- 2008 in India
"See also:"
2007 in India ,
other events of 2008,2009 in India and theTimeline of Indian history .Events
February
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2 February - The activists ofMaharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) try to disrupt a press conference of Samajwadi Party leaderAmar Singh inMumbai .
*2 February - BabaRam Rahim Gurmeet Singh , the head of the Sirsa-basedDera Sacha Sauda sect escaped a bomb blast near Nilokheri in Karnal district of Haryana.
*3 February - Members of teams trying to conduct social audit of theNational Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS) were attacked in Manohar Thana block of Jhalwar district in Rajasthan.
*5 February - The Orissa government decides to provide a monthly pension of Rs. 200 to HIV positive persons under the State-sponsored ‘Madhu Babu Pension Yojana.’
*7 February - Union Health and Family Welfare MinisterAnbumani Ramadoss dedicates to the nation the firstin-vitro fertilisation (IVF) facility in the public sector set up at theAll-India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in New Delhi.
*12 February - “Year of Russia in India” was inaugurated jointly by Prime MinisterManmohan Singh and his Russian counterpartVictor Zubkov in New Delhi.
*13 February -Priyaranjan Dasmunsi ,Saifuddin Soz andSuresh Pachauri are made presidents of West Bengal, Jammu and Kashmir, and Madhya Pradesh units of the Congress respectively.
*15 February - The Election Commission issues notice to Congress presidentSonia Gandhi seeking her response to an allegation that she had incurred disqualification as member of Parliament under Article 102(1)(d) of the Constitution for accepting theOrder of Leopold from the King of Belgium in November 2006.
*19 February - Viswapati Trivedi becomes the Joint Chairman-cum-Managing Director of theNational Aviation Company of India Limited (NACIL.
*20 February - The former Queen Mother of JaipurGayatri Devi sat on a dharna near the Moti Doongri Fort protesting encroachment, by the land mafia, of land she donated.
*24 February - In an affidavit filed before the Gujarat High Court, the CID has officially implicated former Gujarat Additional Director General of Police,D. G. Vanzara , as the “chief conspirator” in the Sohrabuddin fake encounter case.
*24 February -Tarun Vijay joinsDr. Syama Prasad Mookerjee Reaserch Foundation , the BJP’s newly created think tank, as its Director. He has been the Chief Editor of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh organPanchjanya .
*26 February -Ratakonda Dayakar named India’s new Ambassador to Sweden. Dayakar is 1976 batch IFS officer.
*26 February - Union Agriculture MinisterSharad Pawar predicts the foodgrain production to reach the record level of 219.32 million tonnes during 2007–08.
*27 February - Three teachers in Jalaun district in UP sent to jail under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. They were found to be discriminating against the dalit children by making SC students have their mid-day meal separately.March
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3 March - Central government launches "Dhan Laxmi" scheme in seven states. Under this scheme an insurance cover of Rs 1 lakh would be provided for the girl child at her birth. The scheme aims to improve the girl-child ratio.
*5 March -S. M. Krishna resigns from his post of Maharashtra Governor.
*9 March -J. P. Chalasani is appointed the new chief executive of theReliance Power , anAnil Dhirubhai Ambani Group company.
*10 March -D. D. Lapang sworn in as the Chief Minister of a new Congress-led government inMeghalaya .
*14 March -Hyderabad International Airport is inaugurated.
*18 March -Donkupar Roy of theMeghalaya Progressive Alliance (MPA) sworn in as the Chief Minister of Meghalaya.
*23 March - India test fires nuclear-capable surface-to-surface missileAgni-I having a range of 700 to 900 km.
*24 March - TheSixth Pay Commission recommends increase in the salaries of all government employees by 40%.
*25 March - Former Haryana Chief MinisterBhajan Lal disqualified from the Haryana Vidhan Sabha under theanti-defection law
*26 March - Raghu Menon is new Chairman-cum-Managing Director of the Air India and National Aviation Company India Ltd (NACIL).
*26 March -Tata Motors buys two British automobile manufacturing companies,Jaguar andLand Rover , fromFord , their American owners.
*27 March -Communist Party of India (CPI) re-electsA. B. Bardhan as the general secretary for the fourth consecutive term.April
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3 April -Communist Party of India (Marxist) electsPrakash Karat as its general secretary for another term.
*27 April - According to the UK-based independent consultancy firmBrand Finance Tata is one of the largest global brands. Tata is ranked 57th among top 100 brands.
*28 April - Iranian PresidentAhmadinejad arrives in India.
*28 April -India sets a world record by sending 10satellite s into orbit in a single launch. [cite web|url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/PSLV-C9_places_10_satellites_into_orbit/articleshow/2989685.cms|title=India setting world record by sending 10 satellites into orbit]
*30 April -Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C9) successfully puts all the 10 satellites into orbit.May
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5 May - PresidentPratibha Patil presentsPadma Vibhushan awards toPranab Mukherjee ,Sachin Tendulkar andAsha Bhosle .
*8 May - Jerome Bonnafont, the French Ambassador to India, puts forward the proposal of a large scale nuclear cooperation between India and France
*13 May - Bomb blasts rock Jaipur. About 80 people are killed in serial blasts.
*18 May - The bruised body of social activist and member of NGO Vikas Sahyog Kendra,Lalit Kumar Mehta was found in Kandra forest in Palamau in Jharkhand. Mehta was involved in social audit of NREGS and is suspected to have been killed by those having "vested interests."
