tribuneindia...Spotlight

			Tuesday, October 6, 1998
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Indira Gandhi Award for Abdul Kalam
NEW DELHI, Oct 5 (PTI) — Dr A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, top nuclear scientist and father of India’s integrated guided missile development programme, has been selected for the prestigious Indira Gandhi Award for National Integration for 1997. The award, comprising a cash prize of Rs 1.51 lakh and a citation, will be presented to Dr Kalam for his outstanding contribution towards national integration by the Congress President, Mrs Sonia Gandhi, on October 31, the death anniversary of Indira Gandhi, the award advisory committee announced today. The Congress had instituted the award in its centenary year to uphold the cause of national integration and understanding and to give recognition to outstanding contribution to the cause by individuals and institutions, the member secretary of the award committee, Mr Rameshwar Thakur, said. The advisory committee, at a meeting presided over by Mrs Sonia Gandhi, decided to confer the award on Dr Kalam, chief of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and Scientific Adviser to the Defence Minister.

Habitat award
NEW DELHI, Oct 5 (PTI) — Delhi’s Joint Commissioner of Police Amod Kanth was today given the Sulabh Habitat Award — 1998 for his work among the street children of Delhi which led to the setting up of the organisation, Prayas. Giving away the award on the occasion of World Habitat Day, Railway Minister Nitish Kumar said with this year’s theme, "Safer Cities", the question facing the authorities was not just one of law and order but also of civic amenities.

Bihar gang war
BHAGALPUR (Bihar), Oct 5 (PTI) — Six persons, including two women, were shot dead by the dreaded Rasbihari Mandal gang at Ekchara Diara village here last night, the police said today. The killing resulted from an internecine feud between Rasbihari and Agnu Mandal gangs. The deceased included Angu Mandal’s father, uncle and sister. At least 20 members of the two gangs have been killed in the past two years.

3 Shias killed
LAHORE, Oct 5 (Reuters) — Gunmen killed a judge, his teenaged daughter and a bodyguard in a Pakistani town today in what the police said appeared to be a sectarian attack. The gunmen riding a motor cycle fired at a car carrying government Magistrate Syed Fida Hussain, his 18-year-old daughter and a bodyguard in Gujranwala, 75 km north of Lahore, the capital of Pakistan’s Punjab province. The three Shia Muslims died immediately but the car driver survived.

Tripura violence
AGARTALA, Oct 5 (UNI) — Armed tribal guerrillas have gunned down four persons, including a CPM local leader, in Tripura since last night. The police said here today that militants belonging to the National Liberation Front of Tripura (NLFT) raided Wakinagar village in West Tripura last night and kidnapped local CPM tribal leader Sukhram Debbarama and a tribal student and shot them dead in a nearby jungle.

3 mountaineers die
SRINAGAR (Garhwal), Oct 5 (UNI) — Three of the six mountaineers of the Korean expedition team to Mount Thalaiyasagar peak have died during the mission, the Principal of the Nehru Mountaineering Institute, Uttarkashi, Col Ajit Dutt, said today. The climbers died at 5.30 p.m. on September 28 when a huge ice block fell as they were barely 200 m below the summit, Colonel Dutt said on the telephone. The three killed were leader of the expedition Kim (25), Choi (28) and Sim (33).

Hari Mandir closed
SHRINAGAR (Gharwal), Oct 5 (UNI) — The Gurudwara Hari Mandir Sahib was closed today for winters after performing 'guru ardash' according to news received here granthi with sewadars left Hemkund for Govind Ghat to stay there till the winter is over and the shrine is reopened in June, 1999. The gurudwara is situated at the Hemkund peak (15,110 feet height) which is now covered with snow.

Judge among 10 shot
KARACHI, Oct 5 (AFP) — Ten persons including three members of an influential ethnic party and a judge were killed by assailants in two towns of Pakistan today. Gunmen shot two activists belonging to the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) in a central district of Karachi. In Lahore gunmen killed a judge, his teenaged daughter and a bodyguard today, according to a Reuters report. Motorcycle-borne gunmen fired on a car carrying government Magistrate Syed Fida Hussain, his 18-year-old daughter and a bodyguard in Gujranwala.

Flag march
PATAN Oct 5 (PTI) — Central paramilitary forces staged a flag march at Biharsharif in Nalanda district for the second day today even as the town remained peaceful. No untoward incident was reported today in the town where two persons were killed in communal violence on Saturday, the Director-General of Police, Mr K.A. Jacob, said, adding that Central forces marched through the main streets of the town. Three bombs were exploded in Bharav locality yesterday.

Reports on Laden
NEW DELHI, Oct 5 (PTI) — An External Affairs spokesman today termed as ‘speculative’ reports in a leading British daily that Saudi millionaire Osama bin Laden has asked Afghan and Arab terrorists to gather in Jammu and Kashmir for a major offensive against the Indian security forces. "The report is speculative. I don’t want to comment on it," the spokesman said.

Nayak murder case
MUMBAI, Oct 5 (UNI) — Four accused have been convicted and awarded five year’s rigorous imprisonment by designated TADA court Judge S.M. Deshmukh in the sensational Ramdas Nayak murder case. Nayak, a senior BJP leader and its city unit president, was gunned down near his residence at Bandra in North-West Mumbai by assailants of the Chotta Shakeel faction of the Karachi-based underworld kingpin Dawood Ibrahim on August 25, 1994.