From the archives of The Hindustan Times: September 4

State-ownership of Reserve Bank (1948)

New Delhi- Sitting beyond scheduled time, Parliament this evening (September 3) passed the Bill to nationalize the Reserve Bank of India and the Bill to amend the Indian Cotton Cess Act.

The clause most hotly disputed in the Reserve Bank Bill was the one relating to compensation. Prof. K T Shah moved an amendment suggesting that the Government should pay to shareholders only Rs. 114 for each 100-rupee share instead of Rs. 118/10 as provided for in the Bill.

The shareholders, he declared, had done nothing to earn the bonus which was proposed to be given to them. Neither they nor the Directors had raised their little finger during the period when Indian gold was being drained away by foreigners.

Those opposed to the amendment based their arguments on two factors. One was that the Government having promised this rate of compensation, it would be impolitic and even harmful to go back on it. The other consideration was that the shareholders were mainly people of small means and should not be grudged what they had begun to expect.

The Finance Minister, Mr Neogy, explained that shareholders had been receiving 4 per cent as dividend instead of 5. Moreover, the figure as provided for in the Bill had been arrived at after careful consideration, and the Government would not therefore accept the amendment. The amendment was defeated.

The Bill was passed amidst applause, with a few amendments, some of them have been sponsored by the Finance Minister himself.

Consideration of the Cotton Cess Bill was unexpectedly prolonged mainly because of a 20-minute speech by a back bencher, Mr Satish Chandra, who criticized both the membership and working of the Cess Committee. His complaint was that the Committee did not represent the interests of either the industry or the growers. Mr Sidhwa said that the Committee should conduct research to grow finer varieties of cotton.

The Agriculture Minister, Mr Jairamdas Daulatram, promised to give favourable consideration to all the suggestions. He said that if any member in the Committee did not represent the real interests of the growers of the trade, he would be removed.

Bhutto held (1977)

Islamabad- Deposed Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto was arrested today (September 3) in connection with a Government agency’s probe into his alleged role in a 1974 political assassination, a senior official said,

The official said Mr Bhutto was picked up by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), which has been looking into the murder of Nawab Ahmed Khan, killed in an ambush at Lahore.

The director of Federal Security Forces (FSF), Masud Mahmood, formally accused the former Prime Minister of ordering him to prepare the ambush.

Mr Mahmood said that the trap was not aimed at killing Nawab Ahmed Khan, but at his son Ahmed Raza Kasuri, onetime supporter of Mr Bhutto who joined the Opposition in 1974.

Leander-Mahesh storm into semi-finals (1997)

New York- Mahesh Bhupathi and Leander Paes extended their unbeaten streak in doubles play to nine matches as they defeated South Africans David Adams and Wayne Ferreira in straight sets last night (September 2) to move into the semifinals of the US Open championships.

It was just as well that the Indian pair, ranked World No. 8, won 6-4, 7-6 (9-7), closing the tight contest in just under an hour and a half after having had to fight over three sets in the second and third rounds.

For, standing between Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi and a place in the final are the fourth seeded Yevgeny Kafelnikov (Russia) and Daniel Vacek (Czech Republic), two-time French Open champions.

The semifinal match is stated for tomorrow (early on Thursday morning in India) should be a stiff contest, not just because the US Open seeded Kafelnikov and Vacek fourth, even though the pair was ranked only 10th by the ATP computer.

However, Kafelnikov is the only player to be ranked in the top 10 in both the singles and inidividual doubles’ charts. The World No. 3 singles player is ranked two slots below Vacek’s No. 6 on the doubles list.

In the other semifinal, Wayne Black (Zimbabwe) and Jim Grabb (US) will clash 11th-seeded Jonas Bjorkman and Nicklas Kulti (Sweden).