- 35 years ago, the nation's light went out. On June 25, 1975, an emergency was declared, the opposition imprisoned and democracy abandoned in order to preserve Indira Gandhi in power. But the trauma also taught the value of hard-won freedom and the necessity of protecting its liberty.
- India's 1st satellite Aryabhatta goes into space. It was named after an ancient Indian mathematician, launched by the Russians and built by the ISRO.
- The Ramesh Sippy- directed Sholay is released. So are Jai Santoshi Maa and Deewar, two super hits that changed the view of Indian fans.
1976
- Parveen Babi makes it to the cover of Time for a story on Asia's film scene.
- Congress president Dev Kant Baruah equates India with Indira. This move was welcomed by mixed emotions.
- Sanjay Gandhi and his cronies cash in on the Emergency to run amok with the mass sterilization programs.
1977
- A cyclone sweeps across Andhra Pradesh and neighbouring states leading to 50,000 deaths and rendering 20 lakhs homeless.
- The 10+2 system is introduced across all CBSE schools. A national system was required to bring uniformity and ensure mobility across states after at least 8 years of elementary school.
- Michael Ferreira finally wins the World Amateur Billiards title in Melbourne after representing India 8 times at world championships.
1978
- Technology moves ahead thanks to Subhash Mukherjee who gave India its 1st test tube baby Durga. Faced with insults from the West Bengal Government and bureaucratic negligence, Mukherjee committed suicide in 1981.
- Air India's flagship carrier Ashoka bursts into flames in mid-air, killing 213 people.
- Amitabh Bachhan rules bollywood after 2 major hits- Muquaddar Ka Sikandar (earning 81 crores) and Trishul (earning 78 crores).
1979
- The Mandal Commission, headed by Bindheshwari Prasad Mandal is formed under the Morarji Desai government to "identify the socially and educationally backward".
- The Morvi dam in Gujarat bursts, killing more than 2,000 people.
- The Janata government falls like a pack of cards as its fragile unity begins to crack on the issue of prime ministership.
- Mother Teresa wins the Nobel Peace Prize, the only faint glimmer in an otherwise grim government.
1980
- The BJP emerges from ashes of the Janata Party even as Indira Gandhi returns to power. But bad news arrives when her son and political heir Sanjay Gandhi dies in a plane crash.
- The Indian hockey team bags gold at Moscow Olympics once again after a gap of 16 years.
- It was a year of screen matches, Rishi Kapoor and Neetu SIngh as well as Dharmendra and Hema Malini as well as Rajesh Khanna and Dimple Kapadia.
- Rajiv Gandhi, 37, professional pilot for IA, joins politics following his brother's death and enters the Lok Sabha from Amethi.
- After spending 12 years in research by Indian scientists, India gets its 1st home-made drug, TROMARIL, with anti-inflammatory, analgesic and anti-pyretic properties.
- A new generation in pop culture is born, Sanjay Dutt makes debut in Rocky as a 19 yr-old even as Nazia Hassan's Disco Deewane sways the masses.
1982
- Asian Games are hosted in India and turned out to be a huge success.
- Coloured televisions are introduced in India.
- The Telegu Dasam Party is formed under film legend N.T.Rama, 59. It goes on to demolish the Congress to win the Andhra Pradesh polls in 1983.
- India attracts international attention as Indira Gandhi visits the US for the 1st time in 11 years, meeting President Ronald Reagan.
- Sir Richard Attenborough's Gandhi brings fame to India with 8 Oscars. Bhanu Athaiya, the film's costume designer, becomes the 1st Indian ever to win an Oscar.
1983
- Kapil Dev's Devils get India its first and only World Cup. Also Sunil Gavaskar surpasses Sir Don Bradman's record of 29 centuries.
- Indira Gandhi wears her emotions on her sleeve as she launches Sanjay's dream car, the Maruti 800, on his 1st death anniversary.
- It was the year of the woman. While dreaded dacoit Phoolan Devi surrendered, Silk Smith's raw sex appeal had Tamil audiences whistling in the aisles.
1984
- Operation Bluestar leads to widespread resentment amongst Sikhs against Indira Gandhi. She is assassinated by her own Sikh bodyguards.
