tribuneindia...Spotlight

			Saturday, December 11, 1999
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Nobel laureates honoured
STOCKHOLM, Dec 10 (AP) —The winners of the last Nobel prizes this century were honoured today. At the Konserthuset concert hall in Stockholm, in the presence of Sweden’s King and Queen, Guenter Grass was cited for compelling Germans to remember the country’s Nazi past. Serenaded by a symphony orchestra, Grass and the winners of the economics, chemistry, medicine and physics prizes received their awards in an evening ceremony attended by about 1,800 persons. In neighbouring Norway, “Doctors without Borders,” or Medecins Sans Frontiers, accepted the Nobel peace prize earlier today.

Rocket lifts off
KOUROU, (French Guiana) Dec 10 (Reuters) — An Ariane-5 rocket, the latest generation in western Europe’s space programme, lifted off from the Kourou Launchpad in French Guiana on its first commercial flight today. The rocket, designed to launch heavier satellites than the earlier Ariane-4 series, is to place into orbit a 3.9-tonne telescope for the European Space Agency.

Niloufer Bhagwat
MUMBAI, Dec 10 (PTI) — Ms Niloufer Bhagwat, counsel and wife of the sacked Navy chief Vishnu Bhagwat, today said that she would move a special leave petition in the Supreme Court seeking review of the Mumbai High Court’s order dismissing the writ petition praying for his reinstatement. “I will soon be moving the Supreme Court once I have a certified copy of the Mumbai High Court order delivered yesterday”, she said.

S.D. Sharma
NEW DELHI, Dec 10 (UNI) — Former President Shanker Dayal Sharma underwent angioplasty for removal of blockages in his arteries at a private hospital here today. According to family sources, his condition showed improvement after the angioplasty and he is expected to be taken off ventilator in the next few days.

EU membership
HELSINKI, Dec 10 (AFP) — The European Union today reached agreement in principle to finally accept Turkey as a candidate for membership, an EU source said. Already a member of NATO, Turkey tried for 36 years to join the powerful EU block.

Police to pay relief
NEW DELHI, Dec 10 (PTI) —The Delhi High Court today ordered the Delhi Police to pay ad hoc compensation of Rs 2 lakh each to kin of two innocent businessmen killed by the police in the infamous Connaught Place shootout case. It also ordered Rs 1 lakh compensation to those injured in the incident.

9 die in mishap
JAMMU, Dec 10 (PTI) — Nine persons were killed and 15 injured when a bus and a matador collided at Kanthpur, 33 km from here, on the Jammu-Pathankot highway today, the police said. Most of the victims were passengers of the matador. The injured have been hospitalised here.

Tremors near Latur
NEW DELHI, Dec 10 (UNI) — Mild tremors measuring 2.5 on the Richter scale were felt in the Latur region of Maharashtra early this morning. The epicentre of the slight tremor, which occurred at 5.45 a.m. on Friday, lay at 78 degrees latitude and 76 degrees longitude, Mr A.K. Shukla, Director Seismology said. The tremors were too light to cause any damage.

Asian TV award
SINGAPORE, Dec 10 (PTI) — Karan Thapar, a well-known television journalist, has been awarded the Asian Television Award for the best presenter of current affairs programme “On the Record” on Doordarshan.