tribuneindia...Spotlight

			Monday, August 3, 1998
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Ties with USA intact: Hasina
DHAKA, Aug 2 (AFP) — Bangladesh’s refusal to allow visa-free access for US troops on mercy missions would not affect its ties with the USA, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Wajed said. "Existing Bangladesh-US relations are far better than anytime in the past. Relations between the two countries would improve further in future," she told newsmen on Saturday. Bangladesh last week refused to sign the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) which would have allowed visa-free access for US troops on mercy missions.
Quake in China
BEIJING, Aug 2 (PTI) — A severe earthquake measuring 6.0 on the Richter scale on Sunday shook the quake-prone Jiashi county in North-West China’s Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region. Damage caused by the quake is still not known, according to Xinhua. The quake struck the region at 1240 hrs local time (1010 hrs IST).

Graft case dropped
COLOMBO, Aug 2 (AFP) — Sri Lanka’s former defence chief has been acquitted in a bribery case because the indictment against him was not issued by the proper authority, court officials here said on Sunday. General Hamilton Wanasinghe (retd) was indicted in April 1996, but the Colombo High Court on Friday found the charges of bribery against him were not made by the independent commissioner, officials said. They said a mandatory certificate to proceed with the case had not been made by the independent commissioner so the case had to be dropped.
Chetia case
DHAKA, Aug 2 (PTI) — A special tribunal court on Sunday deferred to August 20 the recording of evidence by prosecution witnesses on charges framed against ULFA leader Anup Chetia in two specific cases due to the absence of a key witness. The presiding judge, Shahed Nuruddin, fixed August 20 for the next hearing of the case. Public prosecutor prayed for time as the complainant and the key witness, Fariduddin, a Sub-Inspector of Mohammadpur police station in the city, failed to turn up.
Telecom rates
COLOMBO, Aug 2 (PTI) — Sri Lanka on Sunday blamed India and Nepal for the failure of SAARC summit to reach an understanding on lowering the telecom tariffs in the South Asian region. Citing reasons for the failure, Lankan Telecom Department senior officials said refusal of New Delhi and Kathmandu to agree to the Sri Lankan proposal to lower the telecom tariff from an average accounting rate of 80 US cents per minute to 70 led to the impasse.
Russia’s N-plants
MOSCOW, Aug 2 (DPA) — Russia plans to build eight new nuclear power plants by 2010, supplementing the nine already on line, according to Interfax news agency. The agency cited the rosenergoatom nuclear power firm as saying three new power plants would be finished by 2000 at Rostov, Kalinin and Kursk. The others will be built in stages elsewhere.