April 28, 1977: Indo-Soviet trade

Indian and Soviet representatives signed three agreements, one of which will provide India credit of 250 million rouble (amounting to Rs 225 crore). The other two agreements, which provided a grand finale to the three-day visit of Soviet Foreign Minister Andrei Gromyko, are the setting up of a tropo-scatter all-weather communication link between the two countries and enlarging the trade plan of Rs 750 crore for this year by another Rs 160 crore. Indian exports under the supplementary agreement will mostly comprise steel and pig-iron against the one million tonnes of crude which the Soviet Union is to supply this year, part of which has already reached Bombay.

Janata Import Policy

The Janata government’s import policy envisages significant liberalisation of imports of industrial raw materials and capital goods. Procedures have been simplified to secure better utilisation of industrial potential and accelerate exports, said Commerce Minister Mohan Dharia. The new policy, based on the philosophy oftrust in trade, gives pride of place to the small sector. Its highlights include expansion of the open general licence and free licensing, abolition of the compulsory export obligation scheme and revamping the duty-free imports of raw materials.

British Citizenships

The British government has proposed the creation of two categories of British citizenship — British citizenship and British overseas citizenship — in order to define those who have the right of entry into Britain and those who do not. According to this, British citizens would be those who have the right to entry into Britain, either by descent or because they were born, naturalised or registered, or they settled there for a specified time. British overseas citizenship would be conferred on those who themselves or whose fathers, were born, naturalised or registered in an existing dependency.