Quantitative ability mock test 1 (tier II) 2013

Kumar Classes quantitative ability mock test 1   2013

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Important events of national movement

The indian national congress founded in 1885 by Allan Octavian Hume (AO Hume) a retired British memberof Indian Civil Service. Hume’s main purpose was to encourage the foundation of Congress to provide a ‘safety valve’ or ‘safety outlet’ to growing discontent among the educated Indians.

The first session of the Indian National Congress was held on December 28, 1885.

Wyomesh Chandra Banerjee a leading lawyer of Calcutta was elected its president. Its session was hold in Bombay under W C Banerjee in 1885 (72 delegates attended it).

In the first two decades congress was moderate in its approach and confidence in British Justice and generosity. But the repressive measure of British gave rise to extremists within Congress like Bipin Chandra Pal, Bal Gangadhar Tilak, and Lala Lajpat Rai.

THE PARTITION OF BENGAL

On 20 July, 1950 Lord Curzon issued an order to divide the province of Bengal into two parts.

To set up a communal gulf between Hindus and Muslims.

The Anti- Partition Movement started most Prominent leaders like Surendranath Banerjee and Krishna Kumar Mitra etc.

Rabindranath Tagore composed the national song ‘Amar Sonar Bangla’ for the occasion which was sung by huge crowd parading the streets. This song was adopted as National Anthem by Bangladesh in 1971 after liberation.

There were cries of ‘Bande Mataram’ which became a National Song of Bengal.

The ceremony of Raksha Bandhan was observed on 16^thOctober, 1905. Hindu and Muslim tied ‘rakhi’ in one another’s wrists as a symbol of the unbreakable unity.

SWADESHI MOVEMENT

The leader of Bengal felt that mere demonstrations, public meetings and resolutions were not enough and something more concrete was needed and the answer felt was Swadeshi and Boycott. People burnt foreign clothes and foreign goods.

An important aspect of the Swadeshi Movement was emphasis placed on self-reliance.

The leaders of Bengal took up the work of national education in right earnest. National educational institutions were opened by them and literary, technical and physical education was given there.

On 15 August, 1906 a National Council of education was set up and Aurobindo Ghosh was appointed as the first Principal of the National Colllege.

The Varanasi (Banaras) Session of the Congress, presided over by GK Gokhale in 1905, recorded its protest against the partition of Bengal. 

At the Calcutta session the Congress adopted to boycott British goods on August 7, 1905.

Lala Lajpat Rai, BG Tilak and Bipin Chandra Pal (Lal, Bal and Pal ) and Aurobindo Ghosh played important role in Swadeshi Movement.

The great extremist Tilak started the newspaper The Maratha (in English _ and Kesari (in Marathi).

In 1893, Gangadhar Tilak started celebrating the traditional religious Ganpati festival. IN 1895, he started the Shivaji festival.

The most outstanding extremist leaders were Bipin Chandra Pal, Aurobindo Ghosh and Lala Lajpat Rai.

MUSLIM LEAGUE

In 1906, the All India Muslim League was founded under the leadership of Agha Khan, Nawab Salimullah of Dacca and Nawab Mohsin-ul-Mulk.

The League supported separate electorate for the Muslim community and opposed the Nationalist moves of the Congress.

In return the British declared that they would assiduously protect the ‘special interest of the Muslims’.

THE SURAT SPLIT OR SURAT SESSION OF INC

The Indian National Congress split in two groups, the moderate and extremist groups at the Surat Session in 1907.Extremists were led by Lala Lajpat Rai, BG Tilak and Bipin Chandra Pal and the moderates by Gopal Krishna Gokhale.

MORLEY MINTO REFORMS (1909)

Morley Minto Reforms were introduced in 1909 during the period when Lord MInto was the Viceroy if India.

The reforms envisaged a separate electrorate for Muslims, later introduced the system of separate electrotates under which Muslims could only vote for Muslims candidates.

THE GHADAR PARTY MOVEMENT

 Taraknath Das, Sohan Singh Bahakana and Lala Hardayal founded the Ghadar Party Movement.

In November1913, the Hind Association of America was founded by Sohan Singh Bhakana. It decided to publish a weekly paper Ghadar or Hindustan Ghadar in commemoration with the Revolt of 1857.

The organization headquater’s was at Sen Francisco.

Lala Hardayal, Bhai Parmanand and Ram Chandar were leading figures of the Ghadar Party Movement.

