As 2014 slowly curls itself up, giving way to 2015 to enter, let us recap some of the major news events which every Indian talked about. There are some stories which rejoiced us, and made us proud; then there are some events which made us realized how barbaric and inhuman we can be.
These are some of the stories and events which affected us, Indians, in some way or the other.
Contents
Triumph of Narendra Modi
When Narendra Modi took oath as India’s 15th Prime Minister on May 26th, 2014, he said, “It is proof of the strength of our constitution that a man from a poor family is standing here today,”.
BJP won maximum seats after the General Elections ended, and Modi was unanimously elected as the new Indian PM. The fight which Modi and BJP carried through the first half of 2014, and the way they managed to clean sweep the seats in Parliament was definitely one of the most talked about news event in 2014.
Immediately after swearing in, he introduced Ministry of Entrepreneurship, improved labor laws, and introduced the concept of Digital India, which can transform the whole IT landscape in the country. As of now, he is the 15th most powerful person on the planet, and 2nd most popular leader on Facebook, just behind Barack Obama.
India Conquered Mars
As on September 24th, Wednesday, India created history when Mangalyaan, our very own spacecraft reached Mars.
We are the first country in the world to reach Mars within first attempt, and that too in a budget which was less than the budget of movie Gravity. The western world was in awe with ISRO’s achievement, and the whole country felt immensely proud of this achievement.
The journey which started in November last year took 10 months and $74 million to reach the red planet. Here are the reasons which makes it one of India’s top achievement for 2014.
Indian Stock Market Crosses Rs 100 Lakh Crore M-Cap
As on November 28th, Dalal Street in Mumbai burst into unprecedented jubilation and celebration as the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) crossed Rs 100 lakh crore or Rs 100 trillion market capital mark, thereby signally a new era for Indian stocks and equities market.
The total market capital of any stock exchange directly indicates the financial health status of the investors. Investment bankers issued statement that investor’s wealth in BSE and NSE has doubled in the last 5 years, a feat which very few stock exchanges in the world can claim.
Emergence of Ecommerce: Flipkart; Amazon; Snapdeal Steals The Show
In a country with less than 20% Internet penetration, which is lowest among the developed countries, Internet companies notched billions of dollars of private investment, thereby signaling a new era of Indian business trends. People are not shying away from buying online, and investors are not shying away from pouring billions of dollars into these companies.
Flipkart, the most successful Indian eCommerce company ever, attracted $1 billion+ investment in 2014 alone; Amazon India pledged to infuse $2 billion in next 2 years and Snapdeal pumped up more funds, along with some high profile associations which included Ratan Tata.
Indian eCommerce industry has never appeared better positioned to create history.
Kashmir Devastated By Floods
The heaven on Earth: Kashmir was devastated by flash floods in September, 2014, which affected both India and Pakistan Occupied Kashmir. More than 250 people in both the countries died, with hundreds still missing and thousands injured. Modi decided to spend the Diwali at Kashmir, overseeing rescue mission and assistance first hand.
Changing Indian IT Industry: Layoffs and Bloodbaths
IT Industry, which is traditionally regarded as fluctuation-free and a safe bet for someone who is looking for stability and ‘job security’ showed the first signals of transformation. Indian IT companies were unaffected during the dot com bubble of 2000s and the recession of 2008, but this time, things are a bit different. There was unprecedented layoffs reported from reputed companies such as IBM, TCS and Yahoo; and the trend looks dismal.
IT industry is changing, and the news of layoffs and pink slips were talked about everywhere.
Nobel Prize for Peace for Kailash Satyarthi
Kailash Satyarthi, founder of Bachpan Bachao Andolan an NGO which saves children from slavery and forced labor, won the Nobel Peace Prize, which he shared with Malala Yousafzai, the brave heart child from Pakistan who was shot in the head by Taliban but still survived to tell the tale.
Kailash has saved more than 88,000 children from 144 countries and it is due to his efforts that International Labour Organization has adopted Convention No. 182, which is right now the guiding principle for all Governments against child labor and child exploitation.
Do share your top new picks for 2014 by commenting here.
