QUETTA: TheBaluchistan Governor, Mir Ahmed Yar Khan, has submitted the proposals of the Conciliation Committee to Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto after holding detailed discussions with them. Disclosing this here this afternoon [Aug 20], a source close to the Provincial Governor said that after the receipt of Mr Bhutto’s instructions the same would be communicated to the Conciliation Committee. The source, however, declined to disclose the details of proposals made by the Committee. But he did not rule out the possibility of the Governor … visiting the interim capital for detailed discussions with Mr Bhutto on the basis of the committee’s proposals.

[Meanwhile, as reported by news agencies from New Delhi,] Mr Fakhruddin Ali Ahmad, candidate of the ruling Congress Party, was today [Aug 20] elected fifth President of India with a massive majority. Mr Fakhruddin … won handsomely with 7,65,587 electoral-college votes. His sole rival, Mr Ridub Kumar, won only 1,89,190 votes. … The election of Mr Fakhruddin, a 69-year-old British-educated barrister, was virtually assured by the overwhelming majority which [PM] Indira Gandhi’s Congress Party holds both in Parliament and the states.

Published in Dawn, August 21st, 2024