60 years of Indian Independence – A Timeline

August 15, 2007

HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY TO ALL

Today as we celebrate the 60 Years of Indian Independence, I just thought of having a short flashback over the past 60 years and find out. It has been truly memorable and the way India has come up a log way ahead when compared to its neighbors in terms of political stability and economic growth. Democracy though not in the true sense has grown stronger and we have a much more stronger opposition than ever before. We have always proved to be one of the best and it has been in blood to always race ahead in whatever means that may be. The best thing that our motherland possesses is her own countrymen who have always lived to die for. Problems with diversity in terms of caste, and region have always been from the time of its Independence. Let’s take a look back for a while. “Maa Tujhe Salaam”

1947

August 14 – With the freedom from the British on August 15, India gains its independence. But this also led to another major rift with the division of a state called Pakistan that was Muslim led. This was the partition of religions India / Hindustan (land of Hindus) and Pakistan (land of Muslims) more than as observed as partition of the subcontinent, with Punjab and Bengal divided along religious-demographic boundaries between the two. Hindu – Muslim riots break out along both the western and eastern borders. Mass transfer of refugees takes place from India to Pakistan and vice-versa. The monarch of Kashmir signs instrument of accession with India in the face of heavy attack from Pakistani tribal and troops. August 14 is now observed as an Independence day for Pakistan
August 15 – A new beginning of India as this is now declared as an freed nation and the day when India observes it as an Independence Day.
Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru becomes the first Prime Minister of India. Nehru unfurls the Indian tricolor on the ramparts of the magnificent Red Fort, symbolically marking the end of British colonial rule.
October 27 – War breaks out between India and Pakistan in the disputed region of Kashmir.
Air India goes international.

1948

January 30 – Mahatma Gandhi, is assassinated.
March 8 – Air India International incorporated.
June 8 – Air India International inaugurated its international services with a weekly flight from Bombay to London via Cairo and Geneva.
June 28 – Chakravarti Rajagopalachari is the governor-general.
August 15 – Prime Minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru hoists the National Flag

1949

January 1 – A ceasefire, ordered by the United Nations Security Council, takes effect in Kashmir.
August 15 – Prime Minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru hoists the National Flag
November 26 – New constitution is adopted by the Indian Constituent Assembly.
December 28 – CRPF Act enacted

1950

January 25 – Election Commission is established.
January 26 – The Constitution comes into force making India a republic, the day is observed as Republic Day ever since.
January 26 – Dr. Rajendra Prasad moves in to Rashtrapati Bhavan as the first President of India.
Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan is the Vice President ofIndia
August 15 – Prime Minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru hoists the National Flag

1951

Western Railway is formed by merging smaller railways.
An amendment to the constitution says “state can make special provisions for advancement of any backward class”.
August 15 – Prime Minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru hoists the National Flag
November 5 – Central Railway is formed by the merger of several government-owned railways

1952

The first general election is held. The Indian National Congress headed by Jawaharlal Nehru sweeps into power.
April 17- Membership of the first lok sabha starts.
May 15- G.V. Mavlankar handles the charge as Lok Sabha Speaker.
May 30- M. Ananthasayanam Ayyangar handles the charge as Lok Sabha Deputy Speaker.
August 15 – Prime Minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru hoists the National Flag
Dec – First five-year plan is tabled in the Parliament by Jawaharlal Nehru. It emphasized Agricultural and Community development.

1953

Air India nationalised.
Government of India sets up first backward classes commission headed by Kaka Kalelkar.
June 15 – Indian Airlines created.
August 15 – Prime Minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru hoists the National Flag

1954

August 15 – Prime Minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru hoists the National Flag
November 6 – Bombay Electricity Board is formed.

