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3 January - A landmine explodes in a busy vegetable vertual
place
in the heart of Indian-ruled Kashmir, killing 15 people; other border skirmishes with Pakistan kill a further four.
3 January - Prime MinisterAtal
Bihari Vajpayee accuses Pakistan of being behind the hijacking
of an Indian plane and urges that Pakistan be declared a terrorist
state.
6 January - India arrests four Kashmiri terrorists in
connection with the week-long hijacking in December.
February
24 February - A review of national security is ordered, after
an expert committee's report on the incursion of Pakistani-backed
forces into Kashmir in mid-1999 exposed serious shortcomings. The
Subramanyam committee recommends a new "national security planning
and decision-making structure for India in the nuclear age". Fresh
clashes are reported in late February along the Line of Control
between Indian- and Pakistani-administered Kashmir.
Late February - Parliamentary sessions are
disrupted by protests led by the opposition Indian National Congress
party, complaining that civil servants (who may not join political
organizations) are being allowed to join the Hindu nationalist organization Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh
(RSS) in some states. Congress accuses the RSS of promoting
intolerance and says the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led
government is pursuing a secret RSS-inspired agenda whereby India
could cease to be a secular state.
Late February - The BJP-led government's first budget since its
October 1999 election victory is criticized by foreign investors
for failing to impose tighter curbs on state subsidies. Despite the
rising government deficit, there is to be a big increase in
military spending, reflecting tension with Pakistan. This will be
financed in part by surcharges on income tax and corporation
tax.
March
20 March - Pakistan agrees to the construction of the
long-discussed gas pipeline which will transport natural gas from Iran to India via Pakistan.
April
4 April - 532 Assamese
secessionist rebels surrender in a symbolic ceremony. Whilst
Assam's chief minister hails this as a sign of failing public
support for secession, the leader of the United
Liberation Front of Assam denies that the "rebels" are active
members of his or other organizations.
23 April - Under criticism for doing "too little, too late" in
response to a severe drought
in Rajasthan and Gujarat in the northwest, Prime
Minister Vajpayee appeals to the nation for charitable donations to
help the region in a televised address.
Late April - The state government of Bihar agrees to
support proposals to create a new state - unofficially named Jharkhand - from its
southern districts.
May
25 May - The central bank intervenes on the foreign exchange
markets and announces moves to stabilize the rupee after the currency hit a record low against
the U.S. dollar.
Late May - Journalists lead national and international
condemnation of a proposed law which will demand information from
reporters concerning "terrorist" activities.
June
Early June - Clashes between security forces and terrorists in
Jammu and
Kashmir kill 17 people. Violence in the region has become a
daily occurrence as it also has in the far-eastern state of Tripura where killings of
Bengalis by Christian separatist rebels have prompted the
deployment of an extra 3,000 paramilitary troops by the
government.
Mid-June - Prime Minister Vajpayee approves a measure to
provide 320,000 government employees with free telephones. India
has only 26 phone lines per 1,000 people.
11 June - Rajesh
Pilot, a senior member of the opposition Congress party, dies
in a car crash. Hundreds of supporters mourn outside the home of
the popular politician who, analysts say, was an important figure
of stability within the party and a likely successor to Congress
leader Sonia
Gandhi.
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.
Mid-June - London-based
human rights group Amnesty International criticizes
India, along with Bangladesh and Pakistan, for insufficiently
protecting the rights of women, who, it says, are subjected to
negative bias in investigations of abuse.
16 June - 34 lower-caste Hindus are killed in the northeastern
state of Bihar; eight suspects are arrested two days later. The
massacre is believed to be a revenge killing for 12 upper-caste
Hindus who were killed a week before. The banned private army Ranvir Sena is believed
to have been responsible for the latest killing and for 350 other
deaths since 1994.
