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CHRONOLOGY OF INDEPENDENT INDIA

(IMPORTANT DATES)
15 Aug 1947

India obtains Independence from the British; Jawaharlal Nehru becomes the first Indian
Prime Minister

Oct 1947

Maharaja of Kashmir accedes to Indian Sovereignty

Nov 1947

John Mathai presents the First Railway Budget

Jan 1948

Reserve Bank of India Nationalised

30 Jan 1948

Assassination of Mahatma Gandhi in New Delhi

Sep 1948

Troops of Government of India enter Hyderabad state

Nov 1948

B.R. Ambedkar presents first Draft Constitution to Constituent Assembly.

1 Jan 1949

United Nations monitored cease fire takes effect in Kashmir

Sep 1949

Rupee devalued by approximately 31 percent

26 Nov 1949

New Constitution of India adopted and signed

26 Jan 1950

Constitution of India comes into force

March 1950

Planning Commission set up

July 1951

First Five year plan set in motion

25 Oct'51-21 Feb'52 First General Election

1952

Atomic Energy establishment set up in Bombay

1953

Private Airlines are Nationalised;

Chandigarh inaugurated as Capital of Punjab

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29 Dec 1953

The States Reorganisation Commission

April 1954

India concludes treaty with China

July 1954

Nehru inaugurates Bhakhra Dam

December 1954

Imperial Bank renamed as State Bank of India

1955

Chinese troops enter India's Garhwal district in Uttar Pradesh

18 May 1955

Hindu marriage Act is amended

1956

Second five year plan

Jan 1956

Nationalisation of Insurance Companies

17 June 1956

Hindu Succession Act

Feb 24-June 9 1957 Second General Election held

Sep 1957

Wealth Tax Bill passed

Feb 1958

Finance Minister T.T.Krishnamachari resigns following Mundhra LIC share scandal

1959

Oil and Natural Gas Corporation set up; Television transmission introduced in New
Delhi; Indo-Portuguese dispute

March 1959

Dalai Lama flees from Tibet to India

Oct 1959

Military confrontation with China in Aksai Chin

19 April 1960

Meeting of Afro-Asian Conference at New Delhi

1960

Bombay Presidency bifurcated into Maharashtra and Gujarat states

21 Jan 1961

Arrival of Queen Elizabeth at New Delhi

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19 Dec 1961

Liberation of Goa

Feb 16-June 6 1962 Third General election

Oct 1962

Indo-China war

Jan 1963

Gold Control Order comes into force

10 Aug 1963

The Kamraj Plan

27 May 1964

Jawaharlal Nehru dies

09 June 1964

Lal Bahadur Shastri becomes Prime Minister

July 1964

UTI and IDBI set up

April 1965

Pakistan tanks penetrate India

30 June 1965

Ceasefire agreed under UN auspices

1 Sep 1965

Indo-Pak war

4-10 Jan 1966

Tashkent Conference between Pakistan and Indian leaders

11 Jan 1966

Lal Bahadur Shastri dies

24 Jan 1966

Indira Gandhi becomes Prime Minister

June 1966

Rupee devalued by 36 percent

15-28 Feb 1967

Fourth General Elections

June 1969

Forward trading in shares banned

16 July 1969

Morarji Desai resigns from cabinet

19 July 1969

Fourteen Banks nationalised

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12 Nov 1969

Indira Gandhi expelled from Congress party for indiscipline

Feb 1970

Supreme Court holds nationalisation of banks illegal

April 1970

Privy Purses and special privileges of former Indian rulers abolished

11 May 1970

A bill for setting up of "North Eastern Council" passed

1-13 March 1971

Fifth General Election

April 1971

General Insurance nationalised

May 1971

Wealth Tax doubled to 8 percent of Net Income

Dec 1971

India-Pakistan War; Formation of Bangladesh

1972

Pakistan and India sign Shimla Accord; Monsoon failure causes drought

1973

Coal mines nationalised; Foreign Exchange Regulation Act (FERA) passed

18 May 1974

Underground nuclear explosion at Pokhran

May 1974

Jaiprakash Narayan starts Citizens for Democracy Movement

July 1974

Indira Gandhi imposes 12 percent ceiling on dividends, Stock market crashes

April 1975

Indian satellite Aryabhatta launched from a Soviet cosmodrome

16 May 1975

Sikkim joins India

26 June 1975

Emergency declared

July 1975

Indira Gandhi announces 20-point economic programme

Jan 1976

Private Oil companies nationalised

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Feb 1976

Urban Land Ceiling Regulation Act passed

Nov 1976

Lok Sabha passes 42nd Constitution Amendment Bill

18 Jan 1977

Opposition politicians released from jail

16-20 March 1977 Sixth General Election; First Non-Congress Govt. led by Morarji Desai

