National Events in January 1998
1st Jan
The Election Commission announces the poll schedule for the 12th Lok Sabha. The polling will be on February 16, 22, 28 and March 7. Simultaneously, elections are to be held for the Meghalaya, Tripura, Nagaland, Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh Assemblies.
India, Pakistan exchange lists of nuclear sites in their countries.
The Madras High Court declares that Sanskrit is not a dead language. The Tamil Nadu Government's reasoning that it has ceased to be a language in use is ``nothing but ignorance of reality.''
5th Jan
The RJD president, Mr. Laloo Yadav, and the BSP chief, Mr. Kanshi Ram, launch a seven-party ``Jan Morcha.''
The Gandhi Peace Prize, 1997 is presented to Dr. Gerhard Fischer of Germany.
The 68-day-old Dilip Parikh Govt. in Gujarat quits.
Sixty are killed as the Bareilly-Varanasi passenger rams the Kashi Viswanath Express near Hardoi.
9th Jan
Three RJD ministers in the Gujral Cabinet - Mr. Raghuvansh Prasad Singh, Capt. Jai Narayan Nishad and Mrs. Kanti Singh - resign.
Fortythree persons are injured as a bomb goes off in Delhi.
10th Jan
Nine Ranbir Sena supporters are killed in an ambush at Rampurchauram village in Bihar's Jehanabad district.
12th Jan
Sixteen persons are killed and 10 injured when police open fire at a mob at the Multai tehsil headquarters in Madhya Pradesh.
The Manipur Ministry, headed by Mr. W. Nipamacha Singh, wins a vote of confidence.
13th Jan
At least 66 students, returning from a picnic, are killed as their bus falls into the river Padma at Jalangi in West Bengal.
The Punjab police seize 148 highly-explosive rockets, grenades and detonators at Tehna village in Faridkot district.
Sixteen persons are shot dead by Bodo militants at Kekorakuchi and Metangapara villages in Kamrup district of Assam.
16th Jan
Mr. T. R. Satish Chandran is sworn in Goa Governor.
18th Jan
Mr. Justice M. M. Punchhi is sworn in Chief Justice of India.
22nd Jan
Second Lieutenant Punit Datta is posthumously selected for the nation's highest peace time gallantry award, Ashok Chakra.
24th Jan
The Congress(I), in its election manifesto, ``unreservedly apologises to the people of India'' for its government's failure to protect the Babri mosque.
The French President, Mr. Jacques Chirac, arrives in Mumbai on a three-day state visit.
26th Jan
Militants kill 23 Kashmiri Pandits at Wandhana village near Srinagar.
28th Jan
All 26 accused who stood trial in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case have been sentenced to death. A designated Judge of the TADA court in Chennai found them guilty.
31st Jan
Mr. D. R. Karthikeyan, seniormost Special Director, CBI, takes charge as Director from Mr. R. C. Sharma.