The Indian Express’ front page (Archive)
Foreign ministers of more than 80 non-aligned countries ended their meeting at Belgrade deeply divided over Cuban military actions and pro-Soviet politics. The conference approved a summit meeting scheduled for Havana, in September 1979, but skirted a Cambodian demand that Vietnam be thrown out. Delegates scrapped efforts to work out a common energy policy and adopted a watered down position on military intervention, a subject made touchy by Cuban troops in Ethiopia and Angola
Janta Peace Talks
Janata peacemakers proposed to pick up the thread from where they left it when Foreign Affairs Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee returns from abroad and Chandra Shekhar from Villupuram, Madras. There was less optimism after the July 30 abortive meeting between the prime minister and Charan Singh. The peacemakers also spoke in a different vein: Biju Patnaik as usual hopeful and Madhu Limaye as usual pessimistic.
Kisan Rally
Over five thousand kisans gathered at Khanjawala village in West Delhi’s Nangloi block resolved by a voice vote to gherao the residence of PM Morarji Desai on August 13 if the land allotted to 120 landless families of the village was not handed back to the gaon sabha. The gathering, which comprised mostly Jats and other caste Hindus, had assembled in response to a call given by the Kisan Sangharsha Samiti. The convention was held to reclaim the 120 acres of land allotted to Khanjawala’s Harijans and other landless belonging to the backward classes.
Mattan Incident
The Jammu and Kashmir government has ordered a judicial inquiry into the July 29 Mattan incidents. The death toll in the incidents rose to three with the death of the driver of a police van Gurubax Singh who was injured on July 29.