# 2016 in India

The following lists events that happened during 2016 in India.

## Incumbents

| Post | Name |
| President | Pranab Mukherjee |
| Vice President | Mohammad Hamid Ansari |
| Prime Minister | Narendra Modi |
| Chief Justice | T. S. Thakur |

### Governors

| Post | Name |
| Andhra Pradesh | E. S. L. Narasimhan |
| Arunachal Pradesh | Jyoti Prasad Rajkhowa (until 9 July) Tathagata Roy (10 July-12 August) V. Shanmuganathan (starting 14 September) |
| Assam | Padmanabha Acharya (until 17 August) Banwarilal Purohit (starting 22 August) |
| Bihar | Ram Nath Kovind |
| Chhattisgarh | Balram Das Tandon |
| Goa | Mridula Sinha |
| Gujarat | Om Prakash Kohli |
| Haryana | Kaptan Singh Solanki |
| Himachal Pradesh | Acharya Devvrat |
| Jammu and Kashmir | Draupadi Murmu |
| Jharkhand | Draupadi Murmu |
| Karnataka | Vajubhai Rudabhai Vala |
| Kerala | P. Sathasivam |
| Madhya Pradesh | Ram Naresh Yadav |
| Maharashtra | V. Shanmuganathan |
| Manipur | Najma A. Heptulla |
| Meghalaya | Kummanam Rajasekharan |
| Mizoram | P. S. Sreedharan Pillai |
| Nagaland | Padmanabha Acharya |
| Odisha | S. C. Jamir |
| Punjab | Kaptan Singh Solanki (until 22 August) Vijayendra Pal Singh Badnore (starting 22 August) |
| Rajasthan | Kalyan Singh |
| Sikkim | Shriniwas Dadasaheb Patil |
| Tamil Nadu | Konijeti Rosaiah (until 1 September) C. Vidyasagar Rao (starting 1 September) |
| Tripura | Tathagata Roy |
| Uttar Pradesh | Ram Naik |
| West Bengal | Baby Rani Maurya |

## Events

* National income - ₹153,916,690 million

### January - May

* 1 January – The Indian and Pakistani governments provided one another with a full list of nuclear sites, military and civilian, in accordance with the 1988 Non-Nuclear Aggression Agreement.
* 2 January – Heavily armed gunmen, reportedly members of Jaish-e-Mohammed, attacked an Indian Air Force base in Pathankot, Punjab. Two of the gunmen were killed.
* 3 January – A magnitude 6.7 earthquake struck India 29 km (18 mi) west of Imphal with a maximum Mercalli intensity of VII (Very strong). At least eight people were killed, 100 others were injured and some buildings were damaged.
* 17 January - A PhD student from University of Hyderabad named Rohith Vemula committed suicide due to Caste based discrimination. The event triggered a countrywide agitation against casteism in institutions of higher learning.
* 8 February - Facebook's FreeBasics declared illegal in India and stopped services in the country.
* 20 February - militants besieged the Entrepreneurship Development Institute
* 14 March – Police horse Shaktiman was attacked with a stick by BJP MLA politician and cabinet minister Ganesh Joshi during a protest organized by BJP against the Chief Minister of Uttarakhand. The attack and the horse's later death would cause worldwide outrage.
* 16 March - RTI activist Vinayak Baliga murdered in Mangalore by contract killers closely linked to Hindutva group NaMo Brigade.
* 18 March - Ahead of polls in West Bengal and Tamil Nadu, Supreme Court of India allows pictures of Union Ministers, Chief Ministers, Governors and State Ministers to appear in government advertisements.
* 31 March - 2016 Kolkata flyover collapse: At least 27 people are killed and 80 others are injured in a bridge collapse in Kolkata ,West Bengal in India.
* 5 April - Bihar state imposed liquor ban.
* 5 April - India's fastest train Gatimaan Express started Operating between Hazrat Nizamuddin and Agra Cantonment by Indian Railways.
* 2016 Ujjain Simhastha Kumbha Fair organized between 22 April and 21 May. Nearly 75 million people visited the fair during this one-month period.
* 10 April – Puttingal temple fire caused 107 deaths.
* 11 April – 2016 Assam Legislative Assembly election – BJP won the majority.
* 2 May- The suicide of a 17 year old JEE aspirant Kriti Tripathi in Kota, Rajasthan sparks nation-wide outrage and debate on mental health and well-being of students in India.
* 5 May - 2016 West Bengal Legislative Assembly election – Mamata Banerjee-led TMC won majority.
* 16 May - 2016 Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly election- Jayalalithaa-led AIADMK won majority.
* 16 May - 2016 Puducherry Legislative Assembly election – Congress won majority.
* 23 May - Hypersonic Flight Experiment: The ISRO's RLV-TD vehicle was launched from the first launchpad of Satish Dhawan Space Centre on board an HS9 rocket booster.
* 30 May - 30 died following fire in army weapon depot in Pulgaon, Wardha district, Maharashtra.
* 31 May- 2016 Bihar school examination scandal: A controversy breaks out over the topper scam which took place in the Bihar School Examination Board in Bihar, India.