Mid-June - Archaeologists announce a significant discovery of
treasure believed to be around 5,000 years old in the northern
state of Uttar
Pradesh. The jewelry is thought to belong to a civilization
from the Indus Valley not previously thought to have
spread so far afield.
Late June - The government announces plans to subsidize health
insurance for the "poorest of the poor".
Late June - Eight executives from the independent television
station Channel V are
arrested and charged with obscenity and indecency after screening a
program in which two teenage girls were encouraged to strip on the
streets of Mumbai for a small
cash incentive.
24 June - Almost 1 billion people worldwide reportedly tune in
to watch the International Indian Film Awards held at the Millennium Dome
in London, England. The Indian film industry, known as Bollywood,
has its second-largest following in the UK, mostly amongst the
country's ethnic Indian population, but receives little attention
from the British press.
26 June - The state assembly of Jammu and Kashmir angers the
federal government when it resolves to ask for a return of the
region's autonomous status which was revoked in 1953. The
government refuses to discuss the proposal in parliament in early
July and rejects the calls outright.
27 June - The Supreme Court calls on the
government to review its list of employees and remove "the
indolent, infirm, and those of doubtful integrity, reputation, or
utility".
28 June - 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..
July
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.
Early July - Wildlife experts announce an investigation into
the mysterious sudden deaths of 12 of the 56 rare Royal Bengal
tigers in Nandankanan Zoo in Orissa. There are thought to be fewer
than 4,000 tigers in the wild in India.
Mid-July - The UN's Population Fund condemns the government for
its lack of commitment to tackle the imbalance between numbers of
males and females in the country which it is thought is largely due
to the feticide and infanticide of baby girls. There are estimated
to be 960 women to every 1,000 men.
Mid-July - A landslide in Mumbai's slum district kills at least
60 people after torrential rain. A further 200 people are feared
lost under the rubble.
15 July - 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.
17 July - More than 50 people are killed when a Boeing 737 passenger
plane crashes in a residential area of Patna.
July - Authorities in Sikkim uphold complaints from local Buddhists
and ban expeditions up the northeast face of the world's third
highest mountain peak, Kanchenjunga, which is revered by local
people as a deity.
22 July - The government announces the launch of a National
Population Stabilization Fund to help promote family planning
programs in the country, especially in the northern states which
contain half of all Indians. The population officially passed the 1
billion mark on May 11, although the UN believes that figure had
already been reached on August 15, 1999.
23 July - Minister for Law Ram Jethmalani resigns from the cabinet
blaming strained relations with Attorney General Soli Sorabjee.
Late July - Bal Thackeray, leader of the far-right Shiv Sena militant group,
is released within hours of his arrest. The court claims that too
much time has passed since his alleged crimes of promoting
"communal enmity" to warrant prosecution. The Maharashtra state
government, whose decision to press the charges had prompted
threats from Shiv Sena supporters to disrupt commerce in Mumbai,
says it will appeal against the ruling.
Late July - Thousands of police officers in the crime-plagued
eastern state of Bihar go on strike to demand better compensation
for the families of fallen comrades, and less "political
interference" in their work.
Late July - 10,000 homes are destroyed and 40 people killed in
severe flooding in the northwestern state of Rajasthan.
24 July - The government's commitment to privatization plans is
confirmed with the naming of ex-journalist and committed
free-market economist Arun Shourie as minister for
privatization.
Late July - The government and separatist rebels from the
far-eastern border state of Nagaland agree to extend their
ceasefire for a further year in an attempt to bring a lasting
solution to the 53-year rebellion.
30 July - 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
1 August - Bangaru Laxman, a junior minister in the cabinet, is
appointed as the new president of the ruling BJP. Laxman is the
first lower-caste Hindu and southern Indian to hold the position
and says he will look to expand the party's support base in the
south. As a known moderate it is thought he will also seek to mend
strained relations with the Hindu right.
