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Dalai Lama tells Chinese people
Nand Lal case
IIT, central varsity for Punjab in 11th Plan
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Badal seeks package for border areas
UP ex-chief secy chargesheeted
SIMI planned terror strikes
Top SIMI leaders get police remand
Two Indian soldiers missing in US
Foreigners banned from buying land in Goa
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Dalai Lama tells Chinese people
Kangra, March 28 The Dalai Lama, a Nobel Peace Prize awardee, today said, “I appeal to you to help us find a peaceful and lasting solution to the problem of Tibet through dialogue in the spirit of understanding and accommodation”. Extending his heartfelt greetings to his Chinese brothers and sisters around the world, particularly to those in the People’s Republic of China the Dalai Lama said, “In the light of the recent developments in Tibet, I would like to share with you my thoughts concerning relations between the Tibetan and Chinese peoples, and to make a personal appeal to you all. I am deeply saddened by the loss of life in the recent tragic events in Tibet. I am aware that some Chinese have also died. I feel for the victims and their families and pray for them”. He said the recent unrest had clearly demonstrated the gravity of the situation in Tibet and the urgent need to seek a peaceful and mutually beneficial solution through dialogue. In an appeal the Dalai Lama said, ”The Chinese brothers and sisters, I assure you I have no desire to seek Tibet’s separation. Nor do I have any wish to drive a wedge between the Tibetan and Chinese peoples. On the contrary my commitment has always been to find a genuine solution to the problem of Tibet that ensures the long-term interests of both the communities. My primary concern, as I have repeated time and again, is to ensure the survival of the Tibetan people’s distinctive culture, language and identity. As a simple monk who strives to live his daily life according to Buddhist precepts, I assure you of the sincerity of my motivation”. He further said, “I have appealed to the leadership of the PRC to clearly understand my position and work to resolve these problems by seeking truth from facts.” He urged the Chinese leadership to exercise wisdom and to initiate a meaningful dialogue with the Tibetan people. He further said, “I also appeal to them to make sincere efforts to contribute to the stability and harmony of the PRC and avoid creating rifts. The state media’s portrayal of the recent events in Tibet, using deceit and distorted images, could sow the seeds of racial tension with unpredictable long-term consequences. This is of grave concern to me”. The Dalai Lama said, “Despite my repeated support for the Beijing Olympics, the Chinese authorities, with the intention of creating a rift between the Chinese people and myself, assert that I am trying to sabotage the Games. I am encouraged, however, that several Chinese intellectuals and scholars have also expressed their strong concern about the Chinese leadership’s actions and the potential for adverse long-term consequences, particularly on relations among different nationalities”.
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Nand Lal case
Mumbai, March 28 The Assembly passed the resolution by a majority vote saying the Speaker, Privileges Committee head and legislature secretary will not reply to notices, summons or other correspondence from High Court and Supreme Court in the case relating to Nand Lal who was found by the House guilty of breach of privilege. These persons will also not appear in the court with regard to the issue, it said adding "this is being done to maintain the supreme status of the legislature while giving due respect to the court". The Assembly resolution pointed out that an all-party meeting had decided not to respond to court notices or summons when the Dance Bar Owners Association president had approached the High Court against a ban on dance bars in 2006. Nand Lal, the former IAS officer petitioned the Bombay High Court appealing against his conviction saying it was arbitrary and against principles of natural justice. The matter has been posted to April 1 for further hearing. Earlier, Nand Lal moved the Bombay High Court today challenging the process under which he was found guilty of breach of privilege. Lal was released at 10.30 this morning after spending a night in the Arthur Road Central Jail after the legislature today decided to commute his two-day sentence. However, he remained defiant and challenged the process of his sentencing in court. Chief Justice Swatanter Kumar and Justice J.P. Deodhar have posted the petition for hearing on April 1. Nand Lal was picked up by the police from his office near Vidhan Bhavan and lodged at the Central Jail on Thursday evening. His request to obtain a change of clothes from home was also denied. However, Nand Lal insisted that he was being targeted by Maharashtra Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh for strictly following the law. "The motion was brought against me because I did not succumb to the pressure exerted on me to retain the Latur Lok Sabha constituency as a general seat after the delimitation commission proposed that it be reserved for the Scheduled Caste," said Nandlal. The Latur seat is Deshmukh's pocket borough. The breach of privilege motion itself arose after Nand Lal issued an order on March 7, 2006 under which only the State Election Commission was empowered to conduct elections for civic bodies. Janardan Chandurkar of the Congress then tabled a breach of privilege notice against Nandlal on March 27, 2006 on the grounds that the CEO's order contravened the election law enacted by the legislature which allowed the state government to hold elections to the above posts.
