The Indian Express, June 20, 1980, forty years ago.

Probably for the first time, finance ministry officials at their customary post-budget press conference refused to hazard a guess on the possible impact of the budget proposals on prices. But they maintained that the budget was definitely aimed at having a “moderating effect” on the inflationary tendencies now evident in the economy. The finance secretary, G Ramachandran, and the secretary, economic affairs, R N Malhotra, had a hard time explaining “away” (to quote Ramachandran himself) some of the anomalies pointed out by correspondents in the explanatory memorandum to the budget. All that they would say was that these were “matters of accounting details”.

Tripura Violence

Two persons were killed and seven injured in an armed raid by Tripuri tribal terrorists at Bathaipari, near Khowai, in Tripura West district, about 80 km from Agartala early this morning. About 50 extremists with firearms swooped on the village at 2 am and fired indiscriminately. Two persons were killed on the spot while seven others sustained bullet injuries. The injured were rushed to Khowai hospital where the condition of two of them was stated “critical”. The terrorists looted about a dozen shops and retreated into the jungle/

Carter Approval

President Jimmy Carter has signed an executive order approving the pending shipments of 38 tonnes of lightly enriched uranium for the Tarapur nuclear power plant. The order will have to go to Congress which will have 60 days under the statute to reject or ratify it. The President’s decision authorising the shipments was formally conveyed to the senate foreign relations committee earlier by the deputy secretary of state, Warren Christopher. Christopher said that Carter decided to overrule the Nuclear Regulatory Commission despite fears that it might damage America’s attempt to curb the spread of nuclear weapons.