Omkar Dattatray
At 12Pm of December 31st 2023, the universe stepped into 2024 ,and we bade good bye to eventful and bountiful year 2023 and at the same time welcome year 2024 and embrace it with happiness and pleasure with the resolve to be good and do good and continue our march towards development and progress .Chandrayaan -3 moon landing to global recognition in the field of arts ,India had a lot to be proud of in 2023.Every year ,the list of milestone achievements by Indian’s only grows longer but this time ,it really felt like an India was in the news for breaking a record almost every other week .Earlier this week ,Chandrayaan-3’s landing on the moon had entire world glued to their television screens .A few months prior ‘,Naatu Naatu ‘ brought home the Oscar For Best Original Song in addition to a live performance by the singers Rahul Sipligun and Kaala Bhairava,and a group of dancers .India’s achievements have a way of bringing the whole nation together in celebration -and in 2023 ,we had a lot to be proud of .Here are 12 milestone achievements by Indians in 2023 ,from the nation being recognized on global scale to successes closer to home .Inevitably ,the first thing that comes to the mind when we talk of milestone achievements by Indians in 2023 is a historic feat ,ISRO’s Chandrayaan -3 mission successfully landed a spacecraft in the South Pole region of the moon on 23rd August 2023.This not only marked a monumental leap for space exploration but also for women who have toiled for a seat in the male-dominated field of science .Notably over 100 women scientists and engineers contributed to this historic mission .Mumbai -based filmmaker Kartiki Gonslaves and producer Guneet Monga won the Academy Award for the Tamil documentary The Elephant Whisperers ,making Gonslaves the first Indian Film director to secure a Academy Award .Telling the story of an indigenous couple entrusted with the care of an orphaned baby elephant ,the film shines a light on animal and human co-existence and clinched the Oscar for Best Documentary Short Film .Telugu blockbuster RRR’s ”Naatu Naatu” saw a historic win as the best Original Song at 2023 Oscars .Following ”Jai Ho ”from Slumgdog Millionaire ,this win marked the first time in fourteen years that a song performed in a language other than English claimed this honour.2O23 was a year of milestones for J&K as well .J&K saw a peaceful completion of G20 summit .There was a record increase in number of tourists .The Muharram procession was taken after over three decades .There was a huge reduction in stone pelting incidents .There was also a decline in terrorist incidents .The flagging of second Vande Bharat Train for Katra is also an achievement of year 2023.However we can say that the year 2023 was a mixed bag of good and bad things .There was an increase in atrocities against women and there were cases of mob lynching in the country which shames all of us .There have been increase in the drug addiction in the country and many youth are falling prey to drugs .In various parts of the country there were cases of discrimination against SC,ST and other marginalized sections of the society. .The reservation bill for giving 33% reservation of the women in the parliament and state legislators is a welcome development and a big achievement of the year and also of the NDA government under Modi. It is a landmark legislation in the country .It really added a feather in the cap of Narendra Modi and his government .Another achievement and development of the year 2023 is the Supreme Court’s unanimous judgment on abrogation of Article 370 and this landmark and historical decision of the top court put an end to all certainty on article 370 and it gave a stamp of approval on the fuller integration of the Jammu and Kashmir of the Modi government .The successful conduct of state assembly elections furthered and strengthened the democracy in the country and it showed the dynamism and strength of Indian democracy .Towards the end of the year ,Modi government repealed the three British laws of Indian Penal Code ,Criminal procedure code and Indian Evidence Act and replaced them with the Indian and indigenous laws by passing the new bills in both houses of parliament and the bills became laws after these have got assent of the president .The Modi government has also repealed and deleted more than 200 obsolete British ear colonial laws and thus gave a goodbye to these laws and rules and hence erased the signs and symbols of the British laws and rules .This erasing of the British era rules and laws is really a historic achievement of 2023. India has become fifth largest economy of the world .While there are many laudable achievements of the bygone year 2023, we expect that new year 2024 will unfold good stories of development and we are embracing year 2024 with much expectations and we hope that the new year as well will land us in development trajectory .It is hoped that the tempo of development will continue in year 2024.The big tamasha of democracy -the general elections will take place in 2024 and a new government will be formed at the centre which will give rise to new ideas ,innovations and development .After the Supreme Courts directions to the centre about holding of assembly elections ,it is hoped that much due democratic exercise of holding assembly elections will take place and the people of the UT will elect a new democratic and popular government .it is also hoped that the status of the statehood will also be restored in year 2024 as the Modi government is committed to restore statehood to Jammu and Kashmir people .It is also expected that India will became a third largest economy in the third term of Modi .Thus our country will get the position of third largest economy during the third term of Modi government and the solid foundations for this will be laid in year 2024.Digitisation of all government schemes and government offices ,institutions ,banks and public sector companies is also the main achievements of year 2023 and it will broaden in its scope and include all services online .It will be seen in 2024 how will our country become a 5000 trillion dollar economy in year 2024.It is also hoped that the GDP of the economy will grow at a fast rate and per capita income of the people will increase in 2024.The tourist influx in 2023 has seen significant increase and it had increased in crores and it is hoped that in 2024 also the tempo of tourist footfall will also increase at a faster rate thus resulting into increase in the tourist economy of the country .The new ideas, new innovations and new decisions will be the fait accomplice of new year 2024.We look upon the coming year with foreboding as the current wars in Ukraine and Gaza spill over and escalate and new ones erupt in incipient fault lines across the world. Artificial intelligence poses the most global of challenges ,flowing effortlessly across borders .It is hoped that in the new year there will be greater realization about global warming and climate change and there will be joint efforts of the international community to combat global warming .In the new year we should resolve to do good to the society and the country and resolve to weed out corruption ,dowry system ,communalism and casteism and above all drug addiction and environmental degradation .In short we should strive to build a country of the dreams of our freedom fighters.
(The author is a columnist, social and KP activist).
