Year In Review 2019: Top news events from India

In the wee hours of February 26, 12 Mirage 2000 fighter aircraft of the Indian Air Force crossed the border into the disputed area of Kashmir to conduct a surgical strike on Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorists camps in the Balakot region in Pakistan. Codenamed Operation Bandar, the pilots dropped five Spice 2000 bombs during the strike. As per media reports, around 200-350 terrorists were killed in the attack, however, Pakistan maintains that the attack did not cause any casualties. Tensions between the two nuclear powered nations escalated post the strikes, with Pakistan vowing to respond to the air attack. Border skirmishes between the two countries have continued, since. Image credit: For representation only. By aeroprints.com, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=32538737

The Ardh Kumbh Mela, one of the largest religious gatherings in the world was held from 15 January, 2019 – 04 March, 2019 in Prayagraj. With the Mela, Prayagraj also got the world’s largest temporary city. The Uttar Pradesh Government had allocated Rs 2800 crores as the budget for the 2019 Kumbh Mela, however, the expenditure went to Rs 4,300 crore. The NITI Aayog recently praised the UP Government for the successful arrangements during the mela. Image credit: Image credit: By Puffino – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=22912389

On August 5, 2019, the Modi government revoked Article 370 and Article 35 (A) which give special rights to the state of Jammu and Kashmir. Further, Home Minister Amit Shah introduced the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Bill 2019, which changed the status of Jammu and Kashmir from that of a state to two separate Union Territories - the UT of Jammu and Kashmir and the UT of Ladakh. The UTs came into existence on October 31st and President, Ramnath Kovind appointed Lt Governor’s at both the UTs. Around 200 political leaders of the state were also put under house arrest after the abrogation, to avoid any problems. While internet services remain suspended in Kashmir Valley, the UT is inching towards normalcy with shops opening for a few hours. Image credit: By KennyOMG - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=15411330

In a landmark ruling, passed by a five-judge Constitution bench headed by former Judge Ranjan Gogoi, the Supreme Court ruled that the Chief Justice of India’s (CJI) office is a public authority and will also come under the Right to Information Act. While making the judgement, the Court said, “The Right to Information and Right to Privacy are two sides of the same coin. None can take precedence over the other,” and that “Judicial independence and accountability” go hand in hand. This was a rare case of the SC ruling against itself as it had been fighting for 12 years to keep the CJI’s office out of the RTI Act’s ambit. This had been challenged by RTI activist Subhash Agrawal who had filed a petition calling for the office to be brought under RTI and made more transparent. Image credit: By Legaleagle86 - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Supreme_Court_of_India_-_200705.jpg, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=35020991

This year’s general elections, held in May, saw PM Narendra Modi riding back to power, with the BJP winning 303 seats - showcasing an even better result than the 282 seats they had won in 2014. At 67 percent, these elections also saw the highest ever turnout. What made these elections stand out further was that this was the first time that female voter turnout equaled that of male. Elections 2019 also had the most number of female candidates winning, with 78 women making their way to the Parliament. Image credit: Female voters waiting to cast their votes at a polling station at Jodhpur in Rajasthan. Photo: ANI

In July, 2019, the Indian Parliament approved a bill to criminalise the practise of Triple Talaq or instant divorce. As per the Bill, any man found breaching it could face jail term of upto three years. In 2017, the Supreme Court had declared the practice ‘unconstitutional.’ While Muslim majority nations Pakistan and Bangladesh had already banned the practice, India was one of the last countries to do so. The Bill, however, raised concerns amongst members of the Muslim community and opposition parties who have criticised the move as interference and have raised concerns that it may have the potential to be misused to target Muslims. Image credit: For representational purposes only. By Christopher John SSF from Stroud, NSW, Australia - 20110422_Mumbai_041_Gateway_of_India, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=37305877

A nation watched with bated breath as India’s lunar mission, Chandrayaan 2 attempted a soft landing on the lunar surface on September 6, 2019. The indegenous vehicle, which consisted of a lunar orbiter, the Vikram lander and Pragyan lunar rover, entered the Moon's orbit on August 20th, 2019. If successful, India would have been the fourth nation to complete a lunar soft landing, and the first to explore the Moon's South Pole. The lander, Vikram, however deviated from its original trajectory and all communications were lost. While ISRO is still analysing what went wrong, Minister of State for the department of atomic energy, Jitendra Singh, stated that the Chandrayaan 2’s Vikram lander’s braking thrusters failed and it hard landed around 500 metres of the designated landing site, leading to the loss in communication. All is not lost, though, as all the eight scientific instruments are still functioning and are providing valuable scientific data, as per Singh. Image credit: By Department of Space (GODL-India), GODL-India, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=83584145

The year 2019 finally brought a closure to the decades-long Babri Masjid, Ayodhya dispute, after the Supreme Court, on 9 November, ruled that the land on which the Masjid stood before it was razed, belonged to the Hindus. As per the ruling, in favour of Ram Lalla, the land has been handed over to a trust to build the Ram Janmabhoomi temple.The court also gave the Muslim Waqf Board alternate land of five acres on which to build a Mosque. This historical verdict comes nine years after the Allahabad High Court passed a judgement dividing the land between three parties – Ram Lalla, Sunni Waqf Board and Nirmohi Akhara. Security was tightened during and after the verdict, while schools were closed in some states. However, the process passed peacefully. While the UP Sunni Waqf Board has said that it will not challenge the verdict, the All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) said that it will file a review plea against the verdict. Image credit: By रूही - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=76779094

