EVENTS 2007

JANUARY 2007
1 : (1 jan)According to the NKC (National
Knowledge Commission), India will
need 1,500 universities to attain a
gross domestic enrolment ratio of
at least 15 percent by 2015.
2 :(3 jan) Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan
Singh inaugurates the 94th Indian
Science Congress at Chidambaram
(Tamil Nadu).
3: (6 jan)NIN (National Institute of
Nutrition) announces that it will
conduct first study on the links
between HIV/AIDS and nutrition
in India.
4 : (9 jan)The Centre decides to declare
2007 as ‘Water Year’.
5 : (14 jan)Justice K.G. Balakrishnan is sworn
in as the 37th Chief Justice of
India.
6 : (16 jan)Tata Consultancy Services (TCS)
announces that it has become the
first Indian IT company to register
$1 billion in revenues in a single
quarter.
7: (26 jan)Adventurer Ajeet Bajaj unfurls the
tri-colour at the South Pole as India
celebrates Republic Day.
8 : (27 jan)The French Government confers
the Legion d’honneur (Legion of
Honour) on Mr. Amitabh Bachchan.
9 : (31 jan)Nobel laureate Mr. Desmond Tutu
receives the Gandhi Peace Prize.

FEBRUARY 2007
1 feb: The Centre bans the export of milk
powder till September 2007.
4 feb : India successfully test-fires
BrahMos supersonic cruise missile.
6 feb: The Railways announces that the
advance reservation period would
be extended from 60 days to 90
days on an experimental basis.
11 feb : The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation
achieves the distinction to get a
berth in the elite Nova
Benchmarking Group (NBG).
13 feb: Reserve Bank of India (RBI)
announces the hike of Cash
Reserve Ratio (CRR).
14 feb: The Supreme Court disqualifies 13
MLAs of UP Assembly who belonged
to the Bahujan Samaj Party.
21 feb: A Group of Ministers endorses the
Civil Aviation Ministry’s proposal
to merge the two state-run carriers
– Air India and Indian.
26 feb: Railway Minister Mr. Lalu Prasad
presents the Railway Budget for
2007-08 in Parliament.
27 feb: The Finance Minister tables the
Economic Survey 2006-07 in
Parliament prescribing steps to
check inflation and sustain high
economic growth.

MARCH 2007
1 mar : The Union Cabinet clears the
merger of the state-owned
carriers–Air India and Indian.
5 mar: Pilotless target aircraft Lakshya is
test-flown.
8 mar: Major General (Retd.) Bhuwan
Chandra Khanduri takes over as
Chief Minister of Uttarakhand.
19 mar: The Central Government sets up
the National Mission on
Monuments and Antiquities with a
term of five years.
21 mar: According to a report of the
National Sample Survey, the
poverty in the country declines to
21.8 percent in 2004-05 from 26.1
percent in 1999-2000.
22 mar: The prestigious Jawaharlal Nehru
Award for International
Understanding-2005 is conferred
on Nobel laureate Wangari Muta
Maathai of Kenya.
31 mar: Iran’s application for observer
status in the South Asian
Association for Regional
Cooperation (SAARC) is
unanimously approved by the
SAARC Foreign Secretaries at
their Standing Committee meeting
in New Delhi.

APRIL 2007
3 Apr: Inaugurating the 14th SAARC
Summit in New Delhi, Prime
Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh says
that India will allow “zero-duty
access” for goods from Bangladesh,
Afghanistan, Nepal, Maldives and
Bhutan by the end of 2007.
8 Apr: Sarah Jane Dias of Mumbai is
crowned ‘Miss India World’ while
Delhi girl Puja Gupta and New
Zealander of Indian origin Puja
Chitgopekar are crowned ‘Miss
India Universe’ and ‘Miss India
Earth’, respectively.
9 Apr: Congress leader Mr. Dorjee
Khandu is sworn in as the new
Chief Minister of Arunachal
Pradesh.
12 Apr: Nuclear capable long-range ballistic
missile Agni-III is successfully testfired.
27 Apr: The Securities and Exchange
Board of India (SEBI) makes
Permanent Account Number the
sole identification number for all
participants in the securities
markets from July 2, 2007.
30 Apr: Bollywood legend Dilip Kumar is
conferred the Phalke Ratna Award.

