As we welcome New Year 2020, a recap of 2019’s major news of India and World. 2019 was a challenging year.
Happy New Year and wish you a great year ahead
“In a gentle way, you can shake the world”
Mahatama Gandhi
January
India
- 2nd: Government of India approves bank merger of Dena Bank and Vijaya Bank with Bank of Baroda
- 2nd: Sabarimala – two women (Bindu Ammini and Kanakadurga) entered the sanctum
- 4th: Arunima Sinha becomes World’s First Woman Amputee to conquer Mount Everest
- 7th: Center approves 10% quota for the economically weak section under the general category
World
- 1st: Austria legalizes same-sex marriage
- 10th: Venezuela was in a constitutional crisis after Nicolas Maduro’s victory and sworn in for his second term
- 19th: 6.7 magnitude earthquake hits Tongoy, Chile
- 28th: U.S. Justice Departments charges Huawei with multiple counts of fraud, creating tensions between US-China relationships
February
India
- 1st: Finance Minister Piyush Goyal presented Interim-Union Budget 2019
- 14th: Pulwama Attack on CRPF convoy at Jammu-Srinagar National Highway, martyr 40 soldiers
- 26th: Balakot Airstrike on the terrorist training camp in POK (Pakistan Occupied Kashmir)
- 28th: Pakistan releases Indian Airforce pilot Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman
World
- 1st: US President Trump confirmed that they are leaving Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty of 1987, due to Russia non-compliance
- 7th: Haitian protests demanding the resignation of President Jovenel Moise
- 27th – 28th: US-North Korea summit held in Hanoi, Vietnam, this the second summit of President Trump
March
India
- 27th: India successfully tested Anti-satellite missile and entered into an elite club of nations becoming 4th member
World
- 19th: Nursultan Nazarbayev resigns as President of Kazakhstan after 29 years in office
- 20th: Europe’s antitrust regulators fine Google 1.49 billion euros
- 20th: Disney acquires the rights to 21st Century Fox
April
India
- 11th: General Election Voting began
World
- 2nd: Abdelaziz Bouteflika resigns as President of Algeria amid widespread protests, after nearly two decades in office
- 11th: WikiLeaks co-founder Julian Assange is arrested after seven years in Ecuador’s embassy in London
- 25th: North Korean leader Kim Jong-un visits Russia to hold a series of summits with Russian leaders
May
India
- 3rd: Cyclone Fani hits Odisha coast
- 23rd: Narendra Modi led NDA government secures landslide victory in the 2019 General Election
- 25th: Narendra Modi has sworn as 14th Prime Minister
World
- 17th: Taiwan’s parliament becomes the first in Asia to legalize same-sex marriage
- 23rd-26th: European Parliament election takes place
- 24th: British Prime Minister Theresa May announces resignation as Conservative Party leader effective from June 7th, 2019
June
India
- 3rd: National Security Advisor Ajit Doval given cabinet rank
- 8th: Prime Minister Narendra Modi conferred with Maldives’ highest honour “Rule of Nishan Izzudden”
- 10th: Yuvraj Singh, cricketer announced retirement from international cricket
- 30th: India moved one place down in terms of money parked by its citizen and enterprises with Swiss banks to 74th rank
World
- 9th: Hong Kong anti-extradition bill protests
- 11th: Botswana decriminalizes homosexuality.
- 12th: Ecuador Supreme Court rules in favour of same-sex marriage
July
India
- 2nd: Parliament passed Homoeopathy Central Council (Amendment) Bill, 2019
- 5th: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented the First General Budget
- 13th: Meghalaya become the first state in India, ensuring conservation of water
- 17th: International Court of Justice has asked Pakistan to review its order of death sentence awarded to Kulbhushan Jadhav
- 22nd: ISRO launched the 2nd moon mission Chandrayaan 2
- 30th: Lok Sabha passed Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill, 2019
World
- 8th: Brazil wins Copa America Cup football tournament defeating Peru 3-1
- 8th: US Women’s team wins FIFA World Cup beating Netherlands 2-0
- 23rd: Boris Johnson elected as Prime Minister
August
India
- 2nd: Ravish Kumar, a journalist with NDTV news channel awarded Ramon Magsaysay Award
- 5th: Article 370 and 35A revoked from the Constitution of India which gave special status to Jammu and Kashmir
- 7th: Former External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj died after cardiac arrest. She was 67
- 15th: Celebrates 73rd Independence Day
- 22nd: Former Finance Minister P Chidambaram arrested by CBI under INX media scam charges
- 25th: PV Sindhu becomes the first Indian shuttler to win a BWF World Championships
- 30th: Government announces the merger of ten public sectors banks into four banks
World
- 15th: Amazon rainforest wildfire, declared the biggest fire till date
- 23rd: Pakistan put in an “enhanced blacklist” by the global financial watchdog Financial Action Task Force
September
India
- 5th: Former Finance Minister P Chidambaram has been sent to Tihar jails by a Special CBI court
- 8th: Ram Jethmalani, India’s well-known lawyers died at 95
- 20th: Received first of 36 Rafale fighter jets from France
World
- 23rd: Russia adopts the Paris Climate Agreement
- 27th: Great Thunberg led to climate change protest march of 5,00,000 people
- 30th: International Astronomical Union has named an asteroid after Indian classical singer Pandit Jasraj
October
India
- 9th: India moved down 10 places to rank 68th on an annual global competitiveness index
- 14th: Saurav Ganguly formally elected as 39th president of BCCI
- 24th: Ranked 63rd in World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business
- 24th: Signed MoU for Kartarpur Corridor
World
- 8th: Noble Prize in Physics to three scientists James Peebles, Michel Mayor, and Didier Queloz
- 9th: Noble Prize in Chemistry to three scientists John B Goodenough, Stanley Whittingham, and Akira Yoshino
- 10th: Noble Prize in Literature for 2018 and 2019 to Olga Tokarczuk and Peter Handke respectively
- 11th: Noble Prize in Peace to Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed
- 14th: Noble Prize in Economics to Abhijit Banerjee, Esther Duflo, and Michael Kremer
November
India
- 9th: Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated integrated check post of Kartarpur Corridor
- 9th: Supreme Court settled long-pending Ayodhya land dispute case
- 18th: Justice Sharad Arvind Bobde, 47th Chief Justice of India
- 22nd: Indian Men’s Cricket Team played first-ever day-night test match against Bangladesh
- 29th: Hyderabad gang rape, which again brought the light on women safety
World
- 4th: The USA formally begins the process to pull out from Paris Agreement on climate change
- 17th: Gotabaya Rajapaksa wins Sri Lankan presidential election
- 20th: Mahinda Rajapaksa appointed as new Prime Minister
December
India
- 4th: Former Finance Minister P Chidambaram walked out of Tihar jail
- 11th: Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019 passed in Parliament causing nationwide protest
- 18th: Cyrus Mistry restored as the executive chairman of Tata Sons after the order from National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT)
- 30th: Army chief General Bipin Rawat named as first Chief of Defence Staff
World
- 13th: British PM Boris Johnson’s won a large majority in elections
- 18th: US House of Representatives approved two articles of impeachment against President Trump
- 28th: NASA Astronaut Christina Koch created a record for the longest single spaceflight by a woman