2019 - Year Highlights (Major Events)
Posted on: 30/Dec/2019 5:27:06 PM
Lord Athi Varadhar:
The festival of Lord Athi Varadhar Darshan commenced at the Lord Varadaraja Swany temple in Kanchipuram commenced The deity of Lord Athi Varadhar, lying in the temple Ananthasaras pond was taken out, decorated and kept in the lying posture in the 1st Phase offering Darshan to several lakhs of devotees for 31 days. Then the deity of Lord Athi Varadhar was changed to standing posture and offered Darshan in the standing posture to the devotees for 16 days. The Darshan was for a period of 47days (the devotees were not allowed for Darshan on the 48th day). The deity was taken back to be in the pond on this day to be kept in the lying posture.
Chandraya-2 aftermath:
Chandrayan-2 Expedition - When the Vikram Lander took off from the Chandrayan-2 space vehicle to land on the Moon’s surface, it exploded into pieces thus causing a serious setback. This upset the ISRO Head Sivan so much that he cried inconsolably. However, Prime Minister Narendra Modi who was close-by hugged him and consoled him.
TN CM’s foreign visits:
The Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, E. Palaniswamy undertook a visit to some foreign countries - the USA and England) on a 14-day visit from 28th August to 10th September.
Drinking water transport by rail:
As the monsoon seasonal rains failed utterly this year, there was a very acute drinking water shortage putting the public to extreme hardships. Several measures were to take to meet the shortfall. As one of the measures, drinking was transported by rail from Jolarpettai (Vellore district)! The transportation of drinking water rail continued from 12th July to 8th October.
Record single-day rainfall:
There were very heavy rains in Nilgiri district. There was a rainfall at an unprecedented level as an avalanche; a rainfall of 104 cm was recorded in a single day - a record!
China`s President-Indian Prime Minister meet:
An enthusiastic and roaring welcome was accorded to the Chinese President Xi who arrived in Chennai. The Chinese proceed to Mahabalipuram for discussions on various issues with the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi who extended a hearty welcome at Mahabalipuram. The Indian Prime minister took the Chinese President on a small expedition to give a detailed explanation of the wonderful sculpture in this famous tourist spot/resort and the history of the place. Then they discussed various issue for one-and-a-half hours.
CAB, NCR and NPR:
The Citizenship Amendment Bill (CAB) - The central government initiated a new process to identify the non-Indian Citizens (immigrants, etc) and passed the Citizenship Act in both the House of parliament. The National Register of Citizens (NRC) is a register containing names of all genuine Indian citizens. At present, only Assam has such a register. The exercise may be extended to other states as well. Nagaland is already creating a similar database known as the Register of Indigenous Inhabitants. The National Population Register (NPR) is a Register of usual residents of the country. It is being prepared at the local (Village/sub-Town), sub-District, District, State and National level under provisions of the Citizenship Act 1955 and the Citizenship (Registration of Citizens and Issue of National Identity Cards) Rules, 2003.
