APRIL 6, 1984, FORTY YEARS AGO

NSA IN PUNJAB

THE GOVERNMENT HAS issued an ordinance making the National Security Act more stringent in the case of detenus in Punjab. The ordinance was signed by president Zail Singh when the Lok Sabha was discussing the Punjab situation.

SAARE JAHAN SE ACCHA

“SAARE JAHAN SE Achcha.” This was Sqn Ldr Rakesh Sharma’s reply when he was asked by Prime Minister Indira Gandhi how India looked from outer space. In a short sixminute televised conversation, Mrs Gandhi extended her greetings to Sqn Ldr Rakesh Sharma and his fellow Soviet cosmonauts on their successful flight. Their feat would help India become “space conscious” she said, and inspire the youth of the country.

WRITERS WIN

AUTHORS DO NOT need the government’s permission to get their books published abroad and earn a royalty on them, according to a verdict of the Foreign Exchange Regulation Appellate Board. The verdict came in the case of Arun Bose, a DU teacher who had appealed against an enforcement directorate order penalising him for getting his two books published in Britain without seeking the government’s permission.

IRAN- IRAQ CONFLICT

IRAN RULED OUT mediation by non- aligned movement to end its prolonged conflict with neighbouring Iraq. Addressing a news conference, the visiting Iranian Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs Hossein Sheikh- ul- Islam said there was no question of mediation by the non- aligned to end the war. He said what his country wanted was for India, as the chairman of the movement, to raise the issue of alleged use of chemical weapons by Iraq in the war.