Official sources said 30 leaders of an alliance of 18 political parties were detained in Dhaka by troops for holding a political meeting in defiance of martial law regulations.

With violence erupting on a massive scale in the north bank districts of Darrang and North Lakhimpar and the entire Nowgong belt already in the grip of communal trouble, the state administration was in a state of disarray.

The first of the three-phase poll in Assam begins on February 14 when 61 seats go to polls amid violence.

The one consolation for a hard-pressed administration came with the uneventful completion of the Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi’s election tour with a rally at Gauhati.

According to an agency report, 14 persons have been killed in the past 24 hours taking the death toll to 50.

Prime Minister Indira Gandhi will address at least nine meetings starting at Dhubri after her arrival in Gauhati.

According to official reports in Gauhati, eight people were killed in police firing at Belsor, Nanoi and Gharusarai in Kamrup, Nowgong and Sibsagar districts. The police fired 16 rounds at a mob which attacked the police station at Belchor near Nalbari in Kamrup district killing four and wounding at least two.

The BJP which won only 19 seats in the Metropolitan Council, did better in the corporation, winning 33 seats.

The committee was of the view that executive control or interference in the matter of appointment of judges impaired judicial independence and should be eliminated. The question was how.

Renewed outbreak of violence in Assam claimed six lives as the police fired at a violent mob setting fire to a weekly bazaar at Tangla

Scores of people were injured during night-long clashes, officially described as unprecedented. Official reports said six of nine died in police firing and one in a communal clash.

The Prime Minister’s son, Rajiv Gandhi, was appointed general secretary of the All-India Congress (I) Committee.

The two AICC observers, P Shiv Shankar and Buta Singh expressed confidence that the party would unitedly extend its cooperation to its new chief.

A secret document of the United States Air Force was recently circulated in an effort to start senior officials thinking about future weapons planning.

Indira Gandhi dropped only one Cabinet colleague, Kedar Pande, and seven junior ministers and included two former chief ministers in her Cabinet.

Following hectic political activity, all union ministers submitted their resignations to the Prime Minister to pave the way for the reconstitution of her ministry.

Sitaram Kesri said he had resigned to work for the party and strengthen Indira Gandhi's hands.

Delivering his first speech at a joint session of the state legislature, Tamil Nadu Governor S L Khurana referred to the insistence of the railway administration that employees pass Hindi examinations to qualify for annual increments.

The decision to send the Akali representatives in the meeting with the Opposition leaders and the representatives of the government was taken at a four-hour party high command meeting in the room of the Akali Dal chief, Harchand Singh Longowal.

The Home Minister, P C Sethi sent a formal invitation to the Akali Dal chief, Harchand Singh Longowal, inviting him and his colleagues.

The cooperation of the opposition parties is considered necessary as any decision on the Akali demands is bound to have its repercussions, either in Punjab or in the neighbouring states of Haryana and Rajasthan.

Kamrup township was put under curfew after the police fired at a mob which attacked the cars of the deputy commissioner and the superintendent of police of Nowgong at Tetelna, near Kamrup. About a dozen people, including eight policemen, were injured.

The ticklish territorial issue which has evaded solution so far for sometime now has “almost” been resolved, barring formal approval of the package proposals in this regard from the appropriate political authority on both sides.

External Affairs Secretary K Natwar Singh said his visit to Pakistan was a link in the chain of contacts between the two countries. He will also meet the Pakistan President, Ziaul Haq.