1955

The Imperial Bank of India, the oldest (Est.1921) and the largest commercial bank of the Indian subcontinent, and was subsequently transformed into the State Bank of India.
August 15 – Prime Minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru hoists the National Flag

1956

The Indian States are reorganized on a linguistic basis. Several new states were created.
August 15 – Prime Minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru hoists the National Flag

1957

Balbir Singh Sr. became the first hockey player to be awarded the Padma Shri
Parliament passes the Copyright Act of 1957
May 14 – Dr. Rajendra Prasad retains the President position and continues his term
Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan is the Vice President of India
August 15 – Prime Minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru hoists the National Flag

1958

September 11 – The Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act is passed by the Parliament
August 15 – Prime Minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru hoists the National Flag

1959

August 15 – Prime Minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru hoists the National Flag
September – Doordarshan-India’s national state-owned broadcaster established.
Bajaj Auto obtains license from Government of India to manufacture two- and three-wheelers in India

1960

May 1 – Maharashtra State formed.
June 20 – MSEB formed.
Air India enters USA with flights to New York.
Bajaj Auto goes public
August 15 – Prime Minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru hoists the National Flag

1961

August 15 – Prime Minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru hoists the National Flag
December 19 – Indian troops invade and conquer the Portuguese territories of Goa, Daman and Diu.

1962

May 13 – Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan takes charge as the President of India
Dr. Zakir Hussai appointed as Vice President of India
August 15 – Prime Minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru hoists the National Flag
October 20 – Chinese troops invade India but withdraws troops and orders ceasefire the next day

1963

August 15 – Prime Minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru hoists the National Flag
Supreme Court of India mandates that reservation should not exceed 50% for any institution.

1964

May 27: Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru dies after a five-month illness and his dissident Gulzarilal Nanda takes the charge as Prime Minister
June 9 – Lal Bahadur Shastri is appointed as the Prime Minister of India
August 15 – Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri hoists the National Flag

1965

January 26 – Hindi becomes the official language of India.
February 24 – English is adopted as an associate language in dealings between the Central government and the non Hindi speaking states.
August 5 – War begins between India and Pakistan.
August 15 – Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri hoists the National Flag
September 6-22 – A full-scale Indo-Pakistani war is fought over Kashmir, which ends after a UN Security Council calls for a ceasefire on September 20.
December 1 – The Border Security Force is formed as a special force to guard the borders.

1966

January 3: Prime Minister of India Lal Bahadur Shastri and President of Pakistan Ayub Khan sign a Soviet-mediated peace pact in Tashkent, soon after which Lal Bahadur Shastri dies of heart attack on January 11
January 11 -Due to sudden demise of Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri, Shri. Gulzarilal Nanda again takes the charge of Prime Minister
January 24 – Indira Gandhi becomes prime minister
June 19: Shiv Sena founded by Bal Thackeray
August 15 – Prime Minister Indira Gandhi hoists the National Flag
Reita Faria, Femina Miss India is crowned Miss World, the first Indian to win the title.

1967

May 13 – Zakir Husain is elected as President of India
Varahagiri Venkata Giri is appointed as the Vice President of India
August 15 – Prime Minister Indira Gandhi hoists the National Flag

1968

August 15 – Prime Minister Indira Gandhi hoists the National Flag

1969

May 3 – President Zakir Husain dies and V.V. Giri is elected as acting president till July 29.
July 20 – Muhammad Hidayatullah is elected as acting President of India
Indian National Congress splits into two factions. One lead by Indira Gandhi and another lead by Morarji Desai
August 15 – Prime Minister Indira Gandhi hoists the National Flag
August 24 – Varahagiri Venkata Giri takes charge as the president
Gopal Swarup Pathak is appointed as the Vice President

1970

Bajaj Auto rolls out its 100,000th vehicle
August 15 – Prime Minister Indira Gandhi hoists the National Flag

1971

August 15 – Prime Minister Indira Gandhi hoists the National Flag
December 3-17: India and Pakistan fight their second major war, over East Pakistan, which ends after 90,000 Pakistani troops surrender. The new nation of Bangladesh is created out of East Pakistan.

1972

January 21 – Manipur gets statehood.
August 15 – Prime Minister Indira Gandhi hoists the National Flag

1973

August 15 – Prime Minister Indira Gandhi hoists the National Flag
November 1 – Karnataka State is formed.

