tribuneindia...Spotlight

			Thursday, September 16, 1999
weather today's calendar

Natwar seeks PM’s clarification
NEW DELHI, Sept 15 (PTI) — Congress leader K. Natwar Singh today asked Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee to clarify whether he had struck a "secret deal" with his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif on Jammu and Kashmir. His poser came following claims made by former Pakistani Foreign Secretary Niaz Naik that Mr Vajpayee and Mr Sharif were engaged in "back channel diplomacy" prior to the Kargil conflict and that they would have "resolved" the Kashmir issue by October but for the intrusions.

Sonia’s rally
ALIGARH, Sept 15 (PTI) — Congress President Sonia Gandhi was today not allowed to hold a rally at the exhibition ground here where Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee is scheduled to address a meeting tomorrow. UP Congress General Secretary Pradeep Mathur claimed that the party had sought permission to hold the meeting, but sources said "security drill does not permit" any other gathering at the same site 24 hours before a meeting of the Prime Minister.

21 LTTE men killed
COLOMBO, Sept 15 (Reuters) — Sri Lankan troops killed 21 Tamil Tiger rebels in fresh clashes in the country's north, the Defence Ministry said today. It said Russian-built MI 24 helicopter gunships engaged a "suspected terrorists" concentration while army commandos captured and destroyed rebel defence positions.

Flood toll 285
PATNA, Sept 15 (UNI) — The swollen Ganga flooded more than 15 villages in Samastipur district as the toll in the natural calamity in Bihar rose to 285 today. A report said over 50,000 persons had been affected by the current wave of flood as the Ganges inundated low-lying areas of the district.

Taliban offensive
PESHAWAR, (Pakistan) Sept 15 (DPA) — Jets from Afghanistan's Taliban regime have bombed the opposition stronghold town of Taloqan in the country's north and killed 15 persons the Afghan Islamic Press agency reported today. It said Taliban jets flew at least three bombing sorties, the last this afternoon, to hit Taloqan.

Naxals surrender
HYDERABAD, Sept 15 (UNI) — Top leader of the CPI(ML) Praja Prathighatna (Lakknavaram Dalam) T. Srinivas and his deputy, K. Krishna, today surrendered before the Superintendent of Police, Warangal, along with five other Naxalites, including a woman.

Gorbachev's wife
MUENSTER, (Germany), Sept 15 (DPA) — Mrs Raisa Gorbachev, (67), wife of former Soviet head of state Mikhail Gorbachev, was in a critical condition today in the intensive care ward of Muenster University Clinic in Germany. The doctors who is treating her for leukaemia said anything could happen.

New EU executive
STRASBOURG (France), Sept 15 (Reuters) — European Parliament approved Romano Prodi's new European commission today, ending a six-month crisis that had paralysed the European Union executive. Parliament voted by 404 to 153, with 37 abstentions, to confirm the 20-member commission for a five-year term to January 22, 2005, despite criticisms voiced about several of the new commissioners.

40 killed in Lanka
COLOMBO, Sept 15 (PTI) — Eighteen LTTE rebels and 22 civilians were killed in different incidents of confrontation between the Sri Lankan troops and the rebels in the north even as the army conducted a limited offensive in the northern Paranthan today to secure strategic locations. An army press note here said 18 rebels including five women cadre of the LTTE were killed in sporadic clashes between the rebels and the army in the north.

99 die of encephalitis
GORAKHPUR, Sept 15 (UNI) — Ninetynine persons, mostly children, have died of encephalitis in eastern Uttar Pradesh districts with 619 others fighting for survival in hospitals. According to official sources, 30 children died in Khishinagar district where 164 persons have been affected. In Maharajganj 14 persons have died and 150 admitted to hospitals, while in Gorakhpur 26 children have died and 153 admitted to hospitals. Unofficial estimates say, so far more than 250 encephalitis patients have died in eastern Uttar Pradesh.