National Events in December 1998
1st Dec
Mr. Digvijay Singh and Mr. Ashok Gehlot take over as Chief Ministers of Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan.
3rd Dec
Mrs. Sheila Dixit and Mr. Zoramthanga take over as Chief Ministers of Delhi and Mizoram.
India and Portugal sign an agreement in New Delhi for setting up a joint committee to enhance cooperation in science and technology.
4th Dec
Mrs. Sonia Gandhi says the Congress(I) is prepared to meet the challenge of contesting a mid-term poll if it is forced on the country. But it would not take any initiative to pull down the BJP-led coalition.
Christians across the country observe a protest day against the recent attacks on the community and its institutions.
Shehnai player Ustad Bismillah Khan bags the year's Swati Puraskaram, instituted by the Kerala Government in memory of Swati Tirunal.
Music composer Ilayaraja selected for the Lata Mangeshkar award instituted by the Madhya Pradesh Government.
5th Dec
Mr. Jaswant Singh and Mr. Pramod Mahajan take over as the new Foreign Minister and Minister for Information and Broadcasting. Mr. Jagmohan takes over as Minister for Communications.
7th Dec
Mr. Vajpayee questions Pakistan's decision to hand over part of occupied Kashmir to China and says the area belongs to India.
8th Dec
The BJP not only gives its final approval to the entry of foreign capital into the insurance business but virtually signals the end of the ``Swadeshi'' economics.
The Indian film, The Terrorist wins all top awards including the Golden Pyramid award for the best film at the 23rd Cairo International Film Festival. Santosh Sivan gets the best director award, while its heroine, Ayesha Dharker, bags the best actress award.
10th Dec
Prof. Amartya Sen receives the 1998 Nobel Prize for Economics.
Dr. Gurudev S. Khush, rice breeder at the International Rice Research Institute, Philippines, and Dr. Sanjaya Rajaram, wheat breeder at the International Wheat and Maize Improvement Centre, Mexico, share the Rank Prize announced in London.
11th Dec
A nation-wide general strike called by the National Platform of Mass Organisations evokes a ``very good response'' in most southern and eastern states, but has a partial impact in the rest of the country.
The Trinamul Congress leader, Ms. Mamata Banerjee, holds a Samajwadi Party member, Mr. Daroga Prasad Saroj, by the collar and drags him out of the ``well'' of the Lok Sabha to prevent him from protesting against the Women's Reservation bill.
12th Dec
Bodo ultras kill 19 in Assam.
The Tamizhaga Rajiv Congress quits the AIADMK front.
14th Dec
The Government introduces the controversial Women's Reservation Bill in the Lok Sabha.
The Supreme Court allows Karnataka to begin skeletal work on erection of 26 crest gates at the Almatti dam on the Krishna at ``its own risk and cost'', but directs it not to raise the dam height beyond the present 509 metres.
15th Dec
The Government introduces a Bill in the Lok Sabha to open up the insurance sector to private investors, both domestic and foreign.
16th Dec
Mr. Vajpayee assures the Rajya Sabha that India will continue the nuclear dialogue with the U.S. without yielding on core national security interests.
The Government introduces in the Rajya Sabha the Patents (Amendments) Bill 1998 amid Left protests.
17th Dec
Mr. P. M. Sayeed of the Congress(I) is unanimously elected Deputy Speaker of the Lok Sabha.
18th Dec
Mr. Vajpayee sets a March 31, 1999 deadline for at least 10 power projects to complete all formalities (financial closure) and get off the ground.
Mrs. Sonia Gandhi hints that the Congress(I) is not keen on forming Government at the Centre with the help of other parties and that it would prefer to return to power on its own strength.
The Supreme Court orders release of the former Bihar Chief Minister, Dr. Jagannath Mishra, after granting him bail in the fodder scam conspiracy case.
19th Dec
The Russian Prime Minister, Mr. Yevgeny Primakov, arrives in India for a two-day official visit. The visit assumes significance in the context of the U.S. and British strikes against Iraq.
21st Dec
The Viswabharati University, Calcutta, presents the `Deshikottama' award to the Nobel laureate, Prof. Amartya Sen.
22nd Dec
Russia plans to give an additional content to its relationship with India in the form of strategic partnership - denoting expanded cooperation and understanding of each other's concerns and interests in various fields.
The Patents Bill gets Rajya Sabha approval.
Unruly scenes, including a scuffle between RJD and BJP members, forces the Government to defer the introduction in the Lok Sabha of the Bill to create Vananchal.
Janata Dal's Mr. S. Jaipal Reddy is selected for the ``best parliamentarian award'' for 1998.
The National Award for the Best Technological Invention is conferred on Prof. J. R. Isaac, computer scientist.
23rd Dec
Lok Sabha session ends abruptly amid noisy scenes soon after the Government has rushed through the introduction of the Bill to create Vananchal, despite strong protests by the Rashtriya Janata Dal and the Samajwadi Party.
Jayaprakash Narayan posthumously awarded Bharat Ratna, the country's biggest honour.
The Central Vigilance Commission finalises guidelines for conducting CBI probes into irregularities and corruption in banks and also a time-frame for the investigations.
The Government fails to get the Patents Amendment Bill considered and passed in the Lok Sabha, raising a big question mark on its intention and pointing to unresolved issues within the BJP and the larger Sangh Parivar.
24th Dec
The Rashtrapati Bhavan denies that the Patents Amendment Bill was sent to the President for approval and the Government charges the Congress(I) with adopting ``double standards'' and ``suddenly changing its stand''.
25th Dec
The Parliamentary Affairs Minister, Mr. Madan Lal Khurana, apologises to the President, Mr.K.R. Narayanan for the confusion over why the Patents Bill was not brought to the Lok Sabha after it was passed by the Rajya Sabha.
27th Dec
The Sri Lankan President, Ms. Chandrika Kumaratunga arrives here to add a new dimension to the economic ties between India and Sri Lanka and discuss ways to boost regional economic integration in South Asia.
Churches and missionary schools come under attack and many are injured in a fresh outbreak of communal violence in Surat and Dangs district of Gujarat even as the Bajrang Dal and the Vishwa Hindu Parishad announce the stepping up of their stir against the alleged conversion of Hindus.
The Nobel laureate, Prof. Amartya Sen, unveils his plans to set up a charity trust with the award money for development of education and health in India and Bangladesh.
28th Dec
India and Sri Lanka sign an agreement, to establish a bilateral free trade area, after the visiting Sri Lankan President, Mrs. Chandrika Kumaratunga, and the Prime Minister, Mr. A. B. Vajpayee, have sorted out the differences that held up the negotiations on it in the past.