tribuneindia...Spotlight

			Thursday, March 18, 1999
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Yeltsin's orders vetoed
MOSCOW, March 17 (AFP) — Russia's Upper House of Parliament today refused to confirm the dismissal of the country's top prosecutor, voting overwhelmingly against a sacking order issued last month by President Boris Yeltsin. Governors and regional chiefs in the Federation Council voted by 143 against just six in favour of Mr Yeltsin's dismissal on February 2 of Prosecutor General Yury Skuratov. An applause broke out when the result was announced. Mr Yeltsin needed the Upper House's approval for his decision to become final.

Helicopter crash
MOSCOW, March 17 (AFP) — Nineteen persons were killed in a helicopter crash in the Kamchatka peninsula of far east Russia, Itar-Tass said today, quoting the Ministry for Emergencies. Seven persons survived the accident late yesterday and were taken to hospital. Four of them were in serious condition, the report said. The helicopter was carrying 26 persons when it came down at a site on the western coast of Kamchatka, not far from where the aircraft had taken off. It was not known that caused the crash.

LTTE detonates mine
COLOMBO, March 17 — (ANI) — At least six persons were killed and two injured when the guerrillas of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) detonated a mine in northern Sri Lanka today. A spokesman of the Defence Ministry said among the deceased were five soldiers and a policeman. The incident took place when soldiers were on a road-clearing patrol, 220 km northeast of Colombo. Meanwhile, the police has arrested 15 suspected LTTE guerrillas in connection with last night's suicide bomb attack which killed at least four persons and wounded five. The incident took place when a suspected LTTE woman suicide bomber jumped on to the car of Mr M Nilabdeen, head of the anti-terrorism unit of the Mount Lavinia police division.

Nepal fires kill 32
KATHMANDU, March 17 (AFP) — Fires raging in Nepalese forests and villages in the past two weeks have claimed the lives of 32 persons and destroyed more than 800 homes, officials said today. "In a village in Sankhuwasabha district 12 persons died on Friday last when fire that engulfed a nearby jungle also burnt down two houses, killing the people, most of them children," the disaster relief chief said." A long and dry spell and windy conditions have helped spread the fire at different places," he said.

Rocket attack
KARACHI, March 17 (AFP) — Three workers were killed in a rocket attack on the camp of a local road construction company in Pakistan's south-western province of Baluchistan, the police said today. Several rockets were fired yesterday at the camp located near Othal, 150 km west of here. The police said the reason for the attack was not known, but sources in the area said it followed demands by tribesmen wary of strangers that the company should stop removing rocks from hills.

CBI gives clean chit to Tytler
NEW DELHI, March 17 (PTI) — The CBI has given a clean chit to former Union Minister and senior Congress leader Jagdish Tytler in a 1984 anti-Sikh riot case, saying no evidence was found against him. Recommending closure of the case against Mr Tytler, the then Congress MP, and two police officials, the CBI said "no evidence could come on record regarding their alleged involvement" in the case. Following filing of the closure report, Chief Metropolitan Magistrate R.K. Gauba today issued notices to the complainants who had filed writ petitions in the Delhi High Court.