Goodbye to the 21st Year of the 21st Century

The farm laws which sparked a year-long protests from Punjab and farmers in Haryana have been repealed . The farm laws were repealed through a voice vote in the Lok Sabha amidst ruckus by Opposition parties. Earlier, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced that the three laws will be repealed by the Government by the end of November. He had appealed to the protesters to go back home.

Three weeks after Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the repeal of the three farm laws and days after Parliament officially annulled them, protesting farmers brought the curtains down on their year-long agitation at the Singhu border of Delhi on December 9. The protest had presented an unprecedented political crisis for the NDA Government, including the loss of a key ally, and drew the attention of the Supreme Court. Thousands of farmers protesting agricultural reforms descended on New Delhi's historic Red Fort on January 26 (Republic Day), breaking through barriers and battling with police. Protesters deviated from the designated route for the proposed tractor parade and barged into the Red Fort. Over 300 barriers were shattered, and 17 government cars were destroyed. They also attacked cops, vandalised police vehicles and the ticket counter at the Red Fort. The farmers' agitation against Centre's farm laws had also gone international with the Opposition calling it a hit at India's reputation and the government taking a strong exception of the comments by the foreign celebrities.

Twitter bans Kangana's account

Twitter has permanently suspended Bollywood actress Kangana Ranaut's account for repeated violation of its rules. While it is not clear, which specific tweet landed the actress in trouble, many have speculated that Ranaut's tweet asking Prime Minister Narendra Modi to "tame" TMC chief Mamata Banerjee might have resulted in her account getting suspended. 

Mamata reigns supreme

Trinamool Congress (TMC) supremo Mamata Banerjee, whose party secured a dominant win in the recently held assembly elections in West Bengal, took oath as the chief minister for a third term on May 5. Overall, the TMC won 213 of the state's 294 assembly constituencies, with the BJP winning 77. 

Maoist attack: 22 jawans killed

In one of the worst incidents of Maoist violence in the last two years, as many as 22 jawans were killed and 31 sustained injuries that resulted from an ambush by some 400 insurgents who surrounded the jawans from three sides in an area devoid of vegetation and rained on them machinegun fire as well as IEDs for several hours.

Sunderlal Bahuguna dies

In a monumental loss for the country, noted Gandhian Sunderlal Bahuguna, known for leading Chipko in the 1970s breathed his last on May 21, 2021. He was a crusader dedicated to the pursuit of saving the Himalayan forests. He is not just considered the pioneer of the Chipko movement but also one of the most vocal opponents of the Tehri dam, which displaced a huge population besides drowning a number of villages. 

Guj passes Anti-conversion Law

Gujarat became the third BJP-ruled state after UP and MP to pass a bill proposing amendments to the Freedom of Religion Act, 2003. Later Karnataka also passed the Bill. The Gujarat Freedom of Religion Act, 2021, was notified in the state on June 15. The ­Act has stringent punishment for forcible religious conversion through marriage and attracts imprisonment of 3 to 5 years and up to Rs 2 lakh fine. 

CDS Rawat and 12 others die in chopper crash

Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) General Bipin Rawat died in a helicopter crash near Coonoor in Tamil Nadu, the Indian Air Force (IAF) confirmed on the evening of December 8. He was among the 14 people who were on board, including his wife and staff members. 

India hits 100-cr Covid vaccine milestone

India achieved a major milestone in its battle against Covid-19 as cumulative vaccinations in the country crossed the 100 crore mark on October 21. After China, India is only the second country to have reached the landmark of 100 crore jabs. While the vaccination graphs of countries with significant populations like the US, Brazil and Indonesia have been largely flat, India's has been rising steeply.

SRK's son Aryan and 7 others arrested

Bollywood superstar Shahrukh Khan's son Aryan Khan was arrested by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB). Aryan, along with two others, was apprehended from the Empress ship off the coast of Mumbai on 2 October. Besides Khan, two others - Munmun Dhamecha and Arbaaz Merchant – were arrested. 

Lakhimpur violence pre-planned

On October 3, eight people, including four farmers, died after being mowed down by an SUV allegedly belonging to Union Minister of State for Home Ajay Mishra Teni's son Ashish Mishra in Uttar Pradesh's Lakhimpur district. Ashish, along with 12 others, were arrested after the Supreme Court pulled up the Yogi Adityanath government over the inaction against the accused. The incident, which received nationwide condemnation and turned into one of the year's biggest political issue, is being probed by a Special Investigation Team which has claimed that it was a "pre-planned conspiracy and not a negligent act". Following the SIT report, the issue rocked the Winter Session of the Parliament where the Opposition demanded immediate resignation of the Union minister. 