MAY 2007
1 May: Mr. Kuldeep Goyal is appointed as
the Director (Planning and New
Services) of the public sector
Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited
(BSNL).
6 May: The world’s largest passenger
aircraft Airbus A380 lands for the
first time in India.
10 May: The historic Central Hall of
Parliament comes alive as it
witnessed the commemoration of
the first War of Independence of
1857.
11 May: BSP supremo Ms. Mayawati wins
the UP Assembly elections with
majority.
23 May: Hon’ble President Dr. A.P.J. Abdul
Kalam presents the National
Communal Harmony Award to
octogenarian social activist
Mr. Rabindra Nath Upadhyay.
27 May: Reliance Industries Ltd. Chairman
Mr. Mukesh Ambani becomes the
first trillionaire in the country.
28 May: Mr. A.R. Lakshmanan, retired judge
of the Supreme Court, assumes
charge as the Chairman of the 18th
Law Commission.
31 May: The Union Cabinet approves a
scholarship scheme for higher
education for students of the
Scheduled Castes and Scheduled
Tribes.

JUNE 2007
2 jun : Hon’ble President Dr. A.P.J. Abdul
Kalam presents the National Bal
Shree Honour 2006 at Rashtrapati
Bhawan.
8 jun : Mr. Digambar V. Kamat is sworn
in as the 19th Chief Minister of
Goa.
11 jun: The Government proposes to
expand the National Child Labour
Project to all endemic districts
during the 11th Five-Year Plan
period.
14 jun: Ms. Pratibha Devisingh Patil, a
Congress woman and Governor of
Rajasthan since 2004, is endorsed
as the candidate for the presidential
election.
15 Jun: Government clears the proposal to
set up the Indira Gandhi National
Tribal University.
22 Jun: Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan
Singh announces to set up 30 new
central universities.
25 Jun: Vice-President Mr. Bhairon Singh
Shekhawat files his nomination
papers for the July 19 Presidential
election.
28 Jun: Red Fort is included in the
UNESCO’s World Heritage List.
30 Jun: Former Delhi Chief Minister Sahib
Singh Verma dies in an accident.

JULY 2007
1 jul : The Union Panchayati Raj
Minister, Mr. Mani Shankar Aiyar
with 57-member delegation, arrives
at Lahore in Pakistan for a threeday
visit.
5 jul: The Union Cabinet approves
India’s participation in the
International Thermo-nuclear
Experimental Reactor (ITER)
project.
18 jul: Fourteen Indian innovators are
awarded the Innovators’ Award
instituted by aerospace giant
Lockheed Martin Corporation,
under its India innovation growth
programme in New Delhi.
21 jul: Ms. Pratibha Devisingh Patil is
declared elected the 12th President
of India. She defeats her lone
opponent, Vice-President
Mr. Bhairon Singh Shekhawat by a
margin of 3,06,810 votes.
25 jul: Ms. Pratibha Devisingh Patil is
sworn in as the 12th President of
the country, becoming the first
woman President of India.
* A joint meeting of the Cabinet
Committee on Political Affairs
(CCPA) and the Cabinet
Committee on Security (CCS)
approves the text of the 123 civilian
nuclear cooperation agreement
arrived at between India and the
US.
26 jul : Lt. Gen. Deepak Kapoor is
appointed as the next Chief of
Army Staff; Gen. Kapoor will take
over from Gen. J.J. Singh who
retires on September 30, 2007.

AUGUST 2007
4 aug: The country’s first mobile court to
make the judicial system accessible
to remote and backward areas is
inaugurated by Chief Justice of
India, Justice K.G. Balakrishnan, in
the Mewat district of Haryana.
8 aug: Mr. Shyam Benegal, the renowned
Film Director and the pioneer of
new Indian cinema, wins the 2005
Dadasaheb Phalke Award.
11 aug : Mohammad Hamid Ansari is sworn
in as the new Vice-President of
India at the Rashtrapati Bhavan in
New Delhi.
14 aug: Three army men including Col. Vasanth
Venugopal, Capt. R. Harshan and Naib
Subedar Chunni Lal are awarded the
Ashok Chakra, the country’s highest
award for valour during peacetime,
posthumously. All the three laid down
their lives while battling terrorists in
Jammu and Kashmir.
19 aug: Two Indian Air Force (IAF) pilots
Wg. Cdr. Mr. Anil Kumar and
Mr. Rahul Manga create a world
record by successfully flying a
microlight aircraft around the world
in 80 days.
21 aug: Japanese Prime Minister
Mr. Shinzo Abe calls for further
strengthening of ties between
Japan and India during his visit to
India.
28 aug: The Government issues the muchawaited
tender for purchase of
fighter aircrafts which is estimated
to be worth Rs. 42,000 crore but
half of the amount must be sourced
from India.
31 aug: The Rural Affairs Editor of The
Hindu, Mr. Palagummi Sainath
receives the 2007 Ramon
Magsaysay Award for Journalism,
Literature and Creative
Communication Arts from the
Philippines Supreme Court Chief
Justice Mr. Artemio Parganiban in
Manila (Philippines).

