DIARY OF EVENTS 2009

DIARY OF EVENTS 2009
NATIONAL

JANUARY:
JAN 8 – Overseas Indian Citizenship cardholders can practice their professionin India

JAN 11 – The center forms a three member board comprising HDFC chairman Deepak Parekh, the former Nasscom president Kiran Karnik and C. Achutan to take charge of Satyam.

Jan 15 – Radha Vinod Raju appointed as the first Director General of the National Investigation Agency

Jan 21 – The Tamil Nadu government decides to launch the Chief Minister’s Insurance Scheme for Life Saving Treatments which will benefit 1 crore families/

JAN 24 – India and Kazakhstan sign a major agreement for supply of uranium and a comprehensive cooperation in civil nuclear energy program. An extradition treaty was also inked.

JAN 28 - Cabinet approves the Rs.14,600 crore Chennai Metro Rail Project.

FEBRUARY
FEB 4 – India signs its first commercial pact with the French nuclear giant Areva for reactors, fuel supply.

FEB 5 – The UN Secretary-General Ban ki- Moon is presented the Sustainable Development Leadership Award 2009 in New Delhi.

FEB 10 – Pt. Bhimsen Joshi, the noted Hindustani vocalist is presented with Bharat Ratna.

FEB 11 – Scientists of National Dairy Research Institute, Karnal (Haryana)announced the cloning of world’s first buffalo

Sumn Sharma became the world’s first woman to fly the MIG –35 fighter jet.

FEB 22 – Tirupur become the 32nd district of Tamil Nadu.

FEB 26 – Supreme Court orders a probe by B. N. Srikrishna, the retired judga of the apex court into the violent incidents on the Madras High Court.

MARCH
MAR 3 – The Howrah –New Delhi Rajdhani Express , the country’s first super fast train completes 40 years of service.

MAR 7 – Manipur Human Right activist Irom Chanu Sharmila on a continued fast for the past nine years demanding complete withdrawal of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act 1958 is freed from judicial custody.

MAR 21 – Mohanrao Bhagwat takes over as the chief of Rashtriya Swayam Sevak Sangh.

MAR 24 – Sister Mary Prema is elected the Superior General of the Missionaries of Charity in place of ailing Sister Nirmala.

MAR 27 – The Chameli Devi Jain Award for Outstanding Woman Mediaperson for 2008is conferred on Nirupama Subramaniam, Islamabad correspondent of The Hindu and Vinita Deshmukh, editor of Intelligent Pune.

APRIL
APR 13 – Tech Mahindra acquires Satyam Computer Serveces.

APR 20 – The PSLV – C12 puts in Orbit Radar Imaging Satellite (RISAT–2), a surveillance satellite procured from Israel and Anusat, built by Anna University, Chennai after lift- off from Sriharikota.

APR 21 – Senior Election Commissioner Navin B. Chawla takes over as the 16th Chief Election Commissioner. V. S. Sampath assumes office a the new Election Commissioner.

APR 29 – Four passengers died and 11 other injured after an unidentified person hijacks a suburban train from near the Central Railway Station and drives it at high speed resulting in head on collision with goods train at Vyasarpadi Jiva Railway Station.

India and Israel ink Rs.1200 crore deal to revive ammunition production in Nalanda, Bihar.
India and Kuwait sign three pacts for strengthening cooperation in science and technology, education and culture.
47 Indian companies including SBI and Reliance industries make to the list of 2000 biggest companies of world.
India regained Azlan Shah Hockey Tournament after a gap of 13 years defeating Malaysia in the finals.

MAY
MAY 18 – Sensex gains 2110.79 points. For the first time in the history of the stock market, the market remains closed for 2 hours because of steep climbing.

MAY 25 – Cyclone ‘Aila’ pounds West Bengal

MAY 28 – Rani Abbaka, the Coast Guards’ first inshore patrol vessel is launched atVisakhapatnam.

MAY 31 – Air Chief Marshal Pradeep Vasant Naiktakes charge as the 19th Chief of Indian Air Force.

JUNE
JUN 3 – Meira Kumar is lected as the first women Speaker of the Lok Sabha.

JUN 6 – Protests continued in the Kashmir against the rape and death of two women Nilofar Ahanger and Asiya jan at Shopian on May 29 night.

Vice Admiral Nirmal Kumar Verma is named the nation’s Chief of Naval Staff.

Indian Scientists announced the birth of world’s second cloned buffalo named ‘Garima’ at the National Dairy Research Institute, Karnal.

JUN 8 – Seven times Member of Parliamint Karia Minda is unanimously elected Deputy Speaker, Lok Sabha.

JUN 16 –The Maharashtra Government rejects the indictment of the then Mumbai Police Commissioner Hasan Gafoor by the Ram Pradhan Committee which probed the 26/11 attack.

