20 Dec 2020 | 06:00am IST
The long road from 1961 to 2020
As Goa steps into the 60th year of Liberation, Herald takes a quick glance at the main events of the past 59 years that have brought us to this date. They have been tumultuous decades, with battles to retain the identity and preserve the land and also of Goans
shining under the National spotlight. The years have brought laurels to the State, and some condemnation too. But Goa struggled on, and still does. While this timeline does not tell the entire story of the past, it helps refresh memories of the course Goa has taken till date
1960s
Dec 19, 1961: Goa is liberated from Portuguese rule
March 1962: Parliament passes a Bill to incorporate Goa as a Union Territory in the Republic of India
Oct 24, 1962: Goa’s first democratic election held for the village panchayats
Nov 15, 1963: Francisco Xavier da Piedade Rebelo appointed Auxiliary Bishop of Goa
Dec 3, 1963: First general elections held in Goa, Daman, and Diu. MGP gets 13 seats followed by
United Goans with 13
Dec 20, 1963: Dayanand Bandodkar is sworn in as Chief Minister of Goa, Daman and Diu
Jan 23, 1965: Assembly passes resolution in favour of merger of Goa with Maharashtra
Jan 1, 1966: National Institute of Oceanography, India is set up at Dona Paula
1966:
Goa Industrial Development Corporation is formed
1966: Eight Finger Eddie credited with beginning the hippie trail in Goa settles in Anjuna
Jan 16, 1967: Opinion Poll is held. Goa rejects merger with Maharashtra and votes to retain Union Territory status
Jan 26, 1967: Bakibab becomes first Goan to be awarded Padma Shri
March 28, 1967: MGP wins second term in government
Apr 5, 1967: Dayanand Bandodkar is CM again
1967:
Goa Engineering College 1969:
Bhagwan Mahaveer Sanctuary declared first
Wildlife Sanctuary of Goa
1970s
February 1970:
Kala Academy established
1971: First
Mandovi Bridge built
Mar 23, 1972: MGP wins third mandate. Dayanand Bandodkar becomes CM again
Aug 12, 1973: Dayanand Bandodkar dies in office. His daughter
Shashikala Kakodkar sworn-in as CM
Dec 28, 1974: Treaty signed in
New Delhi providing resumption of diplomatic relations between India and Portugal
Dec 1975: Goenchea Ramponnkarancho Ekvott formed mainly to protect rights of traditional fishermen
Jun 1, 1977: MGP wins again
Jun 7, 1977: Shashikala Kakodkar sworn in as CM
1977:
Ravindra Kelekar's ‘Himalayant’ (Travelogue) wins 1
st Sahitya Akademi Award for KonkaniJan 30, 1978: Pope Paul VI names
Raul Nicolau Gonçalves as first Goan Archbishop of Goa and Patriarch of the East Indies
1978: Core area of the Bhagwan Mahaveer Wildlife Sanctuary notified as
Mollem National ParkApr 23, 1979: MGP loses majority, Kakodkar resigns
April 28, 1979:
President’s Rule imposed
1980s
Jan 3, 1980: Congress U wins a majority, as MGP stands defeated for the first time
Jan 17, 1980:
Pratapsingh Rane sworn in as CM
1980:
Kadamba Transport Corporation established
Mar 6, 1983:
Goa lifts Santosh Trophy for the first time, declared joint winners with
West Bengal Nov 26-27, 1983: Commonwealth Heads of Government retreat hosted
1983:
Zuari Bridge inaugurated
Nov 1984: The first
air charter lands
Dec 24, 1984: Congress returns to power
Jan 8, 1985: Pratapsingh Rane is CM again
June 5, 1985:
Goa University established
1985:
Goa cricket team debuts in
Ranji TrophyFeb 6, 1986:
Pope John Paul II visits Goa, Mass held at Campal
Mar 8, 1986:
Mother Teresa visits Goa
Jul 5, 1986: Span of Mandovi Bridge collapses
Nov 1986: Old Goa churches and convents declared
UNESCO World Heritage Site 1985-1986: Long agitation to make Konkani official language. In December 1986 Goa almost shut down
May 1986: Eduardo Faleiro is first Goan to becomes a Union Minister
Dec 20, 1986: First Konkani martyr Floriano Vaz killed in Gogol, Margao
Dec 23, 1986: Seven persons killed in Agassaim during language agitation
Feb 4, 1987: Assembly passes Bill to make Konkani in Devanagri script official language, after 555-day agitation
May 30, 1987: Goa becomes a State
1988:
Western Ghats declared one of the 25 original
biodiversity hotspots of the world
1989:
Fatorda Stadium inaugurated, hosts Jawaharlal Nehru invitation international football tournament