- Over the next four days hundreds of Sikhs were massacred in the streets of Delhi.
- Bhopal gas tragedy takes place killing over 20,000 people.
- India launches Operation Meghdoot, and most of the Siachen Glacier in Kashmir comes under Indian control.
- India's 1st sponsored TV serial Hum Log is aired in July. With 156 episodes, it was the longest running serial in the history of Indian television at the time it ended.
1985
- Rajiv Gandhi, 40, rides high on the sympathy wave to win a two-thirds majority in the Lok Sabha and becomes the youngest prime minister of India.
- AI-182 Kanishka blows up mid-air, killing 329 on board, including 22 Indians. Investigations point the needle at Sikh separatist group Babbar Khalsa.
- The case of a Muslim woman, Shah Bano, 62, is given a religious angle and the Rajiv Gandhi government overturns the SC judgment to deny a Muslim woman the right to demand maintenance from her former husband.
- Operation Black Thunder is launched to flush out the remaining Sikh extremists from the Golden Temple.
- Govinda debuts in Ilzam. The actor goes on to forever change the notion of a Bollywood hero and the levels of acceptable absurdity.
- Friends-turned-foes Dirubhai Ambani and Ramnath Goenka battle it out; Goenka's The Indian Express publishes a series of articles on how Ambani was using unfair trade practices to maximize profits.
1987
- Sunil Gavaskar sets yet another record by becoming the 1st cricketer to score 10,000 test runs
- Arunachal Pradesh and Mizoram, carved out of Assam, and Goa, upgraded from a union territory, make India a union of 25 states.
- It was the year of scandals, from Bofors, which tainted even Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, to Rekha's declaration:"The wife has not won, I have handed her husband back on a golden platter."
1988
- Following MGR's death in 1987, to strong-willed woman, wife Janaki Ramachandran and political heir J.Jayalalithaa, fight over his legacy and split his party, the AIADMK. They came back together again in 1989.
- India becomes the first country to ban The Satanic Verses within nine days of its release in the UK.
- Rajiv Gandhi lowers the voting age from 21 to 18 to crash in on the youth appeal. The move backfired on him when he loses the elections a year later.
1989
- V.P. Singh becomes the first prime minister to lead a minority govt. But he will also be remembered for being the originator of caste-centric politics.
- Even as the Berlin Wall crumbles after 28 long years, China lives through the worst human rights excess ever- the Tiananmen Square massacre in which thousands are killed.
- In May, India test-fires its first intermediate-range ballistic missile, Agni. It catapults India into an exclusive club dominated by the world's technological and military giants.
1990
- The country burns in caste wars following V.P. Singh's decision to resurrect his political fortunes through the Mandal Report. Its echoes could be heard in the Gujjar- Meena clashes of 2008.
- L.K.Advani's phenomenal Rathyatra changes the course of the BJP and Hindutva wave sweeps across the country.
- Kashmir burns and 90,000 Kashmiri Hindus flee from their homes in one of the greatest refugee migrations in Indian history.
- Rajiv Gandhi is assassinated in an LTTE-sponsored suicide bomb attack near Chennai in the run-up to the general elections.
- GDP growth rate falls to 1.1 % and inflation hits 17%, paving way for the liberalization of the economy by then finance minister Manmohan Singh.
- Pooja Bedi takes the age of liberalization to a new high when she bares all in a Kama Sutra condom advertisement.
1992
- In the most shameful post-independence episode, Babri Masjid is reduced to rubble by thousands of kar sevaks as the entire nation watched in horror. More than 2,000 people were killed in the riots following the demolition and India’s secular image is tarnished forever.
- The Rs 3, 0000-crore Harshad Mehta scam hits the headlines and the BSE falls almost 1,500 points as the bank after bank is pulled into the vortex.
- The government establishes the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) to regulate security markets in India.
- At the age of 70, legendary filmmaker Satyajit Ray gets an Oscar for Lifetime Achievement, weeks before his death on April 23.
1993
- Nearly 500 people die in Mumbai in a series of 13 bomb blasts. The coordinated attacks were the most destructive bomb explosions in Indian history.