HOME RULE LEAGUES (1916)

Home Rule Leagues having been inspired by the Irish rebellion, Mrs. Annie Besant (September 1916) and BG Tilak (April 1916) set up the Home Rule League.

BG Tilak’s League worked in Maharashtra and central provinces and Annie Besant in rest of the country.

The League campaign aimed to convey to the common man the message of Home Rule as self-government.

BG Tilak linked up question Swaraj with the demand for the formation of linguistic states and education in Vernacular language. Tilak gave the popular slogan, “Freedom is my birth  right and I will have it”.

LUCKNOW PACT (1916)

The Lucknow session of the INC in 1916 was memorable event on account of two important development. First was readmission of the Extremists who had been expelled from the INC nine years earlier. The second development was the bond the alliance between the Congress and Muslim League.

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA ACT, (1919)

This is also known as Montague-Chelmsfrord Reforms, after the secretary of state Edwin Montague and the Viceroy Chelmsford.

The executive council was enlarged and central legislature was thoroughly remodeled and made bicameral, two chambers being the Council of State and the Legislative Council.

The legislature had virtually no control over the Viceroy and his executive council which the central government had unrestricted control over the provincial government.

The Act introduced diarchy or dual government in the provincial executives.

ROWLATT ACT

The government passed the Rowlatt Act in March 1919, which empowered the British Government to detain any person without trial. The act was a serious betral of the promises made by the government during the world war period.

JALLIANWALA BAGH TRAGEDY (AMRITSAR)

(APRIL 13, 1919)

 People were against arresting of their popular leaders Dr. Saifuddin Kitchlew and Dr. Satyapal.

 ON April 13, 1919, Baisakhi day, hundreds of people were massacred and several thousand wounded in jallianwala Bagh where they had assembled to held a protest meeting against the repressive policies of the government.

The troops led by General Dyer opened fire on the unarmed men and women, young and old, Hindu and Muslim and it was regarded as the worst massacre during the entire freedom struggle.

Hunter Commission was appointed to enquire into it.

Sardar Udham Singh killed General Dyer on March 13, 1940, when the latter was addressing a meeting in Caxton hall in London.

THE KHILAFAT MOVEMENT (1920-22)

The Indian Muslims were extremely agitated over the, Pan-Islamic Khilafat issue which originated as a result of Turkey’s entry into the first world war as an ally of Germany against Britain.

The Ali Brothers-Mohammad Ali and Shaukat Ali launched khilafat Movement in 1920 for the restoration of the khilafat.

Maulana Abdul Kalam also led the movement. It was supported by Gandhiji which later powed the way for Hindu-Muslim unity.

The All India Khilafat Conference held at Delhi in November 1919.

Ghandhiji was the head of Khilafat Committee.

All India Khilafat Committee ceased to function after the abolition of khilafat in Turkey by Mustarfa Kamala Pasa in 1924.

NON-COOERATION MOVEMENT (1920-22)

The Non-Cooperation movement which was the first mass movement under the leadership of Mahatma Gandhi was launched to press three main demands

(I)                 The Khilafat issue;

(ii)          The redressal of the Punjab wrongs; and

(iii)         The attainment of Swaraj.

The programme of the movement had main aspects

(i)                  Surrender of titles and honorary offices and resignation from nominated seats in local bodies.

(ii)                 Refusal to attend official functions.

(iii)               Gradual withdrawal of children from officially controlled schools and colleges.

(iv)              Boycott of British Courts by lawyers and litigants.

(v)                Refusal on the part of the military, clerical and labour classes to offer themselves as recruits for service in Mesopotamia.

(vi)              Boycott the elections to the Legistlative Council.

(vii)             Boycott of the foreign goods.

The Prince of Wales visited India during this period.

CHAURI CHAURA INCIDENT (1922)

In Chauri Chaura (Near Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh) a Police station including 22 policemen was burnt on February 5,1922.

Most of the nationalist leaders including CR Das, Motilal Nehru, Subhash Chandra Bose, Jawaharlal Nehru,however, expressed their bewilderment at Gandhi’s decision to withdraw the Non-Cooperation Movement February 12,1922.

In March 1922, Gandhiji was arrested and sentenced for six years in jail.

THE SWARAJYA PARTY (1923)

CR Das, MOtilal Nehru and NC Kelkar suggested that instead of boycotting the councils they should enter and expose them.

In December 1922, CR Das and MOtilal Nehru formed the Cnongress Khilafat Swarajya Party with CR Das as the President and Motilal Nehru as one of the secretaries.