1974

Nuclear tests performed in Pokhran
August 15 – Prime Minister Indira Gandhi hoists the National Flag
August 24 – Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed is elected as President of India
Basappa Danappa Jatti is the Vice President

1975

April 19 – The first Indian satellite, Aryabhatta, goes into Earth’s orbit.
May 26 – Sikhism becomes part of India
June 26 – A state of emergency is declared by Prime Minister Indira Gandhi during which the press is censored and 100,000 are jailed.
August 15 – Prime Minister Indira Gandhi hoists the National Flag

1976

April 16 A family planning initiative involves the vasectomy of thousands of men and tubal ligation of women, either for payment or under coercive conditions. (The minimum age for marriage is also raised to 21 years for men and 18 years for women.) The son of then-Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, Sanjay Gandhi, is largely blamed for what turned out to be a failed program. A strong backlash against any initiative associated with family planning followed the highly controversial program, which continues (in part) into the 21st century.
August 15 – Prime Minister Indira Gandhi hoists the National Flag

1977

February 11 – President Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed dies and Vice president Basappa Danappa Jatti is elected as acting President of India till July 25
March 3 – Nehru Planetarium commissioned.
March 24 – The first non-Congress government sweeps to power following Indira Gandhi’s defeat at the general elections. Morarji Desai becomes prime minister.
Neelam Sanjiva Reddy is elected as President of India
Muhammad Hidayatullah is the Vice President
August 15 – Prime Minister Morarji Desai hoists the National Flag
November – More than 10,000 people die when a cyclone hits India’s southeast coast. The storm disrupts life for 5.4 million people in 830 villages, and damages 14,000 km² of cropland.

1978

January 1 – Air India Flight 855 crashed into the Arabian Sea after takeoff from Sahar International Airport (now Chatrapati Shivaji International Airport) in Bombay (now Mumbai), killing everyone on board.
August 15 – Prime Minister Morarji Desai hoists the National Flag

1979

July 28 – Choudhary Charan Singh is appointed as prime minister of India
August 15 – Prime Minister Charan Singh hoists the National Flag

1980

Indira Gandhi was back in power. Sanjay Gandhi died in a plane crash and Rajiv worked for Indian Airlines. India is facing a new form of ‘internal conflict’ which in the later years would more popularly be known as ‘Terrorism’.
The Indian Hockey team won the Gold (only medal) in the Olympics this year, after 16 years
January 14 – Indira Gandhi is appointed as Prime Minister of India
August 15 – Prime Minister Indira Gandhi hoists the National Flag

1981

National Aluminium Company incorporated as a public sector enterprise of the Government of India.
August 15 – Prime Minister Indira Gandhi hoists the National Flag

1982

August 15 – Prime Minister Indira Gandhi hoists the National Flag

1983

India wins the third Cricket World cup at Lords under Kapil Dev. This became the turning point of the sport in the country.
July 25 – Giani Zail Singh is elected as President of India
Ramaswamy Venkataraman is the Vice President
August 15 – Prime Minister Indira Gandhi hoists the National Flag

1984

June – Prime Minister Indira Gandhi dispatches troops into Amritsar’s Harimandir Sahib, Sikhdom’s holiest shrine. More than 12,000 people are killed in the operation to oust separatist militants using the temple as a headquarters.
August 15 – Prime Minister Indira Gandhi hoists the National Flag
October 31 – Prime Minister Indira Gandhi is assassinated by Sikh bodyguards in apparent retaliation for dispatching troops to the Harimandir Sahib. Her son Rajiv Gandhi takes over as prime minister and leader of the Congress-I Party with India in turmoil as some 2,700 Sikhs are killed across India, mostly in Delhi, in pogroms organized by her political party, the Congress (I). Her only surviving son, Rajiv Gandhi, an airline pilot, is sworn in as prime minister, in violation of the tradition of the Home Minister being appointed prime minister in this situation.
December – Deadly gas leaks from a pesticide plant owned by U.S.-based Union Carbide Corp in the central city of Bhopal, killing some 6,500 people and injuring 20,000 in the world’s worst industrial disaster.

1985

June 23 — Air India Flight 182 was blown up by Sikh nationalists. It was on its second leg on its Toronto-Montreal-London-Delhi-Bombay (Mumbai) flight when it exploded off the coast of Ireland. Everyone on board died.
August 15 – Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi hoists the National Flag
The Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act is passed by Parliament
The Special Protection Group is created
Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) was established by an Act of Indian Parliament.
Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (prevention) Act (TADA) was passed by parliament.
Birth of a new era: Texas Instruments, a Multinational corporation, starts its India operations in Bangalore and helps create infrastructure to export software via satellite communications from India for the first time.

