2004 in India - Events

Events

• 17 January - The national executive of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) meets at Hyderabad.
• 17 January - P.A. Sangma quits the Nationalist Congress Party and decides to ally with the ruling National Democratic Alliance.
• 28 January - BJP president Venkaiah Naidu elected for three-year term.
• 28 January - The Border Security Force busts a hideout of pro-Pakistan Hizbul Mujahideen in Pulwama District of south Kashmir and recovers a "huge quantity" of ammunition and explosives. Acting on a tip-off, the security personnel raided the hideout at Remu village in the early hours and recovered around 12,000 rounds of AK ammunition, 2.5 kg RDX and three grenades according to a Border Security Force spokesman.
• 28 January - Commerce minister Arun Jaitley announced the Cabinet decision to free gold and silver imports from all restrictions.
• 28 January- The Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court fixed 23 February for further hearing of te revision petition filed against deputy prime minister L. K. Advani's discharge in the Babri Masjid demolition case by a special CBI court at Rae Bareli.
• 29 January - Congress president Sonia Gandhi meets Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) leader Karunanidhi to finalise their electoral pact which also includes the Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (MDMK), Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) and the Left parties in the state.
• 7 February-15 February - Kala Ghoda festival
• 4 March - The Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB) refused to clear a project of Pepsi to expand their plant to triple production in Chembur, Mumbai on the grounds that the expansion will have a polluting effect on the environment.
• 6 April - The biggest ever Indo-French naval exercise Varuna 2004 gets underway off the coast of Goa.
• 20 April - First phase of polling for fourteenth Lok Sabha elections covering 141 constituencies.
• 26 April - Second phase of polling for fourteenth Lok Sabha elections covering 137 constituencies.
• 5 May - Third phase of polling for fourteenth Lok Sabha elections covering 83 constituencies.
• 10 May - Fourth and last phase of polling for fourteenth Lok Sabha elections covering 182 constituencies.
• 13 May - Results for the fourteenth Lok Sabha elections announced, the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) loses, as the Indian National Congress wins a surprise victory.
• 20 May - Dr. Manmohan Singh sworn in as the new prime minister of India, after Congress forms the United Progressive Alliance with the Left parties.
• 1 June - Justice Ramesh Chandra Lahoti appointed Chief Justice of India.
• 14 July - Lalu Prasad Yadav, amidst walkouts by the opposition in both houses orders a high-level departmental inquiry into the Godhra tragedy in 2002.
• 15 July - Maninder Pal Singh Kohli, prime accused in the high profile rape and murder of British teenager Hannah Foster is arrested by West Bengal police in Darjeeling District while trying to flee to Nepal.
• 18 July - Uttar Pradesh Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chief Vinay Katiyar resigns from his post on the direction of the party high command.
• 28 July - Maninder Pal Singh Kohli admits to having raped and murdered British teenager Hannah Foster in an interview to a private television channel.
• 1 August - The senior citizen savings scheme offering a "high" nine percent taxable return is expected to be launched.
• 31 August - Union minister Ghulam Nabi Azad's brother Ghulam Abbas Azad is attacked by terrorists, seriously injuring his security guard in Doda District of Jammu and Kashmir.
• 1 September - The Bombay High Court passes interim orders restraining television channels from broadcasting "any adult TV programme and film without an appropriate certificate from the Indian censor board."
• 22 September - Terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir make an unsuccessful attempt on the life of Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed by firing grenades.
• 17 October - Assembly elections Congress and alliance win Maharastra election Maharashtra.
• 17 October - After the loss in Maharastra assembly election BJP president Venkaiah Naidu quits, Advani to lead BJP.
• 11 November - Shankaracharya of Kanchi Jayendra Saraswathi is arrested on charges of murdering a temple manager.
• 20 November - Policemen and soldiers recover 300 kg of RDX from a grocery store near Anantnag.
• 25 November - The Indian political party Congress Jananayaka Peravai merges into the Indian National Congress.
• 27 November - Lieutenant General Joginder Jaswant Singh is named the next Chief of the Army Staff of Indian Army. He will succeed General N C Vij when he retires on 31 January.
• 21 December - Zahira Sheikh, key witness in Best Bakery case is declared hostile by the prosecution after she went back on her police statement during the retrial.
• 26 December - The strongest earthquake in 40 years originates from the Indian Ocean off the west coast of Sumatra island in Indonesia, measuring 9.0 on the Richter Scale and creating tsunami tidal waves that sweep across much of the coastlines of South Asia. More than 15,000 reported killed in India and 250,000 across the globe.