Commission evaluating news needs of community wants public to respond

October 2nd, 2009 Get everyone in US online, high-level panel saysNEW YORK — The nation needs to give the same urgency to making sure all Americans have broadband access as the Eisenhower administration did in building an interstate highway system a half-century ago, a report released Friday concluded. The Knight Commission on the Information Needs of Communities in a Democracy expressed worry about whether the news industry's financial woes will make for a less educated citizenry and considered whether the government should prop up independent journalists.

September 15th, 2009 UN officials in Afghanistan at odds over electionKABUL — A top American official at the United Nations mission in Afghanistan has temporarily left the country following a disagreement with his boss over how to respond to widespread allegations of vote fraud in the Aug. 20 presidential election, officials said Tuesday.

September 10th, 2009 NYC planners: cut 200 feet from MoMA tower designNEW YORK — New York City's Planning Commission says a proposed tower next to the Museum of Modern Art is too high. The commission approved the tower Wednesday — on the condition that its asymmetrical peak be cut 200 feet.

August 3rd, 2009 Chairman of U of Ill. Board of Trustees resignsCHICAGO — The chairman of the University of Illinois' Board of Trustees resigned Monday amid an investigation into the use of political clout to get underqualified students into the school.

July 13th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Minority Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid Monday told parliament that the government is committed to establishing an Equal Opportunity Commission and is examining the recommendations of the expert group regarding its structure and functions. "An Equal Opportunity Commission will be set up by the government.

May 9th, 2009 Chair of IOC evaluation team to return to MadridMADRID — The head of the International Olympic Committee team evaluating Madrid's 2016 bid will return to the city late Thursday, a day after leaving for government business in Morocco. Nawal el Moutawakel left the IOC evaluation commission meetings on Wednesday and traveled to Morocco, where she is sports minister, after King Mohammed VI called a meeting of the council of ministers.

May 6th, 2009 PepsiCo CEO reiterates interest in bottlersMILWAUKEE — PepsiCo Inc.'s chief executive told shareholders Wednesday that the time is right to buy the soft drink and snack maker's two biggest bottlers in North America — even after one of them rejected a deal. Indra Nooyi said at the annual shareholder meeting that buying Pepsi Bottling Group and PepsiAmericas will save the company money in the long run and help it respond quicker to a changing marketplace.

April 27th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The Election Commission Monday said they have 'nothing to proceed' against Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for allegedly violating the model code of conduct. 'The Election Commission has seen the CD.

April 27th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The Election Commission (EC) on Monday rejected a complaint made by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate Mahesh Jethmalani against Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh, alleging that he had violated the poll code by appeasing Muslims to garner votes.

April 22nd, 2009 NEW DELHI - The Election Commission Wednesday said it would examine a complaint against Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for allegedly violating the model code of conduct. Mahesh Jethmalani, a noted lawyer and the Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) candidate from Mumbai North Central, alleged in his complaint that the prime minister tried to bribe the Muslim community with his comments that the poor among the minorities have the first right over the country's resources.

March 26th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Coming out for the first time in defence of her son Varun Gandhi over his alleged hate speeches, former union minister Maneka Gandhi Thursday attacked the Congress, saying the party was pursuing his case actively to 'conceal' its 'anti-Sikh acts'. 'It has become imperative for the Congress to show such tapes (of hate speeches) to conceal their anti-Sikh acts,' Gandhi told a regional news channel, PTC News.

March 24th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Hitting out at the Election Commission for its strictures against him, Varun Gandhi said Monday that he was deeply disappointed 'over the unseemly haste' shown by the poll panel in passing its opinion over his allegedly hate speeches. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate from Pilibhit in Uttar Pradesh said he had not been given a 'fair opportunity to appear in person or through counsel' to establish his innocence.

March 23rd, 2009 NEW DELHI - The Election Commission Sunday night held Varun Gandhi, a Bharartiya Janata Party (BJP) nominee for Lok Sabha polls from Uttar Pradesh, guilty of breaching the model code of conduct and asked the party not to field him as candidate. 'The two speeches (by Varun Gandhi) contained highly derogatory references and seriously provocative language of a wholly unacceptable nature against a certain community,' the Election Commission order said.

March 10th, 2009 KATHMANDU - Almost eight months after Nepal's Maoist Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda pledged to form a Muslim Commission but failed to keep the promise, the angered Muslim community has given an ultimatum, warning to go on the warpath after a fortnight. The threat of Muslim unrest comes even as the Maoist government of Nepal grapples with ethnic unrest in the southern plains and in the east and violence in the farwest triggered by students demanding a university.

January 27th, 2009 LUCKNOW - All teachers of government-run and aided educational institutions, civic employees and junior doctors in Uttar Pradesh will receive the benefits of the Sixth Pay Commission. The state cabinet made the decision Wednesday evening.