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50 YEARS 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

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





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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

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




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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

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




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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

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




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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

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

July 1992 Government allows private producers time slots on TV and Radio




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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

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




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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

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 4x400m 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 US-64: Redemptions figure for the week likely to touch Rs 650 crore
Market cap of top 8 banks, FIs fall below 50 pc over last 6 months





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11 Oct 1998: Justice Anand takes over as Chief Justice of India. Anand, 62, became
th1e 29th CJI succeeding Justice Madan Mohan Punchhi. He will have
tenure of just over three years.

15 Oct 1998: Amartya Sen awarded Nobel Prize for Economics. Sen is the 6th Indian to
win the Nobel Prize.