40 years ago November 12, 1986: Molotov dead at 96

This is the front page of The Indian Express published on November 12, 1986.

This is the front page of The Indian Express published on November 12, 1986.

2 min readNov 12, 2026 06:40 AM IST First published on: Nov 12, 2026 at 06:40 AM IST

Vyacheslav Molotov, Soviet premier for 11 years until he stepped down in 1941 for Joseph Stalin, and long-serving foreign minister, died in Moscow on November 8 aged 96. A Soviet cabinet announcement last night said he died after a lengthy and grave illness. The Kremlin’s number two man under Stalin, he represented the Soviet Union at many post-War international conferences, including the 1945 San Francisco conference at which the UN was founded.

Buta Singh vs SGPC

Home Minister Buta Singh today made a frontal attack on the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) for permitting terrorists to use the holy precincts of the Golden Temple for their activities. Singh said the government was forced to undertake operations Bluestar Woodrose to flush out terrorists from the Golden Temple. He said it was the first and foremost duty of the SGPC not to give shelter to anti-national and anti-social forces in religious places.

11 leaders freed in J&K

The Jammu and Kashmir government released 11 top political and religious leaders arrested during Governor’s Rule under the state’s Public Safety Act which has now been revoked in their cases. The released leaders included Jamaat-e-Islami chief Syed Ali Shah Geelani, People’s Conference chairman Abdul Gani Lone and Muslim United Front leader Qazi Nissar. Earlier, Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah had said he was committed to releasing all political prisoners in the state.

Supplementary grant sought

The government came before Parliament with the second supplementary demands for grants involving a hefty sum of Rs 3,038.54 crore. The big rise in gross expenditure is caused by the implementation of the Fourth Pay Commission’s recommendations. The demands for grants comprise Rs 1,590.83 crore on the revenue account, Rs 576.98 crore for capital outlays and 876.73 crore for loans and advances.