Opinion March 29, 1985, Forty Years Ago: Extremists’ Numbers

Defence Minister P V Narasimha Rao said that the government does not have reports about any large-scale infiltration of extremists from Pakistan into India. However, he said  that reports of few such cases had been received by the government. Rao, one of the members of the cabinet sub-committee on Punjab, said that the Punjab tour programme of the committee would be finalised soon.

Punjab’s Economy

Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi appointed a high-level committee headed by the cabinet secretary, P K Kaul, to monitor the implementation of the steps he announced at Hussainiwala to bolster the economic development of Punjab. The other members of the committee are the secretaries of the ministries of finance, power, irrigation and cultural department and the chairman of the Railway Board.

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Iraq Strikes Iran

Iraqi planes attacked Tehran and several other Iranian towns in the past 24 hours and Iran’s official media spoke of more than 30 dead and many wounded. Iran said that 16 people had died and 199 had been wounded in an overnight attack on Tehran and 18 killed and more than 57 wounded in air raids on cities and towns in western Iran near the Iraqi border.

President’s Confession

Singapore President Devan Nair resigned on March 28 after admitting that he was an alcoholic and could no longer perform the functions of head of state. Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew told Parliament that Nair, 61, made the confession in a letter written from a hospital where he was being treated for mental disorders caused by excessive drinking.