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IIT, central varsity for Punjab in 11th Plan
New Delhi, March 28 The list includes an IIT in Punjab and an IIM in Haryana and a central university at Amritsar. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has approved the location of the institutions, human resources minister Arjun Singh said. However, the city in which the IIT for Punjab and IIM for Haryana besides three other IITs slated to come up in Orissa, Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat and IIMs in Tamil Nadu, Jammu and Kashmir, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Uttrakhand will be located has not yet been decided. These new management and technology institutions will be part of the eight IITs and seven IIMs proposed to be set up during the 11th Plan. The locations of four IITs - Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan, Bihar and Himachal Pradesh - and one IIM at Shillong have already been announced. Arjun Singh said the establishment of new IITs, IIMs and central universities was subject to state governments offering adequate land at suitable locations free of cost for the purpose. Concerned states have been asked to identify the land they can provide for these institutions so that preliminary work can begin, he added. The government will spend Rs 2,000 crores on new IITs, Rs 660 crores on IIMs, Rs 2,800 crores on world-class universities and Rs 2,000 crore on central universities during the 11th plan, higher education secretary R.P. Agrawal said. In addition, the government also proposed to convert the Institute of Technology of the Banaras Hindu University into an IIT. Admission to this institute is already based on the IIT-JEE. Besides, it is also proposed to establish 14 universities with world-class standards and 16 universities in states which do not have a central university at present. The 14 central universities aiming at world-class standards will be located in Pune, Kolkata, Coimbatore, Mysore, Visakhapatnam, Gandhinagar, Jaipur, Patna, Bhopal, Kochi, Amritsar, Bhubaneswar, Greater Noida and Guwahati. The Madhya Pradesh IIT will be set up at
Indore.
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Badal seeks package for border areas
New Delhi, March 28 The money is required to bring these towns in tune with modern town planning. Badal said money was needed under central schemes for improving water supply and sewerage system in these areas. The meeting held this evening lasted more than 30 minutes. A total of 18 blocks of Punjab share a boundary with Pakistan. This includes large tracts of land that are on the other side of the electrified fencing. Badal pointed out that there was no development that could be even mentioned and sought additional financial assistance for the farmers who have land on other side of the fence. He said a sum of Rs 5,000 per acre per annum was needed for the farmers across the fence in view of the hardships they face for the defence of the country. Each day the farmers have to pass through rigorous checks by the BSF just to till their lands. Badal demanded that more women staff should be on duty as women of the villages have to cross over and frisking was mandatory. He said the border-belt was plagued by poor infrastructure and demanded that pontoon bridges be improved across the river Ravi, as this would facilitate hassle free crossing during the rainy season when the Ravi is in spate. Harcharan Bains, the media advisor to the Chief Minster said Patil was requested to facilitate an early interaction between the Governments of India and Pakistan on the proposed free corridor from Indo-border to the historic and holy town of Kartarpur Sahib in Pakistan. The corridor would allow devotees from India to visit the holy place, connected with the life of Guru Nanak Dev, without the mandatory visa. The Pakistan authorities had reportedly given their consent in principle to the proposal, Bains said while claiming the Home Minister’s response as “extremely positive and helpful”. Badal also raised the issue of modernisation of the police force and said the state should not be penalised for the failure of the previous regime headed by Captain Amarinder Singh to issue utilisation certificates on the Central funds meant for the purpose. The Centre government had stopped paying its share of police modernisation and the Punjab police had suffered badly.
