Town near Tirupati
TIRUPATI, March 21 (PTI) — The Tirupati Tirumala Devastanam (TTD) will start construction of a township at a 100 acre area in Alipiri, near here, soon. The decision was taken at the board meeting of the TTD today, temple Executive Officer I.V. Subba Rao told newsmen here. The TTD had introduced computerised token system for pilgrims mentioning the time at which darshan could be made at the temple.

PoK assembly
ISLAMABAD, March 21 (ANI) — The legislative assembly in Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir (PoK) yesterday declared that Kashmiris would not accept any solution other than the one based on UN resolutions. The assembly also approved three ordinances, including the Privatisation Commission Ordinance, 1999, the Ulema and Mushaikh Council (Amendment) Ordinance and the Local Government (Amendment) Ordinance, 1999.

B'desh trial
DHAKA, March 21 (PTI) — A Dhaka court today adjourned hearing till April 8 in connection with framing of charges against 21 accused, including several former Army officials, allegedly involved in the 1975 killing in jail of four top aides of Bangladesh's founding father Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. The adjournment followed submission of a petition to the court today, praying for quashing of the case on procedural grounds.

4 hacked to death
MADURAI, March 21 (UNI) — Four persons were hacked to death, a woman was injured and more than 50 huts were set on fire in a clash between two groups at Pudupatti in Virudhunagar district of Tamil Nadu yesterday. While the bodies of Puzhukandi and Anthony, alias Pommu, were found near a field this morning, those of Joseph and Sebastian were recovered yesterday. Police sources said that clash was a sequel to a dispute over an uprooted flag-post of the Pudhiya Tamilzhagam (PT) on the pedestal of an Ambedkar statue in the village.

NCRPB meeting
NEW DELHI, March 21 (PTI) — The 24th meeting of the National Capital Region Planning Board (NCRPB) will be held here on Tuesday, an official note said here today. The day-long meeting to be presided over by Union Urban Affairs and Employment Minister Ram Jethmalani will also be attended by the Chief Ministers of Haryana, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh in their capacity as members of the NCRPB.

Report on Benazir
ISLAMABAD, March 21 (ANI) — The Nawaz Sharif government has once again appealed to the country's Supreme Court to issue orders to unseal the report of the Judicial Commission appointed to verify documents against Benazir Bhutto from Switzerland. The review petition, drafted by Pakistan's Attorney-General Chaudhry Muhammad Farooq, urged a full Bench of the apex court to reassess its verdict of March 12, and pass an appropriate order.

Oil output cut
DUBAI, March 21 (PTI) — The Gulf Arab Oil Ministers have decided to stand firm on a total oil output cut of over 900,000 barrels per day (BPD) which will take effect from April 1 in a move to lift the sagging oil price hitting their economies. The Oil Ministers of five Arab states of the six-member Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), who met in the UAE capital Abu Dhabi yesterday for a day-long meeting endorsed the decision taken last week in the Netherlands by the key oil producers to slash production. Non-OPEC GCC member Oman did not attend the meeting. The OPEC members were to cut production by 1.7 million BPD while the non-OPEC countries had agreed for a cut of 287,000 BPD. Oman said it will attend the March 23 OPEC meeting scheduled to be held in Vienna to approve the Hague deal.

3 cr illiterate kids
NEW DELHI, March 21 (PTI) — About 30 million children in India and Pakistan are among the 125 million deprived of primary education worldwide owing to poverty and socio-economic circumstances, an international report says. Like many of the world’s poorest countries who spend more on arms than on primary education, India and Pakistan spend over three times as much on arms as they do on primary education, says Oxfam International, a non-governmental social and relief organisation, in its latest study released today. The Indian government spends about 1.4 per cent of GDP for education every year compared to 2.4 per cent on military spending.

Bus run deferred
CALCUTTA, March 21 (PTI) — The dry-run of the Dhaka-Calcutta bus scheduled for March 23 has been postponed, a West Bengal Surface Transport Corporation spokesman said tonight. The postponement had been caused by the Bangladeshi side on account of the ensuing Id-uz-Zuha festival, the spokesman said, adding that a new date for the dry run was yet to be fixed.

Waheeda Rahman
GUWAHATI, March 21 (PTI) — Fortytwo persons, including former members of the AGP and the All-Assam Students Union (AASU) and actress Waheeda Rahman today joined the Congress in the presence of Congress leader Arjun Singh. Two former AGP MPs, who joined the Congress among others were Kirip Chaliha and Iswar Prasanna Hazarika while a 12-member AASU team led by Binanda Saikia, former Vice President of the student body joined the Congress.

Rushdie operated on
LONDON, March 21 (AP) — Writer Salman Rushdie has had surgery on his eyelids to correct a condition making it increasingly difficult to open his eyes, a British newspaper reported today. If I hadn’t had an operation, in a couple of years from now I wouldn’t have been able to open my eyes at all,’’ Rushdie was quoted as telling the Sunday Times. The condition, called ptosis, affects the tendons of the eyelids, which were growing weaker and stretching, the report said.