New Delhi: Be it a successful space mission, an Oscars win or a World Cup loss, in the year 2023, India witnessed a series of events that brought the country together in various ways.
The year also saw India host the G20 Summit, the inauguration of the new Parliament building, and a 17-day marathon operation to rescuing 41 workers who were trapped in a partially collapsed under-construction tunnel in the Himalayas.
ThePrint looks at 10 events from 2023 that captured the nation’s attention.
Chandrayaan-3
The lunar exploration programme Chandrayaan marked a turning point in India’s space research.
The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) launched Chandrayaan-1 in 2008, which helped discover water molecules on the Moon’s surface.
In 2019, Chandrayaan-2 achieved another milestone by deploying a lunar rover, Vikram, and an orbiter to explore the Moon’s south pole. This ambitious project showcased India’s technological advancement and its ability to undertake complex space missions.
The Chandrayaan-3 mission, which launched on 14 July, consists of the Vikram lander, which carries the Pragyan rover. With its successful landing on 23 August, India became the fourth country — after the US, Russia and China — to pull off a soft landing on the lunar surface.
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Aditya L-1
After the Moon, India aimed for the Sun. ISRO achieved another milestone in 2023 when on 2 September, it launched Aditya-L1, the first Indian space based observatory to study the Sun.
Aditya-L1 will be located about 1.5 million km from the Earth, where it can observe the Sun continuously without any interruptions or eclipses.
Last week, the Solar Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope (SUIT) instrument on board the Aditya-L1 spacecraft captured the first full-disk images of the Sun.
Aditya-L1 Mission:
The SUIT payload captures full-disk images of the Sun in near ultraviolet wavelengthsThe images include the first-ever full-disk representations of the Sun in wavelengths ranging from 200 to 400 nm.
They provide pioneering insights into the intricate details… pic.twitter.com/YBAYJ3YkUy
— ISRO (@isro) December 8, 2023
Uttarkashi tunnel rescue
While the space missions showcased the country’s scientific achievements, the Uttarkashi tunnel rescue was a remarkable display of human resilience and courage.
As many as 41 labourers trapped in an under-construction tunnel faced life-threatening conditions until a team of rescuers and rat-hole miners reached them. More than a physical extraction, the rescue operation was a triumph of the human spirit over adversity.
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New Parliament building
India’s democracy found a new address in the form of a new Parliament building this year.
The new Parliament building, with a seating capacity of 1,272, is not only more spacious than the earlier complex but is also equipped with state-of-the-art technical features.
Multimedia display units in front of each MP’s seat, biometrics for ease of voting, a digital language translation system and a programmable microphone are among some of the high-tech features in the new Parliament building.
India hosts G20 summit
With the home to democracy well in place, it was time to look to invite world leaders to discuss pressing global challenges.
India successfully hosted the G20 summit this September during which leaders from the around the world gathered in New Delhi to discuss economic cooperation, climate change, and global health.
In a rare occurrence, the joint declaration was adopted unanimously without any objections either from either Russia or the West, marking a pivotal moment in Indian diplomacy.
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World Cup 2023
The audience at the Narendra Modi stadium in Ahmedabad and millions in front of their television screens were united in loss on a Sunday evening in November when India, after an undefeated sprint, lost the finals of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 to Australia.
Amid all the tears, anger and post-match analysis, which included former Pakistani all-rounder Wasim Akram’s criticism of the middle-order, there were also countless messages of support that poured in for the Indian team, including one from Prime Minister Narendra Modi who wrote in a post on X: “We stand with you today and always.”
Asian Games
But India’s success at the Asian Games exhibited the nation’s athletic prowess on the continental stage. With a record-breaking 107 medals, India’s performance at the 2023 Asian Games in Hangzhou, China, was its best ever.
In comparison to other Asian Games editions, the nation’s medal share this year increased to 29 medals in 2023 from 12 in 2010. Though India did well overall, athletics was the most notable aspect of their campaign.
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India’s Oscar win
The entertainment industry also saw several firsts in 2023.
India made history at the 95th Academy Awards by winning two Oscars for the first time.
Deepika Padukone announced the winner of the best original song, Naatu Naatu, from the Telugu movie RRR, which was the first song ever from an Indian production to be nominated for the Oscars.
The Elephant Whisperers, a documentary by Kartiki Gonsalves and Guneet Monga, won the Best Documentary Short award, becoming the first Oscar for an Indian production.
SRK movies
Shah Rukh Khan has been the glue that binds Indians of all ages and 2023 was no different. By delivering the two biggest blockbuster hits of the year, Pathaan and Jawan, the actor proved beyond a reasonable doubt the ability of cinema to unite Indians.
Amritpal’s arrest
Amritpal Singh, the self-proclaimed preacher and his escapades kept not just Punjab but the entire country on edge. It began with the Dubai-return Sikh separatist storming a police station to free an associate who had been arrested by the police.
What ensued was a nationwide manhunt that culminated in his arrest in April.
(Edited by Richa Mishra)