Forty Years Ago, January 14, 1981: Andhra resignations

All members of the Andhra Pradesh Council of Ministers barring those who are away handed over their resignations to the Chief Minister T Anjaiah to enable him to reconstitute the ministry. The dramatic move follows a “feeling” expressed by the Congress (1) High Command that the one-sided Andhra ministry should be pruned at the earliest. The ministry had 61 members. The letters of resignation were submitted to the Chief Minister at an informal meeting of the Council of Ministers at the state secretariat. CM Anjaiah said that the resignations were voluntary and “I did not ask for them”. Anjaiah is planning to leave for Delhi to have discussions with the prime minister over reconstituting his cabinet

Shimla fire

The historic Raj Bhawan in Shimla was reduced to ashes in a devastating blaze which raged over six hours. The Governor Aminuddin Ahmed Khan, Begum Khan and his two brothers who are on a visit from Pakistan ran out. Half a dozen fire engines fought the flames in sub zero temperatures before bringing the fire under control. At noon, smoke was still rising out of the smouldering wreck of the 95-year building. All the personal belongings of the occupants, including the passports of the two brothers were destroyed.

Nuclear research

Calandria, the first fully indigenously designed nuclear reactor vessel has been handed over to the R-5 (research) project at the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Trombay, according to an official bulletin of the Department of Atomic Energy. The R-5 reactor, a thermal research reactor, is in an advanced stage of construction.

Message to stars

Soviet astronauts plan to beam radio messages to 21 solar-like stars in search for extraterrestrial civilisation. The messages to be transmitted in the next two to three months will be “space landscapes” with the sun against the background of the stars surrounding it.