With the year 2022 coming to a close, revisiting some of the key developments that impacted over 1.3 billion Indians and their political representatives at large is the best that can be done to reflect on experience and set priorities for the future.
From the country's first tribal president to major defense achievements and global feats — Sputnik takes a look at the most significant events of the passing year.
India Celebrates 75 Years of Independence
In 2022, India, the world's largest democracy, celebrated its 75th anniversary of independence from the British, who left the country after 346 years of exploitation.
In March 2021, Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav to commemorate 75 years of India's progressive and glorious history and mark the achievements of its people.
A National Security Guard commando takes selfie with a boy during a ceremony to celebrate 75 years of India's Independence in Mumbai, India, Sunday, Aug. 14, 2022.
© AP Photo / Rafiq Maqbool
A massive “Tiranga” ("Tricolor") motorbike rally was held just days ahead of August 15 (the day India gained Independence in 1947). The rally saw the participation of several federal ministers, hundreds of parliamentarians, and scores of Bharatiya Janata Party functionaries.
A few days after the Tiranga rally, 750 Sikhs also took out a motorbike rally wearing saffron turbans as part of the grand independence celebrations.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi also launched the Har Ghar Tiranga campaign, encouraging people to hoist or display the national flag outside their homes on August 13-15.
India Gets First Tribal President
Droupadi Murmu, the former governor of Jharkhand, was elected as the 15th president of India in July this year, becoming the first tribal woman ever to be elected to the post.
In 2015, Murmu was sworn in as the first female governor of the country's eastern Jharkhand state.
Murmu hails from the Santhal tribe and was born in Uparbeda village in Mayurbhanj in Odisha. Before entering electoral politics, she was a teacher.
India Assumes G20 Presidency
On December 1, India officially assumed the G20 presidency from Indonesia under the slogan of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam (One Earth, One Family, One Future), a tahen from the Vedic tradition.
In the upcoming year, India is scheduled to hold more than 200 meetings across 50 cities involving ministers, officials, and civil society, culminating with a marquee summit in New Delhi in September 2023.
India's G20 presidency came at a time of uncertainty, when the world was experiencing a bumpy post-pandemic economic recovery, coupled with geopolitical tensions in Europe and Asia.
According to Prime Minister Modi, India’s G20 agenda will reflect India’s “fellow travelers in the Global South," whose voices, he said, have gone “unheard” until now in the global decision-making process.
India Launches First Private Rocket
Adding another feather to its achievements, India successfully launched its first private rocket, the Vikram-S, in November, providing a major boost to the ambition of developing a domestic space ecosystem under the auspices of public-private partnership.
The rocket was developed by Hyderabad-based startup Skyroot Aerospace.
Federal Minister for Science and Technology Dr. Jitendra Singh termed the launch as a new page in the history of India’s space program.
Vikram-S launcher rom Sriharikota
© Photo : Indian Space Research Organisation
The indigenously-developed rocket was named after Vikram Sarabhai, known as the father of India's space program.
Skyroot Aerospace is also developing three other variants – the Vikram-I, Vikram-II, and Vikram-III.
India Commissions First Indigenous Aircraft Carrier INS Vikrant
This year, Indian Navy also received its first aircraft carrier – INS Vikrant – built by domestic manufacturing company at the Cochin Shipyard at a cost of over $3.5 billion.
The 262-meter-long ship has a displacement of 40,000 tons and will carry a total of 30 aircraft, including fighters and helicopters. With this, India is now among the elite nations who own their own giant ships.
Glimpses from the special programme to mark the commissioning of INS Vikrant
© Photo : Narendra Modi/twitter
The name of the ship was derived from the country’s first aircraft carrier used in the 1971 war with Pakistan.
The country's largest is also known as a floating city, as it has 18 floors, 14 decks, and 2,300 compartments. It also consists of 16 hospital beds, 250 tankers of fuel, and can carry 1,600 officers and sailors. It can also produce electricity that can light up to 500 households.
Wheat Export Ban
On May 13, India announced a ban on wheat exports to curb rising domestic prices. The step also came after the northern part of the country witnessed unseasonably hot weather, which affected crops.
Although India is not the main global wheat exporter, it came into the spotlight after Western states slapped sanctions on Russia in the wake of its special operation in Ukraine, as India is the world's second-biggest wheat producer.
At the same time, India adds only one percent to the global wheat trade.
Before February 2022, Russia and Ukraine together accounted for more than 30% of the world's wheat supply.
Indian & Chinese Troops Clash in Ladakh
In September, India and China started a new phase of the disengagement of forces on the border in Ladakh in the area of Gogra-Hot Springs, vowing to "strictly" observe the Line of Actual Control (LAC) and respect the status quo.
However, frictions once again resulted in another clash: on December 9, Chinese troops tried to cross into a border area in the state of Arunachal Pradesh, but were pushed back by an Indian patrol, the country's military said. Several troops were injured in the incident, which marked the first serious escalation between China and India in Kashmir since clashes in May 2020, an Indian Defense Ministry source confirmed to Sputnik.
The two Asian giants have thousands of square kilometers of disputed borderlands between them, from the Ladakh region, which is triangulated with Pakistan's Kashmir claims, all the way to Arunachal Pradesh, east of Bhutan. Border conflicts are a permanent fixture of India-China relations, as the countries do not have a marked border, but rather the Line of Actual Control, created after the 1962 border war between the nations.
A nomad fetches water from a hand pump in remote Kharnak village in the cold desert region of Ladakh, India, Saturday, Sept. 17, 2022.