SEPTEMBER 2007
1 sep: Watershed development work taken
up at Haripura in Kota district of
Rajasthan wins the National
Productivity Prize for 2007 in
recognition of good results
achieved in the region.
3 sep: Delhi becomes the country’s first
state to provide a legal shape to
the much talked about Bread and
Breakfast Scheme with an
ordinance to this effect
promulgated by the Delhi
Government.
4 sep: The five-nation Malabar exercise,
participated by more than 20,000
personnel from the navies of
Australia, India, Japan, Singapore
and the United States, starts in the
Bay of Bengal.
6 sep: INS Jalashwa, newly acquired
warship from the US, leaves
Mumbai for Visakhapatnam, amid
differing speculations in various
quarters in the backdrop of the
multinational naval drill.
14 sep: In its revised affidavit the Centre
informs the Supreme Court that
it will consider executing the
Sethusamudram shipping channel
project through an alternative.
alignment so that the 30-km-long
Ramar Sethu/Adam’s Bridge could
be protected from damage.
18 sep: The Jansankhya Sthirata Kosh
(National Population Stabilisation
Fund) begins the exercise of
mapping the existing health
facilities in the country right up to
the district level.
25 sep: President Ms. Pratibha Devisingh
Patil, in her inaugural address at
the 53rd Commonwealth
Parliamentary Conference (CPC)
in New Delhi, underlines the
importance of collective actions,
stating that sustainable
development cannot be achieved by
individual nations.
28 sep: The Union Government
announces the extension of the
National Rural Employment
Guarantee Act (NREGA), which
guarantees 100 days of wage
employment to rural households,
to all the districts in the country.
29 sep: A high-level review committee
suggests radical redesigning and
renaming of the Indian Council of
Social Science Research (ICSSR)
as the Indian Academy of Social
Sciences (IASS) with a view to
restore its credibility.
30 sep: General Deepak Kapoor takes over
as the Chief of the Army Staff from
General J.J. Singh.

OCTOBER 2007
1 oct: The Union Cabinet approves the
amendments to the Payment of
Bonus Act, 1965, that will make
industrial workers drawing up to
Rs. 10,000 monthly salary eligible
for annual bonus.
5 oct: Agni-I, the surface-to-surface
missile, is launched successfully
from the Outer Wheeler Island, off
the Orissa coast. The single-stage
missile, powered by solid
propellants, reaches its range of
700 km.
8 oct: After the withdrawal of support
from the Bharatiya Janata Party,
Karnataka Chief Minister Mr. H.D.
Kumaraswamy submits his
resignation to the State Governor,
Mr. Rameshwar Thakur, following
which the Governor recommends
the dissolution of Assembly and the
imposition of President’s Rule.
10 oct: International Atomic Energy Agency
Director-General Mr. Mohammed
ElBaradei during his visit to India
points out that there is no deadline
for starting talks on an India-specific
safeguards arrangement but it is
imperative for the country to utilise
nuclear energy to sustain the
current high growth rate.
11 oct : The Union Cabinet approves a
financial package, including issuing
of Rs. 23,457 crore oil bonds and
extending the subsidy scheme on
LPG cooking gas and kerosene for
the next three years.
13 oct: The Cabinet Committee on
Security (CCS) clears the Fifth
Generation Aircraft (FGA) to
replenish the depleting Indian Air
Force levels and approves an
aircraft-related joint venture
between a Russian company and
Hindustan Aeronautics Limited
(HAL).
15 oct: Union Minister for Science and
Technology Mr. Kapil Sibal
inaugurates a state-of-the-art
National Tsunami Early Warning
Centre, which has the capability to
detect earthquakes of more than
magnitude 6.
16 oct: The United Women Front (UWF)
– billed as India’s first national
political party formed by women –
is launched in New Delhi.
18 oct: India and Pakistan reiterate their
commitment to uphold the
ceasefire and hold consultations to
strengthen the confidence-building
measures (CBMs) in New Delhi.
22 oct: Actor Sanjay Dutt is sent to
Yerawada jail after he is found guilty
in the 1993 Mumbai blasts case.
The 4,340 page judgement copy is
also given to him.
23 oct: UN special envoy Mr. Ibrahim
Gambari meets Prime Minister
Dr. Manmohan Singh and wants
New Delhi to encourage Yangon to
work with UN authorities.
29 oct: The Sensex surges above the historic
figure of 20,000 for the first
time.