Early August - Around 90 Hindus are massacred by Muslim
separatists in Indian-administered Kashmir. The violence is thought
to be a hostile reaction to peace initiatives begun by the largest
separatist group Hizbul Mujahideen.
Early August - Five people suspected of being witches are
burned alive by 200 angry villagers in the southern state of Andhra
Pradesh. Almost all of the village's 1,500 inhabitants flee their
homes after the crime.
Early August - Severe rainfall over the Himalayas causes
widespread devastation across northern and eastern areas of the
country. More than 100 people are killed and over 5 million made
homeless in the states of Himachal Pradesh, West Bengal, and
Assam.
Early August - Thousands of women demonstrate in New Delhi in
support of the government's proposed "reservations bill" which will
guarantee women one-third of all parliamentary seats. Pressure
groups note that despite the prime minister's promises the bill has
not been listed on the current parliamentary schedule.
8 August - A ceasefire initiated on July 24 between the
government and the Kashmiri separatist group Hizbul Mujahideen
falls apart after only 15 days after accusations that the
government has fired on some of the group's members. Prime Minister
Vajpayee urges that his government is still prepared to discuss
peace initiatives but states that any deal will have to be worked
out within the framework of the Indian constitution, which Hizbul
Mujahideen has flatly rejected as a basis for peace. The government
also refuses to address the group's key demand that Pakistan be
involved in any talks.
Late August - The regionalist debate is invigorated by
government proposals to share out the revenue of the various
states. Delegates from ten states meet with the prime minister to
urge him to drop the proposals. They claim the policy will penalize
states which have managed to increase revenue through hard-won
reforms.
Late August - Over 100 people die in severe monsoon rains in
southern India. In the face of the torrential downpour more than
50,000 people are evacuated, mostly from Hyderabad which receives
over half of its average annual rainfall in 24 hours.
24 August - The army claims it has killed at least ten
Pakistani soldiers after attacking around 40 troops attempting to
penetrate Indian territory. It is the worst cross-border incident
since an unofficial ceasefire was agreed in June.
September
6 September - 300,000 telecom workers begin an indefinite
strike to protest against the government's decision to transform
the department of telecommunications into a state-run
corporation.
Early September - The onslaught against overpopulation
continues in the western state of Maharashtra when the state's
government decides to withhold benefits from May 2001 for families
with more than two children. A two-child maximum is already a
prerequisite for employment by the state, and the authorities are
also considering enforcing a law to prevent women from marrying
under the age of 18.
Mid-September - The environmentalist group Greenpeace
criticizes the government for not doing enough to enforce
regulations banning the dumping of international toxic waste in
India.
Mid-September - The World Health Organization
(WHO) warns that 1 billion people worldwide are regularly exposed
to levels of air pollution 100 times greater than recommended
guidelines. The greatest risk is from the use of solid fuel in poor
households, rather than from industrial smog in large cities. It
notes that 500,000 children from rural areas die every year from
respiratory infections in India where 80% of homes use solid fuel
for cooking and heating.
September - On average in India 24 women are raped every day
and 14 killed to "protect their family's honour" according to the
UN's latest State of the World's Population report. It also reveals
that 40% of Indian women are subjected to domestic violence.
Late September - India and South Africa sign a defense
cooperation agreement in Cape Town covering peacekeeping, weapons
development and procurement, and counter-terrorism. South Africa
hopes that India's experience in peacekeeping can be applied in
conflict resolution in southern Africa.
29 September - Newspapers hail the conviction of former prime
minister P.V. Narasimha Rao as a landmark moment in
Indian law. He was found guilty of corruption in a bribery scandal
dating from 1993 and the decision is interpreted by the press as a
clear signal that high rank does not provide legal protection.
End of September - Flooding
in eastern states has left many millions homeless and has killed
850 people in the state of West Bengal alone.
30 September - The Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M),
the third largest party at federal level, has its status as a
"national" party revoked by the electoral commission. The move is a
serious threat to the party which controls two states outright,
including the populous state of West Bengal, and is the leading
coalition partner in another.
