WELCOME ABORAD...Prime Minister I K Gujral shaking hands with veteran BJP leader Atal Behari Vajpayee at an all-party meeting at Parliament House on Thursday.

A-I pilots serve strike notice

MUMBAI: Piqued by the ``treatment'' meted out to the flight engineers (FES), Air-India pilots have threatened to go on strike from May 28. The Indian Pilots Guild (IPG), which served a two-week notice to go on strike, has pointed out to the management that the parity between the pilots and FES have been ``disturbed'' as a result of which a flight engineer is paid more than the co-pilot. In the notice, it said the management was paying FES an allowance equal to one hour flying allowance on layovers beyond 40 hours without deducting tax at source whereas in the case of the pilots, the tax was being deducted at source.

Mother well

ROME: Mother Teresa was in good condition and resting after a health scare when she needed oxygen on arrival at Rome airport. Mother Teresa's Italian doctor, Vincenzo Bilotta, had left the convent where the nun is staying in a poor area of Rome. The 86-year-old nun, was given oxygen for about 20 min in a VIP lounge at Rome airport after arriving from New Delhi. The doctor said there was no reason for alarm.

Food poisoning

JODHPUR: At least 300 persons were taken ill after they ate contaminated food at a wedding reception here, reports said. More than 200 persons with symptoms of diarrhoea and fever were rushed to hospital on Wednesday night. A team of medical and health department visited the place to ascertain the cause of food poisoning.

Normal life hit

CHENNAI: Stray violence continued as bandh was observed in some parts of the southern districts of Tamil Nadu, even while a solution to the caste clashes there defied the state government. The missing body of a village servant was found with injuries in a field near Mamsapuram in Kamarajar district leading to tension.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.