Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s mass appeal and key strategist Amit Shah’s shrewd tactics didn’t work out in 2015 when the saffron party faced bitter drubbing in all the crucial elections.

In the Delhi Assembly polls held in February, the Aam Aadmi Party scored a landslide victory by winning 67 of the 70 seats, leaving the BJP with only three, and completely decimating the Congress, which drew a blank. It was a second coming for Arvind Kejriwal as chief minister, after he disbanded the 49-day old government in last December. The AAP chief’s repeated apology made him look sincere and he seemed to be keen to shed his “anarchist image”. Meanwhile, the BJP was battling the dissent in the party after the projection of Kiran Bedi as the chief ministerial candidate.

The Bihar election, which was a prestigious battle for Modi, saw foe-turned-friends Nitish Kumar and Lalu Prasad Yadav forming the government after their grand-alliance winning 178 out of 243 seats. Though the prime minister addressed a record number of rallies in the state, the BJP couldn’t stop the 'Mahagatbandhan' and could only secure 53 seats in the polls, which came in the backdrop of the intolerance row, Dadri lynching and beef ban. Controversial statements made by Amit Shah and RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat also backfired for the saffron party. Meanwhile, the grand alliance cashed in on Nitish's clean image and the nation-wide protests against the Modi government.

In the Rajasthan local body elections held in February, though the BJP managed to maintain the lead, the Congress made an impressive recovery giving a tough fight to the saffron party. However, the BJP posted big wins in municipal elections in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan.

In the Kerala local body elections, the BJP improved its tally, winning 13 panchayats. The CPI(M) - led LDF won more than half of the 1,199 bodies, causing a major setback to the ruling Congress-led UDF.

Amid this hue and cry, let's not forget India is the world leader in beef exports with around $5 billion of exports in FY15. Interesting, huh?

March 3—Maharashtra bans the slaughter of cows and the sale and consumption of beef.

September—Haryana, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Gujarat banned sale of meat for nine days on account of Jain fasting festival of Paryushan Parva.

September 9—Jammu bench asks the state police to "strictly enforce" the existing laws (sections 298 A to D of the J&K Ranbir Penal Code) regulating ban on bovine slaughter and beef sale in the state, while a Srinagar bench ruled against the ban. A full bench of Jammu and Kashmir High Court, however, set aside the ban for two months, on October 5.

September 25—Abdul Malik, an unemployed youth, was arrested after he repeatedly stabbed a policeman outside a mosque in Yavatmal, Maharashtra. The policeman survived. A local maulana, who is now absconding, had allegedly instigated Malik to stab the cop to protest against the state government's beef ban.

September 28—Mohammad Akhlaq, 52, lynched by a 200-strong mob in Dadri in Uttar Pradesh for allegedly slaughtering and eating a calf. All ten people named in the FIR arrested. Six of them reportedly related to local BJP leader Sanjay Rana.

October 8—Kashmiri trucker Zahid Bhat attacked with petrol bombs by Hindu groups following rumours that he killed cattle. He succumbed to injuries nine days later. Protests broke out throughout the state. On October 20, Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front chairman Yasin Malik, who planned to stage a protest, was taken into preventive detention with four others. The Public Safety Act slapped on five of the seven people arrested.

October 9—Six persons on motorcycles hacked to death Bajrang Dal member Prashant Poojary in Moodabidri in Dakshina Kannada district of Karnataka. He had been involved in raids on illegal slaughterhouses. Eight persons were arrested in connection with the murder.

October 16—A mob in Himachal Pradesh's Nahan district lynched Noman Akhtar, an alleged cattle smuggler. Police arrested one person and launched a manhunt for the others.

October 27—About 20 police officers entered and allegedly raided Kerala House canteen in Delhi after a call from Vishnu Gupta, a Hindu Sena leader, who complained that beef was being served there.

Sample this WhatsApp joke: In only 18 months, Narendra Modi has become the first prime minister to receive a Padma Bhushan, 36 National Awards and 39 Sahitya Akademi Awards!

It's no laughing matter, though. Several filmmakers, writers and scientists returned national honours and signed petitions to protest against the communal polarisation and attacks on free speech in the country. However, their motive and the timing of their actions were questioned by many who dismissed it as a 'politically-motivated move' and a 'publicity stunt'. Some of the luminaries who returned the awards:

Writers (Sahitya Akademi award winners):

• Nayantara Sahgal
• Ashok Vajpeyi
• Keki N. Daruwalla
• Gurbachan Singh Bhullarl
• Uday Prakash

Filmmakers (National Awards):

• Dibakar Banerjee
• Anand Patwardhan
• Arundhati Roy
• Saeed Mirza
• Kundan Shah

Scientists:

• P.M. Bhargava returned his Padma Bhushan

Artists:

More than 400 members of the artist community, including painters, gallerists and curators, issued a strongly-worded statement signed by the likes of the London-based Anish Kapoor, Padma Vibhushan-winning modernist K.G. Subramanyan and contemporary artist Subodh Gupta.

