Glimpses of the Year 2013

Dear Readers, here we are providing you a glimpse of the major events of the year 2013.  

1.    AAP FORMS GOVERNMENT IN DELHI: Arvind Kejriwal of the Aam Aadmi Party was sworn in as the Chief Minister of Delhi on December 28. The AAP, which secured 28 seats in Delhi’s 70-member Assembly in its maiden election in December, formed the Government with outside support of the Congress, which has 8 MLAs.

2.    PARLIAMENT PASSES LOKPAL BILL: The Lok Sabha on December 18 passed the historic Lokpal and Lokayuktas Bill, 2013, paving the way for establishment of an ombudsman to fight corruption in public offices and ensure accountability on the part of public officials, including the Prime Minister.

3.    BJP’S VICTORY IN STATE ELECTIONS: The BJP emerged victorious in three of the five States where elections took place in November-December. It seized power from the Congress in Rajasthan and got re-elected in Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, while it emerged as the single largest party in Delhi in what was dubbed as the semi finals before next year’s general elections. The Congress secured a two-third majority in Mizoram.

4.    Bharat Ratna Award: Prof & Scientist CN Rao and Indian Cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar has been bestowed with the country’s biggest civilian award “Bharat Ratna”.

Tendulkar, who retired from international cricket, is the first sportsman to be bestowed with India's highest civilian honour.

5.    Sachin Retires: Sachin Tendulkar, retired from international cricket after playing his 200th Test match against West Indies in Mumbai at Wankhade Stadium.

Sachin Profile:

1973: Born in Bombay (now Mumbai) on 24 April

1989: Makes Test debut for India against Pakistan, aged 16

1990: Scores first Test century, against England

1998: Scores first double century for Mumbai against Australia

2005: Passes Sunil Gavaskar's record of highest number of Test centuries

2008: Becomes the highest run-scorer in Test cricket, passing West Indies' Brian Lara's mark of 11,953

2010: Becomes the most capped player in Test history

2011: Wins the World Cup with India

2012: Scores his 100th international century in ODI v Bangladesh in March; retires from ODIs in December

2013: Plays his 200th and final Test on his home ground in Mumbai

6.    TELANGANA BILL APPROVED: The Union Cabinet on December 5 approved a Bill for the creation of a Telangana State with 10 districts, paving the way for the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh to give birth to the country’s 29th State.

7.    INDIA’S MARS MISSION: India’s Mars Orbiter Mission, called Mangalyaan, was successfully launched into Earth orbit on November 5 by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). It is India's first interplanetary mission and, if successful, ISRO would become the fourth space agency to reach Mars, after the Soviet space programme, NASA, and European Space Agency.

8.    LALU GETS FIVE YEARS IN JAIL: Former Bihar Chief Minister and Rashtriya Janata Dal leader Lalu Prasad Yadav was sentenced on October 3 to five years in prison and fined Rs.25 lakh for his involvement in the fodder scam that surfaced 17 years ago.

9.    TEHELKA SCANDAL: A female journalist of Tehelka accused the magazine’s editor Tarun Tejpal of sexually assaulting her in a Goa hotel in early November. The Goa Crime Branch booked Tejpal for rape after the allegations. He was later sent to judicial custody.

10.  MODI, BJP’S PM CANDIDATE: 

      The Bharatiya Janata Party on September 13 formallyannounced that Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi would be the party’s prime ministerial candidate for the next general elections, due for mid-2014. The announcement came despite opposition from veteran leader L.K. Advani.

11.  MUZAFFARNAGAR RIOTS: Clashes between two communities broke out in the Muzaffarnagar district, Uttar Pradesh, on August 27, which claimed at least 43 lives and injured 93.

12.  HYDERABAD BLASTS: On February 21, two blasts occurred in the city of Hyderabad. The bombs exploded in Dilsukhnagar, a crowded shopping area, killing at least 17 people, including three college students, and injuring 119.

