Nirmal Om newsline

Raksha Bandhan, the festival of bond of love between brothers and sisters, is being celebrated throughout the country today with traditional fervour and enthusiasm. On this occasion, sisters tie rakhi or sacred thread on their brothers wrist and pray for their well-being. Brothers, in turn, vow to protect their sisters. Delhi Transport Corporation and Rajasthan Roadways have allowed the women to travel free in their buses today. The President, Vice President and the Prime Minister have greeted the nation on the occasion. Mrs. Pratibha Devi Singh Patil in her message said that this festival strengthens fraternal feeling and the spirit of kindness and goodwill in the society. She also called to work collectively for the well being of the people. Mohammad Hamid Ansari in his message said that the festival promotes harmonious social life by reaffirming the faith of citizens in the traditional values of love and protection. Dr. Manmohan Singh said that this unique festival fosters comm...

Development, promotion, implementation and monitoring of tourism projects is primarily undertaken by the State Governments/Union Territories.Ministry of Tourism provides Central Financial Assistance (CFA) for tourism projects, which are complete as per scheme guidelines and prioritized in consultation with the State Government/Union Territories and subject to submission of utilization certificates for funds released earlier under various schemes. Considering importance of the places from Tourism point of view, Ministry of Tourism has sanctioned the following mega projects: 1.Development of Varanasi-Samath-Ramnagar circuit (Phase-I) for Rs. 86 crores in the year 2006-07 and (Phase-II) for Rs. 14.16 crore in the year 2008-09. 2.Development of Agra Mega Project-circuit (Phase-I) for Rs. 17.82 crore in 2005-06 & 2006-07 and (Phase-II) for Rs. 19.76 crore in the year 2009-10. 3.A mega project for Development of Mathura-Vrindavan circuit has been identified/prioritize...

National Broadband Plan-Department of Telecommunications has received the recommendations made by Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) dated December 8, 2010 on ‘National Broadband Plan’ which is under consideration. The Scheme for creation of National Optical Fibre Network (NOFN) for providing broadband connectivity to Panchayats has been recommended by Telecom Commission at its meeting held on July 22, 2011. The process of interministerial consultation for the proposed scheme is underway. Thereafter the proposal will be placed before the Cabinet for approval. This information was given by Shri Milind Deora, the Minister of State for Communications and Information Technology in written reply to a question in Lok Sabha today.

Additional funds for Mid-Day Meal Scheme To offset the impact of price rise, Central Assistance for cooking cost has been enhanced with effect from 1.4.2011 from Rs. 2.69 per child per school day to Rs. 2.89 at primary stage and from Rs. 4.03 per child per school day to Rs. 4.33 at upper primary stage. This includes cost of pulses, vegetables, oils, condiments and fuel. In addition, foodgrains(Wheat/Rice) are provided free of cost by the Central Government. This information was given by the Minister of State for Human Resource Development Smt. D. Purandeswari, in a written reply to a question, in the Lok Sabha today.

Chief Election Commissioner, S.Y. Quraishi has said that expenditure monitoring committees manned by senior Income Tax Officials will be set up to monitor expenditure incurred by candidates during coming Assembly elections in the five states. Addressing media persons at Chandigarh on Tuesday he also said that district media committees will also be established to keep a check on paid news. Chief Election Commissioner along with Election Commissioners V.S. Sampath and M.S. Brahama took an assessment of election preparations for assembly elections in Punjab, which are due in February next year. Election Commission team discussed matters relating to elections in separate meetings with senior officers of Punjab Government, Divisional commissioners, Deputy Commissioners of all districts and Director General of Punjab Police. Representatives of five political parties also met Election Commission team in separate meetings and apprised about the situation in Punjab.Dr. Quraishi asked the state ...

Government has made it clear that the CAG report on Commonwealth games has not indicted the Prime Minister's office while members of the group of Ministers on Media addressed reporters on the matter.Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal said CAG report only contained statement of facts and no one was indicted.He said Parliament cannot be held to ransom on any one issue and urged opposition to follow procedures. Sibal further said after following the due procedure action will be taken if anybody has done wrong.Information and Broadcasting Minister Ambika Soni said no office has been indicted in CAG report and asked media to exercise restraint. Noting that the government has gone through the report of the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG), Delhi Transport Minister Arvinder Singh Lovely said it has neither indicted Dikshit nor any other political head and has rather praised the city government on infrastructure development work."We have gone through the report. Nowhere in the repor...

One hundred and sixty seven lakh Below Poverty Line, BPL, families have been provided free electrification connections under the Rajiv Gandhi Grameen Vidyutikaran Yojana, RGGVY, till 15th of last month. Over 98 lakh villages across the country have been provided free electricity under this Yojana. Official sources said that the government has taken a number of steps for effective implementation of the RGGVY. They include setting up of an inter-Ministerial Monitoring Committee which periodically meets to sanction projects and reviews progress of implementation. States have been asked to set up committees at district level to monitor their progress. Grant amount for free electification connection to BPL families has been enhanced from 1500 rupees in the last plan to 2200 rupees in the current plan.

Macroeconomic figure-GDP from Italy and from the Spanish central bank suggest economic growth remains weak in two countries. Italian GDP rose 0.3% between April and June, up on 0.1% growth in the first quarter, according to the Italian National Statistics Institute.Spanish central bank predicted GDP growth of 0.2% during the same period. It grew by 0.3% last quarter.