The Union government’s move to to arm itself with special powers in border states proved abortive when an alert Opposition showed the proposed amendment was redundant. When PM Rajiv Gandhi convened a meeting of opposition leaders to seek support, Madhu Dandavate read out Article 249 to show the Constitution provided for these contingencies. He said Parkash Singh Badal and G S Tohra were organising the kriya and bhog ceremonies of terrorists killed in encounters and declaring that such extremists had attained martyrdom. Car bomb kills 25 in BeirutA car bomb exploded in a crowded shopping centre in Muslim West Beirut, killing at least 25 people and wounding 170. The blast came a day after a white Mercedes Sedan packed with a quarter-tonne of explosives blew up in the city’s Christian sector, killing 32 people and wounding 140.