From ferocious Covid second wave to an Olympic gold: Here’s what made news in 2021

Nearly a year after India reported its first case of the novel coronavirus, India in January kicked off the world’s largest immunisation exercise against Covid-19. On Day 1, over 1.91 lakh beneficiaries from the three crore priority group comprising healthcare and frontline workers were given the first shots of Covid-19 vaccines as part of the first phase, which was subsequently extended to the general public. (PTI)

Protesting farmers broke the barricades to enter Delhi, with police resorting to tear-gassing and lathi-charge to stop their march. Defying security arrangements, the protesters also stormed the Red Fort in Old Delhi where they clashed with the police.(Express Photo by Praveen Khanna)

In February 2021, a glacier break led to flash floods in Uttarakhand’s Chamoli that left over 200 dead or missing. Amongst those killed included construction workers for an under-construction NTPC project in the Tapovan area.

At least 22 security personnel were killed, and several injured after an exchange of fire between security forces and Maoists Saturday in Chhattisgarh’s Bijapur in April. The Chhattisgarh Police had said that the operation was launched based on intelligence inputs on the presence of Hidma, the commander of the lethal Battalion 1 of the Maoists. Sources in the COBRA too confirmed that the gunbattle had tell-tale signs of Hidma’s battalion. (Reuters)

A brutal second wave of coronavirus swept the country in April and May leading to death of over 1.69 lakh people, as reported in the official Covid-19 death count for the two months reported by state governments to the Centre. However, an investigation by The Indian Express team of reporters suggested that the number was an undercount.

In May, two cyclonic storms- Tauktae and Yaas- battered Indian coasts within a span of 10 days and brought bountiful country-wide rainfall and led to immense damage to property. While Cyclone Tauktae affected weather and caused rain across the western coast for a week, Cyclone Yaas over the Bay of Bengal brought rainfall mainly over Odisha, West Bengal, Jharkhand and Bihar for about three days. (PTI)

Milkha Singh, the Flying Sikh, breathed his last in Chandigarh in June this year. The 91-year-old had contracted Covid-19 a month back and lost his wife Nirmal Kaur to the virus earlier this week. Singh, born in Gobindpura – in present day Pakistan – was the first Indian track and field athlete to win gold in the then British Empire and Commonwealth Games in Cardiff in 1958. (Express file photo)

In July, Danish Siddiqui, an award-winning photojournalist, was killed while covering a clash between Afghan security forces and Taliban fighters near a border crossing with Pakistan. The Pulitzer Prize-winning chief photographer was covering the Afghan-Taliban clashes for Reuters.

On July 07, Prime Minister Narendra Modi Wednesday signalled a reset effecting the most sweeping change in his Council of Ministers since he took charge for the first time in 2014. As many as 36 new faces were inducted and 12 sitting ministers were shown the door taking the tally in the Council of Ministers to 78 (including the PM), just a notch short of the statutory limit of 81. (PTI)

On August 07, Neeraj Chopra clinched a gold medal with a stunning throw of 87.5m in the men’s javelin throw final at the Tokyo Olympics 2020. With the win, Neeraj became only the second Indian to win an individual gold in the Olympics, and the first to notch up a track and field Olympic medal for the country. (AP)

Riding on hopes of a pick-up in consumption-led growth, and enthused by faster vaccinations, the Sensex breached the 60,000-mark on September 24— continuing the strong rally of the past two months. It was for time that Sensex touched the 60,000-mark. (PTI)

In a significant milestone in its battle against the coronavirus pandemic, India in October touched the 100-crore Covid vaccinations — including both the first and second doses. At the occasion, Prime Minister Narendra Modi paid a visit to Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital in New Delhi to mark the occasion. “We are witnessing the triumph of Indian science, enterprise and collective spirit of 130 crore Indians,” the Prime Minister tweeted.

This year, Tata Sons regained control of Air India as it took over 100 per cent of the government’s stake in the national carrier, marking the end of a protracted struggle to sell the airline and the first step in the Centre’s mega privatisation push. The government, in 1953, had taken control of the airline from the Tata Group, which founded the carrier as Tata Airlines in 1932. (PTI/File)

The Monsoon Session of Parliament in July witnessed pressure on the Government from Opposition parties after reports of surveillance being carried on polticians, journalists and activists using a spyware tool called Pegasus came into light.Three journalists of The Indian Express, two current and one former, were also named as being on the list of potential targets. (PTI)

In November, while apologising to the country, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the repeal of the three contentious farm laws against which farmers, mainly from Punjab and Haryana, have been protesting at the borders of Delhi for nearly a year. Since November 26, 2020, farmers, mostly from Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, have been protesting at Delhi’s borders demanding the repeal of the laws.

This year, a sudden flash flood and heavy rainfall wreaked havoc across Andhra Pradesh, killing over 30 people. Hundreds of vehicles and passengers were stranded after the main rail and road routes in the state, connecting southern, eastern and northern parts of the country, remained cut off as the Penna river in spate caused heavy destruction. (PTI)

In December, six civilians, said to be workers in a coal mine, were killed in an ambush by security forces in an area between Tiru and Oting village in Nagaland’s Mon district while returning home in a vehicle. The incident triggered violence in the area in which eight more civilians were killed after security forces allegedly opened fire. (AP)

The nation’s most senior military officer, Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat, his wife Madhulika Rawat and 12 other people on board an Indian Air Force helicopter were killed in a crash near Coonoor in Tamil Nadu in December. General Rawat, 63, was on his way to the Defence Services Staff College in Wellington where he was to deliver a lecture. (PTI)