India 2009: A Retrospective

Here is my retrospective of the major news that took place during the year 2009. Please read the list and leave your comments in the “Comments” section.

January 2009

• ·         US President Barack Obama took office, in the wake of the greatest economic crisis since World War II
• ·         Google Chrome browser released in Beta
• ·         India – Pakistan exchange list of nuclear installations
• ·         Satyam scandal rocks Indian Outsourcing industry
• ·         US backs India on 26/11 terror attack probe
• ·         Pakistan denies proofs sent by India on Terror attacks
• ·         50,000 officers of oil PSUs go on indefinite strike

February 2009

• ·         Hijack scare at Delhi airport
• ·         Chairman of ISRO, G Madhavan Nair, felicitated with “Indian of the Year” award
• ·         American woman alleges molestation at Iskcon temple
• ·         Despite economic slowdown, J-K witnesses cellphone boom
• ·         Al-Qaeda video warns India of more attacks
• ·         Family of a poverty-ridden man beheaded in Bihar for marrying a rich girl
• ·         Biggest Air-show in India takes place at Bangalore

March 2009

• ·         Indian Auto industry defies global slowdown, registers highest total sales
• ·         UK unemployment figure grows beyond 2 million
• ·         Japan posts a record current account deficit of 172.8 billion yen
• ·         Class XII topper Akhilesh Narayan reports: "I slept before my maths exams, scored 99%"
• ·         India successfully tests Interceptor missile
• ·         Error in CBSE maths paper reported
• ·         US clears decks for biggest defence deal with India

April 2009

• ·         Tata Nano hits showrooms
• ·         IPL 2 starts in South Africa
• ·         Management student Akhil Dev ragged, beaten and blinded at PSG College, Coimbatore
• ·         US radio host Rush Limbaugh calls Indian workers, slumdogs
• ·         Kolkata prisoners go on hunger strike to watch IPL
• ·         Swine Flu spreads in US, India on high alert
• ·         IAF Sukhoi fighter jet Su-30MKI crashes, navigator killed

May 2009

• ·         IPL 2 ends in Pretoria, South Africa with Deccan Chargers as champions
• ·         IIT student arrested for Credit Card fraud at Ahmedabad, India
• ·         MIG 27 crashes in Jodhpur, 5 injured
• ·         Air France apologises to Indian passengers for “ill-treatment”
• ·         Girls outshine boys In ICSE, ISC and CBSE board exams
• ·         19-year old woman Krushnaa, youngest woman to scale Mt Everest
• ·         Cyclone hits West Bengal

June 2009

• ·         Indian bureaucracy worst in Asia, says survey
• ·         Swine Flu drug Tamiflu banned
• ·         India seeks 25-member UN Security Council
• ·         Two Indian sailors freed from Koran prison
• ·         Air India employees warn of strike, if salaries delayed
• ·         Indian students attacked in Australia
• ·         MIG 21 crashes in Assam, no casualties

July 2009

• ·         N. Korea warns of “Unimaginably Deadly Blows” to US
• ·         UPA proposes 100-day ‘unrealistic’ plans to put India on fast track
• ·         Izzat Train scheme released: Travel 100 kms for Rs 25
• ·         Bollywood actor Shiney Ahuja agrees of having sex with maid servant
• ·         Heavy rains flood Mumbai
• ·         BSF finds Pak rocket debris in a Punjab village
• ·         Hillary Clinton visits India

August 2009

• ·         West Bengal govt cracks down on polluting vehicles
• ·         India – China begin 14^th round of border talks
• ·         Call centre employee sedated and raped by colleague in Delhi
• ·         Mumbai terrorists came from Pakistan, claims FBI
• ·         Delhi will be slum-free in 4 years, promises CM Sheila Dikshit
• ·         BSNL staff go on strike, demand wage hike
• ·         Swiss banks refuse details to India on Black Money trail

September 2009

• ·         Jet Airways cancels more than half of its flights, as over a hundred staff stay on leave
• ·         Class X board exams declared “optional” in CBSE
• ·         Tata Indicom launches new plan: Unlimited calls for Re 1
• ·         Infosys to produce unique IDs for Delhiites by 2012
• ·         Theft reported at Rashtrapati Bhavan in India
• ·         Lockheed begins F-16 trials to replace MIG-21 fleet
• ·         CBI forms new team to probe Aarushi Murder case

October 2009

• ·         Heavy rains lash South India
• ·         Infant Mortality Rate highest in India, says United Nations Human Development report
• ·         India test fires N-capable Prithvi-II missile in Orissa
• ·         Half of India’s children malnourished, says ActionAid NGO report
• ·         US ship Alang poses toxic threat to India
• ·         India’s Swine Flu toll reaches 415
• ·         Hyderabad throws open India’s longest flyover

November 2009

• ·         Sachin Tendulkar reaches 17,000 ODI runs
• ·         Online CAT exam fails due to server crash
• ·         Teller’s machine in use to detect fake currency notes, reports CNN
• ·         Bangladesh launches major crackdown on ULFA
• ·         Dutch national held in Child Pornography in Chennai
• ·         India revises air quality norms after 15 years
• ·         DRDO admits N-capable Agni-II failed night testing

December 2009

• ·         India regains top spot in Cricket Test Rankings
• ·         Indian Railways unveil new method to curb accidents due to fog
• ·         Third ceasefire violation reported in a week on Indo-Pak border near LoC