tribuneindia...Spotlight

			Saturday, June 19, 1999
weather today's calendar

15 die in mishap
PATNA, June 18 (UNI) — At least 15 persons were killed when a tractor-trailer came in the way of a speeding train at an unmanned level crossing at Dharmania near Sugauli railway station in East Champaran district in Bihar late tonight. State Director-General of Police K.A. Jacob told UNI here that the ill-fated tractor was carrying a marriage party. He said senior railway officials have reached the spot.

Pilot missing after MiG-21 crashes
GUWAHATI, June 18 (PTI) — The pilot of a MiG-21 fighter jet of the Indian Air Force is missing after the aircraft crashed into deep jungles in Assam’s Karbi Anglong district during a routine mission last evening, defence sources said today. The aircraft which took off from Tezpur in Sonitpur district with Flt-Lt Mishra at the controls went down around 5.30 p.m. yesterday over a reserve forest between Dolamara in Karbi Anglong district and Kohora range of the Kaziranga National Park in Golaghat district, the sources said here. Though the pilot was yet to be found, the wreckage was spotted during a search this morning by IAF helicopters.

ISI agent held
PUNE, June 18 (PTI) — Officials of the Intelligence Bureau and the military authorities are interrogating a suspected Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agent of Pakistan, holed up in the city to get vital defence information.The police stumbled upon the prize catch after the arrest last week of his wife Zaheeda Karachi, at Kolhapur on charges of overstaying in India. On interrogation, she admitted that her husband was working for the ISI. The accused, Sayeed Ahmed, alias Mohammad Desai (42), was arrested yesterday following a tip-off.

Alfonsin serious
BUENOS AIRES, June 18 (Reuters) — Former President Raul Alfonsin, who steered Argentina back to civilian rule after a brutal seven-year military dictatorship, is in intensive care after a road accident in Rio Negro province, some 1,000 km south-west of here, yesterday, a medical report said. Alfonsin, 72, suffered lung injuries and was linked to machinery to help him breathe, said the report obtained by Reuters.

Parthasarathi
NEW DELHI, June 18 (PTI) — Mr Mr Ashok Parthasarathi, Secretary, National Commission for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, has been elected a member of the governing board of the South Centre in Geneva. Well-known scientist and former Secretary to the Ministry of Non-Conventional Energy Sources, Mr Parthasarathi is the first Indian to be elected with a three-year term to the 10-member governing board of this prestigious international body, a South Centre release said here today.

Envoy to Bulgaria
NEW DELHI, June 18 (PTI) — Ms Nilima Mitra, at present Joint Secretary in the External Affairs Ministry, has been appointed the next Ambassador of India to Bulgaria. She is expected to take up her new assignment shortly, an official release said.

Narrow escape
PATNA, June 18 (UNI) — Passengers aboard a Delhi-bound Sahara Airlines flight had a narrow escape today when it collided with a stationary Indian Airlines aircraft while taxiing at the Patna airport. Airport sources said the IA Boeing, stationed at the airport following some technical snag, was hit by the Sahara plane which was taxiing on the tarmac. No one was injured in the incident, they said.

Iraqi sites
ANKARA, June 18 (AP) — U.S. warplanes today bombed an Iraqi radar facility after being fired upon by Iraqi forces in the northern no-fly zone, U.S. military announced. U.S. Air Force F-16s and F-15s bombed the radar site, East of the city of Mosul, about 400 km North of Baghdad, Germany-based U.S. European Command said in a statement released on Internet.