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Indian Express
17-07-2025
- Politics
- Indian Express
July 17, 1985, Forty Years Ago: Decoding CVR
The preliminary hearing of the cockpit voice recorder (CVR) of the ill-fated Air India Jumbo, Kanishka, established that the snapping of communication was 'sudden and abrupt'. The preliminary run was done at the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre. The spokesman and secretary to the court of inquiry, S N Sharma, said the preliminary run of the tape was 'pretty good and normal'. Conditions for peace Tamil groups have set out four basic principles that they say are vital to Tamil interests and which they want recognised in any new proposals for ending the ethnic conflict. Neelan Tiruchelvam, a spokesman for the Tamil United Liberation Front, said the principles were conveyed to the government at peace talks in Thimphu. They are the acceptance of the Tamils as a national minority, recognition of their traditional homelands, the right to self-determination and citizenship and the right to live in Sri Lanka for all Tamils. Army withdrawn The Army, which was called in to assist the civil administration in Ahmedabad and Baroda to contain violence in the wake of the anti-reservation agitation, has been withdrawn. It will, however, stand by. The decision to withdraw the 2,000-odd troops was taken at a high-power meeting of state government officials with the Army and police. Longowal's plan Harchand Singh Longowal, president of the Shiromani Akali Dal (Longowal) has said that the Akali Dal had decided to organise district-level conferences all over Punjab and parts of Haryana. These will be held from August 1 to 20 to mobilise the masses for the new line of action, to be announced on August 20, for the acceptance of its long-pending demands.
Indian Express
08-07-2025
- Politics
- Indian Express
July 8, 1985, Forty Years Ago: Punjab Solution
Favouring consensus on all domestic and international problems, Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi rated the chances of normalcy returning to Punjab and finding a solution within the framework of the Constitution as 'high' though President's Rule might have to be extended if holding elections before October 6 is not feasible. He also hoped to begin talks soon with the leaders of the Opposition parties on both the Punjab and reservation issues. Black Box Search Both the black boxes of the Air India jumbo which crashed on June 23, have now been located. The operation continued in the Atlantic Ocean off Ireland to salvage the instruments which may provide clues to the cause of the accident in which 329 people died. Reporting substantial progress in the operation, an official source said the area of sea being scanned for the flight data recorder and the voice recorder by a remote controlled-submarine has been reduced to about 200 square metres. Thimphu Talks With the departure of representatives of five Tamil militant groups and the Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF) leaders for Thimphu, the stage is now set for talks to begin on the ethnic crisis in Sri Lanka, the first such exercise between the militant groups and the government. Ten representatives from the militant organisations and three from the TULF flew from New Delhi to the capital of the Himalayan kingdom. Bhindranwale's Ghost The ghost of the militant Sikh leader, Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, has virtually been laid to rest in this border district of Ferozepur, which provided him his name — Bhindranwale. A majority of people in Bhindranwale's erstwhile area of influence — a 60-km belt north-east of Ferozepur — are today reluctant to talk about him. For them, he is a gladly forgotten aberration.
Indian Express
27-06-2025
- Politics
- Indian Express
June 27, 1985, Forty Years Ago: Air India Crash
Investigators say they may never determine what caused the crash of the Air India jet, which killed all 329 people on board. So far only two per cent of the jet's fuselage has been recovered and its flight recorders, with vital data, are deep beneath the sea. The meagre evidence prompted one US investigator to say he was not optimistic about finding the cause of the crash of the Boeing 747. Sri Lanka Talks Soon The Sri Lankan government will hold preliminary talks with representatives of the Tamil United Liberation Front and the militant groups in Thimphu, Bhutan 'very soon' to resolve the island's ethnic problems. The Indian government will provide facilities like transport for all delegates. Officials declined to specify who would head the government team but indicated the possibility that it might be at the ministerial level. Tohra On Punjab Poll The Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) chief, Gurcharan Singh Tohra, warned the government in Ludhiana that until it accepted all the demands of the Akali Dal (Longowal), it would not be possible to hold elections in Punjab. He added that if the Congress (I) thinks of forming a government after the next election without solving the Punjab problem, it should learn a lesson from the past and recall the case of the Darbara Singh government, which had to be suspended after only half its term. Iraq-Libya Ties Sour Iraq withdrew its recognition of Muammar Gaddafi's 'Libyan regime' and said it was recalling its diplomatic mission from Tripoli. Iraq also asked the Libyan diplomatic mission in Baghdad to 'leave', a foreign ministry spokesman said.
