The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

Saturday, April 1, 2000,
Chandigarh, India

THE TRIBUNE SPECIALS

50 YEARS OF INDEPENDENCE

TERCENTENARY CELEBRATIONS

S P O T L I G H T

25 die in road mishap
BANGALORE, March 31 (UNI) — At least 25 persons were killed and 42 others injured when a lorry in which they were travelling rammed into another lorry near Managoli, in Bijapur district of Karnataka, in the wee hours today. The victims, included eight women and 10 children. The passengers were on their way to a place of worship when the mishap occurred.

USA stance
WASHINGTON, March 31 (PTI) — The USA will not support India and back only Japan and Germany for permanent membership of the United Nations Security Council, a top US official said today. Assistant Secretary for International Organisation Affairs C. David gave reporters the US stand on the subject when asked whether the visit of President Bill Clinton to India had made a difference to the US view.

Priya Rajvansh
MUMBAI, March 31 (PTI) — The police has registered a case of murder in connection with the death of actress Priya Rajvansh here on March 27. “We received the post-mortem report last night, which states strangulation as the cause of death”, the Additional Commissioner of Police, Mr Subhash Awte told PTI today.

Ferry mishap in Pak
ISLAMABAD, March 31 (DPA) — Twenty one persons, including several women and children, drowned today when their boat capsized in the Kabul river in north-western Pakistan, the state-run PTV television reported. Eleven persons survived after swimming to safety.

Loan recovery stayed
JAIPUR, March 31 (UNI) — The Rajasthan Cooperative Minister, Mr Khet Singh Rathore, today said the government had stayed the recovery of cooperative loans in drought-affected areas and also issued orders to convert short-term loans into long-term ones.

‘Atlantique’ downing
AMSTERDAM, March 31 (Reuters) — Pakistan will sue India before the world court on Monday for “shooting” down one of its naval planes last year, killing 16 persons. Pakistan is asking the International Court of Justice in the Hague to rule that India was responsible for bringing down its surveillance aircraft, the Atlantique, on August 10. It wants India to pay compensation to Pakistan.

Pension for widows
NEW DELHI, March 31 (PTI) — The Delhi Government would revive the pension scheme for widows of victims of the 1984 anti-Sikh riots and had allocated Rs 40 lakh for the same, Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit announced here today. The government would soon invite applications from the widows who would be paid a pension of Rs 1,000 per month.

10-year jail term
MADRID, March 31 (DPA) — Spain’s National Court today sentenced former banker Mario Conde, 51, a candidate for prime minister in this month’s parliamentary elections, to ten years in prison for embezzlement, judicial sources said.