tribuneindia...Spotlight

			Monday, June 14, 1999
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Auction of ‘INS Vikrant’ deferred
MUMBAI, June 13 (PTI) — Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray has asked Defence Minister George Fernandes to defer the auction of India's first aircraft carrier "INS Vikrant", slated for July 8. Mr Thackeray spoke to Mr Fernandes on June 11 and asked him to stop the auction, sena sources said. Mr Fernandes agreed to defer the auction, they added. Mr Thackeray's intervention followed a meeting he had with activists of the social organisation. Rashtra Chetna led by noted cardiologist Neetu Mandke, the sources said.
Monsoon toll
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, June 13 (UNI) — Heavy rains continued to lash several parts of Kerala for the ninth day today, even as the toll in monsoon-related incidents rose to 19 with one more death reported in the past 24 hours. Official sources said here that Kottayam accounted for the highest number of five deaths, followed by Pathanamthitta (four), Palakkad (three), Ernakulam (two), and Kannur, Kasaragod, Malappuram, Kollam and Thrissur (one each). A 55-year-old man was today drowned in flood waters in Palakkad district. Another person was reportedly swept away in Kannur district.

Nagaland stir
KOHIMA, June 13 (PTI) — The Confederation of All Nagaland State Service Employees Association (CANSSEA) has reaffirmed its resolve to go ahead with the proposed indefinite "total cease work" from tomorrow even as the Nagaland Government urged the employees to review their decision considering the ground realities. The confederation asserted the government maintained a studied silence even after an ultimatum served to it, forcing the staff to resort to fourth phase of agitational programme.
Rao cremated
HYDERABAD, June 13 (UNI) — The mortal remains of former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister and veteran Congress leader Jalagam Vengala Rao, who died here last night, were consigned to flames with full police honours this evening. Amid poignant scenes, the eldest son of Mr Rao lit the pyre at the family's agricultural farm at Turkayamjal on the outskirts of the city.
‘Kashmir Day’
CHENNAI, June 13 (PTI) — The BJP in Tamil Nadu and Kerala has decided to observe June 23 as "Kashmir Day" to express solidarity with soldiers fighting Pakistan-backed infiltrators in the Kargil sector. Senior BJP leader O. Rajagopal told a press conference at Thiruvananthapuram today that Union information Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi would inaugurate the observance at Kozhikode.
Eritreans killed
ADDIS ABABA, June 13 (AFP) — Ethiopian troops have killed, wounded or captured more than 8,200 Eritrean soldiers in fighting in their border war since last Wednesday, the Ethiopian Government claimed today. Eritrea yesterday claimed to have killed 2,300 Ethiopian troops in the fighting, which began on the eastern front on Wednesday, then the western front of the 1,000-km-long border the following day.
India denies Pak charge
NEW DELHI, June 13 (PTI) — India tonight categorically rejected a Pakistani charge that the Army had used chemical shells in artillery attacks across the Line of Control and asserted that Islamabad’s claim was "absolutely false and malicious".
Reacting to the Pakistani charge, a senior army officer said here "we do not use chemical weapons. It is not in our modus operandi or our policy".