A Decade in Review


2000

May 11 – India’s billionth citizen, baby Astha was born
July 30 – Kannada film super star Rajkumar abducted by bandit Veerapan
Nov. 1 – Chhattisgarh becomes Indian’s 26th state
Nov. 6 – J Jyoti Basu, world’s longest -serving elected communist leader, retires as West Bangal CM
Nov. 9 – Uttranchal becomes Indian’s 27th state
Nov. 15 – Jharkhand becomes Indian’s 28th state

2001

Jan. 1 – Calcutta Officially becomes Kolkata
Jan. 9-Feb. 21 – Largest gathering of humans in history: almost 2 percent of world’s population over 100 million people attend Mahakumbh in Allahabad
Jan. 26 – Gujarat quake kills around 30,000
Mar. 14 – V.V.S Laxaman becomes first Indian to score 250 in a test match as India fight back from following -on to win second test against Australia
July 17 – The Agra summit between Indian PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf ends in a farcical dead Lock
Sep. 23 – U.S. led economic sanctions against India’s external defense trade, imposed after the Pokhran nuclear tests in 1998 are lifted

2002

May 21 – A moderate in the Kashmiri separatists Abdul Ghani Lone is assassinated
July 25 – Missile scientist APJ Abdul Kalam becomes President of India
Dec. 24 – New Delhi becomes India’s second city to have a metro train after Kolkata
2003
Feb. 1 Space shuttle Columbia disintegrates on reentry, killing Indian-born Kalpana Chawala and six other astronauts
Mar. 24 – India lose in ICC Cricket World Cup finals to Australia after a spirited run
Aug. 25 – 52 killed in two blasts in Mumbai

2004
Mar. 29 – Virender Sehwag becomes first Indian to score a triple century in a test
cricket in Multan against Pakistan
May 13 – Ruling NDA stunned in the 14th Lok Sahbha elections as congress led UPA emerges as surprise winner
May 22 – Manmohan Singh becomes India’s first Sikh prime minister
Aug. 17 – Shooter Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore wins India’s first ever Olympic Silver medal in Athens

2005

Oct. 8 – Earthquake in Kashmir kills 80,000 most of them in PoK
Nov. 22 – Lalu raaj ends in Bihar. Nitish kumar of NDA is the New CM

2006

Mar. 2 – U.S. President George W. Bush sings landmark nuclear deal with India during his first visit to the subcontinent
July 6 – The Nathu la pass between India and China in the northern reaches off Sikkim reopens trade after 44 years

2007

Apr. 20 – Former Miss World Aishwarya Rai marries Abhishek Bachchan
July 19 – Prathiba Patil elected as India’s first woman President
Aug. 3 – India and the United States release the text of the 123 agreement
Sep. 24 – India wins inaugural Twenty20 World Cup, defeating Pakistan by five runs in the final in Johannesburg

2008

Jan. 10 – Ratan Tata unveils the world’s cheapest car, Tata Nano
Mar. 26 – Tata Motors buys two iconic British automobile companies, Jaguar and Land Rover from Ford
Jun. 1 – Big money enters cricket as Indian Premier League kicks off
Aug. 11 – Shooter Abhinav Bindra wins India’s first individual Olympic gold at Beijing
Oct. 10 – India and the United States sign a landmark nuclear agreement
Oct. 22 – India’s first moon mission Chandrayaan-1 lifts off
Nov. 26-Nov.29 – Terrorists from Pakistan strike Mumbai in more than ten coordinated shooting and bombing attacks

2009

Feb. 22 – A . R . Rahman and sound engineer Resul Pookutty win Oscars for Slumdog Millionaire
May 16 – Congress led UPA retains power in Indian parliamentary elections with a clear verdict