A daily pick of news events that happened this day in history taken from the pages of Gulf News dated August 05, 1979.

Indian Airlines plane crashes with 45 aboard

An Indian airlines plane with 45 people aboard crashed into a hill last night minutes before it was due to land at Bombay’s Santa Cruz airport.

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The fate of the 41 passengers and four crew members was not immediately known. The twin-engine Hawker-Siddeley 748 was on a domestic flight from Pune. It crashed near Panvel town about 50 kilometres from Bombay.
Khalkhali voted out of council in Iran elections

Ayatollah Sadegh Khalkhali, head of Iran's revolutionary courts and the man who called for the assassination of the ousted Shah has failed to win election to the Council charged with approving a new constitution, according to preliminary results. But a first count gave Ayatollah Khalkhali only 90,680 votes against 392,491 for Ayatollah Morteza Ha'erl and 259,537 for Hojjatol-lslam Lotfollah Safi who will both represent central province on the 75-member Council.

Charan Singh faces revolt from backbenchers

A revolt within the official Congress Party rocked the new Indian coalition government of Prime Minister Charan Singh. Sixteen Congress Members of Parliament denounced the action of party leaders who had nominated themselves to the government, calling it "an amazing act of political trickery."

Indian army captain jailed

An Indian army captain, R.S. Rathore, has been convicted on charges of spying for Pakistan for cash and sentenced to 14 years hard labour. Rathore and 197 army personnel, including 48 officers, were arrested on espionage charges last January at Sambha, near the Pakistan border. Reports have said the soldiers sold detailed information regarding the location of border army units and their weaponry, maps, contingency plans and vital documents.

Kampala troops ordered back to barracks

Uganda's new government, in a determined move to end a wave of murders and robbery in Kampala has ordered all its soldiers to return to barracks. The general headquarters of the Uganda National Liberation Army (UNLA) which issued the order, also called on the public to report any Ugandan soldiers seen on the streets.