JUN 18 – Central paramilitary forces and the State Armed Police launched offensive against Maoists and the supporters of the Peoples Committee Against Police Atrocities in West Bengal’s Lalgarh area.

JUN 20- The Centre launched a round the clock anti- ragging helplinethat can be accessed at 1800-180-5522

JUN 21 – Satyam Computer Services unveils its new brand identity ‘Mahindra Satyam’.

JUN 23 – Maoists ambush police party and then free Misir Besra, a top ranking leader in Bihar’s Lakhisarai district.

JUN24 – Hans Raj Bharadwaj is appointed Karnataka Governor. Rameshwar Thakur to be Madhya Pradesh Governor and Devanand Konwar is named Governor of Bihar.

JUN 25 – Nandan M. Nilkeni is to be Chairperson of the Unique Identification Authority

Gopal Subramaniam becomes the new Solicitor General of India


JULY
JUL 2 – In a landmark judgment, the Delhi High Court strikes down the provision of Section 377 of the IPC, which criminalized consensual sexual acts of adults in private.

JUL 3 – Railway Minister Mamta Banerjee presents the first Railway budget of the new UPA Govt., highlights being Izzat Pass for unorganized sector,Duronto trains and low cost air-conditioned ‘Yuva ‘ trains.

JUL 9 – The toll in the hooch tragedy in Ahmedabad’s Rakhiyaal area goes up to 105.

JUL 18 – Margaret Alva is appointed Uttarakhand Governor and Jagannath Pahadia to be Haryana Governor and Syed Sibtey Razi is shifted to Assam.

JUL 20 – India and the US finalise 3 agreements – a military end user pact, the Technology Safeguards Agreement and Science and Technology Cooperation Agreement – with the visiting of US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

The Supreme Court declines to stay the Delhi High Court judgment declaring the Section 377 of IPC unconstitutional and decriminalizing unnatural sex between consenting adults.

JUL 22 – A longest total solar eclipse of the century lasting 6 minutes and 39 seconds sweeps across the narrow swathe of Asia.

JUL 23 The Union Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Ajad inaugurates the ‘Kalaignar Insurance Scheme for Life saying Treatments for One Crore Poor Families’ in Chennai.

Jul 25 – The President Pratibha Patil presents the Indira Gandhi International prize for Peace Disarmament and development for 2007 to Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates at Rashtrapati Bhavan

The BSF for the first time inducts 178 women recruits for guarding international borders at the Kharkhan camp, 150 kms from Chandigarh.

Jul 26 – The Prime Minister Manmohan Singh launches the nation’s first indigenous nuclear powered submarine INS Arihant for sea trials.

JUL 30 – The Rajasthan Governor Shailendra Kumar approves the Bill which provides for 5% reservation to Gujjars and three other communities , besides 14 % quota to the economically backwards classes.



AUGUST
Aug 3 – Rida Shaikh becomes the first person to die of swine flu in India.

Aug 11 – The agrees to abolish the Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council and work for a new set up of the hill district.

AUG 19 – Jaswant Singh is expelled from the BJP for his book- ‘Jinnah:India, Partition Independence.

Eminent Sanskrit poet, author of ‘The Ramayana: A Linguistic Study’, Satya Vrat Shastri is presented the 42nd Jnanpith Award by the Princess of Thailand Maha Chakri Sirindhorn at New Delhi.

AUG 24 – The Prime Minister Council on Climate Change gives “in principle” approval for the National Mission on Enhanced Energy Efficiency.

AUG 26 – Supreme Court judges agreed to make their assets public.

The Right to Free and Compulsory Education Act gets Presidential assent.

AUG 29 – The Indian Space Research Organisation loses radio contact with Chandrayaan- 1 and the first moon mission ends in ten months instead of its stated life of two years.

SEPTEMBER
SEP 2 – The Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Yeduguri Sandinti Rajasekhara Reddy(60) is killed as the helicopter in which he was traveling crashes into Pavurala Gutta, a steep hollock between Atmakur and Rollapenta villages in Kurnool district.

SEP 7 – Class X Board exams in CBSE schools stand cancelled beginning 2011.

‘Kanchivaram’ wins Best Feature Film award Prakash Raj adjudged Best Actor as the 55th National Films Awards 2007 announced. The Best Actress award goes to Kannada actorUmashree for her role in ‘Gulabi Talkies’.

SEP 8 – The National Mission for Female Literacy christened Saakshar Bharat Mission is launched by P.M.

SEP 20 – Top Maoist leader Kobad Gandhi is arrested.

SEP 23 – PSLV puts Oceansat-2 and six other foreign nano satellites into orbit.

SEP 26 – Chhatradhar Mahato, convener of the Maoist backed Police Santrash Birodhi Janasadharaner Committee is arrested by police near Lalgarh in West Bengal.