The Kartarpur Sahib Corridor, first proposed by former PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee in 1999, was inaugurated on November, 9. The corridor, which links Gurdwara Darbar Sahib in Pakistan's Kartarpur to Dera Baba Nanak shrine in India's Gurdaspur district, allows Indian pilgrims to visit the Gurdwara, located five kms from the border in Punjab, Pakistan, visa-free. The corridor was thrown open during the 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi flagging off the first batch of more than 500 pilgrims. The site is important to Sikhs because Guru Nanak Dev chose the area to settle down after his missionary work and spent his last 18 years farming in Katarpur. Image credit: Entrance of the Kartarpur Sahib Corridor (or Nanak Marg) from Dera Baba Nanak side of Indian border By Harvinder Chandigarh - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=83924937

Twitter has called it the best season of Game of Thrones. Few would have expected the kind of drama that has been taking place in Maharashtra ever since the elections results were declared on October 24. Though voters had given BJP and Shiv Sena combine a clear mandate to form Government, the state found itself in a political mess after the alliance failed to come forward to stake claim. The reason – Shiv Sena accused BJP of breaking its promise of equal division of power. As Maharashtra descended into further chaos and President’s rule was imposed, Shiv Sena did an ideological unthinkable by joining hands with NCP-Congress combine to form the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi, with Uddhav Thackeray as the chief minister candidate. Just when things were looking to settle down, NCP leader Ajit Pawar did a volte face and joined hands with BJP. Devendra Fadnavis returned for a second innings as CM, but resigned in three days – creating a record for the shortest tenure of any CM in the state. With the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi back in the game, and Uddhav Thackeray sworn in as CM, it is a wait and watch to see how the rest of the Maha GoT season goes. Image credit: ANI

After signing an agreement to procure 36 Rafale fighter jets in September 2016, the first of the jets was delivered to a team of Indian Air Force officers in France on September 19. The plane was officially inducted into the Air Force by defence Minister Rajnath Singh on October 8, where he performed a Shastra Pooja on the aircraft. This, however, created controversy as members of the Congress party criticised Singh for bringing religion into it. The Rafale aircraft deal has been an ongoing bone of contention between BJP and Congress, which has accused it of price escalations and crony capitalism. The Supreme Court, however, has dismissed pleas seeking review to the earlier clean chit it had given the Modi Government.

Pollution levels hit record high in November, with the Supreme Court even declaring that Delhi had become worse than narak (hell). Flights were diverted and schools closed as pollution levels hit the hazardous level, measuring over 900 in certain areas early November. Each year, pollution levels in Delhi reach alarming levels after Diwali due to a mix of fire crackers, stubble burning by farmers from neighbouring states of Punjab and Haryana, and the winter that locks in the toxic fumes. Image credit: By Sumitmpsd - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=63957099

On November 22, India played with a pink ball in its first ever day-night cricket Test match against Bangladesh at Eden Gardens, Kolkata. India won the match by an innings and 46 runs. The colour pink was chosen after ball makers first experimented with optic yellow and bright orange which could easily be spotted on the grass. However, batsmen complained that the colour clashed with the brown patches on the pitch. The ball maker, Kookaburra, put a black seam on to the ball after former Australian skipper, Steve Smith had suggested that the seam be made more visible. Image credit: By Aravind Sivaraj - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=33906269

Tamil super stars Rajinikanth and Kamal Haasan took their decades-long friendship to the next level, as they hinted of a possible tie-up, politically. While the fans of both the superstars were thrilled at the news, Tamil Nadu parties have sought to downplay their reactions to the news. Rajinikanth first announced that he would be venturing into politics and setting up his party in 2017. This, however, hasn’t materialised so far, while Kamal Haasan launched his party, the Makkal Needhi Maiam, in February, 2018. Image credit: Bollywood Hungama.

India saw growth slow down to its lowest level in six years after GDP growth figures dropped to 4.5 percent in the second quarter, as per data released by the Government. This was mainly on account of weak manufacturing and reduced exports due to a global slowdown. As per experts, the figures are in line with the expectations and the economy is expected to show slightly better growth in the third and fourth quarters.

Amongst the most controversial and polarising Bills in recent history, the Citizenship Amendment Bill which was passed by the Lok Sabha on December, 9 and the Rajya Sabha on December 12th, became an Act after it received Presidential assent on December 12. The CAB amends Section 2(1)(b) of the Citizenship Act 1955, enabling Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi, and Christian religious minorities from the neighboring Muslim majority countries of Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan to acquire Indian citizenship. As per data from the Indian Intelligence Bureau, there are around 25,400 Hindus, 5,800 Sikhs, less than 100 Christians and other religious minorities, who are expected to eligible for citizenship under the amended Citizenship Act. The Act has been called unconstitutional and as discriminatory against Muslims. Assam and other north eastern states are protesting as they fear that the CAA will add further strain to their resources and threaten their language, as many Hindus from Bangladesh will then be able to settle in the state. Image credit: By A.Savin (Wikimedia Commons · WikiPhotoSpace) - Own work, FAL, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=49129197

The passage of the Citizenship Act has seen the largest protests since the Narendra Modi government came into power as thousands of citizens across the country have been taking to the streets to make their voices heard against the move by the Government. While the protests started in Assam, after the Bill was introduced in the Parliament on December 4, it soon spread across the North East, Delhi and other parts of the country. In Delhi, many students from Jamia Milia University were injured as protests turned violent amidst clashes with the police. As protests intensify, Section 144 of CrPC, which restricts large gatherings, has been passed in the capital, several parts of Karnataka and Uttar Pradesh. Further, in a first, mobile calls, the internet and SMS were also suspended in various parts of Delhi. However, amidst the protests, were also moments of touching solidarity as when a group of women students protected their male friend against police lathis, and a human chain shielded a group of Muslim offering their namaz near the Jamia Milia entrance. Image credit: By DiplomatTesterMan - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=84919519