Today in Indian History

Indian History Today in On this day, March 17th, in Indian history: 1861: The Government of India Act, of 1861, which increased the power of the British Crown over India, received royal assent. 1901: The first session of the Indian National Congress was held in Calcutta (now Kolkata). It was attended by 72 delegates, mostly from the Bombay Presidency, and was presided over by Womesh Chunder Bonnerjee. 1940: The Muslim League passed the Lahore Resolution, which called for the creation of an independent Muslim state in northwestern and northeastern India. 1959: The 14th Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso, fled from Tibet to India, following a failed uprising against Chinese rule. He established a government-in-exile in Dharamsala, Himachal Pradesh, where he continues to reside. 1995: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won a majority in the assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh, India's most populous state, and formed the government with Kalyan Singh as Chief Minister. 2017: India's first private sector missile sub-systems manufacturing facility, Kalyani Rafael Advanced Systems (KRAS), was inaugurated in Hyderabad, Telangana. It is a joint venture between the Kalyani Group and Rafael Advanced Defense Systems of Israel. 1927: The Indian revolutionary Bhagat Singh and his associates were arrested in Lahore for the murder of a British police officer. Singh was eventually hanged by the British authorities in 1931. 1942: The British Indian Army launched a major offensive against the Japanese forces in Burma (now Myanmar), as part of the Allied campaign in the Southeast Asian theatre of World War II. 1951: The first general elections were held in India after independence. The Indian National Congress, led by Jawaharlal Nehru, won a landslide victory, securing 364 out of 489 seats in the Constituent Assembly. 1971: The Indian Army launched Operation Searchlight, a military crackdown on East Pakistan (now Bangladesh), which was then seeking independence from Pakistan. The operation eventually led to the Bangladesh Liberation War and the creation of Bangladesh as an independent country. 1985: Rajiv Gandhi was sworn in as the Prime Minister of India, following the assassination of his mother, Indira Gandhi. 2004: The Indian film actor and politician Jayalalithaa was acquitted of corruption charges by the Madras High Court. She later served as the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu for multiple terms. 2019: The Indian Air Force carried out airstrikes against a terrorist camp in Balakot, Pakistan, in response to a terrorist attack on Indian security forces in Kashmir. This marked the first time since the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 that Indian jets had crossed the Line of Control into Pakistan. 2019: The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) launched the EMISAT satellite, along with 28 other satellites, using the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C45) from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh. 2020: The government of India declared a national lockdown, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The lockdown, which was initially meant to last for 21 days, was later extended multiple times and had a significant impact on the Indian economy and society. 2020: Indian-American astronaut Sunita Williams was appointed as the commander of the first operational crewed mission (Crew-2) to the International Space Station (ISS) by NASA. Williams had previously flown to the ISS in 2006 and 2007 and was the first person of Indian descent to go on a spacewalk. 2021: The Election Commission of India announced the schedule for the assembly elections in four states and one union territory (West Bengal, Assam, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, and Puducherry), which were held over multiple phases in April and May 2021. The elections were seen as a major test for the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), as well as for the opposition parties. 2021: The Indian government announced a ban on the export of redeliver, an antiviral drug used in the treatment of COVID-19, to ensure adequate availability of the drug for domestic use. 2021: The Indian Navy launched the third Scorpene-class submarine, INS Karanj, at the Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited (MDL) in Mumbai, Maharashtra. The submarine is equipped with advanced technology and is capable of conducting various types of operations, including anti-surface warfare, anti-submarine warfare, and intelligence gathering. 2021: The Indian government announced a plan to merge two state-owned banks, Punjab National Bank (PNB) and Oriental Bank of Commerce (OBC), as part of its ongoing efforts to streamline the banking sector and improve its efficiency. 2022: The Indian cricket team defeated South Africa by 9 wickets in the final of the 2022 ICC Men's T20 World Cup, held at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in Australia. This marked India's second T20 World Cup victory, after their first win in 2007. 2022: The Indian government approved a proposal to establish a new "energy security infrastructure" fund, with a corpus of Rs. 20,000 crores, to finance strategic oil and gas infrastructure projects in the country. The fund is intended to support India's efforts to reduce its dependence on imported energy and increase its domestic production capacity. 2022: The Indian government announced a new policy on e-commerce, aimed at promoting fair competition and protecting the rights of consumers. The policy includes provisions on data protection, anti-trust measures, and a mandatory registration system for e-commerce platforms. 2022: The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) successfully launched the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C54), carrying the Brazilian satellite Amazonia-1 and 18 other smaller satellites, from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh. 2022: The Indian Navy successfully test-fired a BrahMos supersonic cruise missile from the INS Chennai, a guided-missile destroyer, in the Arabian Sea. The missile, which has a range of around 300 km, is capable of hitting targets on land and at sea. 2022: The Indian government announced a Rs. 4,500 crore package for the development of tourism infrastructure in the northeastern states of the country. The package includes funding for the construction of new airports, hotels, and tourist circuits, as well as for the preservation of cultural heritage sites. 2022: The Indian government announced a new scheme, called "Ayushman CAPF," to provide health insurance coverage to the personnel of the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) and their families. The scheme, which is expected to benefit around 4.5 lacks CAPF personnel, will cover medical expenses up to Rs. 5 lacks per family per year.