The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

Friday, March 3, 2000,
Chandigarh, India

THE TRIBUNE SPECIALS

50 YEARS OF INDEPENDENCE

TERCENTENARY CELEBRATIONS

S P O T L I G H T

Manipur Ministry sworn in
IMPHAL, March 2 (UNI) — Mr W. Nipamacha Singh was today sworn in as Chief Minister of Manipur heading a 34-member two-tier coalition ministry. The swearing-in ceremony scheduled for 10.45 a.m. was deferred till 3.30 p.m. following the Chief Minister designate’s failure to submit the list of ministers. Governor Ved Marwah administered the oath of office and secrecy to the ministers. Of the 34 members in the Council of Ministers, 23 are of Cabinet rank and 11 Ministers of State. Mr L Chandramani Singh will be Deputy Chief Minister while five Ministers of state will hold independent charge.

10 killed in ambush
MANILA, March 2 (DPA) — At least 10 soldiers and pro-government militiamen were killed and four others wounded in an ambush today by Communist rebels in the central Philippines, the military said. The government troops were attacked on their way to a nearby town to pursue another band of Communist rebels, who had earlier assaulted an army detachment, he said.

Indo-China talks next week
NEW DELHI, March 2 (PTI) — India and China would hold their first-ever broad-based security dialogue in Beijing next week, it was officially announced today. The two-day talks, which are likely to include issues of nuclear proliferation in the region, including China’s reported assistance to Pakistan’s nuclear and missile programmes, would begin on March 6.

MPs bribery case
NEW DELHI, March 2 (UNI) — Former Karnataka Chief Minister M Veerappa Moily and V. Rajeshwar Rao, a relative of former Prime Minister P.V. Narasimha Rao, said today that they had no role in the alleged bribing of Opposition MPs to defeat the July 28, 1993, no-confidence motion against the then Congress government .

Forward trading
NEW DELHI, March 2 (UNI) — The government has lifted a three-decade old prohibition on forward trading in securities. A notification issued yesterday to this effect says that this prohibition was imposed by the government under Section 16 of the Securities Contracts (Regulation) Act, 1956 by a notification issued on June 27, 1969 in order curb certain unhealthy trends.

UP sop to Jats
LUCKNOW, March 2 (UNI) — The Uttar Pradesh Government today decided to extend the benefits of reservation to Jats on a par with other Backward Castes. A decision to this effect was taken at the state Cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Ram Prakash Gupta.

Bedlam in Assembly
CALCUTTA, March 2 (FOC) — Violence marred the opening day of the Budget session in the Best Bengal Assembly today as members of both the Opposition and the ruling Left Front got into fisticuffs and wild brawls forcing Governor Viren J. Shah to cut short his Address. Even senior ministers exchanged blows with a section of aggressive Congress members. Members of the Trinamool Congress and the BJP also joined the melee.

Polish Ambassador
SANAA, March 2 (AFP) — Armed tribesmen have kidnapped the Polish Ambassador in Yemen in a bid to free a jailed comrade, a tribal leader and police sources said.