As the year draws to a close, some key events in the economy, politics, space and judiciary which defined 2019 for India are been mentioned.

PULWAMA ATTACK

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Pulwama attack stands to be one of the deadliest terror attacks in Jammu and Kashmir which happened on February 14, 2019.  40 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel were martyred. The incident took place as a Jaish suicide bomber rammed a vehicle carrying over 100 kg of explosives into their bus in Pulwama district. Many were left critically wounded in the attack. The suicide bomber was identified as Adil Ahmed alias Waqas Commander from Kakapora in Pulwama and Pakistan- based terror group Jaish-e-Mohammed was claimed being responsible for the attack.

Major terrorist camps of JeM across the LoC were destroyed by a group of Mirage 2000 Indian Air Force’s Fighter jets during which Abhinandan Varthaman was shot down in the aerial combat by the Pakistan military. He was released after being captivated for 60 hours.

ARTICLE 370

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A constitutional order has been passed by the Modi government on August 5 to scrap Article 370 of the Indian Constitution. This gave the state of Jammu and Kashmir a special status. The Jammu and Kashmir will later get split into two Union Territories - Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh as the Reorganisation Act was passed by the government and the reorganisation took place on October 31, 2019.12.30

CHANDRAYAAN 2

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The second lunar mission developed by ISRO, Chandrayaan 2 was launched on July 22. India’s heaviest rocket GSLV Mk-III which was nicknamed ‘Bahubali’, lifted off successfully from Sriharikota. The rocket reached the orbit of the moon on August 20 and the orbital positioning manoeuvres for the landing of Vikram Lander was started. September 6 was the scheduled date for Vikram Lander and Pragyan Rover to land on the moon. However, the communication was lost by the ISRO scientists with the Vikram Lander just moments before it was about to touch the moon. After a month long search, the locationm of the crash was found by the US space agency Nasa with the help of Indian software architect Shanmuga Subramanian.

AYODHYA VERDICT

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On November 9, Ranjan Gogoi, the then Chief Justice of India who led a Supreme Court bench said in a unanimous verdict that the 2.77-acre disputed land in Ayodhya should go to the Ram Janmabhoomi Nyas for the construction of Ram temple. An order has also been passed that the Muslim side should be compensated with five acres of alternative land at a prominent place in Ayodhya in order to build a mosque. The government was also asked by the apex court to frame a plan and that a trust should be set up which would construct the temple in Ayodhya.

CITIZENSHIP AMENDMENT ACT

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The controversial Citizenship Amendment Bill (CAB) has been passed by the Prliament in December as it favoured 311 votes in the Lok Sabha and 125 in the Rajya Sabha. The bill turned into law when it was signed as giving an assent by President Ram Nath Kovind. The Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) grants citizenship to persecuted Hindus, Sikhs, Buddists, Jains, Parsis and Christians who came to India from the Muslim majority countries Pakistan, Bangladesh, Afghanistan on or before December 31st 2014, received opposition from a cross section of the political spectrum and citizenry. It led to protests which wildly spread across the nation, mainly in Assam, Delhi and West Bengal.

LOK SABHA ELECTIONS

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The Lok sabha elections were held in phases of seven from April 11 to May 19 this year. The Bharatiya Janata P)arty resulted victorious in the result of the Lok Sabha elections and it bagged 303 seats. The party has returned to power with the majority in the lower house of Parliament being the first time in 35 years.

NATIONAL REGISTER OF INDIAN CITIZENS

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The updated final list of NRC was released on August 31 and nearly 1.9 people across Assam were excluded. Out of 33 million people who have applied, only 31.1 million were found to be eligible to be included in the updated NRC. The government of Assam assured that legal aid will be provided for the people who were not in the final list of the NRC

ISSUE OF NOTES

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The issue of new notes for the denominations 10, 20, 200, 500, 50, 100 has been done in this year. The issue of Rs 10 denomination notes in Mahatma Gandhi (New) Series bearing the signature of Shri Shaktikanta Das, Governor had been done on May 20, 2019. RBI introduced Rs 20 bank note in Mahatma Gandhi(New ) Series on April 26, 2019. the denominations of Rs 200 and Rs 500 has been issued on April 23. the Rs 50 denomination banknotes were issued on April 16 and the issue of Rs 100 denomination banknotes has been done on Feb 26.

By Shrithika Kushangi