tribuneindia...Spotlight

			Monday, March 15, 1999
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US warplanes strike Iraq
ANKARA, March 14 (AFP) — US warplanes taking off from the Incirlik air base in southern Turkey struck Iraqi targets in the northern no-fly zone today, a statement issued from the base said. "At approximately 12:45 pm local time (2.45 IST) Operation Northern Watch aircraft responded in self-defence to Iraqi threats," the statement said. It said further details would be released later. Baghdad has never recognised the exclusion zones which were imposed by the USA and its allies after the 1991 Gulf war to protect Iraq’s Kurdish and Shiite minorities. The northern no-fly zone is patrolled by planes taking off from Incirlik, while the southern exclusion zone is monitored by planes based in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait.

China dismisses allegation
BEIJING, March 14 (PTI) — China today dismissed allegation that it stole American nuclear weapons technology as "fabricated" and accused anti-China forces within the USA of launching a "farce" to jeopardise next month’s visit of Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji to Washington. Criticising a section of the American media, especially The New York Times, for publishing the story on China’s alleged theft of nuclear technology, the official Xinhua news agency said, "anyone who has no prejudice against China will find himself duped, since not even an ounce of hard evidence has been provided to support the allegation.

Khokarpar rail border
ISLAMABAD, March 14 (PTI) — Pakistan has denied any possibility of the reopening of the Khokrapar railway border for the time being despite India’s willingness to open the rail link that would connect Rajasthan with Sindh province. When asked by mediapersons here yesterday whether Islamabad was considering, the option, Pakistani Foreign Office spokesman Tariq Altaf dismissed the idea saying, "not at the moment."

Tension in Kherli
JAIPUR, March 14 (PTI) — The situation in Kherli town in Rajasthan’s Alwar district, where a boy lost his life yesterday in police firing, continued to be "tense but under control" on the second day, a police spokesman said here today. He said heavy police force under the supervision of senior police officials were keeping round-the-clock vigil. The police had made elaborate arrangements for the cremation of the body at his native village today, the spokesman said.

Sikh Regiment
NEW DELHI, March 14 (PTI) — The Sikh Regiment, one of the oldest and most distinguished regiments of the Indian Army, today held a "meeting of generations" with about 128 retired army personnel sharing their experiences with young, serving officers. The 176-year-old regiment, recipient of many gallantry awards, arranges such meetings on special occasions to "boost the morale of the young personnel and knit the retired officers into a family unit", Army sources said here. The meeting, was organised by the 124 TA Infantry Battalion (Sikh).

Train mishap
CALCUTTA, March 14 (PTI) — Three persons received minor injuries when 12 coaches of the Howrah-Secunderabad Falaknama Express jumped the rails between Gangadharpur and Balugaon stations yesterday, a south-eastern railway press note said today. Railway General Manager R.N. Malhotra along with other senior officers and doctors rushed to the derailment site, 518 km off Howrah. Tracks were cleared at 5 p.m. today, Senior Public Relations Officer R. Mahapatra said.

Bihar Governor to take oath today
PATNA, March 14 (UNI) — The Patna High Court Chief Justice, Mr Justice Brij Mohan Lal, will take oath as Acting Governor of Bihar tomorrow. Patna High Court Registrar General Prabhat Kumar Sinha said the oath would be administered at Raj Bhavan at 1.15 p.m. The senior most judge of the court, Mr Justice J N Dubey, will administer the oath. After the appointment of Mr Chief Justice Lal as Governor, Mr Justice Dubey will take over as Acting Chief Justice of the high court, he added.

DD sports channel
KOLHAPUR, March 14 (PTI) — The Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting, Mr Pramod Mahajan, today said Doordarshan would introduce a new sports channel from March 18. The sports channel would beam its programme to about 32 different countries, the minister told reporters here.