1
Narendra Modi becomes
Prime Minister of India
The biggest event of
2014 was undoubtly the victory of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the 16th
General Elections and emergence of Narendra Modi as the most powerful leader in
recent times. Modi led the BJP to an unprecedented victory in the elections and
gave the country the most stable government in the past three decades. Modi
helped the country receive first single-party majority in 30 years – and turned
politics on its head. BJP won record 282 seats in these elections and
almost plundered Congress, as it could win just 44 seats. Narendra Modi wave
brought a shockingly high mandate from Uttar Pradesh (UP), where it won as many
as 71 seats on its own out of 80 seats. BJP won 100% seats in Modi’s home state
of Gujarat, Rajasthan, Delhi, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand. The party got
handsome gains in Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Karnataka
and Assam. Narendra Modi defeated AAP’s convener Arvind Kejriwal by a huge
margin of around 3 lakh 70 thousand votes in Varanasi constituency. Modi took
oath as India’s 15th Prime Minister in a lavish ceremony held
at the Rashtrapati Bhawan on 26 May 2014. Head of states from SAARC countries
added weight to his swearing-in ceremony.
2
Telangana becomes
newest state of India
Formation of Telangana
as the newest State of the Indian Union was another historic and important
event of 2014. The stroke of midnight hour on 1-2 June 2014 heralded
Telangana’s birth as the 29th state of the Union, ending decades of turbulent
struggle for the region in Andhra Pradesh. Turning the clock back 57 years when
Telugu-speaking Telangana region of Hyderabad was merged with Andhra state in
November 1956, a new state of Telangana came into being, capping numerous
struggles for statehood. Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) chief K Chandrasekhar
Rao took oath as the first Chief Minister of Telangana on 2 June 2014. It
became the newest state in India since Jharkhand was established as the 28th
state in November 2000.
3
Mars Mission (MOM)
creates history
India created history
on 24 September 2014 by becoming the first country to successfully send a
spacecraft into Mars’ orbit on its very first attempt. The mission executed by
country’s space agency ISRO (Indian Space Research Organisation) became
successful after the first signal of the Mars Orbiter Mission’s (MOM’s) success
was confirmed from NASA’s ground station in Canberra, Australia. With this ISRO
became the fourth space agency in the world to reach Mars after NASA (US),
European Space Agency (Europe) and Roscosmos (Russia). India also became the
first Asian country to successfully execute a Mars mission. MOM commenced its
journey to the red planet Mars on 5 November 2013 through a launch from the
First Launch Pad at Satish Dhawan Space Centre SHAR, Sriharikota, in Andhra
Pradesh. The launch was done through ISRO’s reliable Polar Satellite Launch
Vehicle (PSLV) C25 rocket. The MOM finally reached its destination – the Mars
orbit on 24 September 2014. The orbiter’s propulsion system, called the Liquid
Apogee Motor (LAM), erupted into life at 7.17 a.m. after remaining dormant for
300 days during the spacecraft’s journey to the Red Planet. With this the orbit
entered into most crucial manoeuvre called Mars Orbit Insertion (MOI). This
meant for lowering the spacecraft into the Martian orbit, with a peri-apsis of
423 km and an apo-apsis of 80,000 km. The manoeuvre ended successfully at 7.41
a.m., thus enabling India to make history.
4
Supreme Court recognizes transgenders as
‘third gender’
The recognition of
transgenders as ‘third gender’ by the Supreme Court of India on 15 April 2014
was a watershed event in India’s history. In a landmark judgment, the Supreme
Court created the “third gender” status for ‘hijras’ or transgenders. Earlier, they
were forced to write male or female against their gender. In another important
order it asked the Centre to treat transgender as socially and economically
backward. Hence transgenders will be treated on par with other backward castes
(OBCs) and they will be given educational and employment reservation as OBCs.
The apex court passed the order on a PIL filed by National Legal Services
Authority (NALSA) urging the court to give separate identity to transgenders by
recognising them as third category of gender. The order was considered a
watershed event in India’s history as it was for the first time that the third
gender has got a formal recognition. The SC observed that the absence of law
recognizing hijras as third gender could not be continued as a ground to
discriminate them in availing equal opportunities in education and employment.
This ruling came after the Supreme Court’s decision in December 2013 which
criminalised gay sex by reversing a landmark 2009 Delhi High Court order which
had decriminalised homosexual acts. Justice K.S. Radhakrishnan headed the
two-judge Supreme Court bench which gave this ruling.
5
First signs of GST
Regime in India
Introduction of the
Goods and Service Tax (GST) Bill in the Lok Sabha on 19 December 2014 by Union
Finance Minister is expected to be a watershed development in Indian history.
