21-06-2025
June 21, 1985, Forty Years Ago: Nepal Bomb Blast
At least seven people, including a member of Parliament, were killed and over 20 injured in five bomb explosions which rocked the Nepalese capital. The bombs went off at the west and south gates of King Birendra's palace, in the lobby of the Parliament building and the central secretariat and a five star hotel, Annapoorna, partly owned by the royal family.
The first batch of Mirage-2000, the multi role French fighter aircraft that has been acquired by the Indian Air Force, will be flown to India by IAF pilots who have completed flying training in France. India has purchased 40 of these versatile fighter jets under a contract signed in 1983 but the exact number of planes that will constitute the first batch is not known. Some reports have indicated that the batch would consist of five to 10 planes.
Shiite Muslim leader Nabih Bern said that he accepted an offer from Switzerland to use its territory to hold any exchange of US hostages seized aboard a hijacked plane for Lebanese prisoners held by Israel. Bern's remarks came after his office said Pope John Paul II had joined diplomatic efforts to resolve the ordeal of 40 American hostages seized aboard the plane.
The UN Security Council has issued a 'strong warning' to South Africa that failure to co-operate in speeding up the independence of Namibia could force the world body to adopt punitive measures under the UN charter, including mandatory sanctions. Only Britain and the United States abstained as the council voted 13 to nil for a non-aligned resolution which, among other things, condemned the racist regime in Pretoria for its installation of a so-called interim government in Namibia.
