ID :
38343
Wed, 12/31/2008 - 21:12
Auther :
Shortlink :
http://m.oananews.org//node/38343
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Highs and lows mark an eventful year for India
New Delhi, Dec 31 (PTI) India wraps up an eventful 2008
marked by highs and lows with the year-end events like the
unprecedented terror attacks in Mumbai and the global economic
downturn overtaking the dramatic survival of the government in
Parliament and the consummation of the Indo-US nuclear deal.
The launch of unmanned mission to moon 'Chandrayaan-I'
pitchforked the country into the exclusive club of moon-faring
nations giving it the confidence to plan a human spaceflight
by the middle of the next decade.
The mercurial Indo-Pak relations again came under strain
once again in the wake of the Mumbai terror strikes with
Pakistan continuing to be in denial mode over the perpetrators
of the attacks emanating from its soil and still not ready to
act on India's demands to bring them to justice.
Ahead of the Lok Sabha elections in April-May, assembly
elections in five states considered the semi-final before the
big battle ended 3-2 in Congress' favour against Bharatiya
Janata Party (BJP). Jammu and Kashmir also braved the
separatists' boycott call and the militant's gun to return a
hung verdict producing a National Conference-Congress
coalition government.
Abhinav Bindra gave India the unprecedented gold in the
Olympics and boxers made merry in the Beijing Games while
cricketers continued their terrific run with humbling mighty
Australia and England on the home soil.
A series of bomb blasts in Jaipur, Bangalore, Ahmedabad,
Delhi and Assam taking a heavy toll of lives exposed serious
gaps in internal security.
The point that was reinforced by the outrageous Mumbai
attacks that kept the commandos of paramilitary and armed
forces on their toes for 60 hours before they could eliminate
the desperados.
The outcry over Mumbai resulted in political heads
rolling at the Centre and in Maharashtra with Shivraj Patil,
who managed to survive many a crises, finally exiting the home
ministry that saw a new incumbent P Chidambaram.
Chidambaram, who as Finance Minister, was already doing
firefighting as the impact of the global financial crisis and
the recession having its effect on the Indian economy.
India, whose economy hoped to post a 9 per cent growth
rate and which initially thought could overcome the global
crises, now has come to accept the reality. It now has scaled
down growth projections and is anticipating a higher deficit
than planned.
Chidambaram acted in concert with the Reserve Bank of
India (RBI), which periodically took measures to boost economy
with bold monetary policies and finally rate cuts. The
government also came out with a massive stimulus package to
counter recessionary effects and there is talk of one more
stimulus package in the new year and one for the next
financial year.
But during the entire financial crises, the Indian stock
market, which had reached a record peak levels in the earlier
part of the year, plummetted to abysmal levels sending
shockwaves that government tried to overcome through urgent
steps.
What was Finance Ministry's loss was Home Ministry's gain
when Chidambaram quickly got down to toning up the security
systems, especially a coastal cordon that would prevent
terrorists using the sea route as in the case of Mumbai
strikes.
The new Home Minister also worked with the opposition and
successfully pushed through legislation to put in place a
National Investigation Agency, a federal anti-terror mechanism
that was long in coming but was opposed by states.
He also piloted amendments to make law tougher providing
for deterrence against terrorists. But it was another point
that BJP described it as government waking up from a long
slumber working under compulsion in the wake of Mumbai
attacks.
A meeting of the Chief Ministers is slated in the New
Year when more steps to improve internal security will be
discussed. But the central government is racing against time
given the fact that elections are due shortly and there is
pressure from the public for "results".
The year saw the end of alliance between the Left and the
Congress-headed UPA government over the Indo-US nuclear deal
threatening the survival of the Manmohan Singh government but
some quick-footed movement by the Samajwadi Party from the
opposition camp helped the government survive the trust vote.
The victory of the government in the trial of strength
was marred by allegations of bribery levelled by BJP whose MPs
produced huge amount of money in Parliament as proof.
But a Parliamentary committee that went into it gave a
clean chit to Samajwadi Party MP Amar Singh and Congress MP
Ahmed Patel of making any attempt to bribe parliamentarians to
vote in favour of the government.
The survival of the government coincided with the
diplomatic triumph at the International Atomic Energy Agency
(IAEA) and the Nuclear Suppliers' Group (NSG) which ended over
three decades of India's nuclear apartheid.
This was followed by the American Congress voting the
nuclear deal which itself was unprecedented given the fact
that the US was slipping into a grave financial crisis and the
electoral process was at its peak.
Chandrayaan-I, launched on October 22, established
India's credentials as a major space-faring nation which was
set to explore outerspace by sending probes to Mars, asteroids
and fly past comets.
India's maiden lunar mission will orbit the moon at an
altitude of 100 km for two years and is tasked to create
detailed maps of the moon identifying its resources and also
look for ice in the polar regions.
On the political scene, the Left's departure from the UPA
triggered activity in the Third Front which also saw a boost
with the entry of All India Anna Dravida Munnettra Kazhagam
(AIADMK) but to a certain extent neutralised by the exit of
Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) which moved towards the BJP.
The coming Lok Sabha elections will be a do-or-die battle
for 81-year-old L K Advani who has been projected as the Prime
Ministerial candidate of the BJP.