The Swarajists contested elections to the legislative assembly and provincial councils.

In 1923, elections they got 42 seats out of 101 elected seats in Bengal and Central Province. The party broke in 1926 after the death of CR Das.

SIMON COMMISSION (1927)

In November 1927, the British Government appointed the Indian Statutory Commission known as the Simon Commission (after the name of chairman).

John Simon, a British politician, was appointed as chairman of the commission to review the situation in India with a view to introduce further reforms and extension of Parliamentary democracy, Indian leaders opposed the Commission.

On February, 1928 the Commission reached Bombay, an All India strike was organize, wherever the Commission went, was greeted with strikes and black flag demonstrations under the slogan “Simon, go Back”.

The police came down heavily on demonstrators. The lathi-charged at Lahore, Lala Lajpat Rai beaten and died because of injuries (October 30, 1928).

BARDOLI MOVEMENT (1928)

Bardoli Movemetn against the payment of Land tax led by Vallabhbhai Patel in a village called Bardoli in Gujarat.

Vallabhbhai Patel got the title Sardar from this movement.

THE NEHRU REPORT (1928)

 Having boycotted the Simon Commission, the Indian political parties tried to hammer out a common political programme.

All parties conference met in February 1928 and appointed a sub-committee under the Chairmanship of Motilal Nehru to draft a Constitution. This was the first major attempt by the Indians to draft a constitutional framework for the country.

The committee also included Tej Bahadur Sapru.

The report was finalized on August 1928. It was proposed the goal of India-Dominion status or complete independence.

14 points of Jinnah (March 9, 1929)—Jinnah, the leader of Muslim League, did not accept the Nehru Report, thereafter drew up a lift of demands, which was called 14 points of Jinnah.

OTHER POLITICAL PARTIES AND MOVEMENTS(1922-27)

The moderates who had walked out of the INC in 1918, formed National Liberal League, later known as the All India Liberal Federation and cooperated with the government.

 The HINDU MAHASABHA, a communal organization of the Hindus, founded in December 1918, also gained strength and Madan Mohan Malaviya was elected as its president at Belgaum
Session.

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Historical events for competitive exams

This is a timeline of Indian history, comprising important legal and territorial changes and political events in India and its predecessor states