Jan 1978

Currency notes in denominations of Rs 1,000, Rs 5,000 and RS 10,000 demonetised

June 1979

Bhaskara, India's second satellite, launched from a Soviet cosmodrome

19 June 1979

Morarji Desai resigns after split in Janata Party

Oct 1979

Operation Flood II launched

Jan 1980

Seventh General Election; Indira Gandhi becomes Prime Minister again

23 June 1980

Sanjay Gandhi, younger son of Indira Gandhi, dies in plane crash

Feb 1981

Maruti Udyog set up

Feb 1982

Datta Samant leads Bombay's 300,000 textile workers on strike

Dec 1982

The Ninth Asian games held in Delhi

25 June 1983

India wins the Cricket World Cup

6 Oct 1983

Indira Gandhi imposes President's rule on Punjab

Oct 1983

Government nationalises 13 textile mills in Bombay

5 June 1984

Operation Blue Star: Indian army storms Golden Temple in Amritsar, killing hundreds of
people

31 Oct 1984

Indira Gandhi assassinated in Delhi; Rajiv Gandhi sworn in as Prime Minister

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2 Dec 1984

India's biggest Industrial disaster: Bhopal gas tragedy

24-28 Dec 1984

Eighth General Elections: Congress wins

1985

Narmada Bachao Andolan

July 1985

Rajiv Gandhi signs Punjab Accord

Oct 1986

V. P. Singh elected as President of Janata Dal, a new opposition party

May 1987

The Bofors Deal

Nov 1987

IPKF deployment and Operation Pawan

April 1988

Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) comes into existence

July 1988

Insat-IC launched

22 Aug 1988

The Darjeeling Accord

22-26 Nov 1989

Ninth General Elections: Congress loses; V.P. Singh becomes Prime Minister

1990

Mandal Commission Report

May 1991

V P Singh clears Rs 13,000 crore Sardar Sarovar project

21 May 1991

Rajiv Gandhi assassinated by LTTE

20 May-15 June'91 Tenth General Election: Congress wins; Narasimha Rao becomes Prime Minister;
Liberalisation initiated by Finance Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh

Sep 1991

Konkan Railway launched

Jan 1992

Prices of steel and iron decontrolled

April 1992

Stock market scandal causes losses to banks

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July 1992

Government allows private producers time slots on TV and Radio

6 Dec 1992

Demolition of Babri Masjid

Jan 1993

Hindu-Muslim Riots in Bombay

Feb 1993

Rupee made convertible on trade account

March 1993

Over 300 people killed in bomb blasts

April 1993

Motor cars and consumer goods delicensed

30 Sep 1993

The Latur earthquake

Jan 1994

Air India and Indian Airlines converted into companies

May 1994

Telecom services sector opened to private companies

21 Sep 1994

Outbreak of Pneumonic Plague in Surat

March 1995

Lok Sabha passes the Patents Bill

July 1995

Rajan Pillai dies in Delhi jail

Jan 1996

Revised carry forward system introduced

27 Jan 1996

Prithvi test-fired

29 Feb 1996

Jain Hawala case

27 April-21 May'96 Eleventh General Election; BJP's Atal Behari Vajpayee becomes Prime Minister

June 1996

BJP loses confidence vote; Deve Gowda takes over as Prime Minister of United Front
coalition government

Jan 1997

Veteran labour leader Datta Samant shot dead

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30 March 1997

Congress withdraws support to UF government

21 April 1997

I. K. Gujral appointed Prime Minister

15 Aug 1997

Nation celebrates 50 years of Independence

5 Sep 1997

Mother Teresa dies

14 Oct 1997

Arunadati Roy wins Booker Prize

7 Nov 1997

Bimal Jalan is the new Reserve Bank of India governor; C Rangarajan becomes Andhra
governor

27 Nov 1997

Femina Miss India Diana Hayden wins Miss World 1997

28 Nov 1997

Gujral government falls as Congress withdraws support

29 Dec 1997

Sonia Gandhi stepped into active politics

14 Jan 1998

MS Subbualakshmi awarded Bharat Ratna

15 Feb 1998

Tennis duo Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupati were ranked No. 2 when they won Dubai
Open

9 Mar 1998

Chess legend Vishwanathan Anand wins the Super Grand Master Title

19 Mar 1998

BJP-led alliance government is sworn in. Atal Behari Vajpayee became the Prime Minister
of India

28 Mar 1998

The BJP-led alliance survived its first test of trust, with the support of Chandrababu
Naidu's Telugu Desam Party. Jayalalitha continues to call the shots.

