GIANT STRIDES

Five nuclear tests conducted over two days made India blast its way into the exclusive nuclear club. Codenamed Shakti, meaning strength, the nuclear tests in Pokhran on May 11 and 13 opened the floodgates for ethical debates and a wave of sanctions against the country. India’s success might have been doubted by western scientists, but the country was proud of its “big bomb”.

DEATH ON TRACKS

In the year’s worst train accident, the Sealdah Express and the Frontier Mail collided on November 26, killing 220 and injuring 300. Cruising at 100 kmph, the drivers of the Amritsar-bound Frontier Mail were oblivious to the fact that nine bogies of the train had got detached. A minute later, the Sealdah Express rammed into three of the detached bogies that had overturned on the adjacent track. The accident was so terrible that it took the authorities over 12 hours to extricate the dead bodies.

FREE ENTRY

The Government opened up the economy further by scrapping import curbs on 340 items such as consumer products and liberalised all major export promotion schemes.

FIRST CUT

In a first, the World Bank singled out Andhra Pradesh, led by Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu, for a loan of Rs 2,200 crore for the state alone.

Sonia Gandhi got elected as Congress president for the first time, becoming the fifth member of the Nehru-Gandhi family to occupy the post, following Sitaram Kesri’s resignation after the party’s defeat.

DID YOU KNOW

Admiral Bhagwat was sacked for “defiance of civilian authority”. The government’s decision to remove the controversial naval chief was seen as a transgression of civilian authority in the domain of defence.

“WE NEED A CLIMATE OF INTELLECTUAL DISSIDENCE.”
Amartya Sen

Professor Amartya Sen received the 1998 Nobel Prize for Economics on December 10. The first Asian to head an Oxbridge college, he was awarded for his analysis of famine and poverty. The backbone of his award-winning work stated that in many cases of famine, there was hardly any food shortage. The crisis occurred because of social and economic factors. He also helped develop Human Development Index that draws on observed features of living conditions.

Satya	Salman Khan

Crime and punishment

Bollywood’s fascination with crime found a new and articulate troubadour in Ram Gopal Varma whose Satya captured a new street language and created a memorable villain in Bhiku Mhatre. But while Manoj Bajpai’s wildness was restricted to the screen, Salman Khan flirted with danger in reality, apparently shooting a blackbuck while on the shoot of the squeaky clean Sooraj Barjatya’s Hum Saath Saath Hain. Retribution from the Bishnois, the guardians of the wild, was swift. The actor had spent 71 hours in jail before being granted bail from a higher court. The trial continues in Jodhpur even today.

P.V. NARASIMHA RAO after being denied a Lok Sabha ticket by the Congress
“My plight is like Draupadi’s. Everyone watched her being disrobed. None came forward to help her.”

ELSEWHERE...

An earthquake measuring 6.1 in Afghanistan killed more than 5,000.

The bombing of the US embassies in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, Nairobi and Kenya killed 224 people and injured over 4,500.

The Yangtze River in China (above) broke through the main bank. The death toll exceeded 12,000.

US President Bill Clinton admitted that he had an “improper physical relationship” with Monica Lewinsky. He also admitted he “misled people” about this affair.

8 per cent was what the Unit Trust of India (UTI) scam shaved off from the stock market in a single day. The scam permanently damaged UTI’s reputation and the Government had to pour in Rs 3,300 crore to bail out the embroiled US 64 scheme.

1999: INDIA AT 60

FIERY HEIGHTS

REWIND

Guns fired and a battle raged high on the icy mountains of Kargil in Jammu and Kashmir in an armed conflict between India and Pakistan from May to July 1999. Having stealthily made their way into the Indian side of the LoC, Pakistani infiltrators had to be pushed back by Indian troops. Pakistan blamed the war on Kashmiri militants but evidence from casualties proved otherwise. After three months of battle, the Indian jawans recaptured the lost territory. Many died, but cries of patriotism resounded, bringing the nation together like never before.

TWO MONTHS EARLIER...

Prime Minister A.B. Vajpayee made the historic bus trip to Lahore on February 20 to meet his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif and initiate a peace talk.

FIRST CUT

Infosys Technologies became the first Indian company to be listed in the prestigious top 100 companies of Nasdaq on March 11.

For the first time in the country’s history, the Central Government lost a confidence motion by the margin of just one vote. This led to the downfall of the 13-month-old Vajpayee Government.

“I BOWL EVERY DELIVERY WITH THE SAME INTENSITY.”
Anil Kumble

Delhi’s Feroz Shah Kotla stadium was the stage and Anil Kumble the star of the show on February 7 when the leg spinner became the second bowler in the world to take 10 wickets in a Test innings. Famous for his flipper and unorthodox style, the 29-year-old Bangalorean ripped through the famed Pakistani batting line-up, in that memorable Test, after losing the first Test in Chennai. “It happens once in a lifetime,” he admitted. Coach Anshuman Gaekwad vouched for him, “I could see the determination in his eyes. He is a bowler who plans a batsman out instead of waiting for the batsmen to get themselves out.”

A Surrender and A Death Sentence

Indian Airlines flight IC-814 was hijacked by five Pakistanis on December 24 from Kathmandu to Delhi. One passenger was killed but others were released on December 31 after India surrendered to the hijackers’ demand and released three terrorists. One of those released was Omar Sheikh, who is still on trial for the murder of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl in 2002.

ELSEWHERE...

NATO launched air strikes against Yugoslavia for refusing to sign a peace treaty.

Two teenagers opened fire on their teachers and classmates, killing 12 students and a teacher, and then themselves in the Columbine High School massacre (right).

A 7.4-magnitude earthquake struck Turkey, killing more than 17,000.

In Washington, the first major mobilisation of the anti-globalisation movement forced the cancellation of the opening ceremonies of the WTO meeting.

Rs 1,549 on average was what each Indian paid as income tax in the year 1999, nearly double the figure of Rs 786 in 1991. The Union Budget that year projected a collection of Rs 48,855 crore as direct taxes.

Index