tribuneindia...Spotlight

			Friday, November 13, 1998
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Balayogi opens expo in Russia
MOSCOW, Nov 12 (PTI) — The Lok Sabha Speaker, Mr G.M.C. Balayogi, and the Chairman of Russian parliament Duma, Mr Gennady Seleznyov, today inaugurated a special exhibition of the history and activities of Indian Parliament in the Lower House of Russian Federal Assembly (Parliament). The exhibition, devoted to the history and functioning of the top legislative body of the ‘friendly’ India in the Duma building, is an important event in the history of the relations of the two countries and marked the beginning of a new chapter, Mr Seleznyov said in his inaugural speech. This was for the first time Indian Parliament is holding such an exhibition abroad, the New Indian Ambassador in Moscow, Mr S.K. Lambah said. A seven member parliamentary delegation led by Mr Balayogi arrived here earlier today on a six-day official visit to Russia at the invitation of Mr Seleznyov.
15 prisoners flee
KOHIMA, Nov 12 (PTI) — In a daring jailbreak, 15 undertrials, including an underground activist, today escaped from the Kohima district jail after overpowering two prison staffers, official sources said. However, three of them were immediately arrested from different parts of the town. Eight personnel of the Nagaland police, who manned the main gate of the prison, were taken into custody for dereliction of duty. The inmates escaped by overpowering the two jail staffers while they were entering the complex with rations for prisoners.

Fodder scam
PATNA, Nov 12 (PTI) — A CBI court today permitted the Enforcement Directorate to interrogate ‘kingpin’ of the fodder scam S.B. Sinha and RJD MLA R.K. Rana for their alleged involvement in violation of FERA. The Special Judge, Mr S.K. Lal, of the CBI designated court directed ED counsel, Mr Harischandra Prasad, to give a 24-hour prior notice to the accused persons for interrogation in Beur central jail. The CBI court today also declared three persons as absconders in the case and ordered initiation of property attachment process against them. The three accused are Umesh Dubey, Chandrasekhar Dubey and B.P. Singh.
JMM bribery case
NEW DELHI, Nov 12 (UNI) — The Centre today filed a petition in the Supreme Court seeking review of its judgement in the JMM bribery case which held that the MP who received bribe and voted in favour of the P.V. Narasimha Rao government had protection under Article 105 2 of the Constitution, but not those who paid it. The impugned judgement was delivered on April 17 by a five-judge Constitution Bench, of which two members have already retired. The filing of the review petition was brought to the notice of a three-judge Bench comprising Mr Justice M.K. Mukherjee, Mr Justice S.B. Pattnaik and Mr Justice S.P. Kurdukar during the resumed hearing of appeals of many accused, including former Prime Minister P.V. Narasimha Rao, in the JMM bribery case.
Smuggling charge
NEW DELHI, Nov 12 (PTI) — The CBI has chargesheeted three persons from Rajasthan for allegedly trying to smuggle out huge quantity of charas valued at over Rs 17 crore in the international market in June this year, the bureau said here today. The charge sheet, filed by the CBI’s economic offences branch in the special court in Mumbai, accused Anil Kothari, a resident of Ajmer and Ram Pratap Singh and Abid Ali of Jaipur of having procured and transported 845.200 kg of charas from Jaipur to Mumbai for sending it abroad. Cartons containing narcotic drugs concealed in leather jackets were seized on June 15 this year in Mumbai.
Yeltsin’s decree
LONDON, Nov 12 (ANI) — President Boris Yeltsin has ordered his Prime Minister to find money from private sources to destroy Russia’s massive stockpile of chemical weapons. Yeltsin’s decree came amid concerns about the cost of destroying Russia’s 44,000 tonnes of deteriorating chemical weapons, the largest stockpile in the world.
70 killed
KABUL, Nov 12 (AFP) — Seventy civilians were killed and more than 100 injured during Taliban aerial bombardments at Talogan in north Afghanistan, opposition sources said today. A further 38 residents were shot dead in neighbouring Takhtar and Koprak villages as the militia was forced into retreat by forces loyal to ethnic Tajik commander Ahmad Shah Masood, they said. "Thirteen of the dead villagers had their hands tied," a source said. The bombings were a precursor to a Taliban offensive on the strategic city of Talogan, launched last morning and signalling a bloody end to a two-week cease-fire.
Sukhoi fighters
MOSCOW, Nov 12 (PTI) — Russia will not sell the state-of-the-art Sukhoi SU-30MK multi-role fighters to China or any other country in India’s neighbourhood, a senior defence official today asserted. "The Chinese are seeking the SU-30MK version acquired by India. But to their great discontent, we have refused to sell them to Beijing," a senior official of the Sukhoi Design Bureau said.