© AP Photo / Mukhtar Khan
Tumultuous Elections & Fiery Political Rivalry
As elections were constantly taking place in one state or another, India's political theatre was one of the most eye-catching aspects of the year.
2022 started with elections in the politically significant state of Uttar Pradesh and ended with polls in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s home state of Gujarat, where Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party broke its own record by winning 156 seats out of 182 and forming a government for the seventh time.
The victory in Uttar Pradesh was historic, as the BJP became the first political party to win a term in the state for the second time in a row in 37 years. What makes it even more significant is that UP has the highest number of parliamentary seats.
Supporters shower flower petals as Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrives at the Bharatiya Janata party (BJP) headquarters in New Delhi, India, Thursday, Dec. 8, 2022.
© AP Photo / Altaf Qadri
Rahul Gandhi’s ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’
India’s grand old party, Congress, has not been doing well since the BJP dislodged it in the 2014 parliamentary elections. It has been dealing with several issues, ranging from infighting to the questioning of Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi in the National Herald Case.
A lot of prominent politicians have deserted the party with the common grudge of not having their grievances addressed by the central leadership, including former Punjab state chief Captain Amarinder Singh, Ghulam Nabi Azad, Kapil Sibal, Sunil Jakhar, Hardik Patel, and many others.
However, former party chief Rahul Gandhi managed to gain some momentum for the party through his “Bharat Jodo Yatra” ("Unite India Foot March"). Launched on September 7 in the southern state of Kerala, the ongoing march will conclude in Jammu and Kashmir in northern India in January 2023. He has received a rousing welcome in all states that he has covered during his campaign.
Congress party supporters hold party flags and walk with their leader Rahul Gandhi during a march, in New Delhi, India, Saturday, Dec. 24, 2022.
© AP Photo / Bhumika Saraswati
Ban on Popular Front of India
In September, the federal Home Ministry announced a five-year ban on the Popular Front of India (PFI) and its affiliate organizations on charges of funding terrorism.
The PFI came into existence in 2006 and describes itself as an Islamic social movement.
According to Indian officials, the PFI has been under the close watch of national security agencies over its alleged role in the 2019 anti-Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) protests, forced conversions, the radicalization of Muslim youth, and money laundering.
Investigative agencies also suspected that some members of the PFI and its related organization had joined the ranks of Daesh* terrorists operating in Syria, Iraq, and Afghanistan.
Abortion Law
In a landmark verdict, the Supreme Court of India in September ruled that all women are entitled to legal and safe abortion up to 24 weeks into their pregnancy.
The decision was hailed by many as before the verdict, only married women, rape victims, and minors could terminate their pregnancy up to 24 weeks. Unmarried women were allowed to terminate their pregnancy up to 20 weeks only.
“The marital status of a woman cannot be a ground to deprive her of the right of abortion. The Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) Act needs to be fine-tuned according to the social realities and demands of the time,” the top court ruled.
Morbi Bridge Tragedy
In a tragic incident, 135 people died and several were injured after a British-era suspension bridge in Gujarat's Morbi collapsed on October 30. More than 500 people, including children, were reportedly on the bridge when it broke apart.
The 230-meter bridge built over 140 years ago at the Machchhu dam was a popular tourist spot and had been reopened after renovation just days before it collapsed.
Nine people have been arrested in connection with the matter, including two managers, two contractors, three security guards, and two ticket cashiers employed by Oreva Group — the company that renovated the colonial-era bridge.
Rescuers on boats search in the Machchu river next to a cable suspension bridge that collapsed in Morbi town of western state Gujarat, India, Monday, Oct. 31, 2022.
© AP Photo / Ajit Solanki
Extreme Heatwaves and Floods
In 2022, the world witnessed extreme and untypical weather conditions, which once again seem to indicate that climate change is real and at the top of the most pressing global issues today.
India recorded an extreme weather event on almost 90 percent of the days in the first nine months of 2022. In March, northern India witnessed extreme heatwave events breaking a record of 122 years, which impacted crops.
The Indian states of Assam, Uttar Pradesh, as well as the holy Amarnath cave in the Jammu and Kashmir union territory witnessed flooding. Similarly, Uttarakhand, Manipur, and Himachal states saw avalanches that killed many.
Overall, the events claimed 2,755 lives, affected 1.8 million hectares of crop area, destroyed over 416,667 houses, and killed nearly 70,000 livestock.
Modi's Mother Heeraben Passes Away
On December 30, Prime Minister Narendra Modi lost his beloved mother, Heeraben Modi, also known as "Hiraba."
On June 18, Heeraben entered her 100th year. In the middle of this week, she was hospitalized for examination, and her condition was reportedly stable.
Following reports of her death, many politicians expressed their condolences to Prime Minister Modi and his family. In particular, Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said on Twitter that "there is no greater loss than losing one’s mother," and expressed his condolences to Modi.
Gujarat state Chief Minister and the Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP)'s prime ministerial candidate, Narendra Modi (L) celebrates his birthday with his 94 year old mother, Hiraba at her residence in Gadhinagar, some 30 kms from Ahmedabad on September 17, 2013.
© AFP 2023 SAM PANTHAKY
Bollywood Loses Indian 'Nightingale' Lata Mangeshkar
Bollywood's famous singer, having earned the moniker of the "Nightingale of India" due to her melodious voice, breathed her last on February 6 in Mumbai.
She was 92, and died of multiple organ dysfunction syndromes.
For her decades-long rich and inspirational contribution to Indian cinema, she was awarded the country's highest civilian award, the "Bharat Ratna." Her death was deeply condoled by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and people from all walks of life.
*Daesh (also known as IS/ISIS) is a terrorist organization banned in Russia.