1986

April 1 – VSNL incorporated under the Indian Companies Act, 1956.
August 15 – Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi hoists the National Flag

1987

July 25 – Ramaswamy Venkataraman is elected as President of India
Shankar Dayal Sharma is the Vice President
August 15 – Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi hoists the National Flag

1988

The National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission is set up under the Consumer Protection Act of 1986.
August 15 – Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi hoists the National Flag

1989

August 15 – Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi hoists the National Flag
December 2 – V.P. Singh becomes the Prime Minister of India after Lok Sabha elections.

1990

January – An insurgency breaks out in Kashmir Valley, inflaming tensions with Pakistan. New Delhi dissolves the state assembly and imposes direct rule.
March – The last Indian troops are withdrawn from Sri Lanka.
May – A cyclone ravages the southern state of Andhra Pradesh, killing nearly 1,000 people.
August 15 – Prime Minister V.P. Singh hoists the National Flag
November 10 – V.P. Singh resigns as prime minister and is succeeded by Janata Dal dissident Chandra Shekhar.
November 10 – Chandra Shekhar is appointed as Prime Minister of India

1991

May 21 – The nation is shocked as former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi is assassinated by a Tamil suicide bomber in southern India during the election campaign.
June 21 – Indian National Congress leader P.V. Narasimha Rao becomes Prime Minister.
August 15 – Prime Minister P.V. Narasimha Rao hoists the National Flag
December 11 – Rapid Action Force established by Union Home Ministry.

1992

July 25 – Shankar Dayal Sharma is elected as President of India
Kocheril Raman Narayanan is elected as the Vice President
August 15 – Prime Minister P.V. Narasimha Rao hoists the National Flag
December 6 – Workers of the VHP (Vishva Hindu Parishad) tear down a 16th-century mosque located in Ayodhya, in Northern India. The mosque is believed to have been built over a shrine which exhorted the small piece of land as Ram Janmabhoomi – the birthplace of Lord Rama. This is the Hindu equivalent of Bethlehem (the birthplace of Jesus). This sparks off nationwide communal riots in which some 3,000 people die.
Government of India establishes SEBI, stock exchange regulator
Supreme Court of India upholds 27% quota for backward classes in government jobs, subject to exclusion of creamy layers.

1993

March 9 – The All Parties Hurriyat Conference is formed in Kashmir.
March 12 – A series of bomb blasts, thought to be planted by Muslim underworld figures, rock the country’s commercial capital of Bombay, killing some 260 people
August 15 – Prime Minister P.V. Narasimha Rao hoists the National Flag

1994

August 15 – Prime Minister P.V. Narasimha Rao hoists the National Flag

1995

March 5 – Delhi Metro Rail Corporation Limited founded.
August 15 – Prime Minister P.V. Narasimha Rao hoists the National Flag

1996

Late January – Tensions with Pakistan rise sharply and there is an exchange of mortar and machine-gun fire across the Line of Control in Kashmir.
May 16 – BJP leader Atal Bihari Vajpayee is sworn in as prime minister. However, he fails to muster a parliamentary majority and resigns on May 28.
June 1 – H.D. Deve Gowda is sworn in at the head of the United Front, a coalition of 13 parties which Congress supports but does not join. Gowda’s new cabinet brings in powerful regional figures, mixing low-caste and minority Muslim leaders with weathered veterans of the socialist movement.
June 28 – Communists join the government for the first time since independence.
August 15 – Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda hoists the National Flag
November 12 – A Saudi Arabian Boeing 747 jumbo jet and a Kazakhstan Ilyushin cargo plane collide near New Delhi, killing 349 people in the world’s deadliest mid-air collision.

