The Indian Express front page. (Archives)

Cardinal Karol Wojtyla, 58-year-old Polish Archbishop of Krakow, was elected as the first non-Italian Pope in 450 years. The new Pope took the name of John Paul II. The son of a Polish non-commissioned army officer, Wojtyla was active both in teaching ethics and philosophy and parish work under difficult conditions created by the communist government after World War II. “May Jesus Christ be praised,” were the first words in Italian with a slight accent to the crowd of nearly 100,000 from the new Pontiff.

Desai vs Singh

The Prime Minister’s statement in Gujarat attacking the kisan sammelan has caused a fairly sharp reaction in the Charan Singh camp with the former home minister describing it as unfortunate. Charan Singh said in a statement that just as members of any trade, profession or calling are entitled to organise themselves, so are the kisans. “The Kisan Sammelan is a non-political organisation. Although it was registered on February 15, 1978, it had come into being much earlier, that is much before June 30 when the question of division of Janata Party into my supporters or adversaries could possibly arise,” Singh said. Singh was asked to resign from the Morarji Desai government on June 30, 1978.

Indira’s UK visit

Former prime minister, Indira Gandhi, was allowed by the court to visit Britain for 10 days from November 10 subject to certain conditions. The magistrate asked her to be present in court on November 9 for recording her statement in the case against her for refusing to testify before the Shah Commission of Inquiry into Emergency excesses. Mrs Gandhi had in her application sought the permission of the court to leave for Britain to attend a function being organised there by the Indian Overseas Congress for Jawaharlal Nehru’s birthday on November 14 and meet members of the Indian community.