tribuneindia...Spotlight

			Thursday, August 5, 1999
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Yeltsin to visit India by Dec
MOSCOW, Aug 4 (UNI) — Russian President Boris Yeltsin will visit India at the end of November or beginning of December and preparations for it are in full swing, first Deputy Prime Minister Viktor Khristenko has said. "Major drafts for economic cooperation will be finalised at the joint session," Voice of Russia quoted Mr Khristenko as saying.

ULFA rebels kill 2, injure 7
GUWAHATI, Aug 4 (PTI) — ULFA militants killed two persons including a police officer and injured seven securitymen after failing to blow up an Oil India Limited (OIL) pipeline near Galipung village in Assam today. Police said,the militants first detonated a powerful bomb near an OIL pipeline to disrupt flow of oil to the nearby oil refinery in a remote Jorajan village in Sibsagar district near Digboi but instead the blast damaged a water supply line.

63 die in storm
SEOUL, Aug 4 (Reuters) — Tropical storm Olga was heading for China today after leaving a trail of destruction on the Korean peninsula where at least 63 people were dead or missing after four days of torrential rain. Officials were unable to determine what damage the storm has done to reclusive North Korea, where a series of floods and drought in recent years have destroyed crops, damaged farmland and left many people starving.

31 arrested
LUCKNOW, Aug 4 (UNI) — Thirtyone persons were arrested today and Provincial Armed Constabulary (PAC) deployed at Rasoolpur village of Faizabad district after Taiyyeb, a resident of Gosainganj locality, registered a complaint that the carcass of a pig and stones were thrown on his house yesterday, reports received from the state police headquarters here said. The incident, the report said, was in reaction to the one that occurred on July 14 when Taiyyab’s son, Rais had filled empty pouches of countrymade liquor with his urine and made some children drink it.

Gowda optimistic
BANGALORE, Aug 4 (PTI) — Former Prime Minister, H.D. Deve Gowda, today struck an optimistic note that the Janata Dal headed by him would be given the "chakra" symbol by the Election Commission. He told reporters here that the party had placed all the facts before the Commission defending its claim to the symbol stating that it was the real Janata Dal.

Afghan amnesty
PESHAWAR, Aug 4 (DPA) — The supreme commander of Afghanistan's ruling Taliban Militia, Mulla Mohammad Omar today offered a general amnesty to people of the opposition-held Parwan Badakhshan and Takhar provinces, the Afghan Islamic Press (AIP) reported.

Timor referendum
UNITED NATIONS, Aug 4 (PTI) — The UN Security Council has unanimously decided to extend for one month the mandate of the mission organising a referendum in East Timor to decide whether the former Portuguese colony should integrate with Indonesia or become independent.

Dutch Embassy
JAKARTA, Aug 4 (Reuters) — Nine Acehnese occupied the Dutch Embassy in Jakarta today, demanding independence from Indonesia for their bloodied homeland. Their protest came as many people in troubled Aceh province joined a general strike protesting military oppression.

BSP leader shot
BAHRAICH (UP), Aug 4 (PTI) — Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) leader Baccha Ram Verma was gunned down by four unidentified assailants in saravasti district near here yesterday, police said today. Verma, 40, was shot dead by four motor-cycle borne assailants while he was returning to his home in the district, police said.

Taiwanese jets
MANILA, Aug 4 (DPA) — The Philippines, sticking strictly to its one-China policy, will not import fighter jets from Taiwan even if they are shipped through the USA, a foreign affairs official said today.