India in Decades- First Part 1980s

1980                                     Indira Gandhi returns to power heading the Congress party splinter group, Congress (Indira).

                                                Sanjay Gandhi is killed in a plane crash near Safdarjung Airport.

BJP formed

The Indian Hockey team won the Gold in the Olympics, the last till date.

B. P. Mandal, chairman of the Backward Classes Commission, submitted his report to the government.

The infamous Bhagalpur blinding case which was later depicted in the Bollywood movie ‘Gangajal’

                                                The Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980

1981                                     Subhas Mukhopadhyay, Physician created World’s second IVF died

                                                Infosys is founded in Pune.

                                                Nargis Dutta died

                                                Census in India

Around 45 people got killed due to a stampede at Qutb Minar resulting in closure of Minaret for tourists

1982                                     INSAT-1A launched; deactivated in September.

NABARD established through act of Parliament following B. Sivaraman Committee recommendation.

                                                9th Asian Games held in Delhi.
                                                Doordarshan begins testing of Colour television broadcast in India

                                                Acharya Vinoba Bhave died

Bijon Setu massacre seventeen Ananda Margis were set ablaze at Bijon Setu in Dhakuria in south Kolkata. No one has been convicted of the murders

EVMs introduced in India

Future Prime Minister of India Manmohan Singh becomes Governor of the Reserve Bank of India

1983                                     N. T. Rama Rao NTR’s nine-month-old Telugu Desam assumes power in AP becoming a challenger post Loknayak Jayprakash Narayan against Indira Gandhi.

India won World Cup for the first time, in one day international Cricket led by Kapil Dev.

                                                Bandit queen Phoolan Devi surrenders.

Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar received the Nobel Prize in Physics

Nellie massacre: over 2,000 people, mostly Bangladeshi Muslims, were massacred during the Assam agitation

1984                                     Squadron Leader Rakesh Sharma is launched into space, aboard the Soyuz T-11.

Troops storm Golden Temple, the Sikhs’ most holy shrine, after Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale seeks refuge inside. There are a movement to flush out Sikh separatism and calls for secularism, called Operation Blue Star. “Anti-Sikh Riots 1984”.

Indira Gandhi is assassinated by her bodyguards; her son, Rajiv, takes over.

Many Sikhs were killed due to the assassination of Indira Gandhi. see 1984 anti-Sikh riots.

Bachendri Pal becomes first Indian women to reach the summit of Mount Everest

India’s first metro Kolkata metro started

India bags no medal at the Olympics

Bhopal disaster: A methyl isocyanate leak from a Union Carbide pesticide plant in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, kills more than 2,000 people outright and injures anywhere from 15,000 to 22,000 others

The first 3D film in India My Dear Kuttichathan was released

1985                                     Karamchedu massacre of Dalits in Andhra Pradesh.

                                                Narmada Bachao Andolan started by Medha Patkar

                                                Bombing on Air India Flight 182- Kanishka

Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act TADA came into effect after presidential assent.

India wins B&H World Champion Cricket Trophy. Ravi Shastri Player of the Series.

Indira Gandhi National Open University is established by an Act of Indian Parliament.

The Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act is passed by Parliament came into force.

The Administrative tribunals in Delhi, Mumbai, Calcutta and Allahabad were established by Administrative Tribunals Act, 1985.

Chakravarty Committee was set up by the RBI to review the working of monetary system. Its recommendations had far reached consequences eventually removing India from the 500-year-old silver standard

The 52nd Amendment of the Indian Constitution, enacted in 1985, is also known as the Anti-Defection Law

1986                                      Contract signed between the Government of India and Swedish arms company Bofors for supply of 410 155 mm Howitzer field guns. (Bofors deal)

Operation Black Thunder conducted to flush out remaining Sikh extremists from the Golden Temple

                                                a new National Policy on Education announced by the Government

                                                Inland Waterways Authority of India came into existence.

Supreme Court of India delivered landmark judgement which upholds Freedom of speech and expression in Bijoe Emmanuel Vs State of Kerala case. In this case court said that no law mandates singing National Anthem of India compulsory

Environment Protection Act that was passed in month of May in consequence to Bhopal disaster, came into force.

                                                Consumer Protection Act

Australia-India test cricket match ends in a tie at the M. A. Chidambaram Stadium, Chepauk, Chennai, becoming only the second tied test in the history.

1987                                     India deploys troops for peacekeeping operation in Sri Lanka’s ethnic

conflict.

Board for Industrial and Financial Reconstruction set up and became operational with effect from May reflecting concerns related to Industrial Sickness and republic day

Sunil Gavaskar becomes the first man to score 10,000 runs in Test cricket

The Union territory was split, and Goa was elevated as India’s twenty-fifth state, with Daman and Diu remaining Union Territories

Operation Poomalai by India in Jaffna.

Roop Kanwar case – last known incident of Sati in India, occurred at Sikar district

The South Asian Games are held in Calcutta

World Cup Cricket in India for the first time

Mizoram became the 23rd state of India on February 20, 1987

Arunachal Pradesh became a state on February 20, 1987

1988                                     SEBI was established by The Government of India on 12 April 1988 and given statutory powers in 1992 with SEBI Act 1992 being passed by the Indian Parliament.

                                                Viswanathan Anand became first Grandmaster (chess) from India

                                                Janata Dal formed under the leadership of V. P. Singh.

                                                The National Housing Bank established as an apex body of housing finance and to promote activities in housing development.

                                                Rajya Sabha passes the Sixty-first Amendment of the Constitution of India which brings down voting age from 21 to 18

                                                First Cabinet meeting outside New Delhi held at Sariska, Rajastham

                                                The infamous Rupan Deol Bajaj case involving KPS Gill.

India bags no medal at the Olympics

                                                Maximum lending rate abolished. Banks free to charge customers according to their credit record.

                                                Death of Raj Kapoor

1989                                     Falling public support leads to a Congress defeat in general election.

                                                The National Front (India), headed by V. P. Singh and led by Janata Dal, is formed and storms into power with outside support from BJP and CPI(M).

                                                16-year-old Sachin Tendulkar makes his test debut against Pakistan

                                                The first Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council elections took place and Gorkha National Liberation Front under leadership of Subhash Ghisingh.

                                                India’s first Intermediate-range ballistic missile, Agni was successfully launched from Chandipur, Odisha. It elevated India into a prestige league of only five nations in world with IRBM strategic capability. This was a landmark moment under Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme

Please note that this additions may be made to this content. So, keep checking.

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