The Chak De Year!

It was a year when the economy grew like it had never done before and the Sensex rose and rose and rose! The prophets of doom had to repeatedly bite dust though there were many occasions when one thought that the balloon was about to burst. Meanwhile, newsmakers from Shilpa Shetty to Narendra Modi had a field day. The young brigade too flexed its muscle but just.

Sensex hit the mark

The BSE Sensex hit the 20k mark for the first time in the history of Indian bourses on October 29, 2007. The Sensex stood at 13,786.91 points at the end of 2006, and closed the year 2007 at 20,286.99 points. It crossed seven thousand-point milestones - from 14,000 to 20,000 - during the year, which is the maximum for a year.

Pratibha Patil is the 13th and current President of India. She is India’s first female. UPA-Left nominee Pratibha Patil won the Presidential election by a huge three lakh margin defeating NDA-backed independent candidate Bhairon Singh Shekhawat to become the first woman Head of State in a bitterly-contested poll that saw some cross voting from BJP.

Narendra Modi has been re-elected for the third time to power with a thumping victory of 117 seats in the Gujarat Assembly elections.he was sworn in as the Chief Minister of the state. The dynamic BJP leader was sworn in as the Chief Minister for a third consecutive term, in the presence of thousands of supporters.

Sunita Williams: Indian-American astronaut Sunita Williams back to earth after a record 195-day stay in space. Williams crossed the milestone for longest uninterrupted stay by a woman in space last surpassing the 188-day, four-hour mark set by US astronaut Shannon Lucid in 1996 on a mission to the Russian Mir space station.

Shilpa Shetty: Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty has won Channel 4’s reality TV show Celebrity Big Brother and bagged an estimated 100,000 pounds in prize money. Shilpa, 31, the first Indian to participate in the British TV show, was reportedly paid in excess of 40,000 pounds for her participation.

Sanjay Dutt: Actor Sanjay Dutt, convicted in the 1993 serial bomb blasts case. Out of the 100 convicts, 12 were awarded death sentence and 20 life imprisonment. Sanjay Dutt got away with lesser jail term of six years as he was exonerated from the offence under Terrorist and Disruptive Activities Act (TADA) and was held guilty under the Arms Act.

Taslima Nasreen: Controversial exiled Bangladeshi writer Taslima Nasreen, who was attacked by Muslim activists in Hyderabad. She believed in democracy and hoped to live safely in this country.The Union government meanwhile condemned the attack as shameful.

Rahul Gandhi: Rahul Gandhi‘s efforts at bringing to the fore the great Gandhi contribution to Uttar Pradesh did not pay off too much during the Assembly elections in the state earlier this year.

Mayawati: An undistinguished reign by Mulayam, an effete Congress, and most spectacularly, a new bloc created out of a hitherto-inconceivable Dalit-Brahmin alliance.

A Bridge Too Far: The Ram Setu or the Adam’s Bridge is a series of sand and coral reef islands southeast of Rameshwaram in Tamil Nadu.The UPA government’s ill-judged affidavit, questioning the historicity of Ram, in response to a PIL filed in the Supreme Court against the Sethusamudram project, provided the BJP once again with a potent electoral slogan and an impetus to revive its Ram Setu campaign.

Nandigram: At least 11 people were killed in police firing at Nandigram in east Midnapore as the administration moved in to take charge of an area that had virtually been marooned since January 7, 2007. The controversy over the Nandigram issue was raised by the opposition parties at which point, citizens of Nandigram organized against the forced acquisition of land. The Trinamool Congress, Socialist Unity Centre of India (SUCI), Indian National Congress and Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind cooperated to establish the Bhumi Uchched Protirodh Committee, BUPC (Committee against land acquisition). The aim of BUPC is to protect their livelihood & shelter from the hands of the land encroachers.

Killers in the capital: Delhi’s infamous Blue Line buses killed as many as 116 people in the year. Any talk of action against them for their poor safety record resulted in strikes — official or unofficial, only aggravating the city’s pathetic public transport situation, holding the entire city hostage. In recent hearings, the Delhi High Court has said that even banana Republics have better public transport than Delhi. Perhaps the Metro, thanks to commonwealth games, would solve the transport woes of the commuters of shining India’s capital city.

The Gujjar issue: The Gujjar issue has threatened to flare up once again with the community in Rajasthan deciding to resume the agitation for Scheduled Tribe status. At least 45 people have died in violent clashes between two tribal groups in India’s Rajasthan state. People have also been injured as members of the nomadic Gujjar tribe fought pitched battles with Meena tribals in Dausa district. Meenas are opposed to the Gujjar’s demand to be included in an affirmative action plan which will give them access to government jobs and other benefits.

Sacha Sauda: Conservative Sikhs erupted in anger over the diluting influence of Punjab’s dera culture. Things came to a head when the living leader of the Sirsa-based Sacha Sauda sect, Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, appeared in an ad dressed as the 10th guru, Gobind Singhji, stirring a pot of amrit and extracting a lot of poison.

Terror Strikes

Hyderabad had a twin encounter with terrorism in 2007, first in May, and then again in August. The scene of destruction on the left is from the blast on May 18 during the Friday prayers at the Mecca Masjid, near the Char Minar, in which 14 people were killed. Terror also came to haunt UP courts, the sufi shrine in Ajmer, and Ludhiana. The home ministry and powers that be blamed the ‘terrorists’ and mouthed inanities while the country waited, till the next such strike, immuned to death and destruction visiting us daily on our TV screen.

