1947-2008-India-Roundup
became clear that a terrorist’s bomb had made the flight disappear from the radar screens. Part of a larger plan, another bomb went off in FIRST CUT
The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (saarc) was established on December 8, with
LIBERAL SWEEP
On August 20, Sant Harchand Singh Longowal, who signed the Punjab Accord with Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi on July 24, with a promise of peace and free elections, was assassinated by Sikh extremists. His death created a sympathy wave for the Akali Dal, and S.S. Barnala (left) rode to power for the first time in the September Assembly elections.
“OURS IS A WIN FOR REGIONALISM WITH A NATIONALIST OUTLOOK.” Prafulla Kumar Mahanta
Whoever said politics is a game for the experienced and the ‘old’ would have to reconsider. Prafulla Kumar Mahanta, 32, the leader of the Assam Movement, became the youngest chief minister in the country’s history. He led the Asom Gana Parishad, which was formed only 67 days before the December polls, to victory. Sweeping 67 seats in a House of 126, Mahanta led a cabinet that had members with an average age of 40 and was seen as a new ray of hope in the violence-hit state. This, despite his affiliation to the All-Assam Students Union, which was behind much of the agitation against Bangladeshi Muslim refugees.
RAJIV GANDHI in Mumbai at the centenary celebrations of the Congress party
“Congressmen obey no principle of public morality. Corruption is tolerated, even regarded a sign of leadership.”
“Down Under, 
So road the placards at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, and so it was, when India took down odi giants Australia, skittling them out for 163 to win the World Series of Cricket.
ELSEWHERE…
- A cyclone ravaged the Meghna river delta of
- A debate in Britain's House of Lords was carried live on TV for the first time.
- The first US mandatory seat belt law went into effect in New York.
- Vietnam seized Khmer National Liberation Front headquarters near the Thai border.
- Murray Haydon became the third person to receive an artificial heart.
- The Greenpeace vessel Rainbow warrior (above) was sunk in Auckland harbour by French DGSE agents.
$400,000 was what Osho Rajneesh had to pay in fines and court costs when he was boarded out of the US. Charged with immigration-related offences, Osho returned to India in November.
