As we say goodbye to 2024, it will be a bit early to pat our backs and label every event in the country as historic, though some landmark performances undoubtedly stood out for their significance and potential to shape the future of India. The year witnessed moments of pain when natural disasters struck in several states, moments of euphoria in sports and scientific achievements, and moments of anxiety during unexpected political and geopolitical developments. A snapshot of the most important events is highlighted, and I am sure there may be several others.
Space Science: India signed off the year on a high note in space science today, i.e., 30 December 2024 at 10 pm by successfully launching its Space Docking Experiment or SpaDex mission. The majestic liftoff watched by millions of people across the world carried two spacecrafts, a Chaser (SDX01) and a Target (SDX02), each weighing 220 kilograms onboard a PSLV-C60 rocket that would place them in a low Earth orbit roughly 470 km above the Earth’s surface. Once they are in orbit, they communicate with each other, and using precise incremental velocity adjustments, the two spacecraft will drift 10 to 20 km apart. Guided by cameras, laser switches, and sensors, the chaser will line up behind the target and will finally latch on to it; this is expected to happen in early January 2025. The docking and undocking technology will lay the foundation for Bharatiya Antariksha Station for Indian astronauts planned in the next decade by 2035. Preparations with the Reusable Launch Vehicle (RLV) Pushpak that landed on a runaway in March 2024 was another successful step in this direction. With this launch, India has joined the elite global space club of the USA, Russia and China. Earlier, India stepped into the year with a bang when ISRO successfully launched the X-ray Polarimeter Satellite (XPoSat) mission to study pulsars, black holes, and active galactic nuclei, unravelling the mysteries of the universe. Aditya-L1, India’s first space-based solar observatory launched last year completed its first halo orbit around the Sun-Earth L1 point in July 2024.
Energy: In renewable energy, India showed an impressive surge by adding another ~25 GW installed capacity that comfortably surpassed the 200 GW target much before the year’s end. This remarkable growth aligns with the country’s ambitious renewable energy target of achieving 500 GW from non-fossil sources, with nearly 50 % coming from solar, by 2030 and leading the world towards a greener planet.
Economy: The first quarter of July-September (FY2024) surprised analysts when the GDP growth dropped to 5.4% against the prediction of over 7%. This led the RBI to lower its growth forecast for 2024-25 to 6.6%. But still, India continued to be the world’s fastest-growing major economy ranking fifth in the world and is likely to take over Germany, soon.
Natural Disasters: The year saw some of the worst natural disasters from flooding and landslides with devastating effects. Cyclone Remal struct West Bengal in May killing more than 33 people in northeast India. Cyclone Fengal made landfall in Puducherry in November killing 19 people. Floods in Assam claimed more than 115 lives and landslides in Wayanad in July were the worst with 420 people killed and an equal number missing. Vijayawada floods in September caused by heavy rains claimed more than 45 lives and rendered thousands homeless. Multiple Cloud burst events in Himachal Pradesh claimed over 65 lives. The collapse of an under-construction tunnel in Uttarakhand highlighted the role of rat miners in rescuing the trapped workers to safety.
Sports: With an overall tally of six medals with no gold, India had a rollercoaster journey at the Paris Olympics 2024 where the performance of Indian athletes was below par compared to the Tokyo Olympics in 2020. Most of the heavy lifting was done by Manu Bhaker who won the bronze medals in the Women’s 10 m Rapid Air Pistol and the Mixed Team event in the same category with Sarabjot Singh. She was also the fourth-best in the Women’s 25 m Rapid Air Pistol event. Neeraj Chopra, a gold medal hope, disappointed with a silver in the javelin, and Vinesh Phogat, though performed the best by defeating unbeaten Yui Susaki in the semifinals ended up disqualified during a weigh-in before the finals that could have fetched a gold. Hockey provided some best moments reminding the dominance of Indian Men’s hockey, once upon a time! They beat the best teams in the world, like New Zealand, Ireland, Argentina, Belgium, Australia, and Britain, but still ended up with a bronze losing to Germany in the semis. On the contrary, India’s performance at the 2024 Summer Paralympics in Paris was historic, with a record-breaking 29 medals, including seven gold, nine silver, and 13 bronze.
India lifted the T20 World Cup and provided great joy when Rohit Sharma led the Indian Cricket team to claim its second title by defeating South Africa by seven runs in a nail-biting final. The highlight was that the Indian team remained unbeaten throughout the tournament. India’s best moment came when 18-year-old Gukesh Dommaraju defeated China’s Ding Liren in a thrilling final of the FIDE World Chess Championship and became the youngest-ever World Champion. He surpassed Garry Kasparov who at 22 years claimed this crown. Gukesh’s win is seen as India’s prowess in chess following the footsteps of legendary Vishwanathan Anand.
Political Landscape and Geopolitics: Narendra Modi was sworn in for the third consecutive time as the Prime Minister of India, second only to Jawaharlal Nehru in the Independent India. The democratic credentials of India got a boost with elections to the Legislative Assembly in the Jammu and Kashmir after a decade. The impressive voter turnout of upward of 63% symbolises people’s sentiment to shun terrorism in the state and return to the mainstream offering hope for peace in the troubled border state. Ukraine, amidst its conflict with Russia welcomed the first-ever visit by an Indian Prime Minister when Narendra Modi landed in Kyiv in August. Also, the Indian President Droupadi Murmu became the first Indian head of state to visit Fiji.
The year also saw some of the regional conflicts being resolved, notably with the Maldives when Maldivian President Mohamed Muizzu visited India in October. The disengagement of Indian and Chinese forces in Ladakh after four years of tension signalled a thaw in a border conflict, signalling a potential de-escalation. The successful test of the first long-range hypersonic ballistic missile significantly bolstered India’s defence readiness. However, the relationship with Canada remained strained on the issue of the Sikh diaspora.
Nation’s loss: India lost some very well-known personalities who made great contributions across varied fields like former Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh, industrialist Ratan Tata, Tabla maestro Zakir Hussain, Gazal singer Pankaj Udhas, Indian filmmaker Shyam Benegal, Dr. Nitya Anand, the creator of India’s first contraceptive pill ‘Saheli’, Ameen Sayani, the iconic radio voice known for Binaca Geetmala, a program of yesteryears and many others.
India’s journey through 2024 was not linear and had its ups and downs. How the country deals with the troughs will decide its trajectory in the future.