Five people were killed and four others injured in a bomb blast in a Delhi-bound Rajdhani Express in Assam’s Golaghat district.The explosion, carried out by suspected militants, happened in the luggage van of the Dibrugarh-Guwahati-Delhi Rajdhani between Naujan and Sugajan. Bomb blast killed two people and injured about 20; the revered Sufi shrine of Hazrat Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti was almost back to its old self with thousands attending the afternoon prayers. Although the presence of hundreds of police and paramilitary personnel all around the shrine gave the town an ominous look, some 15,000 people thronged the shrine and prayed in perfect unison for peace and prosperity.

India crowned Twenty20 Champions: On September 24, 2007 India have won the inaugural World Twenty20 in South Africa after a thrilling final in which arch-rivals Pakistan fell five runs short of their victory target of 158 in Johannesburg. It brought a hugely entertaining tournament to a fitting climax and was always likely - after all the teams tied their group game and there was a similar frenzied atmosphere when the latest instalment in their rich rivalry commenced at a packed Wanderers.

Asia Cup men’s hockey: Men’s hockey did a real ‘Chak De’ on September 9, 2007.It was a moment for the Indian hockey team in Chennai after India beat South Korea 7-2, winning the champion of 7th Asia Cup men’s hockey tournament in the Indian southern port city of Chennai.The Indian players displayed better performance than the Doha Asian Games champion South Korea in the final. Before the semi- final, India also defeated South Korea 3-2 in the heated match in Pool. The Indian brigade added another feather to its cap. Its tally of 57 goals in the event became the highest for any team.

National women’s hockey: The women’s team put up a splendid show in 2007. On December 5, 2007, the national women’s hockey team beat Azerbaijan in the final to lift the Lal Bahadur Shastri four-nation trophy in Delhi. The hosts beat the tourists 1-0 in a closely fought clash.

World Chess Championship Tournament: Vishwanathan Anand made him and the country proud by becoming the world champion. The chess ace is one of the greatest sporting minds India has ever produced. Year 2007 has been a wishful year for Anand and India.On September 29, 2007, Anand became the undisputed World Chess Champion after winning the World Chess Championship Tournament held in Mexico City.

Benazir Bhutto assassinated: Benazir Bhutto has been murdered, shot by a suicide bomber who fired at her vehicle before blowing himself up. Bhutto was leaving after addressing an election rally in Rawalpindi. At least 20 people were killed and several more injured in the blast.

Pakistan: Pakistan, as Pervez Musharraf finally acted against the terrorists holed up inside the mosque in the heart of Islamabad where his writ had stopped running. But the complex also houses Jamia Hafsa, a madarasa for girls, and Jamia Faridia, a seminary for boys. Their students, guided by clerics and teachers, had been on the rampage since January. When some of the kids got killed, the terrorists retaliated in a big way. And things went out of hand

Bobby Jindal: Bobby Jindal became the first non white and youngest Governor of the US state of Louisiana. He impressively defeated his opponents in the gubernatorial poll. He became the first Indian-American governor of American state.

Politics: In China, the 17th Party Congress. And the flow of rumours and counter-rumours in the run-up to the congress offered a sober reminder that after nearly 30 years of Chinese reforms, politics in Beijing remain opaque and not open to change.

Hillary Rodham Clinton: Former US President Bill Clinton listens to wife and presidential hopeful Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton during a Washington DC fundraiser. Hillary was the top contender for the Democrat ticket.

GP Sippy: Veteran filmmaker GP Sippy passed away in Mumbai on December 26, 2007 after prolonged illness. In his forty-year film career, he had produced blockbuster films such as Sholay, Seeta Aur Geeta, Sagar, Bhramachari and Shaan to name a few.His contribution to Hindi cinema will never be forgotten as he has produced some of the best films and lunched some of the biggest names in Bollywood.

Kamleshwar: Hindi writer kamleshwar, 75, who passed away after a heart attack on 27th of January 2007 at New Delhi. He was among the pioneers of Hindi’s ‘Nayee Kahani’ movement in the fifties. He edited Sarika, the premier literary magazine now gone with the wind He also held important position at Doordarshan (India’s official Television Channel) as its Additional Director General.

Chandra Shekhar: Former Prime Minister Chandra Shekhar died on july 08, 2007 after a prolonged battle with cancer. He was 80.The ailing Lok Sabha member from Ballia in Uttar Pradesh was suffering from bone cancer.

Teji Bachchan: Mother of Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan, Teji, passed away in Mumbai on December 22, 2007.She died in a hospital in suburban Mumbai after prolonged illness. She was 93.Wife of Hindi literary great Harivansh Rai Bachchan, Teji was in the Lilavati Hospital for almost the whole of this year.

Taj Mahal: The Taj Mahal, regarded as one of the most beautiful monuments, was voted in a global poll as one of the new Seven Wonders of the World. The 17th century monument built by Mughal ruler Shah Jahan in memory of his wife Mumtaz Mahal.

Wedding of the year: On April 20, the world’s most beautiful woman Aishwarya Rai got married to Bollywood’s most eligible bachelor Abhishek Bachan in a private ceremony in Mumbai. It was bound to end up as the decade’s most hyped wedding. The wedding generated more ill-will than good wishes for the happy couple.

Best of  Bollywood: Chak De INDIA the story of disgraced coach, who grooms a hockey team leading it to the pinnacle of victory, not only becomes a huge hit, but a cult film. The chak de girls became over night stars and king Khan proved why he’s called the king Khan. The worldwide and successful release of ‘Om Shanthi Om’ promises to round off 2007. This year having gone through a super successful with three top-ranking comedies, Namastey London, Heyy Babyy and Bhool Bhulaiyaa, Akshay Kumar is gearing up for the release of Welcome, his next big laugh-out-loud comedy.