S P O T L I G H T

11 die as Trinamool, CPM men clash
MIDNAPORE, May 21 (PTI) — At least 11 persons were killed, 79 injured and hundred houses torched in a series of clashes between CPM and Trinamool Congress supporters in different districts of West Bengal since last night, the police said here. The police said the Keshpur area in Midnapore district bore the brunt of the violence claiming 11 lives. Nine persons were killed today and two last night.

Barbara Cartland dead
LONDON, May 21 (Reuters) — British romantic novelist Barbara Cartland died today at the age of 98. Dame Barbara, who wrote 723 books with estimated sales of one billion copies in 36 languages, died in her sleep after a short illness, a spokeswoman said.

Congress plans stir
JHANSI (UP), May 21 (PTI) — The Congress today threatened to go on a nationwide indefinite “jail bharo andolan” beginning from June 5, if the Vajpayee government failed to roll back prices of essential commodities and restore subsidies. The decision was announced by AICC general secretary Moti Lal Vora at a press conference here.

Gazettes on CD-ROM
GANGTOK, May 21 (PTI) — The Sikkim Government has decided to store the official gazettes in compact discs to facilitate easy availability and retrieval of information. The state Home Department, which brought out the gazettes — both ordinary and extraordinary — on different policies and establishment matters, would store the information in CD-ROMs in collaboration with the Sikkim unit of the National Informatics Centre.