tribuneindia...Spotlight

			Tuesday, July 28, 1998
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Indian nuns shot
VATICAN CITY, July 27 (AFP) — The Vatican daily today identified three nuns killed in Yemen as two Indian and one Philippines nationals. It said that Sister Tilia and Sister Anetta of India and Sister Michael of the Philippines worked at the Hodeidah Institute which cares for some 100 elderly or handicapped people and is operated by the Missionaries of Charity established by the late Mother Teresa. The three were shot dead today by a mentally ill man.
Laloo given time
PATNA, July 27 (PTI) — CBI Special Judge S.K. Dal today granted one week's time to former Bihar Chief Minister Laloo Prasad Yadav and five others to surrender before his court in a fodder scam case. He, however, rejected the petitions of former Chief Minister Jagannath Mishra and two MLAs seeking non-execution of arrest warrants against them and time to surrender.

New coalition
SHILLONG, July 27 (PTI) — Meghalaya Chief minister B.B. Lyngdoh resigned this morning but was sworn in again in the evening as head of a new three-member coalition ministry formed by the United Democratic Party and Congress. The new coalition, United Parliamentary Party (UPP), replaced United Parliamentary Forum (UPF) comprising the UDP, HSPDP, UDF, BJP and Independents.
Goa Cong expels 5 MLAs
PANAJI, July 27 (PTI) — Five ruling Congress MLA's, including two ministers, were today expelled from the party even as dissidence came to the fore, posing a threat to the Pratap Sing Rane government in Goa. Meanwhile, two opposition MLAs were admitted to the Congress which now has a strength of 20 in the 40-Member House. The five expelled are Mr Chandrakant Chodankar, Dr Carmo Pegado (both ministers), Deputy Speaker, Deumand Rekar, Ms Fatima Desa and Mr Jagdish Acharya, Goa Pradesh Congress Committee chief Shantaram Naik said here.
3 Indian nuns shot
SANAA, July 27 (AFP) — A ‘mentally ill’ man shot dead three Indian nuns working in a hospital in western Yemen today, the police said. The three women were shot in Dar Es-Salaam Hospital in Hodeida. The preliminary findings rule out "any religious motive" for the killing. The killer was a "mental patient" who had previously been a patient in the hospital and wanted "revenge" for his incarceration there.
Misusing aircraft
PATNA, July 27 (PTI) — The Comptroller and Auditor-General of India has indicted Bihar ministers for having made "liberal use" of state aircraft for private purpose in violation of established rules. The latest CAG report for the year ended March, 1997, said Water Resources Minister Jagdanand Singh, and the then Mines Minister, Shanker Prasad Tekriwal — used the planes 118 and 147 times, respectively, during 1995-96 and 1996-97. Mr Tekriwal is the Finance Minister in the Rabri Devi cabinet.
Mediation offered
TOKYO, July 27 (PTI) — Japan’s Prime Minister Designate Keizo Obuchi today offered to mediate to resolve the Indo-Pak standoff on the nuclear issue and said Tokyo could host a meeting of foreign ministers of the two South Asian neighbours for this. "The Pakistani Foreign Minister (Gohar Ayub Khan) has said he does not mind coming to Japan. If an Indian (minister) will also come to Japan, India and Pakistan may discuss the nuclear issue through Japan’s mediation," Mr Obuchi told newspersons here.
B'desh floods
DHAKA, July 27 (Reuters) — Bangladesh’s worst floods in 10 years, which have killed at least 94 persons, are showing no sign of abating quickly despite improvements in some areas, weather officials said today. "Major rivers are still rising despite a welcome lull in rainfall," a meteorology official in Dhaka said. "Rivers will maintain their high level for the next one week or so," he added. The Dhaka weather office said it expected more showers in a few days.
Scientist dead
NEW DELHI, July 27 (PTI) — Eminent scientist and Director of the Indian Institute of Chemical Biology (IICB), Calcutta, Jyotirmoy Das passed away yesterday in Calcutta due to a cardiac arrest, a Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) press note said here today. He is survived by his wife Maya Das and daughter Mausumi Das Chaudhury. Dr Das was an eminent molecular biologist and played an instrumental role in developing a genetically engineered live oral cholera vaccine.
Lok Shakti plea
RANCHO, July 27 (PTI) — Lok Shakti, a constituent of the BJP-led coalition at the Centre, today said the law and order situation in Bihar warranted immediate imposition of President’s rule and the Centre should be held responsible for delaying such an action. "Bihar is in every way fit for the use of Article 356," central observer of the party B.R. Patil and state unit president Gajendra Prasad Himanshu told reporters here.
Laloo moves SC
NEW DELHI, July 27 (UNI) — Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) supremo Laloo Prasad Yadav today moved the Supreme Court challenging the Patna High Court order dismissing his plea for quashing the designated CBI court order directing him to surrender in the court before July 27 in connection with the multi-crore rupee fodder scam. Mr Yadav filed a special leave petition (SLP) against the order of Mr Justice Naresh Kumar Sinha who had directed the former Chief Minister to surrender before the designated CBI court tomorrow or on Monday.
MIG-21 crashes
DIBRUGARH, July 27 (PTI) — A MIG-21 fighter plane of the Indian Air Force today crashed at the Balijan tea estate in Assam’s Dibrugarh district, official sources said here. The pilot and a trainer bailed out to safety with minor injuries. Details were not immediately available as the tea estate is in the interior parts of the district, the sources added.
No to C'swami plea
NEW DELHI, July 27 (PTI) — The Delhi High Court today dismissed a petition of controversial godman Chandraswami seeking permission to go abroad for medical treatment. Mr Justice J.B. Goel in his eight-page order said, "In view of the material available, it cannot be said that the treatment for his ailments is not available in India." Chandraswami, facing trial in several cases, including the St Kitts forgery and Lakhubhai Pathak cheating cases, had sought the high court’s permission to go to France and the USA for treatment of his reported mulitple ailments including hypertension and acute diabetes.