The GST is being seen as the biggest reform in the Indian economy since the economic
reforms were unleashed during 1991-92. The GST will cut down the large number
of taxes imposed by the central government and states and will lead to the
creation of a unified market, which would facilitate seamless movement of goods
across states and reduce the transaction cost of businesses. Economists say the
implementation of GST could add 2% points to GDP growth of the country. The
revised GST Bill takes into account the deal reached between the Centre and
states on 15 December 2014 on contentious issues like including petroleum,
alcohol and tobacco in GST. These items account for a major portion of states’
tax revenues. At present, petroleum products will be not be included in the GST
but will remain within the central act and will be brought in at a later stage
through the GST councils. Alcohol will be exempt from GST and states would have
the freedom to decide their own levy. Service tax will be subsumed within GST.
In case of losses in the states’ exchequer, the Centre will give 100% compensation
for the first three years, 75% compensation for the fourth year and 50%
compensation for the fifth year.
6
INS Vikramaditya
becomes part of Indian Navy
The commissioning of
India’s largest naval ship – the INS Vikramaditya was also a landmark important
event of 2014. Prime Minister Narendra Modi dedicated this huge ship to the
nation on 14 June 2014 at a programme held in Goa. INS Vikramaditya, a floating
airfield, has an overall length of about 284 metres and a maximum beam of about
60 metres, stretching as much as three football fields put together. Standing
about 20 storeys tall from the keel to the highest point, the ship has a total
of 22 decks and carries 1,600 personnel. With her complete stock of provisions,
she is capable of sustaining herself at sea for about 45 days. Originally built
as Baku and commissioned in 1987, the carrier served with the Soviet (until the
dissolution of the Soviet Union) and Russian Navies before being decommissioned
in 1996 as it was too expensive to operate. Later it was renamed in honour of
Vikramaditya, a legendary 1st century BC emperor.
7
India declared
Polio-free country
In a landmark
achievement for India during 2014, the World Health Organisation (WHO) on 27
March 2014 officially certified India as a polio-free country with no case of
the disease being reported in the country for three years. India had on 13
February 2014 completed three consecutive years without a single wild polio
case being reported from any part of the country. It thus achieved the
three-year milestone necessary to achieve polio-free certification from the
World Health Organisation (WHO). The last case of polio in India was reported
on 13 January 2011 in Howrah (West Bengal). Along with India 10 other countries
were also declared polio free on 27 March. These 10 countries were –
Bangladesh, Bhutan, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Indonesia, Maldives,
Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Timor-Leste. It is worth mentioning
that India embarked on the programme to eradicate polio 19 years ago in 1995,
when the disease used to cripple more than 50,000 children in the country every
year. A 2.3 million strong team of polio volunteers and 150,000 supervisors
worked day and night to reach every child.
8
Kailash Satyarthi wins
Nobel Peace Prize
Child-rights activist
Kailash Satyarthi’s being conferred the 2014 Nobel Peace Prize (jointly with
Pakistani teenager Malala Yousafzai) was also one of the foremost events for
India during 2014. Satyarthi was given this prestigious award on 10 December
2014 at Oslo (Norway). He and Malala were jointly selected for this prestigious
award for their efforts against the suppression of children in their respective
countries. Kailash Satyarthi thus became the seventh Indian to win Nobel Prize
and the second to win the Peace Prize. The movement named ‘Bachpan Bachao
Andolan’ was founded by him in 1983. This movement has helped rescue over 80
thousand children from bondage, trafficking and exploitative labour. In
association with NGOs and other authorities, Kailash has organized hundreds of
raids on factories and warehouses where children were being made to work. One
of the most pioneering works of Kailash Satyarthi has been the establishment of
the ‘Rugmark’ tag to be used on rugs and carpets to certify that they have been
made without the labour of children. These rugs and carpets are exported abroad
from India and other South Asian countries. Western countries were particularly
receptive of accepting articles made by employing cheap child labour is
apparently hazardous occupation of carpet weaving. ‘Rugmark’ is now known as
‘Goodweave’. ‘Goodweave’ is now a network of non-profit organisations which are
dedicated to end illegal child labour in rug and carpet making.
9
Swachh Bharat Abhiyan
Year 2014 would be
remembered for the launch of the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan (SBA) or ‘Clean India
Mission’ launched in the country which aims to clean the streets, roads and
infrastructure of the country. Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched SBA
officially on 2 October 2014 from Rajghat, the Mahatma Gandhi memorial in Delhi
by himself wielding a broom and cleaning a road. The SBA will be a tribute to
Mahatma Gandhi on his 150th birth anniversary (2 October 2019),
as the Government wants to celebrate it with a spick, span and clean India.