B.C
2500-1800		Indus valley civilization.
599		Birth of Mahavir; Nirvana in 523. B.C.
563		Birth of Gautam Buddha; Nirvana in 483 B.C.
327-26		Alexander's invasion of India and the opening of land route between India and Europe.
269-232		Ashoka's reign.
261		Battle of Kalinga.
57		Beginning of Vikrama era.
30		Satvahana dynasty in Deooan. Pandyan empire in for south.
326		Alexander defeated Poras in the Battle of Hydaspas
261		Ashoka defeated Kalinga in the Kalinga War
A.D
78		Beginning of Saka era.
320		Beginning of Gupta era.
360		Samudragupta conquers the whole of N. India and much of the Deccan.
380-413		Rule of Chandragupta Vikramaditya, age of Kalidasa, renewal of induism.
606-647		Rule of Harshavardhana.
629-645		Hieun Tsang's visit in India.
622		Beginning of Hijra era.
712		Arab invasion of Sind by Mohd. bin Qasim.
1001-27		Repeated attacks of Mehmud Ghazni.
1025		Sacking of Somnath temple by Mehmud.
1191		First battle of Tarain in which Prithviraj Chauhan defeated Mohd. Ghori.
1192		Second battle of Tarain in which Mohd. Ghori defeated Prithviraj Chauhan.
1206		Qutubuddin Aibak founded the Ilbari/Slave dynasty.
1290		Jalaluddin Firuz Khilji established Khilji dynasty.
1290		Marco Polo visited India.
1320		Ghiyasuddin Tughlaq founded the Tughlaq dynasty.
1333		Ibn Batuta arrived in India.
1336		Harihara and Bukka founded the Vijaynagar empire.
1347		Bahmani kingdom founded.
1398		Timur invades India.
1451		Lodi dynasty comes in power in Delhi Sultanate.
1469		Birth of Guru Nanak Dev.
1498		Vasco da Gama lands at Calicut.
1510		Portuguese capture Goa-Albuquerque Governor.
1526		First Battle of Panipat in which Babar defeated Ibrahim Lodhi and established the Mughal dynasty.
1556		Second battle of Panipat in which Akbar defeated Hemu.
1565		Battle of Talikota in which Vijaynagar empire is defeated.
1571		Foundation of Fatehpur Sikri by Akbar.
1576		Battle of Haldighati in which Akbar defeated Maharana Pratap.
1582		Akbar started Din-i-llahi.
1600		English East India Company established.
1604		Compilation of Adi Granth.
1605		Death of Akbar.
1611		The English built a factory at Masulipatnam.
1627		Birth of Shivaji
1631		Death of Shah Jahan's wife Mumtaz Mahal. The building of Taj Mahal.
1658		Aurangzeb became Emperor of Delhi.
1666		Birth of Guru Gobind Singh.
1699		Guru Gobind Singh creates 'Khalsa'.
1707		Death of Aurangzeb, fall of Mughal empire begins.
1739		Nadir Shah invaded India; the peacock throne and the Kohinoor Diamond taken away from India.
1757		Battle of Plassey in which the English defeated Siraj-ud- daula, Nawab of Bengal.
1760		Battle of Wandiwash, end of French power in India,
1761		Third Battle of Panipat in which Ahmed Shah Abdali defeated the Marathas.
1764		Battle of Buxar in which the English defeated the triple alliance of Nawab Mir Qasim of Bengal, Nawab Shuja-ud-daula of Awadh and Mughal emperor Shah Alam.
1793		Permanent settlement in Bengal.
1799		Fourth Anglo Mysore War, death of Tipu Sultan, Ranjit Singh occupied Lahore and made it his capital.
1817-19		Marathas finally crushed.
1828		Lord William Bentick becomes Governor General; Era of social reforms; Prohibition of Sati (1829), Suppression of thugs (1830).
1835		Introduction of English as medium of instruction.
A.D
1853	First Indian railway from Bombay to Thane.
1857-58	First war of Indian Independence.
1858	British crown takes over the Indian Government; End of East India Company's rule.
1861	Birth of Rabindra Nath Tagore.
1869	Birth of M.K. Gandhi.
1885	Formation of Indian National Congress.
1905	Partition of Bengal by Lord Curzon.
1906	Formation of All India Muslim League.
1909	Minto-Morley Reforms.
1911	Delhi durbar held, partition of Bengal cancelled, capital shifted from Calcutta to Delhi.
1914	World War I started.
1918	End of World War I.
1919	Rowlatt Act, Jallianwala Bagh massacre, Montague- Chelmsford reforms.
1920	Non-cooperation Movement launched,
1921	Moplah rebellian in Malabar; visit of Prince of Wales.
1922	Chauri-Chaura incidence.
1923	Swaraj party formed.
1927	Simon Commission appointed.
1928	Visit of Simon Commission to India, death of Lala Lajpat Rai.
1929	Congress demanded'Poorna Swaraj'in Lahore session.
1930	January 26 celebrated as Independence Day throughout India, Dandi Salt Satyagraha, First Round Table conference.
1931	Gandhi-lrvin Pact, Second Round Table Conference.
1932	Suppression of Congress Movement, Third Round Table Conference, Communal Award, Poona Pact.