### June - December

* 22 June – ISRO send 20 satellites in space on PSLV-XL.
* 25 June – 2016 Pampore attack.
* 28 June – Government of India accepted 7th Pay Commission recommendations to increase salaries of employees.
* 2016 Kashmir unrest.
* 2016 Indian Air Force An-32 disappearance.
* 2 July - At least 30 died in heavy rains in Uttarakhand.
* 3 August – Goods and Services Tax (India) Bill passed in Parliament.
* 5 August – 2016 Kokrajhar shooting.
* 9 August – Manipur activist Irom Sharmila ended her 16 years of hunger strike.
* 13 August - Pramukh Swami Maharaj - died he was a Swaminarayan Guru.
* 14 August – Na. Muthukumar – died he was an Indian / Tamil poet, lyricist, and author National award winner.
* 2 September - Indian general strike of 2016.
* Kaveri River water dispute: violence broke out in Karnataka.
* 13 September – 43 out of 44 MLAs of Arunachal Pradesh Legislative Assembly left Congress and joined People's Party of Arunachal.
* 18 September – 2016 Uri attack: Four Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorists attacked an Indian Army brigade headquarters in Uri, near the Line of Control in a pre-dawn ambush killing 19 soldiers.
* 22 September- Tamil Nadu cm Jayalalithaa hospitalized at Apollo Hospital.
* 29 September – 2016 Indian Line of Control strike: Indian Army conducts a surgical strike in response to the Uri attack that killed 19 soldiers.
* 30 September – Bihar liquor ban: Patna High Court struck down liquor ban law.
* 2 October – 2016 Baramulla attack.
* 11 October – Jangaon district was formed in 2016 in Telangana.
* 13 October – BJP joined People's Party of Arunachal- lead Government in Arunachal Pradesh.
* 15 October – 24 died following stampede at religious meet in Varanasi.
* 17 October – Fire in SUM Hospital in Bhubaneshwar. 22 died.
* 19 October -Qnet multi-level marketing: former World Billiards Champion Michael Ferreira arrested.
* 24 October – Cyrus Mistry was sacked as the Chairman of the Tata Sons. Tata was one of India's biggest conglomerate.
* 27 October – Senari massacre case of Bihar: 15 convicted, 23 acquitted by court. 10 death sentence.
* October – Bihar liquor ban: Supreme Court stays High Court order, liquor ban reimposed.
* October – Samajwadi Party, ruling Uttar Pradesh, caught in family feud.
* 31 October – October 2016 Bhopal encounter.
* 1 November – 2016 Manipur unrest started.
* 8 November – The Indian government withdraws ₹500 and ₹1000 banknotes with immediate effect. New notes will be issued to the nation. Caused political uproar.
* 11 November – 42 Congress MLAs submitted their resignations to Punjab Vidhan Sabha following the Supreme Court order related to the Sutlej Yamuna link canal project.
* 16 November- The winter session of Indian Parliament starts, with debate on note ban.
* 20 November – A train derails near Pukhrayan killing at least 150 people.
* 26 November – Nabha jailbreak in Punjab. 6 flee.
* 29 November – 2016 Nagrota army base attack.
* 30 November – Supreme Court of India ordered cinemas to play national anthem before films.
* 5 December – Former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa who has been hospitalized for 72 days in Apollo Hospital was officially announced as dead after having a heart attack.
* 10 December – Industrialist Pawan Ruia arrested following railway complaint.
* 12 December – Cyclone Vardah makes landfall on Tamil Nadu coast. 18 died.
* 14 December – The National Green Tribunal banned kite-flying with manja, a thread coated in a sticky paste of ground-up glass, following outcry over deaths and injury caused by it.
* 15 December – Supreme Court bans sale of liquor on national and state highways due to large number of road accidents caused by drunks every year.
* 24 December – Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation for the Pune Metro Project. Metro construction work starts off.
* December – 2013 Indian helicopter bribery scandal: arrests made including former Indian Air Force chief.
* 29 December - 2016 Ariyalur gang rape case

