Events in the year 1961 in the Republic of India.
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| See also: | List of years in India Timeline of Indian history | ||||
Incumbents
- President of India – Rajendra Prasad
- Prime Minister of India – Jawaharlal Nehru
- Vice President of India – Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan
- Chief Justice of India – Bhuvaneshwar Prasad Sinha
Governors
- Andhra Pradesh – Bhim Sen Sachar
- Assam – Vishnu Sahay (until 13 January), Satyavant Mallannah Shrinagesh (starting 13 January)
- Bihar – Zakir Hussain
- Gujarat – Mehdi Nawaz Jung
- Karnataka – Jayachamarajendra Wadiyar
- Kerala – V. V. Giri
- Madhya Pradesh – Hari Vinayak Pataskar
- Maharashtra – Sri Prakasa
- Odisha – Yeshwant Narayan Sukthankar
- Punjab – Narahar Vishnu Gadgil
- Rajasthan – Gurumukh Nihal Singh
- Uttar Pradesh – Burgula Ramakrishna Rao
- West Bengal – Padmaja Naidu
Events
- National income - ₹186,821 million
- 20 January – Queen Elizabeth II start of Royal visit.[1]
- 5 February - Cachar Gana Sangram Parishad formed against imposition of Assamese language in Barak Valley by Bimala Prasad Chaliha government.
- 4 March – the first Aircraft carrier of Indian Navy, INS Vikrant was commissioned.[2]
- 19 April - Indian Foreign Service officer K. Sankara Pillai assassinated at Indian High Commission, Ottawa by a youth of Yugoslavian origins. This is the first martyr-ship of an Indian Diplomat.[3]
- 19 May - Eleven Bengali Language Movement workers of Barak Valley including Kamala Bhattacharya killed in Assam Rifles firings at Silchar.[4]
- 29 May – Nearly 32 people died in a coastal village in Kollam, Kerala due to chelonitoxism after consuming Turtle meat.[5]
- 23 June - Sainik School system was established by Defence Minister of India, V. K. Krishna Menon.
- 12 July – Panshet Dam bursts in Pune causing a massive flood in the city of Pune. Over 1,000 people die.
- 2 October - Shipping Corporation of India is incorporated by amalgamation of Eastern Shipping Corporation and Western Shipping Corporation.[6]
- 14 October - Jawaharlal Nehru commissions the first Electric locomotive that is made in India at Chittaranjan Locomotive Works.[7]
- 1 November – The Hungry generation movement is launched in Calcutta.
- 17-19 December – Goa is officially ceded to India after 400 years of Portuguese rule.[8]
Law
- 5 December – Supreme Court of India held that land taking under Kerala Agrarian Relations Act, 1961 is not protected from judicial scrutiny of Article 31(A).[9]
- The Tenth[10] and Eleventh Amendments of the Constitution of India (1961)
- Anti-dowry Act
Births
- 7 January – Supriya Pathak, actress.
- 22 February - Mansoor Ali Khan, actor, music composer, writer and producer.
- 12 June – Jagadish, actor.
- 6 July – Vandana Chavan, politician and lawyer.
- 19 July – Harsha Bhogle, cricket commentator and journalist
- 15 August – Suhasini Maniratnam, actress, producer and director.
- 19 November – Vivek, actor and comedian. (d. 2021).
Full date unknown
- V. M. Girija, poet.