This goal of a clean India was also set by the previous UPA government and the
erstwhile government’s plan was to achieve 100% access to sanitation for all
rural households in the country by 2022. The urban component of the SBA is
proposed to be implemented over 5 years in all 4,041 statutory towns. The total
expected cost of the programme is Rs. 62,009 crore, out of which the
proposed central assistance will be of Rs. 14,623 crore. The Union
Cabinet during September 2014 also decided to merge the ‘Nirmal Bharat Abhiyan’,
a campaign for rural sanitation with “Swachh Bharat Abhiyaan”.
10
PMJDY launched
Prime Minister
Narendra Modi on 28 August 2014 launched the ambitious Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan
Yojana (PMJDY). It is a dream project of NDA govt. to open at least one bank
account to every household. The announcement of PMJDY was made by the
Prime Minister on his first Independence Day speech on 15 August 2014. It has
been conceived as a national mission on financial inclusion with the objective
of covering all households in the country with banking facilities and having a
bank account for each household. Under this scheme the account holders are
provided a zero-balance bank account with RuPay debit card, in addition to
accidental insurance cover of Rs 1 lakh (to be given by ‘HDFC Egro’). The
National Payments Corporation of India (NCPI) has tied up with HDFC Ergo
to provide the 1 Lakh initial cover while the additional 1 Lakh cover
would be provided by the four state owned general insurers New India
Assurance, National Insurance, United India Insurance and Oriental
Insurance Company. The first phase of the mission, which started on 28 August
2014, would end in August next year. The second phase will start from 2015 till
2018, covering aspects such as micro insurance and pension schemes like
‘Swavalamban’. It was reported that under PMJDY, a total of 7 Crore (70
million) bank accounts have been opened with deposits totaling more than 5000
crore Rupees (approx 1 billion USD) as of 6 November 2014. As the government
met the target, Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley revised the target for
opening of bank accounts under the scheme from 7.5 crore to 10 crore by 26
January 2015.
11
National Youth Policy
2014
The erstwhile UPA
Govt. launched the ambitious ‘National Youth Policy 2014′ (NYP 2014) on 21
February 2014. NYP 2014 is important from many aspects. It is a comprehensive
policy document that states the vision of the Government of India (GOI) for the
youth of the country and also how this vision is sought to be realised by the
government. It replaced the National Youth Policy 2003 (NYP 2003) that was in
force. NYP 2014 caters to needs of the youth in the age-group of 15-29 years,
which constitutes 27.5% of population. The main vision of NYP 2014 is to
empower youth to achieve their full potential, and through them enable India to
find its rightful place in the community of nations. For achieving this vision,
the Policy identified five well-defined objectives and 11 priority areas and
suggests policy interventions in each priority area. The priority areas are
education, skill development and employment, entrepreneurship, health and
healthy lifestyle, sports, promotion of social values, community engagement,
participation in politics and governance, youth engagement, inclusion and
social justice. It seeks to achieve a productive workforce through education,
skill development for better employability and entrepreneurship training; a
healthy generation with sports as a way of life; a sense of community service
and strong social values; high levels of participation in governance; and
social inclusiveness by creating equitable opportunities for all.
12
Prime Minister’s
historic foreign visits
Year 2014 would be
remembered for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s historic visits to foreign
countries. His visits to Bhutan, Nepal, the United States, Japan, Brazil and
Australia were hailed as major successes in numerous diplomatic quarters. It
was said that no Prime Minister of recent times was able to assert India so
powerfully abroad as was Narendra Modi.
Bhutan visit
His first foreign
visit after assuming charge was that of Bhutan. Modi described Bhutan as a
natural choice for his first visit abroad as the two countries shared a
“special relationship”. The fact that the Prime Minister chose Bhutan as his
first foreign destination assumed significance since China has lately
intensified efforts to woo it and establish full- fledged diplomatic ties with
Thimphu. During this visit both countries reaffirmed their commitment to extensive
development cooperation and discussed ways to further enhance economic ties.
Nepal visit
Narendra Modi became
the first Indian prime minister to visit Nepal in 17 years and he suggested
that now it will not take 17 more years that an Indian Prime Minister visits
Nepal. The focus of Modi’s visit to Nepal was on 4 Cs — cooperation,
connectivity, culture, constitution. He enthralled Nepali MPs through his
powerful address to the Nepali Parliament. Important development of this visit
was that both India and Nepal agreed to review, adjust and update the “Treaty
of Peace and Friendship” of 1950 with an objective of charting a new course in
bilateral relations. That ancient treaty allowed free movement of people and
goods between the two nations and a close relationship and collaboration on
matters of defence and foreign affairs.
Japan visit
Narendra Modi’s Japan
visit was also dubbed as highly successful as India was able to convince Japan
to look towards India as the most stable and safe investment option. Japan
promised to give $35 billion to India through public and private funding over
the next 5 years for developmental projects, including building of smart cities
and cleanup of river Ganges. In another significant move Japan lifted the ban
on six Indian entities including Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) which was
imposed in the aftermath of 1998 nuclear tests. In Kyoto, a pact was signed
under which Modi’s Lok Sabha constituency Varanasi will be developed on the
pattern of Kyoto ‘smart city’ with the help of Japan.
