The Prime Minister, Rajiv Gandhi, arrived in Moscow on a brief, unscheduled visit to the Soviet Union and held wide-ranging talks with the Communist Party chief, Mikhail Gorbachev, at the Kremlin. Gandhi, on a trip back from the Netherlands, and his wife, Sonia, were greeted at the airport by the Soviet Prime Minister, Nikolai Ryzhkov, and the First Deputy Foreign Minister.
The north zonal council decided to curb tax evasion by introducing a uniform tax structure in some areas. The council also adopted an action plan for co-ordinating the efforts of the states to fight anti-national elements in the region. Chief ministers of five states, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Rajasthan and Jammu and Kashmir, decided to pool their efforts against terrorism.
The Punjab government ordered withdrawal of cases against 309 persons arrested in connection with trouble in the state on the recommendations of the Bains committee. Of these, 37 are Hindus some of whom are associated with the Hindu Suraksha Samiti. The committee headed by Justice A S Bains, a retired judge of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, was set up on October 1 to review cases registered against persons convicted for facing prosecution in criminal cases registered on or after August 1, 1981.
The entire power system collapsed in Uttar Pradesh following a disturbance in the 400 kv line between Singrauli and Obra. The tripping had its impact even in Delhi. Power is gradually being restored all over the state though large areas continue to be plunged in darkness.
