June 17, Forty Years Ago: Meet the president

Gujarat’s governor invited Babubhai Patel, the leader of the Janata Front, to form a government. With the 86-member Janata Front assured of the support of the Kisan Majdoor Lok Paksh’s 12 MLAs and five independents, it had the backing of 103 MLAs in the assembly of 182 seats.

National film awards

Mrinal Sen’s Chorus, “a satirical anti-establishment film with the focus turned on violent social discontent”, won the Swarna Kamal award for the best film at the 22nd National Awards. Shyam Benegal’s Ankur won the Rajat Kamal award for the second best film. G.
Aravindan’s debut film, Uttarayanam, won the special prize instituted to mark the 25th anniversary of Independence. Ritwik Ghatak received the best storywriter’s award for Jukti Takko Aar Gappo, while Satyajit Ray’s Sonar Kella was the best Bengali film.

Dacca’s new media

Sheikh Mujibur Rahman dissolved all newspapers in Bangladesh, barring the Bangladesh Observer and Dainik Bangla.

Two of the dissolved dailies, Ittefaq and Bangladesh Times, were revived immediately as government-owned dailies. A lot of political weeklies published from Dacca have also ceased to exist.