tribuneindia...Spotlight

			Wednesday, April 21, 1999
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Plea on fresh voting rejected
ALLAHABAD, April 20 (PTI) — The Allahabad High Court today dismissed a writ petition seeking fresh voting on the confidence motion which the Vajpayee government had lost on April 17, and declaring the votes cast by Orissa Chief Minister Giridhar Gamang and BSP members of the Lok Sabha as illegal. Dismissing the petition, a Division Bench comprising Mr Justice M. Katju and Mr Justice R.K. Singh said the matters raised by the petitioner were not for judicial review. The petition, filed by advocate Naveen Kumar Gupta, contended that since Gamang is holding office as Chief Minister, he can not participate in the Lok Sabha proceedings.

Bomb scare
MUMBAI, April 20 (PTI) — A bomb scare created a panic and paralysed judicial work in 17 courts following an anonymous telephone call that an explosive device had been placed in the building which houses these courts at Tardeo in South Mumbai today. The police said the courts were immediately vacated as a precautionary measure, but the warning turned out to be hoax.

Phones blasted
HYDERABAD, April 20 (PTI) — Naxalites blasted two multi-access rural radio (MARR) telephones in Mahabubnagar district even as a senior functionary of the Peoples' War Group (PWG) surrendered, the police said today. A group of Naxals raided the post office branch at Chinnavaram village in Gopalpet Mandal and blew up the MARR telephone located on its premises after forcing the staffers to come out.

Adhikary ill
KATHMANDU, April 20 (UNI) — Former Prime Minister and President of the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxists-Leninists) Manmohan Adhikary, hospitalised after he collapsed here yesterday while campaigning for the coming parliamentary elections, today remained in ‘a critical condition’. Physicians attending on the septuagenarian Communist leader in the intensive care unit of Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital, said he continued to be in a ‘grave and serious condition’.

Yeltsin's warning
MOSCOW, April 20 (DPA) — Russian President Boris Yeltsin today said there would be no swift acceptance of Yugoslavia into the union of Russia and Belarus, and warned against Russia’s isolation from the leading world powers, news agencies quoted his spokesman, Dmitry Yakushkin, as saying. Mr Yeltsin made the remarks during a meeting with governors of 19 Russian regions.

Russia-Pak talks
MOSCOW, April 20 (PTI) — Russia is interested in improving its ties with Pakistan, Prime Minister Yevgeny Primakov today said, opening his talks with visiting Pakistani Premier Nawaz Sharif. Noting that this was the first Moscow visit of a Pakistani head of government in 25 years, Primakov said relations with Pakistan had been different at various times.

PIL against Basu
NEW DELHI, April 20 (PTI) — A petition questioning the allotment of 276 plots to VIPs from the discretionary quota of the West Bengal Chief Minister, Mr Jyoti Basu, in the post Salt Lake area in Calcutta was today filed in the Supreme Court. The petition by Tarak Singh, a councillor in the Calcutta Municipality, alleged that Mr Basu allotted the plots to judges, his close aides, husband of his authorised biographer, Surabhi Banerjee, Ministers, MPs, MLAs and bureaucrats using his discretionary powers arbitrarily and unconstitutionally.

Defence land transfer
NEW DELHI, April 20 (UNI) — The Union Cabinet today decided to transfer defence land to civic authorities in Allahabad for the construction of a bridge. The Cabinet, which met today, also decided to sign a time-bound Memorandum of Understanding with Germany.