Author: Rheime Ghosh
What to remember from 2016?
In the box of 365 or 366 days, so many things come and go, but only the most saddening or the most gladdening things remain engraved in our memory. Like every year, on the last day of the year, we are all going to sit, some in seclusion, some in group, and reminisce what we all actually did. All the news channels would run special prime time program named Farewell 2016 and make you count all the special events of the year. Let’s feel proud once again by remembering the heroes of this year.
Economy:
As a nation, this was one of the historical years for sure. Something so big happened in the last year that has changed every stratum of the country. From the social, political, and economic end, our country has catapulted into a new force. Needless to say, I am mentioning the master stroke of Mr. Prime Minister that is named Demonetization. This one blow from him have changed everything overnight and restored our faith into the government once again. On 8th November, after 5 P.M., Narendra Modi announced that Rs.500 and 1000 notes issued by the RBI would stop functioning after midnight. This government is on a mission to extract the black money from people which are the root cause of corruption in our country. Well, you all know how tsunamic or havoc the effects were. The whole country became digital overnight. Somewhere in the middle of the year, he announced to open zero balance account and also notified gently to submit the taxes in a legitimate way. But we all thought that this is another passing phase and he would forget all these but alas he remembered. Various reviews of this action kept our discussions strong. The biggest blow may have been to the local political parties because these rely heavily on the black money to run their goons and rule. Those people who have kept their money savings in Swiss Bank are truly screwed and the show is quite an entertaining one to watch. It’s like watching Ravan-Vadh in a satirical way.
And from a common man’s perspective, things have changed for betterment. I don’t know if the price of real estate is going to dip or not, but I am just proud to say that I belong to a developed nation.
Finance:
In terms of FDI, India has done pretty well. The biggest grosser since 2015 is India in this segment. When the world economy is going low for some reasons, China being the biggest market grosser is also going in the loss, India is soaring high. With the project like Make In India, the inflow of investments in our country has risen to 48%. This is surely a big achievement.
Military:
The famous war between Indian and Pakistan is as old as the age of our independent country. The neighboring nation just cannot stay in peace without doing the tango with us. I mean, look at the size of the country named Pakistan and then see ours. How dare are they to attack our security forces on 18th September in Indian Army Brigade Headquarters in Uri? This attack was one of the deadliest in recent times that is done by some enemy nation. More than 85 civilians and 4 militants died and at least 20 soldiers were highly injured. But our government then decided not to stay calm and give a worthy reply they deserve. Now, after 11 days of the event, a surgical strike was imposed and our army men killed the suspected terrorist in one blow. Wasn’t this “Surgical Strike” really perfect an answer? Of course, we all felt proud of our soldiers who had the guts to go inside the enemy nation and show them in truly Bollywood style:Doodh Mangoge to kheer denge, Kashmir mangoge (chhedoge in this reference) to cheer denge If you want milk, we will serve you pudding, but if you ask or touch Kashmir, we will tear you apart.
Entertainment:
Well, this was the year for some really great movies for the movie buffs like me. In total, I can say we watched some masterpiece in reels. From Natsamrat in Marathi to Pink and Dear Zindagi in Hindi, Sankhachil and Cinemawala in Bengali to Charlie in Malayali this year was heavily induced in the art of cinema. We also saw some amazing stories of patriotism in Airlift, Sarbjit, Rustom, and Neerja, learned to tackle our men for saving women in Pink, witnessed revenge stories in Wazir, saw the drug effects in Udta Punjab, strengthened family ties in Kapoor and Sons, cheered sports heavily with M.S. Dhone: the untold story, Budhia Singh born to run, and Saala Khadoos, reinforced innocence in Dhanak, and last but not the least saw the achievement of Phogat family in Dangal.
The subject of women kept the theaters really packed with Akira, Neerja, Pink, Kahaani 2 doing great business. But the unusual thing that happened in the entertainment industry of our country was a ban on Pakistani artists after the Uri attack in September. The most publicized story was Fawad Khan’s presence in Ae Dil Hai Mushkil. His screen presence was minimized and the mention of Lahore in the movie was changed to Lucknow. The GEC Zindagi stopped airing all the Pakistani soaps. So, the bilateral boycott was felt here also.
Sports:
The biggest achievement in sports must be the successful stint of India in Rio Olympics. India has been a regular contender in Summer Olympics since 1920 and this time in 2016 India had the biggest team in history. There were 117 athletes, 63 men and 54 women, across 15 sports at the Games. Well, to be very specific India returned home only with two medals but the competitions faced were played really well and that never give up spirit won our hearts. Sakshi Malik of wrestling and P.V. Sindhu of Badminton remained the stars. Maybe some day their stories would also be filmed like Mary Kom. Talking about India’s favorite sports, cricket, it is to be mentioned that as an effect of Uri attack, BCCI informed ICC not to put India and Pakistan together in any group. India would never play a match with Pakistan again as of now. India didn’t win the T20 world cup the way we expected because it was the host nation. But Virat Kohli again won us by getting the tag of player of the series. Star cricketer Yuvraj Singh tied the knot with Hazel Keech. It’s a win for him and loss for his female fans.
Space:
The first ever global navigation satellite system NAVIC became fully operational in August. Remember only US, China, EU, and Russia has their own satellite navigation system. So, we are in that super league with a bang. In May, Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) launched its first Made In India space shuttle, making it the India’s first test flight for the home-made Reusable Launch Vehicle Technology Demonstrator. Another feather in the crown was that, in June, ISRO broke its own record by launching 20 satellites from one rocket. Earlier, in 2008, it launched 10 satellites from one rocket. So, this was quite an eventful year in this department also.
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Infrastructure:
For any country to develop, the infrastructure has to be built first. Without amenities, no people can stay in peace to build a better nation. So, a project named, Setu Bharatam Program was initiated which means all our national highways railway level crossings would be free by 2019. In total, some 208 rail-over bridges and rail-under bridges will be built and that cost would be a staggering Rs.20, 800 crores. Besides our 1,500 decade-old bridges will also be reassembled and restored for Rs.30, 000 crores. Also not to forget the 2016-17 budget where Rs. 19, 000 crores has been allotted to build the village roads.
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Other achievements:
In 2016, Lonely Planet, which is the world’s largest travel guide book awarded Madhya Pradesh for Best Indian destination for wildlife. Professor Udupi Ramachandra Rao was awarded a Hall Of Fame by International Astronautical Federation. Andhra Pradesh Harita-Priya Agriculture Project was awarded by 2016 WSIS World Society on Information Society. J.J. Singh, former Indian Army Chief has bestowed the Legion Of Honor, France’s highest civilian honor.
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With so many milestones already covered, we hope for a brighter morning tomorrow. Only 1 day left or rather just a few hours are left to finish the year and people are in a party mood to welcome another year with new hope and enthusiasm. I would also love to say you all that, close your eyes for some time and forgive some people, ask for forgiveness from some people and start afresh with new motivation.
# See ya in 2017! #
Ferns n Petals Wishes you all a very Happy & Prosperous New Year 2017
Wish your loved ones with the best gifts this year with us.
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