October
Early October - A senior Hindu leader urges the government to
establish a national Christian church and expel foreign
missionaries. The country's Christian community is often subject to
violent intimidation from extremist Hindu activists.
3 October - Prime Minister Vajpayee signs a bilateral agreement
with Russian President Vladimir Putin to increase ties between
the two countries including cooperation on issues of defense.
Mid-October - The Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE)
revises its predictions, lowering the forecast rate of economic
growth for 2000 from 7% to 5.8%.
Mid-October - The Information Technology Act 2000 comes into
force providing regulations for e-commerce and punishment for
improper use of the Internet. Digital signatures are now legal, and
distributors of cyber pornography can face up to five years
imprisonment. The act includes a controversial clause allowing
police to make searches and arrest suspects in public places
without a warrant.
Mid-October - The chief minister of the northeastern state of
Arunachal
Pradesh complains that Chinese soldiers are making regular
forays across the agreed Line of Actual Control to harass
villagers. The Chinese government dismisses the claims as
inaccurate.
Mid-October - A court in the western state of Gujarat rules in
favour of the vertical extension of the controversial Sardar
Sarovar dam on the River Narmada. Work on the dam was halted in
1994 due to strong local objections. Supporters of the project
point to the beneficial effects of more water for the
drought-plagued region and an increase in hydroelectric power while
opponents argue that the subsequent displacement of thousands of
villagers around the river is insupportable.
6 November - 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.
Early November - Syed Salahuddin,
leader of the Kashmiri separatist group Hizbul
Mujahideen, calls on Muslim nations to cut ties with India and
says the group will not renew a unilateral ceasefire. It calls for
the Indian government to officially recognize that Jammu and
Kashmir is a disputed territory and for any further negotiations to
include the Pakistani government and the people of Kashmir.
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.
15 November - Sonia Gandhi easily wins reelection as leader of
the Congress (I) party, beating Jitendra Prasada by 7,448 votes to
94. Prasada is the first person to challenge a member of the
Nehru-Gandhi dynasty which has dominated Congress since the
1950s.
15 November - Jharkhand, carved out of Bihar, becomes India's 28th
state.
Late November - Violent protests force the government to
rethink plans to close heavily polluting industries in Delhi.
Workers from the doomed factories clash with police while
demonstrating against the environmentally motivated decision which
would lead to job losses.
Late November - Ten people, including three Indian soldiers,
are killed in a landmine attack in Kashmir on the first day of a
government ceasefire held to coincide with the Muslim holy month of
Ramadan. The terrorist group Hizbul Mujahideen claim responsibility
for the attack condemning the ceasefire as a publicity stunt
intended to win over international opinion.
Late November - India's chief corruption commissioner N. Vittal
declares that the country's entire political system depends on
illegal funding.
2 December - Pakistan offers to exercise "maximum restraint" in
contested border areas of Kashmir as a beginning to negotiations
with the Indian authorities. India insists that before there can be
talks there must be a complete cessation of firing across the Line
of Control.
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".
17 December - An alliance of Kashmiri separatists, the
Hurriyat, begin talks to discuss a unified response to the Indian
government's ceasefire but divisions between the factions drag the
conference into a second day.
20 December - In response to the Indian government's extension
of its unilateral ceasefire in Kashmir for a further month, the
Pakistani authorities announce that they will partially withdraw
troops from the disputed line of control.
Late December - Relations with Pakistan are damaged when Prime
Minister Vajpayee accuses the Pakistani authorities of being behind
threats made by the extremist Kashmiri separatist group
Lashkar-e-Toiba against his own person. The group, which is based
in Pakistan, launched a surprise attack on the historic Red Fort in
Delhi on December 22, killing three people and undermining
Vajpayee's Ramadan ceasefire, which had been extended for an extra
month two days earlier.
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