National Events in March 2001
March 1:
The nation's population touches 1.02 billion comprising 531,277,078 men and 495,738,169 women.
Tata group forays into Internet service, with the launch of Tatanova.
March 2:
The Centre transfers BALCO management control to Sterlite Industries.
The Union Environment and Forests Ministry, institutes a national award for wildlife protection named Amrita Devi Wildlife Protection Award.
The Bombay Stock Exchange Sensex crashes in the wake of a fresh selling spree by FIIs.
The Kerala High Court upholds a trial court order sentencing former Electricity Minister, Mr.R. Balakrishna Pillai to one year RI in the `graphite Corruption case.'
March 3:
Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu, noted Gandhian, Som Dutt Vedalankar, Bhaskar Save and Vidya Devi are conferred with Jamnalal Bajaj awards for 2000.
March 5:
India, Colombia, sign four agreements to push trade and promote people-to-people exchanges.
March 8:
The Bombay Stock Exchange President, Mr. Anand Rathi, resigns in the wake of allegations of his involvement in a bear cartel.
March 9:
The Sensex plunges by 175 points and the stock markets continue to crash, this time triggered by a payment crises at the Calcutta Stock Exchange.
March 11:
The SEBI, issues fresh guidelines in the wake of the stock market crash, to control the bourses.
March 12:
An indigenously developed AIDS kit for the confirmatory Western Blot test for the virus causing the disease, is launched.
March 13:
The `expose' on Defence deal by the online news website Tehelka.com puts the NDA Government in a spot. The BJP President, Mr. Bangaru Laxman, resigns after being snapped accepting money from a fake ``defence manufacturer'' called West End.
Ms. Chokila Iyer of Sikkim, assumes charge as India's first-ever Woman Foreign Secretary.
March 14:
The Government suspends a senior Army Officer and three Defence Ministry Officials, even as the Army orders an in-house court of inquiry, in the wake of Tehelka.com disclosures.
March 15:
The Defence Minister, Mr. George Fernandes, the Railway Minister and Trinamool Congress Chief, Ms. Mamata Banerjee, her party colleague and Minister of State for External Affairs, Mr.A.K. Panja, quit Cabinet. The Trinamool also leaves the NDA.
March 16:
The Prime Minister, Mr.A.B. Vajpayee orders a judicial probe into the `tehelka tapes' affair.
The former South African President, Mr. Nelson Mandela is presented with the Gandhi Peace Prize, which he shared with the Grameen Bank of Bangladesh.
The U.N. resolutions on Kashmir are not ``self-enforcing'' and the only way forward is a direct dialogue between India and Pakistan, says the U.N. Secretary-General, Mr. Kofi Annan.
The former Kerala Power Minister, Mr.R. Balakrishna Pillai, surrenders before the Special Judge and is sent to prison.
March 17:
The Army appoints Lt. Gen. S.A. Jain to head the court of inquiry to probe the Tehelka tapes case, and lays down terms.
March 18:
The External Affairs Minister, Mr. Jaswant Singh, is appointed the Defence Minister in the place of Mr. George Fernandes.
March 19:
The Calcutta Stock Exchange plunges deeper into the payment crisis.
March 20:
The Agriculture Minister, Mr. Nitish Kumar, is given additional charge of Railways.
The editor-in-chief of tehelka.com, Mr. Tarun Tejpal, deposes before the Army Court of Inquiry and hands over tapes.
The Centre clears a national policy for women empowerment.
The Cabinet okays proposal to make it obligatory for food processors to indicate on their products whether they contained any non-vegetarian ingredient.
March 21:
Melody Queen Lata Mangeshkar, is honoured with Bharat Ratna.
March 22:
The U.S. President, Mr. George Bush, nominates Mr. Robert Blackwill as the next Envoy to India.
The TMC suspends a founder-leader and former Union Minister, Mr. P. Chidambaram for his revolt against the party's alliance with the AIADMK.
March 23:
The Income Tax authorities launch nationwide swoop on stock brokers.
The Supreme Court grants bail to the former Kerala Electricity Minister, Mr. K. Balakrishna Pillai, convicted and jailed in the ``graphite corruption case.''
March 24:
The NDA Government appoints Mr. Justice K. Venkataswami, a retired Supreme Court judge to head the Commission of Inquiry to go into the bribery charges in defence deals.
March 27:
The former CJI, Mr. Justice P.N. Bhagwati, is elected Chairman of the U.N. Human Rights Committee.
Sitar maestro Pandit Ravi Shankar gets the Order of British Empire for his contribution to music.
March 28:
A snag forces the cancellation of the GSLV launch from Sriharikota.
March 30:
The CBI arrests big bull Mr. Ketan Parekh in connection with a Rs. 130-crore pay order scam, in Mumbai. The Sensex tumbles.
The Bihar Governor, Mr. V.C. Pandey grants sanction to the CBI to prosecute the former Chief Minister, Mr. Laloo Prasad Yadav, in a new case related to the multi-crore fodder scam.
March 31:
The Government dismantles Quantitative Restrictions on imports.