13.  Telegram service ends. STOP: The world sent its last telegram when India's state- owned telecom company shut its 163-year-old telegraph service on 15 July. The service had become largely irrelevant due to the advent of the mobile phone and computers, but that did not stop many from reminiscing over the rich history of the service. 

     Telegrams always triggered a sense of excitement and it wasn't surprising when thousands queued up to send a final "nostalgic telegram" on 15 July. The service had a deep connection with India as it was regularly shown as a mode of communication in early Bollywood films - where the news ranged from a hero sending a telegram to his father about his new job or a family receiving information about the death of their breadwinner in a battle field. 

14.  Delhi gang rape verdict: The tragedy that unfolded on 16 December 2012 when a 23-year-old student was gang-raped on a moving bus in Delhi somewhat saw a closure after the four convicts were given the death sentence in September this year.

The verdict was welcomed by the media and became one of the biggest stories of the year as it came in the backdrop of widespread anger across the country.

Unfortunately, violence against women in India has not seen a drop as reports of rapes and other forms of sexual assault were reported throughout the year.

However, protests that erupted after the horrific event shook-up the government on the issue of women safety and forced it to come up with stricter new anti-rape laws.

15.  Two disasters - different approaches: Natural disasters left many dead and homeless in India in 2013 but there was a lesson to be learnt after the government averted a major crisis when tropical storm Phailin hit the country's eastern shores in October.

The government had issued warnings days in advance and evacuated thousands to reduce the number of casualties.

Contrary to this, floods in the mountainous state of Uttarakhandin northern India killed hundreds of people in June.

Relatives of those dead or stranded in the state were left in despair due to a lack of coordination in rescue efforts.

Many of those who died were tourists travelling to the state for pilgrimage.

Newspapers blamed rampant construction, mining and massive power projects in the northern Himalayan states for the flooding and termed it a man-made disaster.

16.  Economic gloom: The year did not bring much cheer for the country's economy as the rupee continued to slide for most of 2013.

The rupee dropped by nearly 4% to a new low of 68.7 to the US dollar on 28 August amid growing concerns over the health of the country's economy.

It has recovered slightly but continues to perform weakly in the international market.

Newspapers and pundits mostly added to the negative sentiment throughout the year.

Now one hopes that the new year will bring renewed energy into India's struggling economy.

17.  Raghuram Rajan takes over as new RBI governor: Raghuram Rajan, appointed 23rd governor of Reserve Bank of India (RBI), on September 4, 2013. He Succeeded D. Subbarao

18.  Legendary actor Pran dies at 93:   Pran, one of Bollywood's most respected actors, died in Mumbai's Lilavati Hospital. "Pran received the Dadasaheb Phalke Award this year in May.

Pran, star of films such as Zanjeer and Amar Akbar Anthony, began his career as a hero in Punjabi films, made a tremendous impact on Bollywood as the villain in Dilip Kumar's Ram Aur Shyam and was the first actor to break stereotype by playing character roles as well. In the '70s, there was almost no major film that did not feature Pran and he was often higher paid than the hero.

Pran was credited with making the role of the villain as important as the hero's, and was known for his sophistication and style on screen.

19.  Sanjay Dutt sentenced to 5 years in jail in 1993 Mumbai blasts case: Actor Sanjay Dutt has been sentenced to five years in prison by the Supreme Court which upheld his conviction for illegally possessing weapons in a case linked to the 1993 serial blasts in Mumbai. Over 250 people were killed in the terror attack. 

20.  The Kumbh Mela: The year also witnessed a show like no other as the world's largest gathering took place in the northern city of Allahabad on 11 February.Several million people bathed at the confluence of the Ganges and Yamuna rivers during the two-month long Kumbh Mela festival.

The event, held every 12 years, is billed as the biggest gathering on Earth and attracts Nagas (naked holy men), assorted gurus and tourists from all over the world.