Forty Years Ago, October 12, 1980: Quake In Algeria

The veteran labour T Anjiah was sworn in as Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh. He is the first backward representative to become the CM of the state.

The moans of hundreds of trapped and injured people rose today from the ruins of the western Algerian city of Asnam, which was virtually levelled by two earthquakes. The death toll may exceed 20,000 according to estimates. At least five districts are feared to have been destroyed by the earthquake. The greatest number of victims appear to have been in the Nasr housing project which has more than 2,000 residents. The Swedish seismological institute in Uppsala which broke the news said the quake measured seven on the Richter scale. According to eyewitnesses, the earth shook for more than a minute.

New Andhra CM

The veteran labour T Anjiah was sworn in as Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh. He is the first backward representative to become the CM of the state. Anjiah who belongs to the Telangana region is likely to revive the post of the Deputy CM and induct a senior leader from the Andhra region to fill the post. Anjiah was earlier unanimously elected leader of the Congress-I Andhra Pradesh legislative party. His name was proposed by M Chenna Reddy.

Indians Flee Iraq

Fleeing the war, more than 4,000 Indians have crossed the desert border in Iraq to move to Kuwait. This is about a fourth of the Indian labour force employed in various projects in Iraq. They are arriving at Abdali at the Iran-Kuwait border at the rate of 500 a day. Here the Kuwait government issues transit visas to those who have confirmed flights to India – the airport is about 150-km away.

Gavaskar Again

Sunil Gavaskar was reinstated as India’s captain for the tour of Australia and New Zealand. He replaces G R Viswanath who captained India in the one-off test against England and in the last test in the series against Pakistan.

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