Events in April 2005
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Apr. 1
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Twenty States shift to the Value-Added Tax regime. |
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India Gateway Terminal Private Limited, part of Dubai Ports International, takes over the Rajiv Gandhi Container Terminal from the Cochin Port Trust. |
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Apr. 2
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Panchsheel the bedrock of India-China ties, says the President, A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, in his greetings to the Chinese President, Hu Jintao on the 55th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two nations. |
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The External Affairs Minister, Natwar Singh, launches the Indo-European Parliamentary Forum at a function in the FICCI headquarters, in New Delhi. |
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Apr. 3
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The Government reconstitutes the Board of Trade with Kumaramangalam Birla as chairman. |
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A.B. Bardhan is re-elected CPI general secretary for a three-year term at the 19th party congress in Chandigarh. |
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The CBI Economic Offences Wing officers arrest M. Varadharajaloo, accused in the Indian Bank scam at the international airport, in Chennai. |
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Apr. 4
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Tobacco major ITC Limited signs a deal with the Government ending a 17-year-old dispute involving Rs. 803-crore excise duties. |
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Apr. 5
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Rules not violated in defence purchases during and after the 1999 Kargil War, says the UPA Governemnt in an affidavit filed in Supreme Court. |
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The Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, releases four stamps to commemorate the Dandi March. |
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India and Uzbekistan sign pacts to enhance cooperation in education, trade and defence. |
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The Indian Council of Medical Research gives approval for stem cell research at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences. |
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Apr. 6
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A suicide squad attacks the Tourist Reception Centre in Srinagar housing 24 passengers of the bus to PoK capital Muzaffarabad. |
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Dandi March route (384 km) is declared a ‘heritage path’ and the Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, announces a Rs. 10-crore package for Sabarmati Gandhi Ashram renovation, on the 75th anniversary day of the breaking of the salt act by Mahatma Gandhi. |
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Mobile handset major, Nokia, signs an MoU to set up a plant on a 21-acre facility in Sriperumbudur, Tamil Nadu, the first such in the country. |
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Apr. 7
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“A door has been opened”, says the Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, flagging off two buses on the inaugural run of the Srinagar-Muzaffarabad bus service across the Line of Control, at the Sher-e-Kashmir Stadium. |
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Venkaiah Naidu, is made BJP vice-president. |
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Fiftyfour persons are drowned in the Narmada river at Dharaji village in Dewas district of Madhya Pradesh, due to the sudden release of water from the Indira Sagar dam. |
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Apr. 8
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The Government sets up an Inter-State Trade Council as part of measures to boost farm exports. A special package for the marine products sector is launched. |
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The Union Cabinet gives its nod for the second Administrative Commission to prepare a blueprint for revamping the public administration system. |
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The Centre is to stand guarantee to help settle the Dabhol power project in Maharashtra. |
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Apr. 9
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China favours expansion of exchanges and settling questions left over by history, says the visiting Premier, Wen Jiabao, on arrival in Bangalore. |
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Apr. 10
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India and China clinch a set of “guiding principles” on their border dispute following a meeting between Special Representatives, M.K. Narayanan and Dai Bingguo, in New Delhi. |
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The Congress expels the former president of its Kerala unit, K. Muraleedharan, for six years for “anti-party activities”. |
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The CPI(M) Polit Bureau accepts the offer of Harkishan Singh Surjeet to step down as party general secretary. |
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Apr. 11
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India and China upgrade ties to the status of a “strategic and cooperative partnership” after the Manmohan-Wen Jiabao summit in New Delhi. Beijing recognises Sikkim and hands over new, official map. The two sides ink 11 pacts. |
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Prakash Karat is elected CPI(M) general secretary at the 18th party congress in New Delhi. Brinda Karat becomes the first woman to make it to the Polit Bureau. |
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Ratan Tata steps down as Videsh Sanchar Nigam Limited Chairman. |
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Apr. 12
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The Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, launches the National Rural Health Mission, in New Delhi. |
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Bodoland People’s Progressive Front, a new regional party is launched in Assam. |
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Apr. 13
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The 54.85-km-long Jammu-Udhampur railway line costing Rs. 515 crores is dedicated to the nation by the Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh. |
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The Centre files an additional affidavit in the Supreme Court, refers 23 more defence deals to the CBI for fresh probe. |
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Apr. 14
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India and the U.S. sign a landmark ‘open skies’ pact replacing the 1956 Air Services Agreement removing the cap on number of flights, in New Delhi. |
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Apr. 15
