tribuneindia...Spotlight

			Wednesday, June 9, 1999
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CPI threat
CALCUTTA, June 8 (PTI) — CPI General Secretary A B Bardhan today said his party was considering pulling out of the coalition government in Pondicherry since the main partner DMK had joined hands with the BJP. "By joining hands with the BJP, the DMK has acted against the mandate of the people of Pondicherry", Mr Bardhan told newsmen at the end of the party's three-day national council meeting here. The TMC is the third partner in the coalition government along with the DMK, and the CPI.

Mishap toll 94
DAVANGERE, June 8 (PTI) — Ninety four persons, including 15 children, were killed in the worst ever bus tragedy in the country yesterday at Devarabelakere village in Davangere district of Karnataka, Inspector-General of police A R Infant said today. The accident occurred when an overcrowded private bus from Davangere to Malebennur carrying 119 passengers on board plunged into a lake last evening in the village near here. The President and the Prime Minister have expressed profound grief over the tragedy.

Patel joins NCP
MUMBAI, June 8 (UNI) — Mr Praful Patel, a powerful politician from Vidarbha and member of the dissolved Lok Sabha, today quit the Congress and joined Mr Sharad Pawar's Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) along with his supporters. He was immediately made the party's national spokesperson.

RAF deployed
CALCUTTA, June 8 (UNI) — Rapid Action Force personnel have been deployed along with the police at the Kulicaghar Hat Area under Naihati police station in North 24 Parganas district in view of the simmering tension there following a grocer's murder. Tensions ran high when Bidyut Sarkar (35) was gunned down by a gang of miscreants yesterday. Enraged by the incident, a mob blocked the Naihati-Habra road for hours, damaged a state bus and a police vehicle.

Philippines quake
MANILA, June 8 (DPA) — A strong earthquake with a magnitude of 5.1 yesterday struck four Southern Philippine provinces, collapsing several buildings and houses and injuring at least five persons, disaster relief officials said today. There were no immediate reports of casualties from the tremor.

Kurd leader’s trial
IMRALI, (Turkey), June 8 (AFP) — A Turkish state security court trying Kurdish rebel leader Abdullah Ocalan today adjourned the trial until June 23 as prosecutors renewed their demand that he be sentenced to death for treason, the Anatolia news agency reported.