- An earthquake, measuring 6.4 on the Richter scale, rocks Latur in Maharashtra, killing 15,000 people.
- Ten MPs belonging to the JMM and Janata Dal are paid money to cast their votes in favour of P.V. Narasimha Rao's minority government which would have otherwise fallen.
1994
- In a defining moment for Indian womanhood, Sushmita Sen becomes 1st Indian to win the Miss Universe title. Aishwarya Rai becomes Miss World the same year.
- Family dramas become the norm with Hum Aapke Hain Kaun hitting the screens. The same year, Shekhar Kapur incurs the wrath of Phoolan Devi over Bandit Queen.
- Plague hits Surat due to heavy monsoon rains and uncleared animal carcasses. More than 50 people die and lakhs flee their homes.
1995
- Country’s first cellphone call is made by W. Bengal CM.
- Shiv Sena pramukh Balasaheb Thackeray at last conquers Maharashtra, but it is his first and last affair with power in the state.
- Idols of Ganesha across India miraculously started drinking milk that was being offered as part of a religious ritual by Hindus on the occasion of Ganesh Utsav.
- Aditya Chopra gives Bollywood one of the biggest hits in Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge. It remains the longest running film in Indian history and is still playing at Mumbai's Maratha Mandir.
- The Jain Hawala scandal surfaces, after which the CBI moves the Supreme Court against Opposition leaders such as L.K. Advani, Sharad Yadav and Yashwant Sinha.
- Leander Paes wins a bronze in the Atlanta Olympics and becomes the 1st Indian individual Olympic medal holder in 44 years.
- The BJP government ends up in history books as the government with the shortest tenure after Atal Bihari Vajpayee resigns within 13 days as prime minister due to inability to prove majority in parliament.
1997
- In The God of Small Things, Arundhati Roy creates a universal history of love and tragedy. It wins her the booker Prize, making her the 1st known Indian to do so.
- Mother Teresa dies after caring for the poor and the sick for 45 long years.
- The Jain commission report comes out and writes the obituary of the already comatose government of Inder Kumar Gujral. The inquiry into Rajiv Gandhi's killing indicts the DMK for colluding with the LTTE and ends the congress-United Front relationship.
1998
- Defying traditional assumptions, analytical predictions and international opinion, India conducts three nuclear tests at Pokhran.
- Amartya Sen becomes the sixth Indian to be awarded the Nobel Prize. He wins it in the field of economics for his lifetime's work using the science to help the poorest section of society.
- London-based L.N. Mittal becomes the world's richest Indian with an estimated worth of $1.9 billion.
- Salman Khan courts controversy when he is charged with killing black bucks.
1999
- The euphoria over Atal Bihari Vajpayee's bus tour to Lahore vanishes as reports arrive of infiltration in high ranges of the Himalayas. What begins as a skirmish on the India-Pakistan LOC quickly escalates into the Kargil War.
- A cyclone in Orrisa leaves thousands dead and renders millions sick, homeless and hungry.
- Mahesh Bhupathi and Leander Paes become the World Number One by winning at Wimbledon; Anil Kumble while creates history by taking all 10 wickets in a test innings against Pakistan.
2000
- The longest hijack drama spills into 2000 when terrorists seize control of Indian Airlines flight IC-814 on Christmas Eve ant take it to Kandahar.
- With baby Astha's birth, India's population reaches a billion and leaves many wondering when its growth will slow down.
- The match fixing scandal erupts, taking the wickets of South Africa captain Hansie Cronje and nearly half the Indian team including Captain Mohammad Azharuddin.
- Terror unites India and the US. The World Trade Centre attack on 9/11 changes the way the war on terror will be fought. The 12/13 attack on Parliament in India is an assault on the nation's soul.
- An earthquake strikes Bhuj in Gujarat on Republic Day, killing 40,000 and injuring nearly two lakh.
- Ashutosh Gowariker's Lagaan, starring Amir Khan, releases. It goes to the top 5 foreign film nominations at the Oscars.
2002
- The Sabarmati Express was burnt down at Godhra and 59 kar sevaks, returning from Ayodhya, were burnt alive. Massacre against Muslims followed killing over 1,000 people.
- Direct flights to China resume for the first time in 40 years after diplomatic talks between New Delhi and Beijing.