1997

March 30 – Congress withdraws support from the United Front, accusing Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda of poor leadership.
April 21 – Inder Kumar Gujral, a new leader acceptable to Congress, is sworn in as prime minister.
July 14 – K.R. Narayanan is elected president, defeating T.N. Seshan.
July 25 – K.R. Narayanan takes charge
Krishan Kant is the Vice President
August 15 – Prime Minister I. K. Gujral hoists the National Flag
October 12-18 – Queen Elizabeth II pays a state visit to India.
November 23 – Prasar Bharati established
November 28 – Prime Minister Gujral resigns after the Congress party withdrew support from his government.
December 4 – The president orders mid-term elections.
December 29 – Sonia Gandhi, Italian-born widow of Rajiv Gandhi, announces her decision to join the Congress election campaign.
TRAI (telecom regulator) is established

1998

January 11 – Sonia Gandhi launches her election campaign at Sriperumbudur, where her husband was assassinated.
March 7 – The BJP crowns Atal Bihari Vajpayee as prime minister-aspirant.
On March 14 Sonia Gandhi is elected to the post of Congress president.
May 11 – Vajpayee stuns the world by conducting three underground nuclear tests close to the Pakistan border. These are followed, two days later, by two more tests at the same site. The move provokes international outrage and punitive sanctions from the United States, Japan, and others.
March 19 -BJP leader Shri. Atal Behari Vajpayee is appointed prime minister of India
June 9 – Over 1,120 people are killed when a cyclone hits coastal areas of the western state of Gujarat.
August 15 – Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee hoists the National Flag
October 18 – Pakistan and India end their first peace talks in a year with agreement to meet again next February in New Delhi.
November 6 – The first talks between India and Pakistan since 1992 over the disputed Siachen glacier end when Pakistan rejects an Indian proposal for a ceasefire.
The National Highway Development Project is launched.

1999

February 20 – Vajpayee makes a goodwill visit to Pakistan on the maiden trip of a cross-border bus service.
February 21 – At the end of a ground-breaking visit to Pakistan by Prime Minister Vajpayee, the two countries agree to work harder on their Kashmir dispute and announce steps to defuse tension and reduce risk of nuclear war.
April 11 – India says it has successfully test-fired a longer-range model of its Agni ballistic missile.
May 17 – Sonia Gandhi resigns as head of India’s main opposition Congress party after criticism from three senior colleagues. Congress expels the three for six years on May 20. She withdraws the decision on May 24.
May 26 – India unleashes two waves of air strikes to flush out guerrillas on its side of a Kashmir ceasefire line, sharply raising temperatures in the region. The next day India confirms it has lost two fighter jets which Pakistan says they shot down.
May 28 – In Kashmir, a stinger missile brings down an Indian helicopter killing all on board.
June 7 – India says it has forced guerrilla infiltrators in Kashmir back towards the ceasefire line with Pakistan, and killed 221 Pakistani soldiers in the offensive.
July 4 – India says it has recaptured the strategic Tiger Hill on its side of a military line of control in Kashmir.
July 9 – In Kashmir, the Indian army reports that it has all but ousted the infiltrators from the Batalik zone on India’s side of the ceasefire line.
Mufti Mohammad Sayeed launches the People’s Democratic Party in Jammu and Kashmir.
July 17 – India signals the end of the flare-up with Pakistan by announcing that all infiltrators have withdrawn from Indian-held Kashmir.
July 26 – India says its troops have cleared all infiltrators from their side of the Line of Control that divides Kashmir.
August 15 – Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee hoists the National Flag
December 24 – Heavily armed hijackers take over an Indian Airlines Airbus carrying 189 people from Kathmandu (Nepal) to New Delhi. After a detour to the United Arab Emirates, it lands at Kandahar, Afghanistan, on December 25. On December 28 the hijackers make three demands, including the release of 35 terroristss and a sum of $200 million. On December 31 the hijackers, who stabbed a man on the plane to death, free their hostages after reaching agreement with India for the release of three terrorists in Kashmir.

