UPAs triumph The UPA rode back to power after a stunning victory in the Lok Sabha polls,belying all talk of any anti-incumbency factor. Dr Manmohan Singh was sworn in as Prime Minister for the second consecutive term and the Congress,in the 125th year of its founding,went on to retrieve lost political ground in crucial states like Uttar Pradesh. Section 377 In a landmark judgment by the Delhi Court,Section 377 of the IPC was read down,leading to the legalisation of homosexual acts among consenting adults. The court held that the 149-year-old law,making homosexuality a criminal offence,is violative of fundamental rights. The new flu A new strain of the influenza virus spread panic around the world soon after it was first detected in Mexico and the United States. According to the World Health Organisation,more than 208 countries and overseas territories or communities reported laboratory confirmed cases of pandemic influenza H1N1,including at least 11,516 deaths. The Liberhan report The report of the Liberhan Commission,first reported in The Indian Express,rocked Parliament and brought the Babri Masjid demolition back in focus. The report,submitted 17 years after the commission was set up,held both former PM A B Vajpayee and L K Advani accountable for the demolition of the disputed structure in Ayodhya in December 6,1992. Asset declaration by judges In another landmark judgment,the Supreme Court held that the Chief Justice of India is a public authority and information held by him on assets of his fellow judges should be made public,fulfilling a longstanding demand for transparency in the judiciary. Terror alert Even as the many twists and turns in the trial of Ajmal Amir Kasab,the lone terrorist captured alive in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks,hogged the headlines,an FBI investigation threw up new leads after the arrest of David Headley and Tahawwur Rana for plotting terror attacks against India at the behest of the Let. The Copenhagen conundrum Touted as the grand successor to the Kyoto Protocol,the Copenhagen climate change summit at the end of the year yielded little in terms of a legally binding commitment. However,it was notable for the initiative by the BASIC group developing economies India,China,Brazil and South Africa and the US in thrashing out an accord. Red Terror The tribal uprising in Lalgarh,in West Midnapore,snowballed into a major show of strength against the West Bengal government by the Maoists. The Bengal government launched a massive,and controversial,operation to wrest Lalgarh from the Maoists. Austerity drive In a year of recession,The Indian Express report on Union Ministers S M Krishna and Shashi Tharoor being housed in the Capitals luxury hotels for over three months brought the focus on the UPA governments much-touted austerity drive. Nano launch The launch of Tatas small car Nano made headlines not just in the country,but around the world. Described as the peoples car by Tata Group chairman Ratan Tata,Nanos commercial launch marked a milestone in a journey filled with controversies and hurdles including the Singur controversy.
