May 23, 1985, Forty Years Ago: Pak N-weapon
Hijack Attempt Foiled
An anonymous phone call foiled a possible hijack of an Indian Airlines flight from Kathmandu to Delhi by three suspected Sikh extremists carrying transistor bombs, officials told PTI. The plane was carrying 88 passengers, including the cine star and Congress (I) MP Sunil Dutt. The plane left after being thoroughly searched, nearly four hours behind schedule.
Soviet Credit Line
India is about to get a massive 1,000 million roubles (about Rs 1,100 crore) of Soviet credit to finance a package of projects in vital sectors like oil, power, and the coal industry under an agreement signed in Moscow by PM Rajiv Gandhi and Soviet Communist Party Chief Mikhail Gorbachev. A second agreement sets out basic guidelines for economic, trade, scientific and technical cooperation between the two countries over the next 15 years.
Expulsion Of Tamils
More than 20,000 Tamils face the prospect of expulsion from a Sri Lankan town. The Times reported that in the wake of last week's massacre at Anuradhapura, the Sri Lankan Army proposed that a whole district between Vavuniya and Anuradhapura should be cleared of Tamils. However, a Sri Lankan cabinet spokesman denied such reports.
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