US Visit
The major success of
Narendra Modi’s US visit was that the US clearly stated that it was ready to
reset its ties with India in coming days. US President Barack Obama set aside
some protocols to display his bonhomie with Modi. There was great convergence
between the two sides on peace and stability in the Asia-Pacific. Modi
enthralled the audience at New York’s Madison Square Garden as he pitch 3D
Mantra, skill development, talent pool and India’s bright economic prospects in
his address. During his speech at the UN General Assembly he called for work in
the direction of a sustainable world.
Australia visit
Narendra Modi’s
Australia visit was also highly successful as he was able to bring Australia
closer after the relations between the two countries were strained in 2009,
over attacks on Indian students in Australia. In a major step towards realising
its nuclear energy ambitions, India successfully signed the Civil Nuclear
Cooperation Agreement (CNCA) with Australia. The deal thus concluded uranium
sales talks that started between the two countries during 2012. India and
Australia had held five rounds of negotiations on the uranium deal since 2012,
when Australia reversed its policy on nuclear sales to India. The policy was
based on India’s refusal to sign the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
13
Train connectivity to
Northeast/Monorail/HighSpeed and Bullet trains
Year 2014 came out as
a year for major reckoning for Indian Railways with some major announcements,
connectivity and projects. The talks of high-speed trains and bullet trains in
India gained momentum in 2014.
High speed train
Indian Railways on 3
July 2014 achieved a major milestone by running the fastest train in India
(christened ‘semi-bullet train’ by some segments of media). This test train
achieved fastest speed of 160 km/hr on Indian tracks and covered the distance
between Delhi and Agra (178 km) in around 99 minutes. The regular high-speed
train between Delhi and Agra has been named ‘Gatimaan Express’ and will take
105 minutes to cover 200 km distance.
In the Rail Budget
2014-15 nine sectors were proposed for operations of high-speed trains. These
nine sectors are – Delhi-Agra, Delhi-Chandigarh, Nagpur-Bilaspur, Goa-Mumbai,
Chennai-Hyderabad, Delhi-Kanpur, Delhi-Pathankot, Mysore-Bangalore-Chennai, and
Nagpur-Secundrabad.
Bullet Train project
As far as bullet train
is concerned, the Mumbai–Ahmedabad high-speed rail corridor has been proposed
for establishment of India’s first bullet train. During 2014 the feasibility
study on this project was carried out by the Japanese International Cooperation
Agency (JICA). Air-conditioned bullet trains are expected to operate in the
corridor at speeds of 320 kmph, enabling commuters to traverse the 534-km
distance in 2 hours.
Train connectivity to
Northeast
Year 2014 would be
remembered for major achievements in train connectivity to India’s Northeastern
region. On 7 April 2014 Arunachal Pradesh’s capital Itanagar became the second
capital in the Northeastern region to have rail-connectivity. This became possible
after commissioning of the newly built 20-km Harmuti-Naharlagun railway line
that connects Itanagar. Till now Assamese capital Guwahati was the only
North-Eastern state capital with direct train connectivity. Itanagar received
the first passenger train on this day from Dekargaon.
Similarly Meghalaya
came on the railway map of India on 29 November 2014 with commencement of first
train service from this state. Prime Minister Narendra Modi flagged off the
first train from Meghalaya – the 55819 Up Mendipathar – Guwahati. Mendipathar
is the first railway station in Meghalaya and train connectivity in the state
became possible due to construction of the 19.75 km long line from Dudhnoi in
Assam to Mendipathar.
Jammu-Katra train
connectivity
In another major initiative
the rail-link for Katra was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 4
July 2014 by flagging off the inaugural train from Katra to Jammu. The
Katra-Udhampur rail section also features India’s longest steel girder bridge –
the Jhajjar Bridge. Katra railway station has been named Mata Vaishno Devi
railway station while the first direct train between New Delhi and Katra was
named as Shree Shakti Express. This train started its regular journey from 14
July 2014.
14
Accidents in the
Indian Navy
Year 2014 would also
be remembered some major accidents in the Indian Navy. The accident on board
INS Sindhuratna (a kilo-class submarine) led to the resignation of the then
Chief of Naval Staff Admiral D K Joshi on 26 February 2014, who owned moral
responsibility. Two naval officers were killed in this accident. Joshi thus
became the first military chief to resign from his post since independence.
Other naval accidents that took place during 2014 involved INS Betwa, INS
Kolkata, INS Airawat, INS Ganga and INS Vipul.
