2 min readJul 30, 2026 07:15 AM IST
First published on: Jul 30, 2026 at 06:40 AM IST
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. The PM said the government would abandon the move.
HM slams Badal, Tohra
Home Minister Buta Singh lambasted the dissident Akali leaders, who were colluding with extremists in Punjab, and said some leaders were willingly or unwillingly acting as agents of the country’s enemies. 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.
Darjeeling tense
Troops were patrolling all the hill subdivisions of Darjeeling district as tension mounted on the second day of the 108-hour bandh sponsored by “Gorkhaland” agitators protesting the police firing on July 27. Life was paralysed in Darjeeling. Kurseong and Kalimpong as the shops, markets, educational institutions, and other establishments remained closed. GNLF supporters abducted the deputy director of tourism after intercepting his vehicle near Pehsak.
Car bomb kills 25 in Beirut
A 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.
This is the front page of The Indian Express published on July 30, 1986. 
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