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UP ex-chief secy chargesheeted
New Delhi, March 28 The 11 others, including former CBSE chairman B.P. Khandelwal, Akhand Pratap Singh's daughters, wife and other relatives were named in the charge sheet for having allegedly aided and abetted corrupt activities of Singh and conspired in forging the documents used for 'benami' acquisitions. The charge sheet also includes A.P. Singh's wife and two married daughters as accused. The relatives who have been chargesheeted comprise two nieces of A.P. Singh's wife and their husbands and a brother of A.P. Singh's son-in-law. Besides Khandelwal, his brother and a managing director of a public limited sugar mill in Moradabad district of UP, have been chargesheeted. In its charge sheet filed in the court of additional sessions judge I.K. Kochar, the CBI has alleged that A.P. Singh, an IAS officer of 1967 batch, allegedly acquired disproportionate assets to the tune of Rs 2.88 crore during the period April 1982 to March 1998. — PTI
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New Delhi/ Indore, March 28 Meanwhile, former SIMI chief Safdar Nagori and 12 other key leaders of the banned outfit, who were arrested from Indore and this neighbouring district during a major crackdown against it, were remanded in police custody till April 11 by a court here today. Nagori, who has been absconding since the outfit was banned in 2001, Shibly Peedical Abdul, wanted in connection with the Mumbai train serial blasts of July 2006 and setting up terror groups in Bangalore, and 11 other members of the group, were brought to the court by the sleuths of the Special Task Force (STF). According to the Madhya Pradesh Police, a large cache of weapons and inflammable SIMI literature were seized from them during the raids in Indore and Dhar districts of the state. They have been charged by the police with various sections of the Indian Penal Code, including Section 122 (collecting arms with intention of waring a war against the Indian government) and Section 153A (promoting enmity between classes) and Sections 25 and 27 of the Arms Act. Tight security arrangements were made as they were produced in the court of Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM) S.S. Thakur, who passed the remand order. — PTI
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Top SIMI leaders get police remand
Dhar (MP), March 28 Nagori, who has been absconding since the outfit was banned in 2001, Shibly Peedical Abdul, wanted in connection with the Mumbai train serial blasts of July 2006 and setting up terror groups in Bangalore, and 11 other members of the group, were brought to the court by the sleuths of the Special Task Force (STF). According to the Madhya Pradesh Police, a large cache of weapons and inflammable SIMI literature were seized from them during the raids in Indore and Dhar districts of the state. They have been charged by the police with various sections of the Indian Penal Code, including Section 122 (collecting arms with intention of waring a war against the Indian government) and Section 153A (promoting enmity between classes) and Sections 25 and 27 of the Arms Act. Tight security arrangements were made as they were produced in the court of Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM) S.S. Thakur, who passed the remand order. Among others nabbed during the two-day raids by the police that began on Wednesday, were Safdar Nagori’s brother Kamruddin Nagori, chief of the outfit’s operations in Andhra Pradesh, and Hafiz of Karnataka. Workers of the Bhartiya Janata Yuva Morcha staged a protest against the banned outfit outside the court premises where large number of people were gathered.
— PTI
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Two Indian soldiers missing in US
New Delhi, March 28 The army contingent involved in the joint exercise with American troops at a Camp Pendleton in California found that two of its men - Sanjay Mahato and Santosh Thapa - were missing, sources in the external affairs ministry said. The troops were participating in exercise “Shatrujeet” (victory over enemy). The exercise was part of expanding Indo-US defence cooperation, and it was in 2005 that a team had gone to Camp Pendleton for the first time. The next year, US Marines came to India for an exercise at Belgaum. Immediately, the authorities got in touch with the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) for assistance in locating the two men, who were being treated on “absent without leave”, the sources said, adding that assistance was also sought from the Indian Consulate in San Francisco which took up the matter with the local State Department. However, with nearly 10 days having passed by, the Indian mission was now going to take up the matter with the US State Department to press authorities in Los Angeles to help trace the two soldiers, the sources said. — PTI 
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Foreigners banned from buying land in Goa
Panaji, March 28 Moving the Bill, finance minister Dayanand Narvekar said the government had detected more than 482 cases of foreigners buying land in Goa and all were referred to the concerned authorities for scrutiny whether they adhered to the RBI guidelines or not. He said the Indian registration was under the concurrent list and Goa had every right to amend the Act suitably to prohibit foreigners, including foreign firms, from buying land in the state. The members also pointed out how the government was allowing foreigners doing jobs and businesses in Goa, particularly in tourist places and some foreign companies taking over the land on purchase of Indian companies. The minister assured them that all these aspects would be examined once the law comes into force.
— UNI
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Ex-MLA booked for beating man Pak movie in Indian cinemas Anteater sighted
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