SEP 30 – Veteran playback singer Manna Dey is selected for 2007 Dadasahab Phalke award.

More than 32 persons on board a boat killed after it capsizes in the Mullaiperiyar dam in Kerela’s Iduki district.

The International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Mohammad ElBardei is honoured with the indira Gandhi Prize for Peace and Disarmament and Development 2008.

OCTOBER
OCT 2 – The Union Cabinet renames the National Rural Employment Act after Mahatma Gandhi.

Heavy rains lash Karnataka and the pilgrim center town of Mantralayam lies submerged. The Krishna and its tributaries in Andhra Pradesh reach levels not seen in 100 years and Kurnool lies in neck deep water.

OCT 5 – Ganga Dolphin is declared the National Aquatic Animal at the first meeting of the National Ganga River Basin Athaurity.

OCT 6 – Maoists behead the Jharkhand police inspector Francis Induwar.

OCT 12 – The Rajasthan High Court stays the new law providing 19% reservation for Gujjars and the newly created economically backward class in the state.

OCT 22 – The Centre gives nod to a proposal to enhance the quota for woman in urban local bodies from one-third to 50%.

OCT 24 – K. Radhakrishnanis appointed the ISRO chairman.

OCT 25 – Dorjee Khandu is sworn in as Arunachal Pradesh C.M. for second consecutive term.

OCT 29 – At least 4 persons killed and 150 injured in a massive fire at the Indian Oil Corporation’s fuel depot in the Sitapura industrial area on the outskirts of Jaipur.

OCT 31 – P.S. Veeraraghavan takes over as Diretor, Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre,.

NOVEMBER
NOV 11 – Cyclone Phyan kills 4 persons and causes massive damage to property in the coastal districts of Maharashra.

NOV 12 – N. Ram, Editor-in-Chief The Hindu is chosen for the 2009 K.R.Narayanan Award.

NOV 19 – Bangladesh Prime Minister Shekh Hasina is chosen for the 2009 Indira Gandhi Prize for Peace, Disarmament and Development.

NOV 23 – The Centre launches the Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission.

NOV 24 – Mumbai gets its brand new anti-terror outfit, Force One with the passing out parade of the first batch.

NOV 25 – President Pratibha Patil becomes the first woman Head if State to fly abroad a SU-30 MKI fighter plane.

NOV 30 – Srikumar Banerjee takes over as Chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission and Secretary, Department of Atomic Energy.

DECEMBER
DEC 1 – Najam Sethi, the former Editor-in-chief of the Friday Times and Daily Times , Pakistan is awarded the “2009 Golden Pen of Freedom”of the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN-IFRA), during the 62nd World Newspaper Congress and 16th World Editors’ Forum inaugral in Hyderabad.

DEC 3 – The Cabinet clears the National Green Tribunal Bill.

The Taiwanese film ‘I Can’t Live Without You’ (No Puedo Vivir Sin Ti) directed by Leon Dai bags the prestigious Golden Peacock at the 40th IFFI

Celebrated singer Lata Mangeshkar is presented with the Frances’ highest civilian award Officer of The Legion of Honour.

DEC 4 – Senior All Parties Hurriat Conference leader Fazal Haq Qureshi, critically injured in an assassination attempt.

DEC 10 – The Lok Sabha passes the Essential Commodities (Amendment and Validation) Bill 2009(Suger cane pricing bill).

DEC 14 – The CBI rules out rape, murder of two women in Shopian on May 29, says it is case of drowning in Rambiara, Nallah near Zawoora Bridge.

DEC 18 – L.K. Advani steps down as the leader of opposition in the Lok Sabha and becomes chairman of the BJP’s Parliamentary Party. Sushma Swaraj takes his place. Arun Jaitely renominated Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha.

The Rajya Sabha post-facto approves the SBI-State Bank of Saurashtra merger.

DEC 19 – The Gujrat Assembly passes the Gujrat Local Authorities Laws (Amendment), 2009 making voting compulsory in elections to all the local bodies in the State.

DEC 21 – A.R. Rehman presented the CNN-IBN Indian of the Year Award by Prime Minister in New Delhi. Life Time Achievement Award goes to sitar maestro Pt. Ravi Shankar.

DEC 22 – India and Bhutan sign four MoUs after a summit with the visiting monarch. New Delhi agrees to fund nearly a quarter of Thimpu’s Tenth Plan outlay of Rs. 14,800 Crore.

DEC 26 – The Andhra Pradesh Governor N.D. Tewari resigns in the wake of TY expose.

DEC 28 – The Chhattisgarh Governor E.S.L. Narsimhan takes charge of Andhra Pradesh.

DEC 30 – Lokmanya Tilak award for The Hindu Editor-in-Chief N. Ram.