The Tribune...Spotlight

			Sunday, July 19, 1998
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Bodo militants kill 7 cops
GUWAHATI, July 18 (PTI) — Bodo militants killed seven Assam Police personnel in an ambush in lower Assam’s Kokarajhar district last night before fleeing with a huge quantity of arms and ammunition into the thick jungles, a top state government official said today. Armed with automatic weapons, militants ambushed the personnel on the Jharbari road and killed all, including Assistant Commandant, Iron Thapa, on the spot, Kokrajhar Deputy Commissioner N. Thadou told PTI over phone.

Pak rejects offer
ISLAMABAD, July 18 (PTI) — Pakistan today rejected India’s offer of the no-first-use of nuclear weapons agreement describing it as "self-serving" and said it was important for Islamabad to have "credible deterrence" in view of New Delhi’s "conventional superiority". It said the stalled official level talks to resolve all outstanding bilateral issues should be resumed immediately on "agreed basis". The offer of the agreement "is a clever proposal and it is not a serious proposition as they know our position very well", Pakistan Foreign Office spokesman Tariq Altaf said.
1 killed in clash
MIDNAPORE, July 18 (PTI) — One woman was killed and 15 injured in a clash between supporters of the CPM and the Trinamool Congress at Chaipur village in West Bengal’s Midnapore district last night, the police said today. Of the 15 injured, four including two Trinamool Congress supporters were injured in the police firing when the police resorted to 10 rounds of fire to disperse activists of both the parties. The clash occurred on the issue of distribution of deeds of land in the area.
Temple ‘at any cost’
VISAKHAPATNAM, July 18 (PTI) — Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) secretary-general Acharya Giriraj Kishore today asserted the Ram temple would be constructed at Ayodhya "at any cost" by the year 2001. Giriraj Kishore, who is here to take part in a two-day "prant karyakarini" meeting, told newspersons so far the Ram Temple Niyas (Trust) had collected Rs 8.57 crore for the purpose of construction.
Microlithic site
MADURAI, July 18 (PTI) — Archaeologists have stumbled upon a 10-acre microlithic site, dating back to 4000 BC, at Agastheeswaram taluk in Kanyakumari district of Tamil Nadu recently. The finding, besides proving that pre-historic period had begun much earlier than 4000 BC, has also given rise to a new school of thought that people had migrated from the southern-most part of the peninsula to other parts of Tamil Nadu, official sources said here. The finding follows earlier discoveries of a microlithic site at Muttom and a neolithic site at Mylaudi.
Flood situation grim
GUWAHATI, July 18 (PTI) — The overall flood situation in Assam continued to be grim today even as the Brahmaputra and its tributaries were receding in some of the affected 19 districts of the state. The flood has so far claimed 24 lives, taking the death toll due to flood fury to 75, official sources said here, adding that more than 25 lakh people were affected in 3,000 villages. The situation in the worst-hit Dhemaji and Nalbari districts remained grim with the rivers flowing above the danger level and several villages still submerged.
Telecom satellite
BEIJING, July 18 (PTI) — China today successfully launched a telecommunications satellite made in France using the "Long March" carrier rocket. The Sinosat-1 telecommunications satellite manufactured by Aerospatiale of France lifted off from the Xichang satellite launch centre in southwest China’s Sichuan province this evening, the official news agency Xinhua reported.
Warrant cancelled
NEW DELHI, July 18 (UNI) — Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Sangeeta Dhingra Sehgal today cancelled the non-bailable warrant issued earlier to former Union Minister K. Krishna Kumar in a FERA violation case. The warrant was withdrawn after Mr Krishna Kumar appeared before the court and explained his non-appearance before the investigating authorities was because of non-receipt of communication about the date.