Launched on July 1, Digital India, Prime Minister Narendra Modi's pet project, envisions to put India on the path of digital empowerment and improve governance. It encompasses broadband highways, mobile connectivity, public access to internet, governance, e-delivery of services, information availability, manufacturing, job opportunities and short-term goals such as common Wi-Fi access, biometric attendance system and e-books for schools.

On the second leg of his US visit, Modi pitched his ambitious project at Silicon Valley, which led to some of the Valley's technology giants pledging support.

Digital India had stoked controversy when, ahead of his meeting with Modi, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg put up a profile picture emblazoned with the Indian tricolour to show support for Digital India. Facebook also launched a tool to allow its users to change their profile pictures to support the initiative. A controversy brewed on social media with internet activists claiming that anyone changing their profile pictures using the tool was supporting Facebook’s Internet.org programme.

Vyapam is Hindi acronym of Vyavsayik Pareeksha Mandal or Madhya Pradesh Professional Examination Board, which conducts examinations and recruitments to government jobs in the state. The scam, dated back to 2000, came to light in 2007 after allegations were raised from various corners that corrupt officials in the board had taken bribe to compromise the rank list. Over 77 lakh candidates allegedly paid bribes to get college seats and government jobs.

Who all are involved: Politicians including Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and Governor Ram Naresh Yadav, bureaucrats, MPPEB officials, middlemen, candidates and their parents

Arrests: Over 2,000 people were arrested in connection with the scam so far.

What makes it bloody: Ever since the investigation began, a number of people directly or indirectly connected to the scam, died under mysterious circumstances. Over three dozen deaths have been reported so far in which nearly 10 deaths were reported this year alone.

The top court ordered the CBI probe two days after it expressed shock over the unending trial and mysterious deaths. Later in September, the court directed the probe agency to take over all the 72 cases irrespective of the stage of their investigations or trial.

The Land Boundary Agreement was signed on May 16, 1974, between Indira Gandhi and Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. Though Bangladesh quickly ratified the agreement in 1974, Indian Parliament gave its nod only in May 2015. Both the countries signed the instruments of the land exchange during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Dhaka on June 6, 2015.

The physical exchange of enclaves will be implemented in phases and is expected to be completed by June 2016.

The enclave residents were allowed to choose citizenship of either nation. The Centre has already sanctioned a 3,048 crore-package for rehabilitation of the people affected by the exchange of enclaves under the LBA implementation.

The dwellers, who are hoping to move from one enclave to another country’s enclave, will have to provide details of the records and specifications of immovable property to the local district administration.

The murder of Sheena Bora, an executive working for Mumbai Metro One, came to light when Indrani Mukerjea, Sheena's mother, was arrested on August 25. The sensational case has witnessed many twists and turns since then.

Police version: Indrani strangled Sheena to death with the help of her former husband Sanjeev Khanna and her driver Shyam Rai and disposed her body in the Raigad forest near Mumbai on April 25, 2012.

Two theories are doing the rounds as the reason behind the murder

Honour killing: Sheena was reportedly in a relationship with Rahul Mukerjea, son of Indrani's present husband and media baron Peter Mukerjea in his previous marriage. Sheena couldn't accept this and she decided to eliminate her.

Money angle: Reports said funds allegedly siphoned off from the media house founded by Peter and Indrani were parked in an overseas account of Sheena Bora which resulted in a dispute between Indrani and her daughter. The Enforcement Directorate is set to begin its probe into the money laundering angle.

Though Rai and Khanna confessed to the crime, Indrani still maintains that she is innocent even after her children Vidhie and Mikhail testified against her. The case is being probed by the CBI which, in its latest chargesheet, has named Peter, too, as an accused and charged him with murder and conspiracy. Investigators believe that Peter knew about Indrani's plans.

The government came out with a notification on OROP after protests, which lasted for 83 days, by ex-servicemen at Jantar Mantar in Delhi. However, the announcement failed to satisfy the veterans who said the scheme shows the government lacks maturity.

The ex-armymen wanted equalisation of pension every year, or at least every two years, but the government has notified that it would happen only once in five years. Besides, the government has also said that the benefit of OROP will not be extended to military personnel who seek premature retirement now on.

They had wanted the revised pensions to be fixed at the maximum of the pension being received by current retirees. But the government has announced that only an average of the maximum and minimum will be given. However, the pensions of those who are receiving a higher pension than the average will not be reduced.

The demand for OROP had been accepted by the Koshiyari Committee in its report to Parliament in 2011. During the last Lok Sabha election campaign, Narendra Modi, who was then the BJP’s prime ministerial candidate, promised the implementation of the scheme. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley announced an allocation of 1,000 crore for OROP in his first budget in July 2014, but that amount lapsed at the end of the financial year.

Astrosat was launched from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota onboard a PSLV-XL vehicle. Astrosat carries five payloads including an Ultra Violet Imaging Telescope (UVIT).

With this launch, India joined a select club of nations having their own space observatories. So far, only the US, Japan, Russia and European Union have own observatories.

The satellite was placed almost 650km above the surface of the earth. ISRO said the UVIT has started sending images.

