Shreyosi Chakraborty
The whole of the year 2021 seems like it flew past in a jiffy as we kept on contemplating about the deadly virus and the incessant lockdowns/restrictions. Be it the historic year-long protest of the farmers or Narendra Modi’s cabinet reshuffle or Joe Biden’s coming in to power, all the events have kept us hooked to news as they were a deciding factor in the Nation’s political journey.
Whereas many schools, offices started taking the plunge of opening up again, an increase in Covid numbers and entry of different variants of Covid are forcing educational organisations and offices to continue the work from home situation. While most of us have become just comfortable with the new way of life, speculations are still going on regarding the continuation of work from home modes.
But yet, we cannot stop dreaming and hoping for a fresh year with fewer worries and fears and more immunity. Let us take a look back at the major events of 2021 that either left us baffled or almost brought us to our nooks or even affected us directly or indirectly.
1. Farm laws repealed: Indian farmers ended a year-long mass protest on December 11 after Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the repeal of the three farm laws. The farmers were protesting against the government’s introduction of three laws that loosened rules around the sale, pricing and storage of farm produce – rules which have protected them from the free market for decades. Farmers’ unions said these laws would leave farmers vulnerable to big companies and destroy their livelihoods.
Thousands of farmers had camped at the borders of the capital, Delhi, with dozens dying from heat, cold and Covid. The move was hailed as a victory for farmers and also as a powerful example of how mass protests could still successfully challenge the government. The protests had begun on November 25, 2020, when thousands of farmers — mainly from Punjab and Haryana — marched towards the national capital demanding a complete repeal of the legislations.
2. Joe Biden becomes 46th President of the United States: Joe Biden was sworn in as the 46th President of the United States in a historic but scaled-down ceremony under the unprecedented security umbrella of thousands of security personnel, who transformed the Capitol into a fortress to prevent any breach by pro-Trump extremists.
3. Harnaaz Sandhu becomes Miss Universe 2021: On December 12, Harnaaz Sandhu, the Chandigarh-born, 21-year-old model bagged the coveted Miss Universe title after defeating contestants from 79 countries — 21 years after Lara Dutt last received it in 2020. Sandhu was declared the winner of the 70th edition of the pageant which was held in Eliot, Israel. Sushmita Sen was the first Indian to receive this prestigious title in the year 1994.
4. Chief of Defense Staff Bipin Rawat and 12 others killed in Helicopter crash: CDS General Bipin Rawat died in a helicopter crash near Coonoor in Tamil Nadu on December 8. Thirteen people have succumbed to the crash, including CDS Rawat, his wife Madhulika Rawat and 11 others.
5. Parag Agarwal appointed as Twitter Chief: India-born Parag Agrawal was promoted to Twitter’s CEO, succeeding outgoing CEO Jack Dorsey on November 29. A former CTO of Twitter, Agarwal was an alumnus of the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay.
6. Taliban takes over Afghanistan: On September 7, the Taliban seized control of war-torn Afghanistan, ousting the previous elected leadership which was backed by the West. The terrorist group rapidly advanced towards the country and captured Kabul. US forces withdrew from Afghanistan following a deal between the US and the Taliban, two decades after US forces removed the militants from power in 2001. The conflict has killed tens of thousands of people and displaced millions.
Taliban forces have pledged not to allow Afghanistan to become a base for terrorists but questions are already being asked about how the group will govern the country, and women’s rules, human rights, and political freedoms. UN-designated terrorist Sirajuddin Haqqani is also part of the interim Taliban government.
7. Tata Group to Acquire 100% Stake in Air India: Tata Group won the bid for acquiring debt-laden state-run national carrier Air India offering Rs 18,000 crore for acquiring 100 per cent shareholding. The company placed a winning bid of Rs 18,000 crore to re-acquire the airline more than half a century after it ceded control to the government. The government will get Rs 2,700 crore cash from Tatas for the sale of its 100 per cent stake.
8. Germany votes for a new Chancellor: Germans went to the polls on September 26 in a national election too close to call, with the centre-left Social Democrats (SPD) mounting a strong challenge to retiring Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservatives. In office so long she was dubbed Germany’s “eternal chancellor”, Merkel was in power since 2005 but planned to step down after the election, making the vote an era-changing event to set the future course of Europe’s largest economy.
9. Olympics, 2021: Neeraj Chopra bagged India’s first-ever Gold medal in athletics (Men’s Javelin Throw) at the Tokyo Olympics. India also won the bronze medal in Hockey, rewriting history after 41 years. The men’s hockey team beat Germany 5-4 to claim the bronze in an edge-of-the-seat play-off match in the Tokyo Olympics. The last time India stood on the podium was in 1980 Moscow Olympics after winning the gold, their eighth. 
Ravi Kumar won Silver in Wrestling, Mirabai Chanu won Silver in Women’s Weightlifting, Bajrang Punia won Bronze in Wrestling, PV Sindhu won Bronze in Badminton and Lovlina Borgohain won Bronze in Boxing.
