S P O T L I G H T

11 MLAs suspended
Panaji, March 19
Amid slogan-shouting, the Goa Legislative Assembly today suspended nine Congress and two Goa Peoples’ Congress legislators till March 21. UNI

Bodo ultras kill 6 non-Assamese
Guwahati, March 19
Six non-Assamese persons including three women and two children, were killed and five others injured by militants of the National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB) in lower Assam’s Kamrup district on Sunday, a police official said here on Monday. Mr L.R. Bishnoi, DSP, said a group of NDFB ultras, armed with sophisticated weapons, stormed Ramgaon village on the border between Kamrup and Darrang districts and opened fire, killing three Bengalis and three Santhals on the spot. PTI

5 novels in race for Crossword Award
New Delhi, March 19
Pankaj Mishra’s “The Romantics” and Amitav Ghosh’s “The Glass Palace” are among the five novels shortlisted for the Crossword Book Award-2000 for English fiction. The other nominees are Shashi Deshpande (“Small Remedies”), Susan Visvanathan (“Something Barely”) and Jamyang Norbu (“The Mandala of Sherlock Holmes”). The award, which carries a cash prize of Rs 3,00,000, will be presented in Delhi in the third week of April. UNI