India cannot be blackmailed by any power because it has a very strong foundation laid by Indira Gandhi,” Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, said in New Delhi while addressing a mammoth public meeting at Boat Club. The meeting was held to pay homage to Indira Gandhi on her first death anniversary. He recalled how Indira Gandhi, along with the non-aligned nations, had raised her voice against slavery.
A massive reorganisation of the Planning Commission is under way to enable it to meet the challenges posed by new priorities laid down in the Seventh Plan. The reorganisation covers redeployment of its staff, induction of experts, building a national data base and utilising new modelling, monitoring and evaluation methods. However, it has been marred by the proposal to shift part of the monitoring division and place it under the newly created Ministry of Programme Implementation.
A crowd of militant Sikh youth led by Bimal Kaur Khalsa, wife of Beant Singh, alleged assassin of Indira Gandhi, damaged and demolished a portion of the Akal Takht. Her followers were raising slogans that the present Akal Takht built with the assistance of the Union government was not acceptable to the Sikhs. No one interfered during the demolition.
Britain and the US have reached a framework agreement on the terms of British participation in the US “Star Wars” programme. British Defence Secretary Michael Heseltine said work had been completed on the outline of a formal agreement. A decision on signing the documents would be made later. Britain would be the first US ally to formally join the controversial research programme.
