January 26, 1975

Meets (S)

Bangladesh adopts authoritarian Pres form of govt on Jan 25; Parliament, without dissent or debate, amends '72 Const to make Prime Min Mujibur Pres vested with all exec powers; Mujibur is authorized to declare Bangladesh 1‐party state; amendment removes Const provision for ‘effective participation by people through their elected reprs’ and declares exec authority will be exercised by Pres ‘either directly or through officers subordinate to him’; Pres, chosen by election every 5 yrs, will be aided by Council of Mins headed by Prime Min; Mujibur is assmuming power without election under special provision; says move was necessitated by ‘chaotic situation’ brought about by ‘antinational elements who sided with Pakistan during repression preceding independence’; says Pres system ushers in '2d revolution'; urges ‘all‐out efforts’ to make nation self‐sufficient; blames Pakistan, floods and foreign newsmen for Bangladesh's current state of affairs; illus of Mujibur being administered Pres oath (M)

Dr William Lukash pronounces Pres Ford in ‘excellent health’ after routine annual physical checkup at Bethesda Naval Medical Center; says there is no need for Ford to change his day‐to‐day living habits; Ford picks up pair of previously ordered contact lenses; annual physical described; tests Ford presumably recd described; text of Lukosh's statement; Ford illus (L)

Governor Byrne met individually with 60 of his constituents in his office at the New Jersey House in an attempt to get closer to the voters. Page 19.

Jack Valenti, pres of Motion Picture Assn of Amer, repts Amer moviegoers spent about $1.9‐billion in '74, which topped previous high of $1.7‐billion set in '46; attributes gains to influx of many audience‐oriented films, including he Exorcist, The Sting, Earthquake, Airport 1975, Magnum Force, Papillon, Death Wish, Live and Let Die, Sleeper, Chinatown and The Poseidon Adventure; notes 39 features returned $4‐million or more to their distributors; figures compiled by Variety show The Sting brought in $68‐million in rentals and The Exorcist $66‐million; operators of more than 100 movie theaters in NYC Met Area, including RKO, Walter Reade Orgn, Loew's and Rugoff, said that local business followed natl trend; member cos of assn, United Artists, Columbia, 20th Century Fox, Paramount, Warner Bros, Universal, Allied Artists and Avco Embassy, recd about $549.3‐million in rentals from '74 overall gross figure; total admissions in '74 were about 1,011,700,000, highest since '66; number of films released by assn member cos dropped to record low of 156 features, of which 32 were reissues during '74; film co execs commenting include Robert Evans (Paramount), Sidney Sheinberg (Universal) and William J Immerman (20th Century Fox)