1935	Government of India Act.
1937	Inauguration of Provincial Autonomy. Congress ministries formed in 8 out of 11 provinces.
1939	Resignation of Congress ministries, beginning of World War II.
1942	Cripps Mission Plan, Quit India Movement, Formation of Indian National Army by S.C. Bose.
1945	Simla conference held and the failure of Wavell Plan, INA trials at Red Fort, Delhi.
1946	Cabinet Mission Plan, Formation of Interim Government, Direct Action Resolution by Muslim League.
1947	Mountbatten Plan of June 3 in which partition of India resolution is proposed, India divided, Pakistan created, both achieve independence, Jawarhar Lai Nehru becomes the I Prime Minister of India.
1948	Assassination of Mahatma Gandhi (Jan. 30).
1950	India became republic (Jan. 26).
1951	First Five Year Plan implemented.
1952	First General Elections held.
1953	Tenzing Norgay and Sir Edmund Hillary conquer Mt. Everest (May 29).
1954	Panchsheel agreement between India and China.
1956	Life insurance nationalized, State Reorganising Act comes into force.
1957	Second General Elections.
1958	Metric system of weights and measures introduced.
1959	Dalai Lama exiled; enters India.
1961	Liberation of Goa.
1962	Chinese attack on India. (Oct 20).
1964	Jawaharlal Nehru dies; Lai Bahadur Shastri becomes PM.
1965	Indo-Pak war.
1966	Tashkent Agreement reached, Death of Lai Bahadur Shastri, Indira Gandhi became PM.
1967	Dr. Zakir Hussain elected President.
1968	Hargovind Khurana shares the Nobel Prize for Medicine and Physiology.
1969	Death of. President Zakir Hussain (May 3). V. V. Giri elected President, Nationalization of 14 leading banks, Split in Indian National Congress.
1970	Former Indian ruler's privy purses abolished. Dr. C. V. Raman died (Nov. 2).
1971	Indo-Pak War over Bangladesh.
1972	Shimla Agreement signed.
1973	Manekshaw named India's first Field Marshal
1974	Nuclear explosion at Pokhran (May 18).
1975	Indian satellite 'Aryabhatta' launched, National emergency declared.
1976	The four Indian News agencies merged into a single News Agency known as 'Samachar', life of Lok Sabha extended by an year.
1977	Defeat of Mrs. Indira Gandhi in the election, Morarji Desai takes over as PM, emergency withdrawn.
1978	India launches world's biggest adult literacy plan (Oct. 2).
1979	Charan Singh became PM., Mother Teresa won the Nobel Peace Prize.
1980	Indira Gandhi returns to power at centre, India launches first satellite using its own satellite launching vehicle (July. 18).
1981			India launched APPLE, Khalistan activists hijack Indian Airlines Boeing 737 to Lahore.
1982			Zail Singh sworn in as President, the 21-member Indian scientific expedition headed by Dr. S. Z. Qasim lands on Antarctica (Jan. 9), INSAT1 A launched, Ninth Asian Games held in New Delhi.
1983			The 7th Non Aligned Summit in New Delhi, Kalpakkam Atomic Energy plant goes critical (July 2), INSAT-1 B launched (Aug. 30), Richard Attenborough's "Gandhi" wins 8 oscars.
1984			Rakesh Sharma becomes India's first spaceman (Apr. 5), Bachendri Pal become the first Indian woman to scale Mt. Everest (May 23), Operation Blue Star, Assassination of Indira Gandhi (Oct 31), Rajiv Gandhi becomes PM, Bhopal Gas tragedy (Dec. 3).
1985			Anti-defection Bill passed (Jan. 3), Azharuddin hits 3 centuries in 3 tests.
1986			The first wholly Indian test-tube baby bom at KEM Hospital, Bombay (Aug. 7).
1987			Sunil Gavaskar becomes the first batsman to score 10,000 runs in tests (Mar. 7), Goa becomes the 25th state of India (May 30).
1988			India's first remote sensing satellite IRS 1 -A launched from Russia (Mar. 17), INSAT 1-C launched from French Guyana (July 22).
1989			Successful test of Agni (May 22), laying of the foundation stone for the Ram Janmabhoomi temple of Ayodhya (Nov 10). V.P. Singh becomes the PM.
1990			Successful launching of INSAT 1-D (June 12), Mandal Commission recommendation implemented (Aug. 7), V.P. Singh tenders resignation (Nov. 7), S. Chandrashekhar becomes PM. (Nov. 10).
1991			Rajiv Gandhi killed in a bomb blast (May 21), P. V. Narsimha Rao became PM. (June 21), Earthquake in Uttarkashi region (Oct. 20), Satyajit Ray got special Oscar award. (Dec.16).
1992			Prithvi test fired (May 5), INSAT-2 A launched (July 10), Dr. Shanker Dayal Sharma became President (July 25), the domes of Babri Masjid demolished (Dec 6).
1993			Panchayati Raj Act effective (Apr. 24), INSAT-2 B launched from French Guyana (July 23), Earthquake in Latur region (Sept. 30).