11 May 1998

India conducted three underground nuclear tests at Pokhran Range in Rajasthan

1 June 1998

Finance Minister announced the Swadeshi budget

9 June 1998

Gujarat was hit by cyclone killing 1000 people in six days

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29 June 1998

Three new states were announced -- Delhi, Uttaranchal and Vananchal

22 July 1998

24-year old PT Usha won bronze medal in the 400m and 200m1 anchored the 4x100m
relay team to gold and 4x400 m for silver at the Asian Track and Field Championships in
Fukuoka, Japan

6 Aug 1998

Sri Krishna Commission report was tabled by the Maharashtra government. It was
rejected by the ruling alliance whom it heavily indicted.

5 Oct 1998

India has 5th largest GNP in Purchasing Power Parity terms: World Bank

10 Oct 1998

Market cap of top 8 banks, FIs fall below 50 pc over last 6 months

15 Oct 1998

Amartya Sen awarded Nobel Prize for Economics. Sen is the 6th Indian to win the Nobel
Prize.

May 1999

India launches offensive against Pakistan-backed infiltrators around Kargil in Indian

Kashmir.

Dec 2001

Gunmen attack Indian parliament. New Delhi blames Pakistan-based militants, snaps
transport and diplomatic links with Islamabad and the rivals come close to war.

Feb/March 2002

Fire on train kills 59 Hindu activists in western state of Gujarat. About 2,500 people,
mostly Muslims, are killed in retaliatory riots.

November 2003

Pakistan announces ceasefire in Kashmir and India reciprocates.

May 2004

BJP loses power to Congress. Man Mohan Singh becomes prime minister.

2004

Thousands of people killed in the Tsunami.

2005

Worst natural calamity, Mumbai Rains, more than 1000 people dies

2006

NREGA introduced by UPA Government, Employment scheme to uplift poor and to

provide minimum 100 days of work.

2007:

Taj Mahal, Indian monument elected as No.1 out of Seven Wonders of the World.

India win Asian hockey tournament.

India win first Twenty-20 world tournament.

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2008:

India sets a world record by sending 10 satellites into orbit in a single launch.

Abhinav Bindra won 1st ever individual gold medal for country in Olympics.

Arvind Adiga won Man Booker Award 2008 for his debut novel The White Tiger.

India, US signs nuclear deal.

Stock market crash in India caused BSE sensex to fall below 9K , which had once touched 22K mark

Mumbai terror attacks of 26/11 shook the whole nation, killing 183 people leaving the whole city in stress
for 60 hrs.

2009:

National Investigation Agency (NIA) Bill and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Amendment (UAPA)
Bill, the new anti-terror regime came into force with President Pratibha Patil giving her assent.

A 148-year old colonial law banning homosexual intercourse in India is overturned by the High Court in
New Delhi.

India launches its first nuclear submarine, the INS Arihant.

Chandrayaan-1, India's first unmanned lunar probe, discovers large amounts of water on the Moon.

2010:

Russia signs a nuclear reactor deal with India which will see it build 16 nuclear reactors in India.

The Indian government initiates The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act to provide
free and compulsory education to all children aged between 6 and 14 years.

India launches its new 2011 biometric census, the largest census in the world.

India launches a national identity scheme aimed at reducing fraud and improving access to state benefits.

XIX Commonwealth Games held in Delhi, India, from 3 to 14 October 2010.

2011:

India wins the 2011 Cricket World Cup.

Anna Hazare undertakes fast for Jan Lokpal Bill at Jantar Mantar, New Delhi.

2G spectrum scam outbreaks.

F1 2011 Race comes to India at the Buddh International Circuit, Noida.

2012:

India hosts 4th BRICS summit at New Delhi.

India bags 6 medals at the London Olympics including silvers to Vijay Kumar (shooting) & Sushil Kumar
(wrestling) and bronze to Gagan Narang (shooting), Saina Nehwal (badminton), Mary Kom (boxing) &
Yogeshwar Dutt (wrestling).

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