1.India ahead: An Ipsos MORI poll said people in 25 countries placed India among the top 10 countries that have a positive influence on global affairs, with Canada leading. India stood at No 8, ahead of the US and China.
2.Long bridge: At 4.9 km, Narendra Modi inaugurated India's longest rail-road bridge, and second longest in Asia over the Brahmaputra. It took 21 years to build.
3.India 6th richest : AfrAsia Bank Global Wealth Migration Review India ranked at No 6 of wealthy countries with total wealth of $8,230 billion. US topped with a $62,584 billion followed by China and Japan.
4.Toilet spree: Almost 8 crore household toilets are estimated to have been built by the end of 2018. it saw an 81 per cent jump in sale of building materials and 48 per cent increase in bathroom and sanitaryware sales, according
to Euromonitor International.
5.Battery plant: India became home to the world’s first-ever thermal battery plant, in Andhra Pradesh. The thermal battery facility owned by Bharat Energy Storage Technology Private Limited will provide energy solutions for electrical grids, transport and telecom services.
6.Women fighter pilots: Indian Air Force inducted three women as fighter pilots. Avani Chaturvedi, Bhawana Kanth and Mohana Singh. There are more women training to fly fighter jets, creating gender parity in the armed forces.
7.STA-1 status: In a big snub to China, India became the third Asian nation after Japan and South Korea to get Strategic Trade Authorization-1 (STA-1) from the US. Trump Administration made an exception for India, which is yet to become a member of the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG).
8.Tallest statue: The Statue of Unity, the statue of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, is the world’s tallest at 182 metre. It is visible from passenger aircraft, and orders have been issued to pilots to point it out to passengers. Nearly 2.8 lakh people visited it in the first month.
9.Women SWAT team: India’s first all-female Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) team was inducted into the Delhi Police in August. The 36 women trained 15 months to handle weapons, counter terrorism and learnt Krav Maga.
10.No plastic: In June, Maharashtra ordered a complete ban on the manufacture, sale, transport, handling, storage and sale of all plastic and thermocol products. Violators face a fine of up to '25,000 and three months in jail.
11.Magsaysay awards: Psychiatrist Bharat Vaswani was honoured for his work for mentally-challenged homeless people. Sonam Wangchuk, on whom Phunsuk Wangdu of 3 Idiots was modelled, won for using science to help improve the lives of the youth of Ladakh.
12.Engineering Oscar: Vikas Sathaye, a Pune-born engineer, was part of the team that won an Oscar for science and technology in March 2018. Their innovation was an important breakthrough in filming mid-air sequences.
13.Better biz: India jumped 23 places to 77 in the World Bank's ‘ease of doing business’ rankings released in October, a development that could help the country attract more foreign investments. India was ranked 100 last year.
14.Fast train: Train 18, the '100 crore first engineless train, was flagged off at the Integral Coach Factory in October. The fully air-conditioned 16-coach train, driven by a self-propulsion module will cut journey time by 15 per cent compared to the 30-year old Shatabdi.
15.WHO brass: Dr Soumya Swaminathan, director general of the Indian Council of Medical Research, appointed deputy director general for programmes of World Health Organisation in October, the first time such a post has been ever created within the organisation. It is the highest post held by an Indian at WHO.
16.Michelin star: Chef Garima Arora became the first Indian woman to win a Michelin star for her Bangkok restaurant ‘Gaa’. Arora's delicious and artsy mix of Indian and Thai cuisine earned a Michelin star in the Michelin Guide Bangkok, Phuket And Phang-Nga 2019.
17.FGM is crime: The Centre in July has asked the Supreme Court to ban ‘khatna’ or the female genital mutilation, a practice prevalent among the Dawoodi Bohra community, as it is a punishable offence.
18.‘Living Will’ approved: A five-judge bench of the Supreme Court, headed by then Chief Justice Dipak Misra, legalised the right to die and approved ‘living will’ made by terminally-ill patients for passive euthanasia.
With this judgment India could soon move forward and legalising mercy killing too.
