tribuneindia...Spotlight

			Saturday, June 12, 1999
weather today's calendar

Pak releases 109 fishermen
KARACHI, June 11 (AFP) — Around 109 Indian fishermen left for their country today after Pakistan released them amid heightened tensions in Kargil sector, officials said. A Pakistan maritime security agency ship escorted the Indian fishermen to the high sea. The fishermen were arrested last year for illegally fishing in Pakistani waters. Mr J.J. Parmar, Deputy Director of India’s Fisheries Department who arrived here last week to receive the fishermen, thanked the Pakistani authorities for keeping the Indians in "good condition."
4 trainee pilots die in crash
VARANASI, June 11 (PTI) — Four pilots, one of them a woman, were killed when their aircraft crashed near Karahia village in Ghazipur district following a technical snag this afternoon, the police said. Three of the pilots were trainees, the police said, adding, the aircraft belonging to the Indira Gandhi Flying Academy in Fursatganj, Rae Bareli, was on its way to Patna when it developed technical snag.

Russian troops
BELGRADE, June 11 (Reuters, UNI) — NATO and Russian forces swept towards Kosovo today in a race to enter the ravaged province as Serbian troops retreated. Russian peacekeepers crossed the border from Bosnia into Yugoslavia and headed towards Kosovo in a move that caught the West by surprise. NATO sources said the alliance had begun its own deployment to Kosovo but could not immediately say if its troops had already entered.
MOSCOW: Earlier Russian military experts called off their talks with NATO after an emergency meeting of its general staff. Senior staff member General Leonid Lvashov affirmed that the Russian peacekeeping force would in no case function under the NATO umbrella. The Russian contingent of KFOR would form part of the main Russian peacekeeping force, he said.
Korean sea issue
SEOL, June 11 (AFP) — The United Nations command today proposed a meeting of us and North Korean generals to discuss a tense military stand-off in the Yellow Sea. The offer of dialogue in the border truce village of Panmunjom came with accusations that North Korea had intruded into waters south of its off-limit line. A strong warning was given by the UN command since the standoff between North and South Korean military vessels began on Monday in a buffer zone off the west coast.
6 killed in Russia
SAINT PETERSBURG, June 11 (AFP) — Six persons were killed and 16 injured when a 15-tonne concrete slab over the entrance to a subway station here crumbled and crashed down during the evening rush hour, rescue workers told AFP. The accident at Senaya Square subway station in the city yesterday was probably due to poor maintenance of the structure, built in 1962, said Alexander Snezhkov of the local emergencies committee.
Lightning kills 6
JAMSEHDPUR, June 11 (PTI) — Six persons, including three children, died and eight injured when lightning struck them at Barangao village in West Singhbhum district, official sources today said. The victims, who were all shepherds, had taken shelter under a tree amid heavy rains yesterday when lightning struck them. The six died on the spot. Injured were admitted to hospital.
Prasar Bharati chief
NEW DELHI, June 11 (PTI) — Mr Rajiv Ratna Shah, Additional Secretary with Information and Broadcasting Ministry, was today appointed the new Acting Chief Executive Officer of Prasar Bharati. He takes over from Mr O.P. Kejariwal, who has been the Acting CEO since August last. Mr Kejariwal has been transferred as Director, Nehru Memorial Museum and Library.
ANC minister quits
JOHANNESBURG, June 11 (PTI) — A prominent African National Congress (ANC) member of Indian origin and a Cabinet Minister has resigned from his post and announced to quit public life. The minister of Posts and Telecommunications, Mr Jay Naidoo, 44, in a statement here, said he would quit parliamentary politics at the end of current term due to personal reasons. Mac Maharaj, another minister of Indian origin, had recently announced his intention to resign as the Minister of Transport.
Augusto Pinochet
MADRID, June 11 (DPA) — Former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet has decided to extend his legal battle from Britain to Spain, the Madrid daily El Pais said today. Mr Pinochet, who was detained in London last October, is hoping to prevent his extradition to Spain on charges of terrorism, torture and genocide. Mr Pinochet’s lawyers had taken legal action against extradition only in Britain, fearing that proceedings in Spain would weaken their argument that Spanish jurisdiction does not extend to Chile.