1979 SHAKY GROUND

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After a brief two-year stint, the first non-Congress government to rule at the Centre, the Janata Party regime led by Morarji Desai collapsed due to various internal contradictions. Deputy Prime Minister Charan Singh raised the issue of dual membership some of the senior ministers who were also members of the Jan Sangh, the precursor to bjp. Desai, alienated from the Cabinet, the party, the administration and the people, chose to remain unperturbed and indifferent. Result: Singh pulled out of the government forcing Desai to quit office. President N. Sanjeeva Reddy had to invite Singh to form the government since the opposition Congress party decided to extend to extend its support to his Bharatiya Lok Dal. The Jet euphoria was, however, short-lived as Singh quit five months later carrying with him the dubious record of being the only head of government to leave office without ever facing Parliament.

STOOPING TO CONQUER

The Janata Party, in a first, threatened to call for the impeachment of President Sanjeeva Reddy when after the fall of the Desai Government, he called upon Charan Singh, who had a letter of support from the Congress, rather than the Janata party leader Jagjivan Ram, to form the new government in July.

FIRST CUT

India’s first remote sensing low orbit earth observation satellite, Bhaskaran 1, carrying tv and microwave cameras, was launched by the Russian launch vehicle Intercosmos.

Ten days before the Naga massacre in the Doyang Valley in Assam, a boy had run in from across the Indo-Nepal border, warning all, including the police, about the coming attack. No one paid heed and on January 5, Naga warriors went on a 12-hour rampage that left over 1,000 dead.

“I WANT THIS PARTY AND GOVERNMENT TO STAY.”

Chaudhary Charan Singh

So said a confident leader of the Bharatiya Lok Dal, Chaudhary Charan Singh, when he became prime minister on July 28 with the support of the very same Indira Gandhi who had jailed him during the Emergency in 1975. But she hardly let him settle in, before withdrawing support when Jagjivan Ram tabled a no-confidence motion, leaving Singh heading a caretaker government till her return to power in 1980.

Jayaprakash Narayan to S.M. Joshi, hours before his death on Oct 8

“I am sleeping and forgetting all that has gone before… I feel my life’s sun is setting… for me to rise no more.”

SOFT FOCUS ON HARD FACTS

Yash Chopra’s Kaala Patthar was the director’s fourth collaboration with Amitabh Bachchan, about poorly treated coal mine workers and a humiliated naval officer. A soulful soundtrack and strong performances by Shatrughan Sinha and Shashi Dapoor made it a classic to remember.

In the Name of the Poor

On October 17, Mother Teresa was awarded the Nobel Peace Price for taking care of the poor in Calcutta’s slums and dedicated the prize money of Rs 15,20,000 to helping them. “I am grateful to receive the Nobel in the name of the hungry, the naked, the homeless, of all those who feel unwanted, unloved in society,” she said while accepting the honour.

ELSEWHERE…

• Idi Amin was deposed as president of Uganda as Tanzania-backed rebels seized control. Amin fled to Saudi Arabia.
• Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini seized power in Iran after he returned to the country from a 15-years exile.
• Soviet forces seized control of Afghanistan (below) after a second Leftist coup which put a more pro-Moscow regime in power in Kabul. Babrak karmal became the new puppet leader and Soviet troops bolstered his rule against Muslim resistance flights.

150 lakh was the total number of bureaucrats serving in the government in 1979. In 1970, the figure stood at 105 lakh. In a similar vein, the bill of central expenditure totaled Rs 6,000 crore, up from Rs 1,661 crore in 1970.

Courtesy By India Today