This is the front page of The Indian Express published on July 15, 1984, Forty Years Ago.
The Centre has assumed wide-ranging powers through an ordinance to establish special courts in terrorists-affected areas for trial of specified offences, impinging upon the security and territorial integrity of the country. The ordinance, “Terrorists Affected Areas (Special Courts) Ordinance” was promulgated by the President.
Pak Militant Caught
The security forces apprehended 11 suspected terrorists, including a Pakistani national, as the Punjab Governor, K T Satarawala, held a high-level meeting. The forces also recovered arms and ammunition from a canal in Gurdaspur district. The Pakistani national was apprehended from a village in Amritsar district and some arms were reported to have been seized from him. The meeting reviewed the law and order situation in the light of the Akali Dal’s threatened programme of sending “shahidi jathas” to the Golden Temple.
MBBS Exam Row
After a heated debate, the executive council of Delhi University decided to recheck all the answer sheets of the entrance examination to the MBBS course. Following the discovery of serious errors in the evaluation of the answer sheets of the medical entrance examination, the university had, last week, revised its merit list published earlier. This had created doubts in the minds of the students.
Labour Sweeps NZ
The Labour Party won the New Zealand general election. The outgoing Prime Minister, Sir Robert Muldoon, leader of the National Party, conceded defeat in a call to the Labour leader, David Lange. But the ousted leader said he intended to stay on as leader of the National Party despite the massive swing against his government.