Beirut resounded to the roar of thousands of guns as the besieged west sideof the city bade farewell to Palestinian fighters.

The Supreme Court suspended the operation of the Tamil Nadu law which made “grossly indecent and scurrilous” writing a cognisable, non-bailable offence. The law, a predecessor of the controversial Bihar Press Bill, was challenged by the editor of Murasu, through a writ petition.

Governor B K Nehru accepted the resignation of G M Shah, Works and Powers Minister, who had already tendered his resignation to J&K Chief Minister Sheikh Abdullah.

The economic affairs panel of the Union Cabinet cleared the proposal of Maruti Udyog for the manufacture of small-sized passenger cars in collaboration with Suzuki of Japan.

This is the front page of The Indian Express published on August 17, 1982.

Speaking after unfurling the national flag at Delhi’s Red Fort to mark the country’s 36th Independence Day, the PM Indira Gandhi said no progress was possible in the absence of unity and hard work.

The government will not take any hasty decision on the far-reaching recommendations of the Mandal Commission on backward classes, Home Minister R Venkataraman told the Lok Sabha.

France will impose no special conditions for supplying enriched uranium to the Tarapur plant nor will it exercise any control over the reprocessing of spent fuel by India, under an agreement to be concluded shortly.

This is the front page of The Indian Express published on August 10, 1982.

This is the front page of The Indian Express published on August 9, 1982.

Home Minister R Venkataraman expressed himself against any exercise of unbridled freedom by the press and asserted that there was a need to regulate freedom of expression.

Justice Ali Ahmed and Justice Jadunath Sharan Sinha of the Patna High Court reserved their judgement on the admissibility of the writ petition challenging the “constitutional validity and legality” of the press curbs bill passed by the Bihar Assembly on July 31.

The four-hour hijacking of an Indian Airlines Boeing ended uneventfully at Amritsar’s Rajasansi airport with the hijacker, Gurbax Singh Majitia, surrendering to the police.

The controversial Bihar Press Bill, which amends provisions of the Indian Penal Code and the Code of Criminal Procedure to deal with “indecent or scurrilous” reports, was adopted in the Bihar Council amid uproar.

Charan Singh’s Lok Dal was all set for its fourth and biggest split since the 1980 elections. The Socialists led by Madhu Limaye declared themselves as the “genuine Lok Dal”.

The Lok Dal seems to be hurtling towards a major crisis. Madhu Limaye, general secretary of the party, resigned his post. Party workers and leaders from different states will meet in New Delhi to decide what they would do.

History was made in the Bihar Assembly when, heedless of the fact that nobody heard a word of what he said, Chief Minister Jagannath Mishra, went through all the motions to secure passage of the controversial bill to deal with newspapers publishing “grossly indecent or scurrilous matter.”

Prime Minister Indira Gandhi conveyed to President Ronal Reagan, India's concern over the American supply of sophisticated military equipment to Pakistan.

Six ministries belonging to the Forward Bloc and the Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP) resigned from the nine-Left Front ministry in West Bengal over the issue of bifurcation of portfolios held by them.

Prime Minister Indira Gandhi left New Delhi for New York amid reports from Washington that the US was likely to allow foreign fuel for Tarapur.

Certain unidentified persons, suspected to be extremists, hurled two bombs into the ancestral home of Punjab Chief Minister Darbara Singh at Jandiala village, about 20 km from Jullundhur.

Lok Sabha Speaker Balram Jakhar put off a decision on the Opposition demand to table verbatim proceedings of the Committee on Public Undertakings on the Kuo Oil deal, but announced that he would convene a meeting of leaders of parties to sort out matters.

Both left and right opposition groups plan to move a non-confidence motion against the government during the current session of Parliament.

Opposition members rained their guns on the Public Undertakings Committee for tabling minutes which were incomplete and demanded a debate on the $175 million deal.

All the 10 cabinet ministers who took oath of office and secrecy along with Singh 25 months ago have remained in the new ministry.