A QUICK RECAP OF EVENTS THAT SHOOK INDIA IN 2015

From elections to natural disasters, there had been a number of events that shook India this year. Here's a quick look at the major events that got people talking

January 26: The year began on a high with Unites States President Barack Obama officiating as the chief guest at the Republic Day parade.

February 10:  The Aam Aadmi Party led by Arvind Kejriwal wins the Delhi Assembly Election, making a mockery of the result. The party won 67 out of the 70 seats.

February 20: Author Govind Pansare, also a CPI leader, succumbs to gunshot wounds four days after he was shot in Kolhapur,Maharashtra.

March 24: Supreme Court knocks down Section 66A of the Information Technology Act 2000.

March 26: India fails to defend World Cup 2015. The Indian cricket team lost to Australia by 95 runs in the second semi-finals of the 2015 World Cup at the Sydney cricket ground.

March 28: Saina Nehwal became the first Indian woman shuttler to attain world number one rank.

April 10: India successfully evacuates its citizens from Yemen, announced closure of the embassy. 4,640 Indians and 960 nationals from 41 other countries were evacuated.

April 25: 7.9 Richter scale earthquake rocks Nepal. Parts of north India feel the tremors.

May 11: Karnataka High Court acquits Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa and three others in the Disproportionate Assets case.

June 18: Former IPL commissioner Lalit Modi's close ties with  External Affairs MinisterSushma Swaraj and Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje grabs national headlines.

June 21: The first International Yoga Day is observed.

July 6: The whistleblower in the Vyapam Scam, which involved massive irregularities and corruption in the Madhya Pradesh Professional Examination Board, says his life is under threat. By then, 25 accused and witnesses in the scam have died one after the other.

July 27: Former President APJ Abdul Kalam passes away in Shillong following a massive heart attack. He was 83.

July 27: Terrorists attack a police station in Gurdaspur, Punjab. Intelligence agencies identified the terrorists as belonging to Lashkar-e-Tayyeba.

August 30: MM Kalburgi, the vice-chancellor of Kannada University in Hampi, shot dead on the morning of August 30 at his residence in Dharwad by two unidentified men. His death was condemned by many political leaders and social activists alike. 

September 28: A mob lynched 50-year-old Mohammad Akhlaq in Greater Noida over rumours that he had stored beef in his house.

September 28: India's first space observatory Astrosat was launched on PSLV-XL

October 21: Virender Sehwag announced his retirement from all forms of international cricket and Indian Premier League.

November-December 2015: The annual Northeast Monsoons brought in unprecedented heavy rainfall in Chennai and many parts of Tamil Nadu, claiming more than 400 lives.The floods ravaged the entire city and left thousands of people homeless.

December 20-22: The juvenile convict in the December 16, 2012 gangrape walked free on this day after three years in a special home. The identity of the convict and his parents has been kept a secret for their safety.Indian Parliament overhauls the Juvenile Justice Act to punish henceforth anyone over the age of 16 for heinous crimes, including rape.