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Brahmos, an anti-ship supersonic missile fitted with a live warhead for the first time is test-fired in the combat mode of the Navy, from INS Rajput, in the Arabian Sea. |
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“There can be no political compromise with terror,” says the Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh at the Chief Ministers’ conference in New Delhi. CMs’ panel on naxal violence planned. |
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A compact disc on Tamil Software Tools and Fonts brought out by the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing is launched at a function in Chennai. |
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The Indian stock markets crash, the biggest since the May 11 2004 fall, following a sharp drop in metal and oil stocks on the back of a global slide. |
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A new jute policy is unveiled its highlight being the creation of a National Jute Board. |
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Apr. 16
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“We cannot rewrite the past, but we can build a more secure future… says the Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, welcoming the visiting Pakistan President, Pervez Musharraf, in New Delhi. |
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The Centre decides to resurrect the Conditional Access System for viewing pay cable channels on television. |
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Apr. 17
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“I am willing to travel the road to lasting peace” with Pervez Musharraf, says the Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, after talks with the Pak. President. |
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India and Pakistan decide to set up a Joint Business Council of their apex industrial bodies. Islamabad to consider granting Most Favoured Nation status to India. |
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Apr. 18
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Peace process irreversible, say India and Pakistan. Opening up trade across the Line of Control and allowing traffic on trans - LoC Poonch-Rawalkot route are other highlights of the Manmohan-Musharraf joint statement. |
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The Centre draws up a draft of the Indian Public Health Standards evolving uniform guidelines for quality care. |
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Apr. 19
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Opposition stalls business in Parliament over the filing of a second affidavit in the Kargil defence purchase cases. |
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Vikram Seth, one of the best known Indian writers in English, is presented with the Government’s Pravasi Bharatiya Samman 2005 award in New Delhi. |
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Apr. 20
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The Congress and the CPI(M) demand probe into alleged payoffs by South African arms maker Denel to a British firm of agents to secure a deal with India for sale of ammunition to the army in 2003 during the NDA rule. |
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Apr. 21
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Seventeen persons are killed and 114 injured as the Ahmedabad-bound Sabarmati Express from Varanasi rams a stationary goods train at the Samalaya railway station, 26 km from Vadodara. The Railway Minister, Lalu Prasad is attacked by a mob. |
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The Centre orders probe into the $3.9 million arms deals with Denel. |
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The CBI probe into the Bofors payoff case hits a snag after Swiss authorities express inability to assist in the matter. |
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The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India, slashes domestic bandwidth tariff between 3 and 70 per cent. |
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A Maharashtra policeman, Sunil More, rapes a minor student on the Marine Drive in Mumbai. |
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Apr. 22
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The Defence Ministry refers the Denel ‘payoffs’ case to the CBI following reports in the South African newspaper Cape Argus. |
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Apr. 24
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The Gujarat Government, appoints a probe panel headed by a retired judge, N.B. Patel, to look into charges of the Railway Minister, Lalu Prasad of “conspiracy and murderous attack” on him. |
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Apr. 25
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A CBI special court in Ranchi frames charges against the Railway Minister, Lalu Prasad Yadav and 69 others in a case relating to the Rs. 950-crore fodder scam. |
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B.B. Tandon is appointed the next Chief Election Commissioner. |
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The former Shiv Sena MP, Sanjay Nirupam joins the Congress. |
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The United Nations Secretary-General, Kofi Annan, arrives in New Delhi. |
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Apr. 27
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A special CBI Court sentences to death Aftab Ansari and six others for the attack on the American Center in Kolkata. |
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The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs gives its nod for continuation of 1,562 fast track courts for the next five years. |
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Maruti Udyog Limited, rolls out its five millionth Maruti car from its Gurgaon factory. |
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India and Pakistan must cooperate in tackling terrorism, says the U.N. Secretary-General, Kofi Annan, during talks with the Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, in New Delhi. |
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Apr. 28
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The Union Cabinet gives its nod for the setting up of the National Knowledge Commission under technocrat Sam Pitroda. |
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Apr. 29
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India and Japan pledge to work as “partners against proliferation” after talks between Prime Ministers, Manmohan Singh and Junichiro Koizumi. An “eight-fold initiative” is issued. |
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Air-India Express, a fully owned subsidiary of Air India set up under the Air India Charters is dedicated to the nation at a function in Thiruvananthapuram. |
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Apr. 30
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Work on the Poonch-Rawalakot road begins. |
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N. Narayanan is appointed Tamil Nadu Chief Secretary. |
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Events 2005
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec
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