*20 May - CallingChattisgarh government'sSalwa Judum vigilante campaign against naxalism as “an abdication of the state itself”, an experts group of the Planning Commission called for its immediate scrapping.
*21 May - Railway MinisterLalu Prasad Yadav announces cash awards amounting to Rs.17.40 crore for officers and staff of all zonal railways.
*22 May - Following resounding victory of theTrinamool Congress in the panchayat elections in Nandigram area, violence erupts in Purbo Medinipur district. In clashes between workers of Trinamool and theCommunist Party of India (Marxist) five persons were injured.
*23 May -Prithvi II , a nuclear-capable, 350-km rangesurface-to-surface ballistic missile , is successfully test-fired.
*23 May - The Union Environment and Forests Ministry has decided to create four newtiger reserves at (1) theSunabeda Tiger Reserve inOrissa , (2) theShahyadri Tiger Reserve inMaharashtra , (3) thePilibhit Tiger Reserve inUttar Pradesh and (4) theRatapani Tiger Reserve inMadhya Pradesh . Besides,Nagarahole National Park in Karnataka to be upgraded as a separate reserve.
*23 May - PresidentPratibha Patil starts her maiden visit toJammu and Kashmir
*23 May - A week ahead of first anniversary of police firing on agitating Gujjars violence erupts inRajasthan . FourGujjar protesters and one policeman killed in clashes in Bharatpur district. The tally goes up to 17 later.
*24 May - Eighteen killed and 38 others injured in police firing inDausa district of Rajasthan in the ongoing Gujjar-police clashes.
*25 May - The Bhartiya Janta Party comes to power inKarnataka . In the assembly elections held earlier in the week, BJP win 110 seats. Congress is second with 80.June
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4 June - The government announces an increase in petrol, diesel and LPG prices by Rs 5, Rs 3 and Rs 50 respectively.July
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22 July - TheUnited Progressive Alliance led government in India survives a crucial no-confidence vote based on disagreements betweenIndian National Congress andLeft Front over the Indo-US nuclear deal.
*25 July - A series of seven bomb blasts rockBangalore ,India killing 2 and injuring 20 and on the next day, a series of bomb blasts inAhmedabad ,Gujarat ,India , kills 45 and injures over 160 people.August
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3 August - A stampede at aHindu temple atNaina Devi inBilaspur ,Himachal Pradesh , kills 162 and injures 400.Full date unknown
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Mumbai Urban Transport Project is completed.
*Bangalore International Airport is completed.Arts and Literature
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3 February - Inaugurating the tenth Mumbai International Film Festival (MIFF) for documentary, short and animation films at theNational Centre for Performing Arts (NCPA), Mumbai, the Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting Priya Ranjan Dasmunsi announced that a dedicated channel for short films in the Eleventh Plan is under consideration.
*14 February - The Government decides to extend visa of exiled Bangladeshi authorTaslima Nasreen , for another six months. Her visa was to expire on 17 February.
*19 February - TheK.K. Birla Foundation decides to give the following awards:(1) The Sixteenth Vachaspati Puraskar for 2007 to Swami Rambhadracharya for his work "Sribhargavaraghaviyam" (Mahakavyam).(2)The 2007 Bihari Puraskar to Hindi poet Yashwant Vyas for his Hindi novel "Comrade Godse". (3) The Shankar Puraskar for 2007 to Prof. R.S. Tripathi for his work "Baudh Darshan Prasthan".
*20 February - Bengali poet and novelistSunil Gangopadhyay elected president of theSahitya Akademi .
*8 May - TheDelhi high court quashed three criminal proceedings initiated against the artistM. F. Husain for allegedly hurting public sentiments through some of his nude paintings that were perceived as obscene.
*25 May - Pakistani rock bandJunoon performs inSrinagar on the occasion of opening of theInstitute of Kashmir Studies at theKashmir University .Deaths
January to June
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29 January -Bharath Gopi , actor, director and producer (b.1937).
*5 February -Maharishi Mahesh Yogi ,spiritualist , founder ofTranscendental Meditation (b.1917).
*8 February -P. B. Ranganekar , 95, CPI (M) leader and freedom fighter.
*9 February -Baba Amte ,social activist (b.1914).
*20 February -Amaresh Bagchi , 77, economist and member of theCommission on Centre State Relations .
*25 February -Hans Raj Khanna , Supreme Court Judge (b.1912).
*27 February -Sujatha , author, short story writer and playwright (b.1935).
*19 March -Raghuvaran , actor (b.1948).
*23 March - JusticeK. G. Shah , 73, Member ofNanavati-Shah Commission .
*19 May -Vijay Tendulkar , playwright, movie and television writer, literary essayist, political journalist and social commentator (b.1928).
*26 May -Jhamu Sugandh , 57, film producer.
*27 June -Sam Manekshaw , first Field Marshal of the Indian Army (b.1914).July to December
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29 July -Ishmeet Singh Sodhi , winnerAmul STAR Voice of India in 2007 (b.1989).
*1 August -Ashok Mankad ,test cricket er (b.1946).
*1 August -Harkishan Singh Surjeet , former General Secretary of theCommunist Party of India (Marxist) (b.1916).
*29 August -Jayshree Gadkar , actress (b.1942).
*27 September -Mahendra Kapoor ,playback singer (b.1934).References
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