The saffron party, which was on an upswing by victories
in Himachal, Punjab and Gujarat, suffered a setback with
defeats in Rajasthan and Delhi. The success in Madhya Pradesh
and Chhattisgarh gave it some consolation but its strategy of
exploiting terror plank in the wake of Mumbai attacks that
took place in the middle of assembly elections, did not appear
to have paid dividends. PTI
marked by highs and lows with the year-end events like the
unprecedented terror attacks in Mumbai and the global economic
downturn overtaking the dramatic survival of the government in
Parliament and the consummation of the Indo-US nuclear deal.
The launch of unmanned mission to moon 'Chandrayaan-I'
pitchforked the country into the exclusive club of moon-faring
nations giving it the confidence to plan a human spaceflight
by the middle of the next decade.
The mercurial Indo-Pak relations again came under strain
once again in the wake of the Mumbai terror strikes with
Pakistan continuing to be in denial mode over the perpetrators
of the attacks emanating from its soil and still not ready to
act on India's demands to bring them to justice.
Ahead of the Lok Sabha elections in April-May, assembly
elections in five states considered the semi-final before the
big battle ended 3-2 in Congress' favour against Bharatiya
Janata Party (BJP). Jammu and Kashmir also braved the
separatists' boycott call and the militant's gun to return a
hung verdict producing a National Conference-Congress
coalition government.
Abhinav Bindra gave India the unprecedented gold in the
Olympics and boxers made merry in the Beijing Games while
cricketers continued their terrific run with humbling mighty
Australia and England on the home soil.
A series of bomb blasts in Jaipur, Bangalore, Ahmedabad,
Delhi and Assam taking a heavy toll of lives exposed serious
gaps in internal security.
The point that was reinforced by the outrageous Mumbai
attacks that kept the commandos of paramilitary and armed
forces on their toes for 60 hours before they could eliminate
the desperados.
The outcry over Mumbai resulted in political heads
rolling at the Centre and in Maharashtra with Shivraj Patil,
who managed to survive many a crises, finally exiting the home
ministry that saw a new incumbent P Chidambaram.
Chidambaram, who as Finance Minister, was already doing
firefighting as the impact of the global financial crisis and
the recession having its effect on the Indian economy.
India, whose economy hoped to post a 9 per cent growth
rate and which initially thought could overcome the global
crises, now has come to accept the reality. It now has scaled
down growth projections and is anticipating a higher deficit
than planned.
Chidambaram acted in concert with the Reserve Bank of
India (RBI), which periodically took measures to boost economy
with bold monetary policies and finally rate cuts. The
government also came out with a massive stimulus package to
counter recessionary effects and there is talk of one more
stimulus package in the new year and one for the next
financial year.
But during the entire financial crises, the Indian stock
market, which had reached a record peak levels in the earlier
part of the year, plummetted to abysmal levels sending
shockwaves that government tried to overcome through urgent
steps.
What was Finance Ministry's loss was Home Ministry's gain
when Chidambaram quickly got down to toning up the security
systems, especially a coastal cordon that would prevent
terrorists using the sea route as in the case of Mumbai
strikes.
The new Home Minister also worked with the opposition and
successfully pushed through legislation to put in place a
National Investigation Agency, a federal anti-terror mechanism
that was long in coming but was opposed by states.
He also piloted amendments to make law tougher providing
for deterrence against terrorists. But it was another point
that BJP described it as government waking up from a long
slumber working under compulsion in the wake of Mumbai
attacks.
A meeting of the Chief Ministers is slated in the New
Year when more steps to improve internal security will be
discussed. But the central government is racing against time
given the fact that elections are due shortly and there is
pressure from the public for "results".
The year saw the end of alliance between the Left and the
Congress-headed UPA government over the Indo-US nuclear deal
threatening the survival of the Manmohan Singh government but
some quick-footed movement by the Samajwadi Party from the
opposition camp helped the government survive the trust vote.
The victory of the government in the trial of strength
was marred by allegations of bribery levelled by BJP whose MPs
produced huge amount of money in Parliament as proof.
But a Parliamentary committee that went into it gave a
clean chit to Samajwadi Party MP Amar Singh and Congress MP
Ahmed Patel of making any attempt to bribe parliamentarians to
vote in favour of the government.
The survival of the government coincided with the
diplomatic triumph at the International Atomic Energy Agency
(IAEA) and the Nuclear Suppliers' Group (NSG) which ended over
three decades of India's nuclear apartheid.
This was followed by the American Congress voting the
nuclear deal which itself was unprecedented given the fact
that the US was slipping into a grave financial crisis and the
electoral process was at its peak.
Chandrayaan-I, launched on October 22, established
India's credentials as a major space-faring nation which was
set to explore outerspace by sending probes to Mars, asteroids
and fly past comets.
India's maiden lunar mission will orbit the moon at an
altitude of 100 km for two years and is tasked to create
detailed maps of the moon identifying its resources and also
look for ice in the polar regions.
On the political scene, the Left's departure from the UPA
triggered activity in the Third Front which also saw a boost
with the entry of All India Anna Dravida Munnettra Kazhagam
(AIADMK) but to a certain extent neutralised by the exit of
Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) which moved towards the BJP.
The coming Lok Sabha elections will be a do-or-die battle
for 81-year-old L K Advani who has been projected as the Prime
Ministerial candidate of the BJP.
The saffron party, which was on an upswing by victories
in Himachal, Punjab and Gujarat, suffered a setback with
defeats in Rajasthan and Delhi. The success in Madhya Pradesh
and Chhattisgarh gave it some consolation but its strategy of
exploiting terror plank in the wake of Mumbai attacks that
took place in the middle of assembly elections, did not appear
to have paid dividends. PTI