Raj Kundra arrested in porn case

Mumbai police arrested businessman Raj Kundra, the husband of Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty, in a case related to alleged creation of pornographic films and publishing them through some apps. The police accused Kundra of exploiting young women in the film industry and stated that the pornographic materials were sold through subscriptions. Reportedly, he earned Rs 1.17 crore from subscribers of Hotshots app on Apple's App Store between August and December 2020.

Photojournalist Danish killed in Afghanistan

Danish Siddiqui, Pulitzer Prize-winning Indian photojournalist was killed on assignment in Afghanistan. The award-winning journalist was killed while covering clashes between Afghan troops and the Taliban in Spin Boldak district of Kandahar city. Siddiqui won the Pulitzer Prize in 2018 as part of the Reuters team for their coverage of the Rohingya crisis. He had extensively covered the Afghanistan conflict, the Hong Kong protests and other major events in Asia, Middle East, and Europe.

Cyclone Yaas hits Odisha and WB coasts

Parts of West Bengal and Northern Odisha were hit by Cyclone Yaas, a relatively strong and very damaging tropical cyclone that hit the country in May. At least 10 million people were affected while 3,00,000 houses were damaged. The total damages in West Bengal, the most heavily impacted state from Yaas, were estimated to be around Rs 20 thousand crore. The cyclone also caused an estimated Rs 610 crore in damage in Odisha. At least, eleven people were reported dead due to Cyclone Yaas in West Bengal. The cyclonic storm moved north-northwestwards and also impacted Bihar, Jharkand and south Uttar Pradesh. Outside India, the cyclone also affected Bangladesh and Nepal.

Second wave wreaks havoc

The second wave of COVID-19 wreaked havoc across the country claiming lakhs of lives while also highlighting the dilapidated condition of health infrastructure. With hospitals flooded with patients, several states struggled with the crisis of beds, oxygen cylinders and other equipment. Delhi, Maharashtra, and several other state government made frantic calls, alleging that they did not receive enough oxygen supply to cater to the massive number of patients. With the Supreme Court stepping in, the Centre stepped up the oxygen production manifolds as it faced severe criticism from the Opposition.

Patients and their families across the country took to social media to make SOS calls and raise alarm over the shortage of healthcare resources like medicines, oxygen and hospital beds. Along with the central and state governments, several organisations came out to help those in need. Hundreds of corpses were found floating in the Ganga river or buried in the sand of its banks. Multiple bodies found buried in sand at two locations by the same river in Uttar Pradesh's Unnao district, just 40 km from state capital Lucknow. Mobile phone visuals from both locations showed many buried bodies with locals looking on, most of the bodies were wrapped in a saffron cloth.

So far, more than 276 million people have been infected globally. Of these, 5.4 million lost their lives. In India nearly 500,000 succumbed to covid. India is among the top five victim countries.

China in Arunachal Pradesh

New satellite images show that China has constructed a second enclave or cluster of at least 60 buildings in Arunachal Pradesh. The new enclave did not exist in 2019 according to the satellite images; a year later, it can be seen. It lies 93 km east of a China-constructed village in Arunachal Pradesh, a big encroachment first reported in January and which was confirmed by a Pentagon report just days ago. India reacted sharply to that report, which corroborated NDTV's exclusive story, stating ''China has undertaken construction activities in the past several years along the border areas, including in the areas that it has illegally occupied over the decades. India has neither accepted such illegal occupation of our territory, nor has it accepted the unjustified Chinese claims.'' The second enclave lies approximately 6 kilometres within India in the region between the Line of Actual Control (LAC) and the International Boundary. India has always claimed this as its own territory. The images do not offer any clarity on whether the enclave is occupied. 

5 most controversial quotes of the year

Bharati Praveen Pawar

No deaths due to lack of oxygen have been specifically reported by states/UTs. Accordingly, all states and UTs report cases and deaths to the Union Health Ministry on a regular basis. Minister of State for Health in Modi Government.

Narendra Singh Tomar

Government has no record of the deaths of the farmers who camped out at Delhi borders protesting against the now repealed three farm laws: Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar. Farmer leaders maintain that over 750 farmers perished while protesting against the contentious agri laws.

Congress MLA KR Ramesh Kumar

When rape is inevitable, lie down and enjoy: Former Karnataka assembly speaker and senior Congress MLA KR Ramesh Kumar ; Speaker Vishweshwar Hegde Kageri too was lambasted for laughing at the statement in the Karnataka Assembly.

Kangana Ranaut

India's Independence in 1947 was not freedom but 'bheek' (alms). "And we got real freedom in 2014: 'Manikarnika' actor in an interview to an english channel.

Dausa BJP MP Jaskaur Meena

Terrorists (On farmers protest) are sitting there and the terrorists have AK-47s with them. They have pitched the Khalistan flag.