Diaspora: Leadership and Enterprise - Overseas Indian

60 60Cover StoryAtal Bihari Vajpayee became the PrimeMinister of India in 1996 for 13 days1986!The century's worst drought affects most of India.1987!The Mizo accord signals an end to one of longest secessionist movements in India.!India deploys troops in Sri Lanka's northeast.1989!Congress loses to Janata Dal-led coalition in general election. V.P. Singh becomesPrime Minister.1990!Indian troops withdraw from Sri Lanka after suffering nearly 1,200 dead.!Muslim separatists begin campaign of violence in Kashmir.!The decision to implement the Mandal Commission recommendations andprovide reservations to Other Backward Classes (OBC) leads to countrywideviolence and fractures the polity further along caste lines.!Janata Dal government falls. Chandra Shekhar becomes Prime Minister withCongress support.1991!Rajiv Gandhi assassinated by Tamil Tiger suicide bomber.!Congress wins general election. P.V. Narasimha Rao becomes Prime Minister.!Economic reform programme begun by Narasimha Rao and Finance MinisterManmohan Singh.1992!Hindu mobs demolish Babri mosque in Ayodhya, triggering widespread Hindu-Muslim violence.1993!Bomb blasts rock Mumbai, killing 257 people. It is the world's worst urban terrorattack.1996!Congress suffers worst ever electoral defeat. Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) forms aminority government, with Atal Bihari Vajpayee as Prime Minister, but it lastsonly 13 days.!A 14-party United Front coalition then takes power. H.D. Deve Gowda is PrimeMinister.Dr Manmohan Singh became thePrime Minister of India in 2004Bus servicelaunched betweenSrinagar andMuzaffarabad inPakistan.US and India sign anagreement on civiliannuclear cooperation in 2007.The Agni missile being showcased onRepublic DayPratibha Patil becamethe first womanPresident of India1997!Congress withdraws support to Deve Gowda. I.K. Gujral becomes Prime Minister.After eight months, Congress withdraws support again.1998!BJP forms coalition government, Vajpayee is again Prime Minister.!India carries out nuclear tests.1999!Vajpayee makes a bus trip to Pakistan to meet Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and signsLahore peace declaration.!Indian troops fight Pakistan-backed forces in Kargil, Jammu and Kashmir.!BJP-led coalition falls apart. In fresh elections, BJP-led coalition again wins. Vajpayeeremains Prime Minister.2000!India's population crosses the one billion mark.2001!Massive earthquakes hit Gujarat, leaving at least 30,000 dead.!A high-powered rocket is launched, propelling India into the club of countries able tofire big satellites deep into space.!Vajpayee meets Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf in Agra; meeting deadlockedover Kashmir.!Terrorists attack Parliament in New Delhi. India blames Pakistan and imposessanctions. Troops mass on the India-Pakistan border.2002!India test-fires nuclear-capable ballistic missile - Agni.!Anti-Muslim riots break out after 59 Hindus returning from Ayodhya are killed intrain fire in Godhra, Gujarat. More than 1,000 people are killed.2003!India matches Pakistan's declaration of Kashmir ceasefire.2004!Indian government meets moderate Kashmir separatists.!Surprise victory for Congress in general elections. Manmohan Singh becomes PrimeMinister after Sonia Gandhi declines the post.!Thousands die when a tsunami devastates coastal southern India and the Andamanand Nicobar Islands.2005!Bus services, the first in 60 years, operate between Srinagar and Muzaffarabad inPakistan.2006!US and India sign an agreement by which the US is to give India access to civiliannuclear technology while India agrees to greater scrutiny for its nuclear programme.2007!India and Pakistan agree to reduce risk of accidental nuclear war.!India announces strongest economic growth figures for 20 years - 9.4 percent in theyear to March.!Pratibha Patil becomes India's first woman President.18PRAVASI BHARATIYA AUGUST 2007PRAVASI BHARATIYA AUGUST 2007 19