Challenges

Along with Astrosat, ISRO also launched six satellites for Canada, Indonesia and the United States. This is the first time ISRO is launching satellites for the US.

The NJAC was established by amending the Constitution through (Ninety-Ninth Amendment Act 2014) passed by the Lok Sabha on August 13, 2014, and by the Rajya Sabha on August 14, 2014. Along with the Constitution Amendment Act, the National Judicial Appointments Commission Act, 2014, was also passed by Parliament to regulate the functions of the NJAC. After both these bills were ratified by 16 of the state legislatures, the President gave his assent on December 31, 2014, and the NJAC Act and Constitutional Amendment Act came into being on April 13, 2015.

The Collegium system

In the Collegium system Chief Justice of India and a team of four senior-most judges of the Supreme Court recommend appointments and transfers of judges. This, nonetheless, is not a Constitutional body, but evolved after three judgments of the apex court known as the 'Three Judges Cases'.

Why Collegium is criticised?

• It is considered opaque and secretive
• Lacks transparency
• Lacks expert body like a standing committee
• Executive does not have a role to play

The debate

The establishment of NJAC brought the judiciary and executive face-to-face. While former Chief Justice of India R.M. Lodha and judges Soli Sorabjee and Rajeev Dhawan argued that the judiciary should be free from political interference, which the NJAC would bring along, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley questioned the "exclusivity" enjoyed by the judges and said the comments of the executive in the appointments "were never taken seriously".

Rajan was arrested on the basis of an Interpol Red Corner notice at Bali airport on October 25 after he had arrived in Indonesia from Australia.

Rajan was extradited to India on November 6 and is currently lodged in Tihar jail under judicial custody. He had been living in Australia under another identity and had reportedly been in discussions with Indian authorities.

Rajan, once a close aide of fugitive terrorist and underworld don Dawood Ibrahim, was brought to the country to face trial in over 70 cases of murder, extortion and drug smuggling in Delhi and Mumbai.

Ahead of his arrival, Maharashtra government handed over all the cases related to the underworld don to the CBI.

After his arrest, Rajan had expressed reservation over plans to lodge him in a Mumbai jail, saying that Dawood Ibrahim may target him there again.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid foundation stone of the new capital city of Andhra Pradesh at Uddandarayunipalem village in Guntur on October 22, 2015. 

The city is named after the historic site of Amaravati. It was on March 23 that the government announced the name of the city.

The capital city will come up in an area covering 30 villages between Vijayawada and Guntur, and will be just 35km from the old Amaravati town, the capital of the Satavahana empire some 2,000 years ago. 

Challenges

There are certain fears about the upcoming city, one of them being flooding, as Amaravati is to be a riverfront city. Besides, a study conducted by Andhra University, the Indian Institute of Remote Sensing and the K.L. University said Amaravati could face a severe shortage of potable water, with the groundwater being highly polluted. There is another fear that what was once verdant land will turn into a concrete jungle.

India's dependency on monsoon has yet again put farmers in a spot. With a 14 per cent deficit in southwest monsoon, 2015 was the second consecutive year of drought for the Indian farmers.

Climate change, though a hot topic all through the year, is yet to be taken seriously as a reason for failing crops. More than 60 per cent of India's agriculture continues to rely on monsoon. Changing monsoon patterns have left farmers highly vulnerable.

Erratic monsoon patterns have left fields parched and millions of Indians jobless. Agricultural sector incurred losses worth nearly $370 billion. Information provided by the Indian Meteorological Department shows that almost 50 per cent of India has received scanty rainfall.

Eight states have sought more than 24,000 crore as financial assistance from the Centre under National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF). The Union government had recently reached out states which had not yet approached the Centre for financial help or taken stock of the damage. It had also warned that such casual approach will affect farmers who had lost their kharif crops due to less rainfall. Absence of timely financial aid is likely to impact rabi crops, too, it had further cautioned.

The heaviest rainfall in more than 100 years left several localities in Chennai and other coastal parts of Tamil Nadu marooned, throwing normal life out of gear.

The major cause of the flood was the outflows from reservoirs especially from Chembarambakkam into the already swollen rivers flowing through the city.

The unprecedented deluge caused unforeseen havoc and devastation to property with flood waters inundating several houses and other buildings.

Flight operations to and from Chennai were suspended while Southern Railway cancelled a large number of trains. Road traffic was also disrupted in several places.

Twelve columns of Army, 48 NDRF teams, 400 Navy and Coast Guard personnel, five helicopters from Indian Air Force, two from the Coast Guard and two from Navy were deployed for relief operations.

In a tragic incident, 18 patients died at MIOT hospital after power and oxygen supplies failed.

Controversies

There are allegations that the Chembarambakkam reservoir managers ignored warnings of heavy downpour. Experts raise the question as to why storage was set at high levels in the reservoirs from November 24 to November 30 when the city experienced minimal rainfall.

Reports claimed that supporters of Jayalalithaa stopped vehicles with relief materials to Chennai and forcefully pasted 'Amma stickers' on them. Jayalalithaa is fondly called 'Amma' by her supporters.