2016 in India

Incumbents

Governors

Events

January

• 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 west of Imphal with a maximum Mercalli intensity of VII. At least eight people were killed, 100 others were injured and some buildings were damaged.

  April

• 5 April
• *Bihar state imposed liquor ban.
• * 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.

  May

• 2016 Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly election- Jayalalithaa-led AIADMK won majority.
• 2016 Assam Legislative Assembly election – BJP won majority.
• 2016 West Bengal Legislative Assembly election – Mamata Banerjee-led TMC won majority.
• 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.

  June

• 22 June – ISRO send 20 satellites in space on PSLV-XL.
• 25 June – 2016 Pampore attack.
• Government of India accepted 7th Pay Commission recommendations to increase salaries of employees.

  July

• 2016 Kashmir unrest.
• 2016 Indian Air Force An-32 disappearance.
• 2 July: At least 30 died in heavy rains in Uttarakhand.

  August

• 3 August – Goods and Services Tax Bill passed in Parliament.
• 5 August – 2016 Kokrajhar shooting.
• 9 August – Manipur activist Irom Sharmila ended her 16 years of hunger strike.
• 14 August – Na. Muthukumar – died he was an Indian / Tamil poet, lyricist, and author National award winner.

  September

• Indian general strike of 2016.
• 2016 India–Pakistan military confrontation escalated following Uri attack on 19 September.
• 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.
• 30 September – Bihar liquor ban: Patna High Court struck down liquor ban law.

  October

• 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.

  November

• 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.

  December

• 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 suffering Cardiac 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 the Pune Metro Project. Metro work starts off.
• December – 2013 Indian helicopter bribery scandal: arrests made including former Indian Air Force chief.

  Public holidays

Deaths

January

• January 2
• * Ardhendu Bhushan Bardhan, Indian politician
• * Fateh Singh, shooter and army officer
• January 3
• * Shankar Prasad Jaiswal, Indian politician
• * Raghu Nandan Mandal, Indian politician
• January 4 – S. H. Kapadia, Indian judge
• January 6 – Labhshankar Thakar, Gujarati author
• January 7 – Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, Indian politician
• January 8
• * M. O. Joseph, Malayalam film producer
• * Gunaram Khanikar, herbalist
• January 13
• * J. F. R. Jacob, army general
• * G A Vadivelu, independence activist and politician
• January 14 – Rajesh Vivek, actor
• January 15 – Anil Ganguly, film director
• January 16 – Ananda Chandra Dutta, botanist
• January 17
• * Geethapriya, film director
• * V. Rama Rao, politician
• * Sudhindra Thirtha, Hindu religious leader
• January 18 – Asha Patil, actress
• January 20 – Subrata Bose, politician
• January 21 – Mrinalini Sarabhai, classical dancer, choreographer and instructor
• January 22 – Shankar Ghosh, tabla player
• January 23 – A. C. Jose, politician
• January 25
• * Kalpana, Malayalam actress
• * Jashubhai Dhanabhai Barad, politician
• * Padmarani, Gujarati actress
• January 28 – Maheswar Baug, politician and independence activist
• January 29 – Nayani Krishnakumari, writer and folklorist
• January 30
• * T. N. Gopakumar, journalist
• * K. V. Krishna Rao, military officer
• * Kollam G. K. Pillai, actor
• January 31 – Randhir Singh, political scientist

  February

• 1 February – Kunigal Ramanath, 83, Kannada actor.
• 3 February –
• * Balram Jakhar, 92, politician, Speaker of the Lok Sabha.
• * 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 28 February –
• * Honey Chhaya, 85, film director and actor.
• * Kumarimuthu, 76, comedian and film actor.
• 29 February – Nihal Ahmed Maulavi Mohammed Usman, 90, politician, Maharashtra MLA, mayor of Malegaon.

  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

• 5 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