Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.2 9/18/84; site sbcs.UUCP Path: utzoo!linus!philabs!sbcs!mohan From: mohan@sbcs.UUCP (Chilukuri K. Mohan) Newsgroups: net.nlang.india Subject: India News Bulletin Message-ID: <57@sbcs.UUCP> Date: Tue, 11-Feb-86 10:32:19 EST Article-I.D.: sbcs.57 Posted: Tue Feb 11 10:32:19 1986 Date-Received: Thu, 13-Feb-86 16:56:11 EST Distribution: net Organization: Computer Science Dept, SUNY@Stony Brook Lines: 152 From KAPUR%ge-crd.arpa@CSNET-RELAY Tue Feb 11 03:18:20 1986 -------- Pope's visit Pope John Paul II's visit to India started with a subdued note, however he drew large crowds in Shilong, Goa and Trichur. When he reached Delhi last weekend, he went to visit Gandhi's samadhi to pay his respects. His public meeting in Delhi was disrupted because an enthusiast in the crowd threw a fire-cracker. In Shilong, over 200,000 people reportedly went to see the Pope. In Mangalore, he said before 400,000 people that he constantly prays for the victims of Bhopal. In Trichur, 300,000 people attended a prayer meeting. A crowd of people hoping for a glimpse of Pope surged into a metal wall and it collapsed killing one person and injuring 18. Spy scandal A Delhi court convicted an Indian businessman Rama Swaroop for running an espoinage network which passed secrets to United States, Taiwan, Israel, and West Germany. The CIA was also linked with it by Indian newspapers. A court document linked two ministers KP Singh Deo, Food and Supplies Minister, and Chandulal Chandrakar, Rural Development Minister, a former minister and Electronics Commission chairman MS Sanjeevi Rao, and other members of parliament, journalists, and retired military officers with Rama Swaroop and his spy ring. The two ministers reportedly resigned afterwards. Punjab problem Tension is once again rising in Punjab as extremists and moderates within the Sikh community are likely to have another confrontation. The head priests of Akal Takhat have called a world Sikh congregation on February 16 apparently in response to the meeting of extremists on January 26. The extremists had then excommunicated Akali leaders and head priests from the Sikh Panth and announced to take responsibility of running the gurdwaras. They also announced members of Damdam Taksal, Bhindranwale's gurdwara, to fill the posts of the head priests of the Golden Temple. Over 1000 Sikh youths belonging to the All India Sikh Students Federation have reportedly taken over the Akal Takhat in the Golden Temple in Amritsar. The head priests, leaders of the Akali Dal as well as Barnala government in Punjab have denounced these moves of the extremists. Satwant not to appeal The High Court ruled that Judge Mahesh Chandra who presided over Indira Gandhi's murder trial, committed irregularities when he sentenced the three defendants. The two Judge panel which ruled on the petition said that it was up to a full appeals hearing to decide whether to annul the January 22 verdict and sentences. The Judges also ordered the authorities at Tihar jail to remove the convicted men from solitary confinement, issue them winter clothes, allow them to wear turbans and shoes, and stop shining floodlights on them at night. The joint petition by Kehar Singh and Balbir Singh who were convicted of conspiring to kill Indira Gandhi and sentenced to death by Judge Chandra challenged the legality of the death sentences on the grounds of sentencing irregularities and omissions by Chandra. Satwant Singh who was convicted of killing Indira Gandhi and condemned to hang did not want to appeal. According to his lawyer PN Lekhi, Satwant told him that an apeal would serve no purpose and it was a predetermined sentence. Hunger A cover article in the January 26 issue of the Illustrated Weekly indicted Indian government's development policies by exposing widespread hunger in India as it celebrated its 36th Republic Day. According to the article, at least 100 million people in nine states - Andhra, Gujarat, Himachal, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Orissa, Rajasthan and Tamil Nadu, today were suffering from severe famines. 18 out of 19 districts in Karnataka, 17 out of 19 districts in Gujarat, 19 out of 23 in Andhra, 27 out of 45 in MP, 17 out of 30 in Maharashtra, and 26 out of 27 districts in Rajasthan were affected. Over 500 people were reportedly dead because of hunger in Orissa alone. The toll in livestock is reportedly very high; in Dhule district in Maharashtra alone, 25,000 cattle have died in December. According to the article, the Rajiv Gandhi government has remained cool to the famine and not taken any steps to channelize some of the excess stock towards scaracity hit areas despite repeated appeals by state governments. Republic Day Awards Kathak dancer Birju Maharaj, social worker Baba Amte who is known for his work among leprosy patients, and Dr. Avtar Singh Paintal of the Patel Chest Institute in New Delhi have been awarded the Padma Vibhushan, India's second highest honor on the 36th Republic Day. 15 people were named for Padam Bhushan and 30 were named for Padam Shri. Among them are social worker Ela Ramesh Bhatt, vocalist Ustad Aminuddin Dagar, flutist TR Mahalingam, Chandi Prasad Bhutt of Chipko movement, Avdesh Kaushal, Anil Agarwal, a journalist who has been advocating for concern of ecology and environment, Science and Technology historian Dr. A Rahman, novelist and social worker Mahasveta Devi, social worker Bunker Roy. Nikhil Bannerji Died A well-known sitarist Nikhil Banerjee died of heart attack in Calcutta on January 27. He was 55. A child prodigy, Banerjee learned music at first from his father and later from the late Ustad Allaudin Khan. He appeared in the All Bengal Music Conference at the age of 9. A L Bhasham Died Prof. A L Bhasham, a known historian on India, died in a nursing home in Calcutta on January 28. The 71-year old writer had skin cancer. His book "The Wonder that was India" won acclaim world wide. Author of 50 books and many articles, Bhasham was working on a 10-volume "Encyclopedia of Indology." Sources: the New York Times, India Abroad, and India Now. ----------------------------------------------------------------