10. PM Modi carries out major overhaul of Cabinet: Narendra Modi went for a major Cabinet reshuffle, sacking several top leaders and ministers – including Dr Harsh Vardhan, Ravi Shankar Prasad, Prakash Javadekar and Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank. Manuskh Mandavia was given the charge of the crucial Health Ministry after Harsh Vardhan resigned while Jyotiraditya Scindia got the Civil Aviation Ministry as Prime Minister Narendra Modi effected a major overhaul of the Union cabinet. As many as 12 ministers resigned from the Modi cabinet, while 43 new ministers were sworn-in.
11. Yaas hits Odisha and WB coasts, Tauktae hits Gujarat: Parts of West Bengal and Northern Odisha were hit by Cyclone Yaas, a relatively strong and very damaging tropical cyclone that hit the country in May. At least 10 million people were affected while 3,00,000 houses were damaged. At least, eleven people were reported dead due to Cyclone Yaas in West Bengal. The cyclonic storm moved north-northwestwards and also impacted Bihar, Jharkand and south Uttar Pradesh, Bangladesh and Nepal.
Cyclone Tauktae hit Gujarat becoming the strongest tropical cyclone to make landfall in the state since 1998. Started on May 14, the storm killed over 174 people, displaced over 200,000 people in Gujarat. The cyclone also brought heavy rainfall and flash floods in Kerala and Lakshadweep. The states of Goa, Karnataka and Maharashtra also received very heavy rainfall during this period.
12. Israel–Palestine declare a ceasefire: In May, Israel and Hamas agreed to a ceasefire 11 days after deadly fighting which pounded Palestine and forced Israelis to seek shelter from rockets. At least 217 Palestinians and 12 Israelis have died in the conflict. The last ceasefire lasted seven years but during that time, nothing was done to build on it.
13. Chhattisgarh Maoist attack: In one of the worst incidents of Maoist violence in the last two years, as many as 22 jawans were killed and 31 sustained injuries that resulted from an ambush by some 400 insurgents who surrounded the jawans from three sides in an area devoid of vegetation and rained on them machinegun fire as well as IEDs for several hours.
14. India’s two-year term as a non-permanent member: India began its two-year tenure as a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) on January 1, 2021. This is the eight-time that the country got a non-permanent seat in the 15-nation UNSC. Besides India, Norway, Kenya, Ireland and Mexico also joined existing non-permanent members Estonia, Niger, Saint Vincent & the Grenadines, Tunisia and Vietnam and the five permanent members China, France, Russia, UK and the USA.
DEATHS:
15. Kannada Super Star Puneeth Rajkumar passes away: South film star Puneeth Rajkumar died on October 29 after suffering a heart attack. He was 46. The actor was rushed to a hospital in Bengaluru after he complained of chest pain. The Kannada actor was shifted to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) where a team of doctors were monitoring his situation. Prime Minister Narendra Modi condoled the actor’s sudden death and called it a “cruel twist of fate”.
16. Indian photojournalist Danish Siddiqui killed: Pulitzer Prize-winning Indian photojournalist was killed on assignment in Afghanistan. The award-winning journalist was killed while covering clashes between Afghan troops and the Taliban in Spin Boldak district of Kandahar city. Siddiqui won the Pulitzer Prize in 2018 as part of the Reuters team for their coverage of the Rohingya crisis. He had extensively covered the Afghanistan conflict, the Hong Kong protests and other major events in Asia, the Middle East, and Europe.
17. Actor Dilip Kumar breathes his last: Legendary actor Dilip Kumar passed away in Mumbai on Wednesday, July 7, 2021. He was suffering from geriatric problems. Born as Yousuf Khan in Peshawar (now Pakistan), he migrated to India post-partition and rose to fame in Bollywood with the screen name Dilip Kumar. He debuted with “Jwar Bhata” in 1944 and his last movie “Qila” came in 1998. In his 5-decades long-acting carrier, Kumar gave numerous superhit and memorable movies like Mughal-e-Azam, Yahudi, Ganga-Yamuna, Gopi, Devdas, Naya Daur, Karma, and many more.
18. “Flying Sikh” Milkha Singh passes away: One of India’s biggest sporting icons, ace sprinter Milkha Singh, died in the month of July after a month-long battle with COVID-19. The legendary athlete is a four-time Asian Games gold medallist and the 1958 Commonwealth Games champion but his greatest performance remains the fourth-place finish in the 400m final of the 1960 Rome Olympics. His timing of 45.6 sec at the Italian capital remained the national record for 38 years before Paramjeet Singh broke it in 1998. He also represented India in the 1956 and 1964 Olympics and was bestowed the Padma Shri in 1959.
19. Chipko movement leader passes away: Sunderlal Bahuguna, known for leading Chipko in the 1970s breathed his last on May 21, 2021. He was a crusader dedicated to the pursuit of saving the Himalayan forests. He is not just considered the pioneer of the Chipko movement but also one of the most vocal opponents of the Tehri dam, which displaced a huge population besides drowning a number of villages
20. Senior anchor Rohit Sardana passes away: Television journalist Rohit Sardana died of cardiac arrest on Friday, days after he tested positive for COVID-19. Sardana, who was an executive editor and TV news anchor with a leading Group.
Source: One India, My Khel
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