S P O T L I G H T

4 ex-PMs to meet Basu
CALCUTTA, April 29 (UNI) — Four former Prime Ministers would meet West Bengal Chief Minister Jyoti Basu next Thursday to discuss 11 core issues and explore the possibilities of reviving the Third Front as an alternative to both the Congress and the BJP. “Don’t worry, the Third Front will come up with more and more people rejecting both the Congress and the BJP,” former prime minister H.D. Deve Gowda told reporters here today. Besides Mr Gowda, the three other former Prime Ministers who would meet Mr Basu are Mr V.P. Singh, Mr Chandra Shekhar and Mr I.K. Gujral.

3 fishermen shot
CHENNAI, April 29 (UNI) — Three fishermen were shot dead and another was critically injured when the Sri Lankan navy resorted to unprovoked firing in the Palk Straits off the Nagapattinam coast in Tamil Nadu, today. An official statement here tonight said the victims died in their boat in mid sea. Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi had announced a solatium of Rs 1 lakh each to the families of the victims and Rs 10,000 to the injured.

Aishwarya’s kin hurt
KOLHAPUR, April 29 (UNI) — Vrinda and Aditya Rai, mother and brother of Hindi film actress Aishwarya Rai, were injured when a tempo collided with their car near Vadgaon Phata on the Pune-Bangalore national highway, about 20 km away from here, yesterday. The car driver and tempo driver were also injured in the mishap, police sources said.

Uzbek President
MOSCOW, April 29 (UNI) — Uzbek President Islam Karimov is coming to India on May 3 on a three-day visit at the invitation of President K.R. Narayanan. Mr Karimov last visited India in 1991.