## Publications

* "Devlok" by Devdutt Pattanaik
* "One Indian Girl" by Chetan Bhagat

## Deaths
### January

* 2 January
** Ardhendu Bhushan Bardhan, Indian politician (b. 1924)
** Fateh Singh, shooter and army officer (b. 1964)
* 3 January
** Shankar Prasad Jaiswal, Indian politician (b. 1932)
** Raghu Nandan Mandal, Indian politician (b. 1952)
* 4 January – S. H. Kapadia, Indian judge (b. 1947)
* 6 January – Labhshankar Thakar, Gujarati author (b. 1935)
* 7 January – Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, Indian politician (b. 1936)
* 8 January
** M. O. Joseph, Malayalam film producer (b. 1929)
** Gunaram Khanikar, herbalist (b. 1949)
* 13 January
** J. F. R. Jacob, army general (b. 1923)
** G A Vadivelu, independence activist and politician (b. 1923)
* Rajesh Vivek14 January – Rajesh Vivek, actor (b. 1949)
* 15 January – Anil Ganguly, film director (b. 1933)
* 16 January – Ananda Chandra Dutta, botanist (b. 1923)
* 17 January
** Geethapriya, film director (b. 1932)
** V. Rama Rao, politician (b. 1935)
** Sudhindra Thirtha, Hindu religious leader (b. 1926)
** Rohith Vemula, PhD scholar. (b. 1989)
* 18 January – Asha Patil, actress (b. 1936)
* 20 January – Subrata Bose, politician (b. 1932)
* 21 January – Mrinalini Sarabhai, classical dancer, choreographer and instructor (b. 1918)
* 22 January – Shankar Ghosh, tabla player (b. 1935)
* 23 January – A. C. Jose, politician (b. 1937)
* 25 January
** Kalpana, Malayalam actress (b. 1965)
** Jashubhai Dhanabhai Barad, politician (b. 1955)
** Padmarani, Gujarati actress (b. 1936)
* 28 January – Maheswar Baug, politician and independence activist (b. 1930)
* 29 January – Nayani Krishnakumari, writer and folklorist (b. 1930)
* 30 January
** T. N. Gopakumar, journalist (b. 1957)
** K. V. Krishna Rao, military officer (b. 1923)
** Kollam G. K. Pillai, actor (b. 1933)
* 31 January – Randhir Singh, political scientist (b. 1921)

### February

* 1 February – Kunigal Ramanath, 83, Kannada actor.
* 3 February –
** Balram Jakhar, 92, politician, Speaker of the Lok Sabha (1980–1989).
** K. S. Paripoornan, 83, Supreme Court judge
* 5 February – Markand Bhatt, 87, theatre director and actor.
* 6 February – Sudhir Tailang, 55, cartoonist.
* 8 February – Nida Fazli, 77, poet.
* 13 February – O. N. V. Kurup, 84, poet, recipient of the Jnanpith Award (2007).
* 17 February – Akbar Kakkattil, 62, writer.
* 18 February –
** Abdul Rashid Khan, 107, Hindustani musician.
** Cherussery Zainuddeen Musliyar, 78, Indian religious scholar.
* 20 February – Pradeep Shakti, 60, actor and restaurateur.
* 21 February –
** Akbar Ali, 90, Kannada poet.
** Kalanidhi Narayanan, 87, classical dancer.
* 25 February – Bhavarlal Jain, 78, businessman (Jain Irrigation Systems).
* 26 February
** Mirza Mohammed Athar, 79, Muslim cleric.
** B. K. Garudachar, 99, cricket player.
* 27 February
** Banda Jyothi, 41, comedian and actress.
** Rajesh Pillai, 41, film director (Traffic).
* 28 February –
** Honey Chhaya, 85, film director and actor (The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel).
** Kumarimuthu, 76, comedian and film actor.
* 29 February – Nihal Ahmed Maulavi Mohammed Usman, 90, politician, Maharashtra MLA (1960–1999), mayor of Malegaon.

### April

* 20 April – Shaktiman, Uttarakhand police horse.

### June

* 4 June – Sulabha Deshpande, 79, Veteran actress.

### July

* 23 July – S. H. Raza, Famous painter.

### August

* 9 August – Kalikho Pul, 47, former Chief Minister of Arunachal Pradesh

### October

* 10 October – Parmeshwar Godrej, 70, philanthropist and socialite.

### November

* 22 November
** M. Balamuralikrishna, 86, Carnatic vocalist
** M. G. K. Menon, 88, physicist

### December

* Jayalalithaa5 December – Jayalalithaa, 68, Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu
* 7 December – Cho Ramaswamy, 82, actor, political satirist, journalist, lawyer
* 24 December – Chetan Ramarao, 76, Kannada film actor