1994			First heart transplant in the country (Aug. 3), PSLV D-2 launched (Oct. 15).
1995			Punjab Chief Minister Beant Singh assassinated (Agu. 31), INSAT-2 C launched (Dec. 7)
1996			A.B. Vajpayee became PM. (May 16), H.D. Deve Gowda became PM. (June 1), India-Bangladesh sign Ganga Water Pact (Dec. 12)
1997			I. K. Gujral became PM. (Apr. 21), K. R. Narayanan sworn in as President (July 25), Mother Teresa passes away (Sept. 5), Arundhati Roy wins Booker Prize (Oct. 14), I. K. Gujral resigns as PM. (Nov. 28)
1998			Konkan railway commissioned (Jan. 26), A. B. Vajpayee became PM. (Mar. 19), India conducted total 5 nuclear tests (May 11 and May 13), Severe cyclone in Gujarat (June 9), Amartya Sen won the Noble Prize in Economics (Oct. 14)
1999			P.M. Vajpayee arrived in Pakistan by Delhi-Lahore bus (Feb. 20), India successfully launched its first commercial telecom satellite INSAT-2 E from Kourou (Apr. 3), Intense fighting in Kargil (June-July), Devastating cyclone in Orissa and A. P. (Oct.)
2000			U. S. President Bill Clinton visited India (Mar.) INSAT-3 B launched from Kourou (Mar. 22), Successful test firing of 'Dhanush', the naval version of 'Prithvi' missile (Apr. 11), Karnam Malleshwari wins a bronze at Olympics, Chattisgarh formed (Nov. 1), Uttaranchal formed (Nov. 9), Jharkhand formed (Nov. 15)
2001			The pilotless target aircraft 'Lakshya' inducted into the Indian Air Force (Jan. 5), Severe earthquake in Gujarat (Ja. 26), the newly-constructed Ennore port dedicated to the nation (Feb. 1), India successfully launches GSLV D-1 from Sriharikota (Apr. 18), Indo-Pak summit at Agra (July 15-16), Lok Pal Bill introduced in Lok Sabha (Aug. 14), Attack on WTC, New York shakes the world (Sept. 11), Lok Sabha passes the bill on "Right to Education till 14" (Nov. 30), Terrorist attack on Indian Parliament (Dec. 13)
2002			INSAT-3 C launched on Ariane rocket from Kourou in French Guyana (Jan. 24), ISRO successfully tries the indegenious cryogenic engine (Feb. 5), POTO passed in the joint session of the Parliament (Mar. 26), LCA test flown successfully (June 6), Cabinet clears 26% FDI in print media (June 25), Dr. A. P. J. Abdul Kalam elected the President of India (July 18), Bhairon Singh Shekhawat sworn in as Vice-President of India (Aug. 19), India launches METSAT by using PSLV-C4 (Sept. 12), Draft of the Tenth Five-Year Plan approved by the Planning Commission (Oct. 5), BSNL launches mobile phone service (Oct. 15), Vajpayee and Putin sign Delhi declaration (Dec. 4), Kelkar submitted modified report on tax reforms (Dec. 28)
2003			Kalpana Chawla killed in space shuttle Columbia burnup (Feb. 1); Large reserves of oil & gas discovered in Barmer district of Rajasthan (Feb. 4); US launched attack on Iraq (Mar. 20); INSAT-3A launched from Kourou (Apr. 10); Indigenous Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) renamed 'Tejas' (May 4); GSLVD-2 launched from Sriharikota (May 8); First instance of power failure in modern USA (Aug. 15-16); Mars comes closest to Earth (Aug. 27); Govt. approves the purchase of Advanced Jet Trainers, Hawk, from Britain (Sept. 3); INSAT-3E launched from Kourou (Sept. 20); Pope John Paul-ll beautifies Mother Teresa (Oct. 19); First Afro-Asian Games held in Hyderabad (Oct. 24-Nov. 1); India & Pakistan agree to a formal cease-fire along the LOG (Nov. 25); 97th, 98th, 99th & 100th Constitutional Amendment Bills passed (Dec. 18-23)
2004			Sensex crosses the magical figure of 6000 (Jan. 2); India signs agreement with Russia for obtaining Admiral Gorshkov (Jan. 20); Delhi High Court clears Rajiv Gandhi from the Bofors deal (Feb. 4); 200 killed in Madrid train blast (Mar. 11); Nobel Medals of Rabindra Nath Tagore gets stolen from Shantiniketan (Mar. 25); NDA conducts election before time, but loses unexpectedly, UPA government comes in power, Dr. Manmohan Singh sworn-in as the new PM (May 22); 87 children killed in a fire in school in Kumbhkonam, Tamil Nadu (July 17); Olympics return to their homeland Athens, Rajyavardhan Rathode wins a silver for India (Aug. 13-29); Hamid Karzai wins the Presidential vote in Afghanistan (Oct. 14); Sandalwood King Veerappan is dead (Oct. 18); George W. Bush re-elected (Nov. 3); Kanchi Shankaracharya Jayendra Saraswati arrested on murder charges (Nov. 11); Yasser Arafat is dead (Nov. 11); Parliament dismissses POTA (Dec. 9); Tsunami causes havoc in South and South East Asia killing more than a lakh (Dec. 26)

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