S P O T L I G H T

Pondy CM wins trust vote
PONDICHERRY, March 27 — (PTI) — Pondicherry Chief Minister P. Shanmugham today won a vote of confidence in the territorial assembly which began its Budget session today. The confidence motion, moved by the Chief Minister in the 33-member house, was backed by 19 members belonging to the Congress, the TMC, the AIADMK and the CPI.

Russia tests ICBM
MOSCOW, March 27 (DPA) — Russia carried out a successful test launch of an intercontinental missile today, Interfax news agency reported. The unspecified missile type was launched from the submarine Karelia in the Barents Sea, north of Scandinavia, and after an 8,000 flight hit the designated target on the Kamchatka peninsula in the far east, Russian navy officials said.

30 killed in Lanka
COLOMBO, March 27 (PTI) — Fifteen LTTE rebels, 11 Sri Lankan soldiers and four civilians were killed in heavy fighting today after Tiger guerrillas launched a massive counter-attack on army positions to recapture the Jaffna peninsula. A Defence Department release here said 11 soldiers had been killed and 23 others injured in heavy mortar attacks launched by LTTE rebels in the Pallai area in the Peninsula, which came under heavy attack since last night.

Mass grave
RUGAZI (Uganda), March 27 (AP) — Forty bodies from a mass grave hidden at the edge of a sugarcane field were uncovered today where authorities suspect many more members of a doomsday Christian sect remain buried. Prisoners under armed guard were continuing to dig today. Bodies buried together, or without coffins, are highly unusual in Africa, where funeral rituals are deeply important.