tribuneindia...Spotlight

			Sunday, November 1, 1998
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5 dead, 32 hurt in Pak blast
ISLAMABAD, Oct 31 (PTI) — At least five persons were killed and 32 injured, some of them seriously, in a powerful bomb blast on a busy bridge in Pakistan’s Sialkot town today. According to official APP news agency, the five-pound bomb, which was planted in an abandoned bicycle, went off around 8.55 a.m. It said two persons were killed in the blast and 32 injured though NNI news agency claimed that at least five persons had been killed.
Prem Kumar shifted
NEW DELHI, Oct 31 (PTI) — City Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (CMM) Prem Kumar, who was handling many sensitive cases, including that of the Malta boat tragedy, RSS defamation and Rajan Pillai murder, was today transferred as Secretary, Press Council of India (PCI) with immediate effect. Motor Accident Claims Tribunal (MACT) presiding officer at Tis Hazari R.K. Gauba took over as new CMM following a Delhi High Court notification. The high court also transferred Additional Sessions Judge D.S. Bawa from Shahdara as presiding officer of MACT.

Lankan violence
COLOMBO, Oct 31 (PTI) — At least 30 LTTE militants and one naval sailor were killed while 17 navy personnel were reported missing in an intense sea battle in the north-eastern Mullaithivu coast, the Sri Lankan Defence Ministry said today. Six LTTE boats were destroyed and 30 LTTE militants, including two area leaders, killed when a flotilla of LTTE boats attacked a naval craft. The navy also suffered heavy casualties with a sailor being killed, nine sailors being wounded and 17 missing.
Yeltsin powers
MOSCOW, Oct 31 (AFP) — Russian Prime Minister Yevgeni Primakov said today that there was no question of limiting the powers of ailing President Boris Yeltsin, including those over nuclear weapons. "There is no question of it," Primakov told a press conference, ruling out any possibility that he would assume Yeltsin’s powers.
Cong team for Sira
NEW DELHI, Oct 31 (PTI) — Congress president Sonia Gandhi has deputed a two-member team for an on-the-spot study of the situation following police firing in Sira town in Karnataka. The team comprises Balram Jakhar and K.M. Khan, both MPs, an AICC release said here today. The Congress has already asked the state government to initiate an inquiry into the incident.