern army command headquarters.Along with Prakash, the CoI had also indicted the then 3...

The CBI filed its first charge sheet in a Delhi court against Suresh Kalmadi on Friday in the CWG scam. The Agency described the former CWG Organising Committee chairman as the main accused in a corruption case in awarding a games-related contract to a Swiss firm.The case related to awarding of the lucrative contract to the Swiss firm to install a Timing-Scoring-Result - TSR - system for the Commonwealth Games at an exorbitant cost, causing a loss of over 90 crore rupees to the exchequer. Besides Kalmadi, the agency has named two companies and eight persons including former Organisisng Committee Secretary General Lalit Bhanot and former Director General V K Verma as accused.The agency, in its over 60-page charge sheet, has also accused Kalmadi as the key person with all the powers to take decisions regarding award of contracts.Special CBI Judge Talwant Singh took the charge sheet into record and fixed Monday for taking up the issue of cognizance.