2000

January 3 – Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee accuses Pakistan of being behind the hijacking of an Indian plane and urges that Pakistan be declared a terrorist state.
January 6 – India arrests four Kashmiri terrorists in connection with the week-long hijacking in December.
Late April – The state government of Bihar agrees to support proposals to create a new state – unofficially named Jharkhand – from its southern districts.
Mid-June – Reliance Industries, the country’s biggest private company, announces plans to enter into the information technology industry. A new subsidiary, Reliance Infocomm, will oversee the laying of fibre-optic cables to connect the top 115 cities to the Internet.
June 28 – India joins a select group of six countries when it commences regular summits with the European Union. The other five countries which have regular consultations with the EU are Canada, China, Japan, Russia and the U.S..
Early July – The first passenger rail link between India and Bangladesh in 26 years is opened. The line between Benapole in Bangladesh and Petrapole in West Bengal was closed due to lack of commercial interest in 1974.
July 15 – Prime Minister Vajpayee announces that long-distance domestic phone lines will be fully deregulated from August 15 to help boost the country’s information technology industry.
July 30 – The Indian film idol Rajkumar is part of a group taken hostage by a notorious Karnataka bandit known as Veerappan. A popular outcry places the state government under strong pressure to negotiate Rajkumar’s release, but in August the Supreme Court rules out a deal involving the release of imprisoned members of Veerappan’s elephant poaching and timber smuggling band. One of Rajkumar’s fellow hostages manages to escape from his captors on September 28.
August 15 – Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee hoists the National Flag
November 1 – Chhattisgarh, carved out of Madhya Pradesh, becomes India’s 26th state.
November 6 – Buddhadev Bhattacharya is sworn in as the new chief minister of West Bengal following the retirement of Jyoti Basu, the world’s longest-serving elected communist leader.
November 9 – Uttaranchal, carved out of Uttar Pradesh, becomes India’s 27th state.
Mid-November – Three months of extreme embarrassment for the state governments of Tamil Nadu and Karnataka end when the notorious aging bandit Veerappan suddenly releases an even older veteran actor, Rajkumar, he had held captive since August. The authorities, keenly aware of the popularity of Rajkumar, agreed in August to grant some of Veerappan’s demands which included the official recognition of Tamil as a language used in business in Karnataka, and the release of prisoners held under strict anti-terrorist laws. It remains unclear what exactly prompted the release of Rajkumar.
November 15 – Jharkhand, carved out of Bihar, becomes India’s 28th state.
December 1 – Miss India first runner-up Priyanka Chopra wins the Miss World title.
Early December – Political turmoil is ignited by the anniversary of the destruction of a mosque by Hindu extremists at Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh, in 1992. It leads to calls for the resignation of Prime Minister Vajpayee and leaves the lower house of parliament, the Lok Sabha, in stalemate. Vajpayee suggests that the construction of a Hindu temple on the site of the mosque, reputedly the birthplace of a Hindu deity, is “an expression of national yearning”.

2001

January 1 – Calcutta officially becomes Kolkata, reverting to its precolonial name.
January 17 – Pakistan reacts angrily to news that the Indian military has successfully test-fired an improved Agni-II intermediate ballistic missile capable of carrying a nuclear warhead to anywhere in Pakistan.
Late January – 150 million children across India are immunized against polio in one of the largest vaccination projects ever undertaken.
January 26 – A massive earthquake, measuring 7.9 on the Richter scale, strikes the northwestern state of Gujarat. Estimates of the death toll rise rapidly to 30,000, with some much higher figures being quoted. The epicentre of the quake is some 300 km west of Ahmadabad near the town of Bhuj, which bears the brunt of the destruction. Tremors are felt as far away as Pakistan, Nepal, and Bangladesh. The government calls for $1.5 billion in international loans to deal with the devastation. Aftershocks measuring up to 5.8 on the Richter scale hinder the search for survivors and prompt mass evacuations of the affected areas.
Late March – Provisional results of the 2001 census are released, providing official confirmation that the country’s population now exceeds one billion. The full census results are not expected until 2003.
June 21 – A deal is signed by which the world famous Taj Mahal monument is to receive private sponsorship from the Taj Hotel Group.
July 4 – The country’s first ever private FM radio station – Radio City – is launched in Bangalore.
July 17 – (Agra Summit) Hopes for a new era in Indo-Pakistani relations are disappointed when the summit between Prime Minister Vajpayee and newly appointed Pakistani president Pervez Musharraf fails to make progress on the Kashmir issue and ends without agreement.
Late July – Prime Minister Vajpayee accepts the invitation from Pakistani President Musharraf to travel to Pakistan for a second round of bilateral talks. However, his acceptance comes amid reports that he has privately derided Musharraf’s diplomatic skills.
August 15 – Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee hoists the National Flag
Early September – India’s first police office dedicated specifically to Internet crimes opens in Bangalore.

