tribuneindia...Spotlight

			Tuesday, September 14, 1999
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5 excise men held taking bribe
NEW DELHI, Sept 13 (PTI) — The Anti-corruption Branch of the CBI has arrested five officials of the Central Excise Department, Mumbai, for allegedly accepting a bribe of Rs 4,000. The arrested persons include a superintendent, two inspectors, one havildar and a driver, a CBI release said today. The accused were arrested after a trap was laid by CBI sleuths on the basis of a complaint from a steel products manufacturer that the officials were extorting money under the guise of anti-evasion operations.

Pak to get stalled IMF loan
ISLAMABAD, Sept 13 (AP) — Pakistan is expected to receive $ 280 million from the International Monetary Fund next month, long delayed following the Kargil conflict, IMF and government officials said today. The money is part of the two-year $ 1.6 billion loan negotiated last year by Pakistan. The $ 280 million instalment was originally supposed to be given in July.

Albania rocked
TIRANA, Sept 13 (DPA) — An earthquake measuring 4 points on the Richter scale hit central Albania today, the Albanian Seismological Institute announced. There were no immediate reports of casualties or material damage. The epicentre of the quake, was located in the town of Ballsh, about 125 km south of the capital Tirana.

Van carrying 14 buried
TUBA, (Philippines), Sept 13 (AP) — A landslide set off by torrential rain buried a van carrying at least 14 person on a mountainous Philippines road today, the police said. Rescuers dug out five bodies and pulled one survivor from the vehicle. The police and firefighters battled heavy rain to rescue other occupants of the van.

Fighter plane crashes
JAIPUR, Sept 13 (PTI) — A MIG 21 fighter aircraft of the Indian Air Force crashed near Dhortiya village in Rajasthan’s Barmer district today, the police said here. The plane, on a routine training flight, caught fire due to some technical snag while preparing to land. The pilot bailed out safely.

Turkey quake
ISTANBUL, Sept 13 (Reuters) — Two persons were killed in a powerful aftershock measuring 5.8 on the Richter scale that hit northwest Turkey today, almost four weeks after an earthquake in the same region killed at least 15,500 persons. State-run Anatolian news agency said one person had died in the province of Kocaeli, the centre of the quake, and another had died from a heart attack in the nearby city of Adapazari.

VIP sirens
NEW DELHI, Sept 13 (PTI) — The Delhi High Court today asked the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) and Delhi Police to furnish a list of VIPs authorised to use "sirens" on vehicles and granted them more time for submitting replies to a plea seeking to stop challaning of vehicles straying on VIP routes. The court was hearing a petition by six professionals, including Delhi School of Economics (DSE) professor Shreekant Gupta, who was allegedly manhandled and challaned by the police when he found himself driving ahead of the Delhi Lt Governor’s motorcade on July 23.

Public justice
INDORE, Sept 13 (PTI) — Three notorious dacoits were beaten to death by the public at Sullakhedi village near here last night. The police said today that the dacoits, against whom a number of criminal cases were registered, reached the village last night in a tractor but were attacked by the villagers, who outnumbered them.