Nov 1989: Congress, MGP emerge with equal seats. Decider is by-election
1990s
Jan 9, 1990: Pratapsingh Rane is CM again, as Congress wins by-election
March 27, 1990: Churchill Alemao sworn in as CM, as group of MLAs break away from Congress
April 14, 1990: Dr Luis Proto Barbosa sworn in as CM, replacing Alemao
May 1990:
Lata Mangeshkar, receives
Dadasaheb Phalke Award June 1990: Schools opt for mother tongue as medium of instruction as government revises grants-in-aid policy
Jun 23, 1990:
DD Panaji launched
1990:
Sunith Francis Rodrigues is
Chief of the Army Staff Dec 14, 1990: President’s Rule imposed in Goa as government reduced to minority
1991: Agitation begins for realignment of proposed Konkan Railway track
Jan 25, 1991:
Ravi Naik sworn in as CM after defecting from MGP
Aug 20, 1992: Konkani is included in the VIII Schedule of the Constitution
May 17, 1993: Ravi Naik resigns as CM as High Court upholds his disqualification
May 18, 1993: Dr
Wilfred de Souza sworn in as CM
1994:
M Boyer is first Konkani stage actor to receive Sangeet Natak Akademi Award
Apr 2, 1994: Dr Wilfred De Souza dismissed as CM and Ravi Naik appointed
Apr 8, 1994: Dr Wilfred De Souza returns as CM
Dec 16, 1994: Congress heads coalition government, comes to power again, with Pratapsingh Rane as CM
Jan 19, 1995: Congress gets majority following its alliance with MGP
Jan 23, 1995: 1 killed during violent protests against
Thapar-
DuPont Nylon 6,6 plant
July 1, 1995:
Raghunath Mashelkar takes over as Director-General of
Council of Scientific and Industrial ResearchOctober 1996: Goa wins first Ranji Trophy match
1996:
Bruno Coutinho first Goan to win
AIFF Player of the Year award
1997:
Brahmanand Sankhwalkar first Goan to win Arjuna Award
Jan 26, 1998:
Konkan Railway starts operations in Goa
July 29, 1998: Wilfred de Souza of Goa Rajiv Congress takes oath as CM
23 Nov, 1998: Luizinho Faleiro takes oath as CM
Feb 10, 1999: President’s Rule imposed
Jun 6, 1999: Congress (I) returns to power
Jun 9, 1999: Luizinho Faleiro sworn in as CM
Nov 24, 1999: Francisco Sardinha is CM of breakaway Congress group supported by BJP
1999: First casino opens in Goa
2000s
Oct 24, 2000:
Manohar Parrikar of BJP is sworn in as CM supported by breakaway Congress MLA
2000:
Anil Kakodkar is Chairman of
Atomic Energy Commission of India2000:
Selaulim Dam completed
Mar 2001: Lata Mangeshkar first Goan to get
Bharat RatnaJune 2002: Manohar Parrikar returns as CM of BJP-led coalition
Dec 12, 2003:
Filipe Neri Ferrão appointed Archbishop
Nov 2004: Goa hosts IFFI for first time
2004: Konkani film
Alessha wins National Award for Best Feature Film in Konkani
Feb 2, 2005: Pratapsingh Rane returns as CM, after Manohar Parrikar is dismissed as CM
Feb 28, 2005: Crisis as
Speaker and deputy resign
Mar 4, 2005 President’s Rule imposed
Jun 7, 2005 Pratapsingh Rane back as CM as Cong wins four of five by-elections
Mar 2006: Communal riots at
Curchorem-
Sanvordem 2006:
Ravindra Kelekar awarded
Jnanpith Award, highest literary honour in India
Dec 3, 2006: Goa Bachao Abhiyan formed to oppose Regional Plan 2011
Jun 2007: Digambar Kamat heads coalition government
Aug 18, 2007: Regional Plan scrapped
2009:
Cashew feni gets
Geographical Indication, the first Goan product to receive GI tag
2010s
May 25, 2011: Govt reverses medium of instruction policy in primary education
May 25, 2011: Two tribal youth killed in agitation in Balli
Mar 2012: BJP wins absolute majority, Manohar Parrikar is appointed Chief Minister
Mar 2012:
Football declared official State sport
Apr 4, 2012:
Dharbandora is 12
th taluka
July 2012: Western Ghats declared natural UNESCO World Heritage Site
Oct 5, 2012:
Supreme Court bans all mining operations
Nov 8, 2014: Laxmikant Parsekar becomes CM as Manohar Parrikar resigns to take charge as Defence Minister
Jan 7, 2016: Shevtto declared official State fish
Mar 14, 2017: BJP with 13 MLAs forms alliance and government, with Manohar Parrikar as CM
Feb 5, 2019:
Atal Setu opens for traffic
Mar 17, 2019: Manohar Parrikar dies in office
Mar 19, 2019: Dr
Pramod Sawant is new CM
Jun 11, 2019: Ten Congress MLAs defect to BJP
2020s
Nov 1, 2020: All night vigil kept at Guirdolim on SWR tracks to stop double tracking work
Source: Wikipedia, and various others
