This is the front page of The Indian Express published on February 19, 1985.
Feb 19, 2025 07:57 IST First published on: Feb 19, 2025 at 07:00 IST
In a stormy development, likely to have a bearing on the coming elections, Madhya Pradesh is now on the brink of a caste feud that has already engulfed most of the 45 districts of the state. The anti-reservation agitation of students has spread like wildfire. A senior police official admitted that the police just watched the situation unfold because they did not want a confrontation with the students. The agitation, which began a week ago, is to protest against a government announcement on the eve of the Lok Sabha election to give a 25 per cent reservation in admissions to professional colleges and jobs to backward classes.
Bank officials sacked
Top officials of three nationalised banks were sacked by the government, with no reason given. The three executives, whose terms have been terminated through a notification, are S L Baluja, chairman and managing director of Punjab National Bank, B V Sonalkar, chairman and managing director of the Central Bank of India and S S Master, executive director of Bank of Baroda. The government had initiated the process of reconstitution of boards of directors of public sector banks last month. In the case of 10 banks, the government had already notified that the existing directors would cease to hold office at the end of their three-year tenure.
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SGPC probed
The CBI is holding an inquiry into the foreign donations to the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee amounting to about one million rupees since 1978, according to authoritative sources. The CBI in this respect has reportedly sought records from certain banks in Amritsar to verify whether the SGPC sought permission from the government for receiving such donations as required under the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act, 1976. Meanwhile, the SGPC has sought “general exemption and realisation” under the Act to avoid infringement of the law and to facilitate relief work.
