Centre reviews situation in Punjab
The prospects of Sant Fateh Singh abandoning his self-imposed ordeal of immolation have not brightened and the situation remains as ever before. This is how a spokesman of the Government of India assessed to-day’s developments after a review of the situation at an informal meeting of the Central Cabinet. Besides senior Cabinet Ministers, the Congress President, Mr. K. Kamaraj, Mr. Morarji Desai, Mr. D.P. Mishra and the Chief Ministers of Punjab and Haryana were also present. Earlier in the day, Sardar Hukam Singh, Lok Sabha Speaker, accompanied by the Punjab Chief Minister, Mr. Gurmukh Singh and the P.C.C. Chief Mr. Giani Zail Singh, met the Prime Minister and also the Congress President. At the informal Cabinet meeting no concrete proposal emerged which could enable the Sant to give up the threat of immolation. The Sant wants an immediate transfer of Chandigarh Town to Punjab or something which would ensure its becoming a part of Punjab in the immediate future. The general impression among leaders was that the Sant’s followers were trying to reap political advantage for the Akali Dal by putting forward an impossible demand. It the Central Government conceded the demand, it would be dubbed as a weak Government. And at the same time the prestige of the Akali Dal would go up at the expense of the Congress. At the same time if the Sant dies, this again, it is calculated, would bring advantage to the Akalis from a long-term point of view. The idea of appointing another commission to review the findings of the Das Commission on the division of old Punjab into the two new States does not appeal to anyone. If the findings of one commission are not accepted, what is the guarantee that the recommendations of another commission will be accepted by the authorities? And if the findings are not acceptable to Haryana, then someone in that State may undertake a fast unto death.
Commission to report on national minimum wage
The Government of India has officially announced the setting up of a National Commission on Labour to report on the need for a national minimum wage and other matters. Mr. P.B. Gajendragadkar, former Chief Justice of India, has been named Chairman of the Commission. The members are: Messrs. Naval H. Tata, N.K. Jalan, P.R. Ramakrishnan, G.D. Khandelwal, S.R. Vasavada, S.A. Dange, G. Ramanujam, Manohar Kotwal, R.K. Malviya, Ramanand Das, Raja Ramshastri and B.N. Ganguli. Mr. B. N. Datar will be member-Secretary. For the purposes of the Commission’s work, the terms ‘labour’ and ‘workers’ will include, in addition to rural labour, all employees covered by the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947. The Commission will make its recommendations as soon as practicable. It may, if it deems fit, submit an interim report or reports on any specific problem or problems. The Commission will devise its own procedure. It may call for such information and take such evidence as it may consider necessary.
Luna-13 sends photographs of moon
The Soviet mooncraft Luna-13 began transmitting photographs of the moon’s surface to-day [Dec. 25], Moscow Radio said. The photographs were of good quality, the Radio said. Instruments aboard were functioning normally. The Russian feat in soft landing Luna-13 on the moon’s waterless Ocean of Storms last night was hailed in enthusiastic headlines in morning newspapers — “brilliant victory,” “new success of Soviet science and technology.”
But details were sparse. Scientists planned a full day’s work processing results after the Christmas Eve coup. They were expected to delay before disclosing first results and before showing expected television pictures. No details were released on what the scientists expect the instrument-filled capsule will tell them — but it is clear they expect more than the pictures and data about moon conditions radioed back by the first Soviet mooncraft to soft-land since Luna-9 in February.
