SRINAGAR: A senior army officer and four jawans were killed, and five civilians, including three women, wounded in shelling and firing by Pakistani troops in Gurez sector of Baramulla district in North Kashmir on Saturday. Col P B Gole, commanding officer of Nine Jat regiment, and four jawans were killed at the Line of Control at Kanzalwan in Gurez following intensified shelling by Pakistani troops.

Pro-tem Speaker

PUNE: B T Deshmukh, a senior independent member of the State Legislative Council, was sworn in as Pro-tem Speaker of the upper house here today. He was administered the oath of secrecy by Governor P C Alexander who is camping in the city.

Lotteries taxable

NEW DELHI: Terming lottery tickets as `goods' liable for taxing, Delhi H C has allowed the State Government to impose a 20 per cent tax on the sale of tickets in the Capital. A division bench earlier this week rejected the lottery operators' petitionsagainst the tax.

Urea scam case

NEW DELHI: Arguments on charge against all the nine accused in the Rs 133 crore urea scam case will begin in a city court tomorrow, six months after the CBI filed a charge-sheet against them.

Snag in Insat-2C

BANGALORE: INSAT 2-C satellite suffered `disorientation' -- loss of earth lock for a brief period today, affecting some services. But it was put back to normal, ISRO sources said.

Kanpur plant blast

NEW DELHI: National Human Rights Commission has asked the UP government to order an inquiry into lapses by authorities that lead to a major explosion in a Kanpur factory.