This week in 1960 (1st - 7th Sep 1960)
Headlines this week: Chinese aggression at the border, third five-year plan draft submitted (education budget more than tripled from 2nd plan), debates in Parliament on Assam riots, foreign policy and the third plan and a run on Punjab National Bank. 
Chinese aggression: Even though the latest incident has been explained as unintentional, there is an underlying threat of aggression. Government is wary and watching the Chinese moves closely. Long debate in the Parliament on the issue. PM Nehru charged the communist parties with supporting anti--national propaganda in Ladakh to help the Chinese. CPI members try to defend with some flimsy excuses, but Indian Express editorial verdict: “The communists stand thrice condemned”.
Assam riots: Bloody riots in Assam in July saw hundreds of Bengali-speakers massacred by Assamese. Intervening in a long debate in Lok Sabha, Nehru urged the countrymen to give up narrow-minded outlook. An op-ed on the same topic blames all the parties (including Congress) for playing regional politics to further their electoral prospects. At the same time, identifies Congress as the important force binding the nation together. "As long as Congress remains supreme, our unity will work smoothly, but the real test will come when Congress becomes weak or disintegrates". Note that this was not a Congressman or a Congress supporter saying this. This is how fragile our unity was back then. This fragility of national unity explains a lot of Indira Gandhi's actions later.
Miscellaneous:
It has been observed that dealers are allocating scooters out of turn. Government intends to scrutinize the waiting lists to make sure allocation is being done in the order of booking. The waiting list is so long that a year-old used scooters are apparently selling for a higher price than brand new ones from the showroom.
Government plans to produce a “people’s car” priced at Rs. 6,500.
Princess Margaret is getting married and her butler, newly out of job, is being hired by a Florida resort at 20 times his previous pay!
UCLA is starting a department of Carnatic Music.
The middles are consistently of high quality with excellent use of the language.
One also sees much more of England than is the case now. There is a correspondent stationed in London who files a piece twice a week, the middles, Sunday features etc all have references to England.
In a Congress Women’s convention presided over by Mrs. Indira Gandhi, finance minister Morarji Desai exhorts women to “shed the fear of Man”. Mrs. Gandhi thanks him for the remarks. Considering what she did to him a decade later...
As for the third 5-year plan, Nehru makes a passionate defense of the planned economy in the debate in Rajya Sabha. He also assures the house that the Government will start trading in food grains soon. In a well-written op-ed, Parasara argues that one should not seek to get rid of inequality just for the sake of it. Some level of inequality is inevitable, we should only try to reduce inequality to the extent that it is harmful to the growth of the economy.
In international news, there is a growing rift between the USSR and China. China, under Mao, seems to be advocating some ‘inevitability of war’ theory - war between communist and capitalist countries is inevitable. Kruschev is opposed to this theory, arguing that communist countries can co-exist with the West. This difference in perspective has led to some sharp words being exchanged between the two nations. India agrees with the Russian view. Communist party in India is divided over the issue and might lead to a split, though most of the leaders have decided to support Russia.
African nations are undergoing turmoil. Some kind of civil war is going on in Congo. Two sides in the war are supported by USA and USSR, so India being non-aligned is the only country trusted by both the sides and hence chosen by the UN as the chief negotiator between the two warring parties.
In other news, an editorial bemoans the curbs on press freedom in many “newly liberated Asian and African countries”. It identifies UAE, Indonesia, Turkey, Egypt, South Africa, Ghana, Pakistan, Ceylon, USSR and China where the freedom of press is under attack. It is obvious from the tone of the editorial that India is a shining exception in this matter. This pride in Indian achievements is evident in a couple of other cases too. While reviewing a book on river valley projects, the reviewer writes:
A London correspondent, covering the visit of Indian industrialists to England writes how far the country has come since independence and how it has silenced the doubters. It was thought that India will have to become completely Westernized in order to become industrialized, but India has managed to successfully blend the “scientific techniques of the West” with its own “indigenous civilization”.
[Note, this is not some rah-rah propaganda of a government mouthpiece either. From the overall coverage, including the cartoons, editorials, op-eds etc it is obvious that the paper is quite critical of the government where needed].
In sports news, Milkha Singh’s progress in the Rome Olympics was keenly followed till the Flying Sikh missed the Bronze medal by a fraction of a second. Hopes remain in Hockey. There was a long editorial by C. Ramaswami on what ails Indian cricket - suggested fix: complete overhaul of the BCCI. “Eminent cricketers like C.K.Nayudu, Vijay Merchant, Deodhar should be in the administration both in the BCCI and in state boards”. But even back then, there was an acknowledgement that the board is an autonomous body and not answerable to the government.
In international news, there is a growing rift between the USSR and China. China, under Mao, seems to be advocating some ‘inevitability of war’ theory - war between communist and capitalist countries is inevitable. Kruschev is opposed to this theory, arguing that communist countries can co-exist with the West. This difference in perspective has led to some sharp words being exchanged between the two nations. India agrees with the Russian view. Communist party in India is divided over the issue and might lead to a split, though most of the leaders have decided to support Russia.
African nations are undergoing turmoil. Some kind of civil war is going on in Congo. Two sides in the war are supported by USA and USSR, so India being non-aligned is the only country trusted by both the sides and hence chosen by the UN as the chief negotiator between the two warring parties.
A London correspondent, covering the visit of Indian industrialists to England writes how far the country has come since independence and how it has silenced the doubters. It was thought that India will have to become completely Westernized in order to become industrialized, but India has managed to successfully blend the “scientific techniques of the West” with its own “indigenous civilization”.
[Note, this is not some rah-rah propaganda of a government mouthpiece either. From the overall coverage, including the cartoons, editorials, op-eds etc it is obvious that the paper is quite critical of the government where needed].
Miscellaneous:
It has been observed that dealers are allocating scooters out of turn. Government intends to scrutinize the waiting lists to make sure allocation is being done in the order of booking. The waiting list is so long that a year-old used scooters are apparently selling for a higher price than brand new ones from the showroom.
Government plans to produce a “people’s car” priced at Rs. 6,500.
Princess Margaret is getting married and her butler, newly out of job, is being hired by a Florida resort at 20 times his previous pay!
UCLA is starting a department of Carnatic Music.
The middles are consistently of high quality with excellent use of the language.
One also sees much more of England than is the case now. There is a correspondent stationed in London who files a piece twice a week, the middles, Sunday features etc all have references to England.
In a Congress Women’s convention presided over by Mrs. Indira Gandhi, finance minister Morarji Desai exhorts women to “shed the fear of Man”. Mrs. Gandhi thanks him for the remarks. Considering what she did to him a decade later...
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