2002

February 28 – Violent sectarian clashes break out in the Gujarati city of Ahmadabad leaving over 500 Muslims and Hindus dead. The riots came after the death the previous day of 58 Hindus whose train was deliberately set on fire by Muslim militants in Godhra, near Vadodara (the exact circumstances remain unclear). Those victims were said to be supporters of the extremist Hindi group Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), who had been traveling from the Ayodhya region, near the border with Nepal. VHP has been campaigning for the construction of a Hindu temple on the controversial Ayodhya site following the destruction of an ancient mosque there in 1992. Violence rages on through March, claiming hundreds of lives, most of them Muslim. (See also 2002 Gujarat violence.)
May 21 – Moderate Kashmiri separatist leader Abdul Ghani Lone is assassinated. On the same day Vajpayee begins a five-day visit to Kashmir. In a martial speech on May 22, he says that “a new chapter of victory and triumph will be written in the history books soon”.
July 25 – Dr. A. P. J. Abdul Kalam is elected as President of India
Bhairon Singh Shekhawat is elected as Vice President
August 15 – Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee hoists the National Flag
December 8 – Police confirm they have found the body of H. Nagappa, the former Karnataka minister kidnapped by Veerappan in August. Veerappan issues a taped statement saying that Nagappa has been accidentally killed in a shootout with the police.
December 24 – Prime Minister Vajpayee opens the first stretch of Delhi’s new metro system.

2003

India put up a great show at the ICC Cricket World Cup in South Africa after poor performances in the past and go on to the Finals. They were defeated by Australia in the Finals.
August 15 – Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee hoists the National Flag
August 25 – 52 killed in two bomb blasts in Mumbai, India.

2004

May 20 – Dr. Manmohan Singh sworn in as the new prime minister of India, after Congress forms the United Progressive Alliance with the Left parties.
August 15 – Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh hoists the National Flag
December 26 – The strongest earthquake in 40 years originates from the Indian Ocean off the west coast of Sumatra island in Indonesia, measuring 9.0 on the Richter Scale and creating tsunami tidal waves that sweep across much of the coastlines of South Asia. More than 15,000 reported killed in India and 250,000 across the globe.

2005

March 10 – TRAI (Telecom Regulatory Authority of India) slashes tariffs for international bandwidth prices by up to 70% with effect from April 1.
May 21 – International (ISD) calls to countries in the Gulf, the SAARC region, Saudi Arabia, Africa, Australia and New Zealand will cost Rs. 12 a minute, down by 33%.
August 15 – Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh hoists the National Flag

2006

May – Medical doctors started strike against central government decision on reservation for OBC (other backword classes) in Medical Institution
July 11 – A series of coordinated bomb attacks strikes several commuter trains in Mumbai, India during evening rush hour.
April 12 – Dr. Rajkumar, 77, Kannada film actor dies and resulting to which, there is a lot of havoc in the city of Bangalore during the day of his final rites since people were unable to see him on his final journey.
May 3 – Pramod Mahajan, 56, politician, Bharatiya Janata Party member is killed by his own brother Pravin Mahajan
May 5 – Naushad, 86, music composer dies
August 15 – Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh hoists the National Flag
August 21 – Ustad Bismillah Khan, 90, shehnai musician and Bharat Ratna winner dies
August 27 – Hrishikesh Mukherjee, 84, Hindi film director dies

2007

July 7 – Taj Mahal again voted as one of the 7 Wonders of the World
July 25 – Pratibha Patil becomes the First lady President of India
Mohammad Hamid Ansari is elected as the Vice President
August 15 – Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh hoists the National Flag
September 24 – Cricket team India wins the First Twenty20 World Cup Finals beating Pakistan by 5 runs

Information Source: Wikipedia, Jansamachar, A special report on TIME Magazine: India Charges AheadApart from these, Sanjeev has some great quick known facts about India.

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I have done enough work in compiling this information and will keep it updated if any more needed. In case, I have missed something that needs to be included, please post them in the comments. Hope you may have enjoyed it. Thanks.

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