tribuneindia...Spotlight

			Thursday, April 8, 1999
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Serbia to free US soldiers
ATHENS, April 7 (Reuters) — Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic was expected to release three captured American soldiers through Cyprus later today as a gesture of goodwill, government officials said. "As it stands now, we expect that the US soldiers will be released later today and fly to Cyprus on a plane provided by the Greek government," a senior official told Reuters.

Kiran Choudhry is Dy Speaker
NEW DELHI, April 7 (UNI) — Congress MLA Kiran Choudhry was today declared elected unopposed Deputy Speaker of the Delhi Assembly. Speaker Prem Singh made the announcement in the assembly after MLA Mangat Ram Singhal (Congress) moved a motion proposing the candidature of Mrs Choudhry. The motion was seconded by MLA Ramesh Kumar (Congress). The Speaker said since no other name had been received, Mrs Choudhry was declared elected. Mrs Kiran Choudhry, 40, represents the Delhi cantonment constituency in the Assembly.

Fodder scam case
PATNA, April 7 (PTI) — RJD president Laloo Prasad Yadav today appeared before the court of Designated CBI Judge S.K. Lal in connection with a conspiracy angle case of the fodder scam. Former Bihar ministers Vidya Sagar Nishad, Chandra Deo Prasad Verma, RJD MLA R.K. Rana and Congress MLA Jagdish Sharma also appeared in the court in the case related to fraudulent withdrawals of Rs 97 lakh from the Deoghar Treasury through ‘fake and forged’ bills. The court fixed April 23 as next date for appearance of the accused persons.

Benazir’s plea
ISLAMABAD, April 7 (PTI) — The Lahore High Court has rejected former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto’s plea to record the statement of her witnesses in a case of pre-shipment contract to a Swiss firm in which she and her husband are alleged to have received kickbacks. The Rawalpindi Bench of the high court turned down the plea and also closed the evidence in the case. The Bench also allowed the unsealing of the report of a judicial commission which was sent to Switzerland to verify certain documents on the basis of which a Swiss judge had earlier indicted Benazir and her husband Asif Zardari in the case.

1443 labourers freed
ITANAGAR, April 7 (PTI) — Altogether 1,443 bonded labourers, mostly belonging to the Sullung tribe, had been freed in east Kameng district of Arunachal Pradesh in the past two years, official reports said here today. The labourers were freed at the behest of project director of Sullung welfare S.S. Yadav with the help of other officials of the local administration. An amount of Rs 14.43 lakh had been distributed among the freed labourers as subsistence allowance, the reports said.

Kalam’s plea
MUMBAI, April 7 (UNI) — Defence scientist Dr A.P.J. Abdul Kalam today stressed the need to reverse braindrain from the country and widen the base of research and development to make India a developed nation. "The mission of self reliance in technology, defence and military systems, economy and agriculture will lead India into the next millennium where it will have a rightful place in the world," he said while addressing the annual session of the Confederation of Indian Industry (western region) here.

Red Norvo dead
SANTA NONICA, April 7 (AP) — Red Norvo, who performed with such greats as Charles Mingus and Frank Sinatra and is credited with introducing the xylophone to jazz is dead. He was 91. Norvo died at the fireside convalescent home, yesterday grandson Aaron Corlin said. "He was a fabulous man," Corlin said. "He was always thinking about music. It was his life.... his position in jazz history says a lot for itself." Bor Kenneth Norville in Beardstown, Illinois, he taught himself how to play piano and xylophone. By age 17, he was touring with a Yaudeville show and later joined the Paul Ash orchestra.