- Terrorists take siege of the Akshardham Temple in Ahmedabad in September and kill more than 30 people. About 600 devotees were in the temple at that time.
- The Metro arrives in Delhi, changing the way the city commutes, inspiring other metropolises to follow suit.
2003
- In yet another attack on the country's commercial capital, 52 are killed and 150 injured when 2 successive blasts rock Mumbai.
- Atal Bihari Vajpayee visits China. The visit is the high point of relations that began with Rajiv Gandhi's groundbreaking visit to China in 1988 as prime minister.
- Kalpana Chawala, the first Indian Woman to go into space, is killed when the space shuttle Columbia disintegrates while re-entering the earth's atmosphere.
2004
- The congress returns to power with Manmohan Singh as prime minister. The General Elections of 2004 bring down the curtains on NDA's India Shining slogan.
- The Sumatra earthquake records 9 on the Richter scale and triggers a tsunami that lashes the coastlines of 13 nations, including India, leaving over 85,000 dead.
- Rakhi Sawant bursts on to the silver screen as the tartan skirt-wearing secretary who metamorphoses into a sex symbol in the remix Pardesia.
2005
- Lalu Prasad Yadav loses to Nitish Kumar, his arch enemy, in the Assembly polls after being directly or indirectly in power for 15 long years.
- External affairs minister K. Natwar Singh is ousted from his post for his son's alleged role in the Oil for Food scandal.
- At 18, Sania Mirza becomes the first Indian since Ramesh Krishnan to break into the top 50 in the world tennis rankings.
- Manmohan Singh and US president George Bush sign the nuclear deal, which ends India's nuclear isolation in the world.
- Reservations extended to educational institutes. Medical students across the nation took to streets.
- A series of seven bomb blasts in Mumbai local trains leaves over 200 dead within 11 minutes. The bombs were set off in pressure cookers on trains plying on the western line of the suburban railway network.
- It is a year of buyouts for Indian companies. L.N. Mittal takes over Arcelor for $32.2 billion and Tata Steel purchases Corus for $8 billion.
2007
- Clashes over the Tata NanoNandigram lead to widespread violence in which 2,500 policemen along with 400 suspected CPI(M) activists try to "recapture" the village. Officially 14 farmers died.
- The Sensex crosses the 20,000 mark, illustrating once again that India Rising is a story best told through numbers.
- The Indian cricket team led by M.S. Dhoni wins the 1st T20 World Cup, signalling the rise of new and young heroes.
2008
- Ratan Tata launches the world's cheapest car, the Nano, priced at Rs 1 lakh. It redefines the economics of car-making and marketing.
- 26/11 goes down in history as Mumbai's darkest hour as terrorists lay siege to its roads, railway stations, hospitals and two of its best-known luxury hotels, leaving a trail of death and destruction.
- Abhinav Bindra brings India its 1st individual Olympic gold medal when he shoots a score of 10.8 in the 10m air rifle final.
2009
- Satyam chairman B.Ramalinga Raju confesses to a Rs 7,800-crore accounting fraud. Mahindra acquires it and the brand is now called Mahindra Satyam.
- Slumdog Millionaire sweeps Oscars, earns over $370 million, makes Freida Pinto India's first Hollywood export and helps Anil Kapoor get a role in Mission Impossible 4.
- The UPA claims yet another victory in the 15th Lok Sabha elections with the help from Rahul Gandhi's high decibel "Discovery of India" tours that work with aam aadmi.
2010
- Allahabad court delivered its verdict on 60 year old Babri Masjid Ramajanmabhoomi dispute.
- Maoists wipe out an entire company of CRPF personnel in Chhatisgarh's Dantewada district in April.
- More than 90 die in Jammu and Kashmir over three months of street violence between young Kashmiri protesters and the police for what the locals believe is the just cause: Azadi.
- Delhi leaves behind allegations of corruptions and mismanagement to host the 19th Commonwealth Games successfully. India records its strongest performance yet in the games with 38 golds to end up second in the medal tally.
P.S.- The occasional records from the bat of the master, Sachin Tendulkar, were always there to lift the mood of everyone.
Courtesy: India Today
